New Xiu Xiu - Dear God, I Hate Myself

I unfortunately watched the clip alongside hearing this song for the first time and now it makes me feel ill.

this band is a relic

The new album isn't doing much for me unfortunately. He seems to be stuck in a bit of a musical rut the ol' Jamie Stewart, there's only so much mileage you can get out of adolescent misery and despair.

I was obsessed with this band a few years back, saw them in Barcelona in 2006 and they were incredible. Saw them again in Dublin a few weeks ago and it was totally lifeless. New stuff just smacks of self-parody. Jamie's other project, Former Ghosts, is pretty good though.

Don't think I 'get' Xiu Xiu.

XIU XIU (USA) and
HIGH PLACES (USA) with Kyu (NSW)

The East Brunswick Club, 3 September
On sale Monday

can leave high Places but Xiu Xiu! that will be worth it

Should have mentioned... $35 plus booking. Not too bad really!

they were so amazing last time. one of my fav shows of the last 10 years, i reckon.

Been meaning to check out these guys for about 10 years. What are the best few albums to get?

maybe try one at a time. i guess fabulous muscles is maybe their most successful/accessible? the one after it was pretty good too. the air force. there are moments from their first two records that will tear your shit apart. opening tracks on both of those records are intense and kinda beautiful. also 'hives hives' and the fast car cover might hit the spot.

don diasco

sad pony guerilla girl

i luv the valley oh! - shoulda been a hit.

Gonna check out the latest and Fabulous Muscles and go from there, thanks!

I concur with anok, Fabulous Muscles and The Air Force are the ones to get. A Promise is well worth getting too, Sad Pony Guerilla GIrl and Ian Curtis Wishlist are my two favourite Xiu Xiu songs.

Touring in September!!!!!!

ticket bought. last show was one of the best things i've heard, and probably the last live band i saw that brought me the same strong emotional connection i had with the record.

Sydney tonight!!!

you know, i can totally understand why 95% of the people i knew at the show tonight kinda hated xiu xiu. they're pretty obnoxious and occasionally extreme on the ear. but eh, i loved them. again. thought it was even better than last time. they played pretty much every old song i wanted to hear. they continue to rejuvenate old material with new, weird-as-fuck arrangements. their slower songs are really, sincerely moving. they're also probably the most amazing duo to watch that i can recall. the detail and diversity of tones and textures in their tracks really stood out after the wish-wash vague-out of high places. also their melodies, when they decide to insert them into their bizarrely assembled songs, are so astute and infectious. so on the money.

and for a band so reliant on backing track/sequencers they're really, really live. they really work hard. i loved it and was totally inspired. i even had tears welling during sad pony guerrilla girl and felt a serious urge to punch the air when jamie screamed during i love the valley, oh!, but suppressed it cos i'm self aware and over 30. what a loser!

i didn't recognise maybe half the set, but a couple of the newer songs were great. other old 'uns included crank heart, boy soprano, fab muscls and some others my tired mind has forgotten. one or two more from the air force? will dig into the last couple of albums now.

What did you think of High Places?

Um...um...I did not expect the keyboard player to look look so...no wonder all those dudes stayed up the front all night.

So which two chats were talking about how much they hated the Stabs tonight?

What did you think of High Places?

watched maybe 4 tunes and didn't feel it. went to the front bar to watch the footy. the bass was too boomy and the rest was too... i dunno... nebulous or something? not enough definition. liked them better last tour at the toff.

I thought they played 5 songs to many. But yeah agreed about the bass being too boomy.

Could hardly hear the woman singing in the High Places. At least Kyu was good except for the part when the glockenspeil fell off the milk crate.

Xiu Xiu were amazing at Frankly! festival in Brisbane last night. Holy shit, his voice is incredible. Although I did prefer Jamie by himself last year - less noise obscuring his vocals - but yeah, my life is much better for having seen Xiu Xiu. No 'I Love The Valley', but plenty of other good stuff.

Thought I was going to get hit in the eye from the bits of the drumstick flying off.

side note: jamie used a DS to play the lead line (i think) on the chorus of i love the valley.

anok said about 6 months ago:
side note: jamie used a DS to play the lead line (i think) on the chorus of i love the valley.

That was fucking brilliant. The rest of the show was just... there. I don't know. It wasn't the best show I've seen. They got up and played the songs. No real crowd interaction, no encore...

I kind of liked that they just got up and played the songs. The performances varied enough from the recorded versions to keep it interesting and they definitely weren't holding anything back. Sometimes it's irritating when bands break the intensity of a set by interspersing it with lame, empty banter. I do recall the crowd being pretty flat though, which was weird.

I hope they come back soon. Thinking about that Xiu Xiu/Former Ghosts/Zola Jesus tour they got in the US recently makes my mouth water.

can't stop listening to ''only girl (in the world)''.