Album of the Week: The xx’s basic spaces

I hate to generalize, but if you’re a graphic designer, I bet your favourite TV show right now is Mad Men and your favourite new band is UK-based The xx. Both employ a stark minimalism that critics (and designers) love but others find painfully dull. And while I love Mad Men (and can’t wait for each slow-moving, cigarette-burning episode each week), it did take me a while to appreciate the show’s brilliance, and maybe the same will one day be said of The xx and their equally lowercased first album, xx. I do love some tracks, especially “Basic Space” and the biting “Islands,” and the record’s stripped-down, glacial-paced sound is not only unlike anything else out there but also serves as a perfect antidote to the overproduced lo-fi neo-Brian Wilson music that predominates lately. But the dullness – look, Don Draper is having a drink! hear that guitar playing a single note over and over! – is harder to avoid here. Now back to my Pantone swatches... B+

The xx: Basic Space (Sampha Remix) (from The XX official site)
from the album xx
MP3 • • MYSPACE • OFFICIAL SITE

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