It is the best Xiu Xiu record in many years for its brave mix of using different artists, allowing them to really contribute to the aesthetic, making for a more palatable record.
It isn’t the easiest listen but it is enriching, cathartic and above all, a document of the lengths that music can go to soothe even during the most difficult times.
Lead singer Jamie Stewart has been a consistent voice in the group, but OH NO, their twelve album, is another example of restless innovation.
It’s unlikely to win them any new followers, but existing fans won’t be disappointed.
Embodying hard times as well as the way friends lift each other out of them, Oh No also exemplifies the drama, mystery, and deeply felt emotions that have made Xiu Xiu a vital musical force for decades.
Jamie Stewart duets with more than a dozen indie, punk, and experimental music colleagues, and what results is a surprisingly sweet meditation on friendship, with nary a try-hard shock to be found.
... The same is true of these new songs, which pair Xiu Xiu mainman Jamie Stewart’s menacing, quavering murmur with the voices of Sharon Van Etten, Circuit des Yeux’s Haley Fohr, Grouper’s Liz Harris and several more guests who cut through OH NO’s sonic fog bank of clangorous gloom.
The majority of OH NO's duets strike a chord.
OH NO’s moving moments of catharsis and uplifting hope are muted by how exhaustingly over-the-top the rest of the album feels.
It’s clear that OH NO will not be remembered as one of Xiu Xiu’s most stellar records. Yet, as usual with collaborations, it’s likely that each listener is likely to find their own tracks they ditch, just like different ones will stand out.
These duets are, of course, not standards. The production is exceptionally murky – mostly collaborators move through the dark, uncertain world Stewart manifests with his Scott Walker-like crooning of glossolalia.
As always with Xiu Xiu ... it's a lot, two heads just as intense as one.
It’s kind of infuriating, kind of brazen, kind of pompous, and kind of admirable. It’s also, disappointingly, what anyone aware of the past twenty years of Xiu Xiu should reasonably expect.
Xiu Xiu’s latest and twelfth album, OH NO, was conceived in, and fuelled by the feelings conjured after a betrayal, lead singer/songwriter, James Stewart confesses.
FUCK! I NEED TO WRITE A REVIEW OF THIS NEW XIU XIU ALBUM OR I WILL NEVER BECOME A LOYAL FAN!
*repeatedly smashes head into keyboard*
Result:
"OH NO" sees Xiu Xiu make an album of duets (I'm not gonna repeat the same pun). Xiu Xiu are no stranger to collaborations, actually, as they've snuck in a few collaborations into their albums throughout their career (they even got Michael Gira of Swans to participate in a cover of "Under Pressure" for fuck's sake). In tandem with the ... read more
Xiu Xiu drop their most lush record since L͟a͟ F͟o͟r͟êt͟, and considering that's my third favorite from the band, that's not a complaint.
After nutty yet exciting G͟i͟r͟l͟ W͟i͟t͟h͟ B͟a͟s͟k͟e͟t͟ o͟f͟ F͟r͟u͟i͟t͟, and the pop-centric F͟O͟R͟G͟E͟T͟, the band needed a more calm record to maintain their eclectic reputation. Thankfully, O͟h͟ N͟o͟ lived up to every expectation I had. Not only does this album manage to accentuate the eccentric style of the ... read more
I mean, I expected this to be good, but geez, I didn't expect it to be THIS good.
Oh No is not a normal Xiu Xiu album, but then again, there really is no such thing as a normal Xiu Xiu album. One of the reasons I love this band as much as I do is that Jamie Stewart and co never veer away from pushing new boundaries, always making something new and unlike anything else. Oh No is definitely one of the poppier albums in the Xiu discography, although there is a LOT of experimentation going on ... read more
Legit forgot to review this the other day
It's pretty great, a lot of the guests Xiu Xiu brings on synergize with the band's sound really well, but it doesn't have those same memorable highs as the band's best records
Favorite Track: Rumpus Room or One Hundred Years
Least Favorite Track: Oh No
1 | Sad Mezcalita 3:59 with Sharon Van Etten | 82 |
2 | I Cannot Resist 3:29 with Drab Majesty | 79 |
3 | The Grifters 3:12 with Haley Fohr | 77 |
4 | Goodbye For Good 4:16 with Greg Saunier | 74 |
5 | OH NO 2:36 with Susanne Sachsse | 81 |
6 | Rumpus Room 3:44 with Liars | 86 |
7 | Fuzz Gong Fight 3:47 with Angela Seo | 82 |
8 | I Dream of Someone Else Entirely 2:54 with Owen Pallett | 75 |
9 | One Hundred Years 6:26 with Chelsea Wolfe | 84 |
10 | A Classic Screw 3:19 | 73 |
11 | It Bothers Me All The Time 5:28 with Shearwater | 76 |
12 | Saint Dymphna 4:04 with Twin Shadow | 79 |
13 | Knock Out 2:56 with Alice Bag | 73 |
14 | A Bottle of Rum 3:11 with Liz Harris | 88 |
15 | ANTS 0:15 with Valerie Diaz | 51 |
#44 | / | musicOMH |