wednesday wake up call

Excellent cover of Xiu Xiu's "I Luv The Valley Oh!" by Shearwater, taken from Fellow Travelers, a covers album out on November 26 via Sub Pop.

xiu xiu: women as lovers

Like all of Xiu Xiu previous releases, Women as Lovers is yet another record filled with ambitious experimentation in rhythm, structure, and noise. Xiu Xiu’s sixth full-length is not very different from any other Xiu Xiu albums; I guess there is no need for dramatic changes since the band’s sound is already so original and the music is always so engaging. It is interesting though to hear saxophone on their cover of "Under Pressure" as I don’t ever recall hearing the saxophone on any Xiu Xiu songs – the saxophone addition sounds like something out of the Lost Highway Soundtrack. The bottom-line is, if you are a longtime Xiu Xiu fan, you will enjoy Women as Lovers; however, if you were never a fan of Xiu Xiu’s music, you are probably not going to be crazy about this release.

[UPDATED on January 22, 2008]

I Do What I Want When I Want [wicked-cool song]
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No Friend Oh!
Under Pressure (feat. Michael Gira) [wicked-cool song]
You Are Pregnant, You Are Dead [wicked-cool song]
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Women as Lovers comes out on January 29th, you can pre-order it here

another great release day

Albums dropping today:

The Album Leaf: Into the Blue Again [wicked-cool album]
The Rapture: Pieces of the People We Love
The Matches: Decomposer
Xiu Xiu: The Air Force [wicked-cool album]
Heavens: Patent Pending
The Mars Volta: Amputechture
Emily Haines: Knives Don't Have Your Back

New records by The Album Leaf and Xiu Xiu are must haves... listen to The Rapture’s Pieces of the People We Love if you like dancepunk. I am also listening to a lot of Emily Haines and The Matches, so check those out too! Have fun record shopping!!!

i like you

Hey kids, I am in Osaka again. Tokyo was pretty awesome; I went to so many places... including the best museum ever! I will tell you all about that plus have a full post about my Tokyo trip very soon. For now, I want to post about Xiu Xiu. Remember the Pussycat Dolls' cover I posted a few weeks ago? Well, it turns out that it is from Xiu Xiu’s new EP, Tu Mi Piaci. This thing consists of five cover songs by Xiu Xiu, but I don’t really know any of the original tracks… other than the Pussycat Dolls one. So, this EP is more like new songs by Xiu Xiu rather than covers for me, anyway, I hope you enjoy them.

He Needs Me (Nina Simone)
Blue Berry Mine Shaft (Nedelle)
Kangaroo (This Mortal Coil/Alex Chilton)
All We Ever Wanted Was Everything (Bauhaus)
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buy Tu Mi Piaci here

i woke up with this song in my head this morning

Xiu Xiu - Hello From Eau Claire from The Air Force [wicked-cool song]

...and because of the title of this post, now I have this song stuck in my head:

Bright Eyes - I Woke Up With This Song In My Head This Morning from Lua Single [wicked-cool song]
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buy Lua Single here

don't cha wished that the original song is as good as this cover?

Here’s another freakout cover by Xiu Xiu. This time, the song is "Don't Cha" by The Pussycat Dolls... yes, that group of girls with absolutely no talent what-so-ever, enjoy.

Xiu Xiu - Don't Cha (Pussycat Dolls cover)
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aaahhhhh... more new xiu xiu!!

Oh my stars and garters, what’s with all the leaked albums!!! I’m not complaining, but I am totally overwhelmed by the amount of high quality music this past week! First Thom Yorke’s The Eraser, now Xiu Xiu’s The Air Force, which is not due out until September 15... that’s like more than three months away! What is going on?!?! Anyways, download the album below. Enjoy!

Xiu Xiu: The Air Force [wicked-cool album]
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The Air Force comes out on September 15, go buy it!

new xiu xiu

I have no plans today, so I'll probably be updating this blog nonstop. So, here’s a new Xiu Xiu song from the forthcoming album entitled The Air Force out on September 15:

Xiu Xiu - Boy Soprano
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UPDATE [@ 6:59 pm] So I lied... I didn’t update the blog nonstop today... I spent most of my afternoon trying to fix my desktop with my cousin; however, the thing is still broken!! I also saw this movie called Dear Wendy – a very good film!! Anyways, I am working on the next A to Z list... it’s going to be good, stay tuned!

deep in the cell of my heart, i will feel so glad to go

OMG, Xiu Xiu did a cover of my favorite song of all time: "Asleep" by The Smiths. I’m not really a Smiths fan; in fact, "Asleep" is probably the only song I like by them. I am not exaggerating when I said that it is my favorite song of all time... I have listened to that song more than any other song in my life! If I had to choose only one song to bring to a deserted island, it would be "Asleep". Plus, I have already decided that I want it to be played at my funeral. Seriously, the song means so much to me. I really don’t know where I would be right now if I never heard it... it stopped me from doing a really stupid thing time and again. The song is haunting, yet tremendously beautiful! Xiu Xiu’s version is actually very similar to the original, not a bad cover at all. Enjoy!

Xiu Xiu - Asleep from Fag Patrol [EP] (haha, great album title!)
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buy Xiu Xiu stuffs here

did you know you were going to shoot off the top of a 4 year old girl's head?

I had my first exam today… and dare I say, it was fun. What!?!?! 'Fun' and 'exam' in the same sentence? Yes, my exam was alright, not too hard at all. I could actually answer everything! The listening portion of the exam was awesome and pretty damn easy. I had to identify four mystery songs and answer random questions for each song. The songs were: Gloria Gaynor’s "I Will Survive" (ew!), "Fuck the Police" by NWA (haha, my wish came true), "I Can’t Get No Satisfaction" by The Rolling Stones, and Alanis Morissette’s "You Oughta Know"... really how fucking awesome is that, I got to listen to Alanis Morissette during my exam!

Ok, now to the main point of this post: about a week ago, I got my hands on the Xiu Xiu and Devendra Banhart 7" split. Devendra Banhart singing "Support Our Troops Oh!" in a peaceful harmonic style, a vocal style closely resembles to Hank Williams. I know, for those of you have heard Xiu Xiu’s version of "Support Our Troops Oh!", you must be asking "how can anyone make such a violent and distrubing song into a peaceful gospel?" Well, Devendra Banhart did and he did it successfully! It is absolutely a mind-blowing cover! In contrast, you have Xiu Xiu doing my favorite Devendra Banhart song "The Body Breaks". Xiu Xiu completely murdered (in a good way) one of the most beautiful songs ever! Seriously, Xiu Xiu can take any song, even the happiest song ever and make it sound disturbing. The off beat sound along with uneven vocal dynamic levels transformed "The Body Breaks" in the most creative and unique way. Overall, an astonishing 7", probably some of the best covers I have ever heard!

Devendra Banhart - Support Our Troops Oh! (Xiu Xiu Cover) [wicked-cool song]
Xiu Xiu - The Body Breaks (Devendra Banhart Cover)
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buy the Xiu Xiu/Devendra Banhart 7" Split here