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The xx

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The xx

The xx are a three-piece indie rock band from Wandsworth, south west London, England, formed in 2005.[1] The four original band members met at Elliott School, notable for alumni including Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet.[2] The xx was originally a four-piece band, but keyboardist Baria Qureshi left the group, citing exhaustion.[3]

The group's debut album, xx, was met with critical acclaim, achieving a rating of "Universal acclaim" on Metacritic.[4] Furthermore the album ranked well on "best of the year" lists, placing at #9 and #2 with Rolling Stone and NME respectively.[5][6] The band placed at #6 in the 2009 NME The Future 50 list and in October 2009, they were named one of MTV Iggy's "Top 10 Bands with Buzz" (at the CMJ Music Marathon 2009).[7][8]

Debut album

Their debut album, xx, was released on Young Turks Records on 17 August 2009.[9] Though the band had worked with both Diplo and Kwes.,[10] xx was produced by the band themselves[11] and mixed by Jamie Smith and Rodaidh McDonald.[12] They recorded the album in a small garage that was part of the XL studios, often at night, which contributed to the sleek, whispery nature of the album.[13] The band have toured with The Big Pink and Micachu. Their single "Crystalised" was featured on iTunes (UK) as Single of the Week, starting from 18 August 2009.

Their song "Intro" was used in an AT&T commercial featuring Apolo Anton Ohno. It was shown often during NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada.[14], and during the series Cold Case and Law & Order on the Dutch television network Net 5; "VCR" was featured in a Lie to Me episode. In episode 7 of the online BBC EastEnders spin-off E20 their cover of "Teardrops" was used. "Heart Skipped a Beat" was featured in a 2009 episode of 90210, as well as being the feature song for the March 2010 E4 advert for 90210. "Islands" was used in an episode of the Golden Globe-winning medical drama Grey's Anatomy. "Stars" was used in E4's youth drama 'Misfits' in December 2009. "Crystalised" was used during the 13th episode of the 3rd season of The CW's acclaimed Gossip Girl TV show. In January 2010, the XX performed in a 11-date sold-out tour in Scandinavia and Germany with New Look in January 2010.

It was recently announced that the band has been chosen by Matt Groening to perform at the edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival he is curating in May 2010 in Minehead, England. In addition, the band will be playing in four of North America's most popular music festivals, Coachella, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza.[15]

Discography

Studio albums

Year Title
2009 xx
  • Released: August 17, 2009
  • UK Chart: #36

Singles

Year Title Album
2009 "Crystalised"
  • Released: April 27, 2009
 xx
"Basic Space"
  • Released: August 3, 2009
"Islands"
  • Released: October 26, 2009
2010 "VCR"
  • Released: January 24, 2010

Music videos

  • "Basic Space"
  • "Crystalised"
  • "VCR"
  • "Islands"

Guest appearances

Demos, covers, and remixes

References

  1. ^ Cochrane, Greg (2009-05-12). "BBC - Newsbeat - Music - Introducing…The XX". BBC News. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  2. ^ Saxelby, Ruth. "The xx" "It started as a joke."". Dummy. Retrieved 2009-08-23.
  3. ^ "The xx Lose a Member". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  4. ^ "xx reviews at". Metacritic.com. 2009-10-06. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  5. ^ Posted Dec 17, 2009 1:51 PM (2009-12-17). "The 25 Best Albums of 2009". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2010-03-12.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  6. ^ "50 Best Albums of 2009". Nme.Com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  7. ^ "Pictures of The Future 50: The bands, the artists, the innovators - Photos". Nme.Com. 2009-08-05. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  8. ^ CMJ 2009: Top 10 Bands with Buzz MTV Iggy
  9. ^ O'Neill, Katie (2009-08-14). "Young Turks". Young Turks. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  10. ^ Text: Ruth Saxelby Photography: Mikael Gregorsky. "The xx: "It started as a joke." | Dummy » Features". Dummymag.com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  11. ^ "The XX announce debut album details | News". Nme.Com. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  12. ^ Pawson, Caius (2009-02-23). "Young Turks". Young Turks. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  13. ^ "Exclaim! Canada's Music Authority". Exclaim.ca. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
  14. ^ "What's That Song From the AT&T Commercial With Olympic Speed Skater Apolo Anton Ohno?". Spinner. February 17, 2010.
  15. ^ "Bonnaroo". Bonnaroo. Retrieved 2010-03-12.
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