Search - Xiu Xiu :: Knife Play

Chilling.

Raymond Mode | Minneapolis, Minnesota | 01/17/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Xiu Xiu _Knife Play_ is awesome, but maybe that isn't the appropriate word. this is, hands down, one of the most saddening and empty albums i've ever heard, but it works, very well. there isn't really any melody on it, but when there is, it's short-lived, bedeviling the listener into thinking things are going to get better. they never do. the chords are dissonant. the vocals are barren. the lyrics are contristed. the song _Knife Play_ ends with is, without a doubt, the most desolate and depressing song i've yet to hear. it destroys anything you might be thinking of. anything. i hope, sincerely, a more depressing song is never made, and if there is one i certainly hope it doesn't reach my ears. to give you an idea, there is a piano playing dissonant chords that are enough to make one's heart break, and the vocalist is singing in no real rhythm, just letting it flow out of his soul. it's like the man just lost his entire family, absolutely everything he ever loved and cared for, and this is the only thing he has left to cling to his sanity. the vocals make me hurt. to top it off, there is a bird chirping in the distance, it's buried deep in the mix, virtually inaudible. this is about the only glimmer of hope on the entire album. it's desolate. it's brilliant. it's highly recommended."

Locked ward

ErikTrips | San Francisco, CA USA | 01/15/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A completely psychotic "OK Computer." I mean this in the best way possible."

THIS IS SCARY WHERE'S MY WAYNE NEWTON CD????

The Wickerman | Austin, TX | 07/27/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Describing Xiu Xiu's music is damn near impossible. The first time you hear this album, it will probably scare the crap out of you. However, if you're like me, you might be intrigued, rather than completely frightened away.



The best description I can think of is this: take the most psychotic, dangerously depressed person you can think of, think of what kinds of twisted things must be going through their mind, and imagine if you could take that, and put it onto a CD. Do this, and you have some idea of what "Knife Play" is all about. Now, to some, this may not sound like a good idea, but to those into dark, depressing, truly twisted music, it's a dream come true. Jamie Stewart seriously makes Trent Reznor look like Richard Simmons. Able to go from subdued, heart-wrenching vocals, to hair-raising manic screams, he truly brings this delightfully nightmarish music to life.



The opening track, "Don Diasco", is instantly attention-getting, with its jarring broken rhythms, and Jamie's deranged vocals. "I Broke Up" is deliciously bipolar, toggling between dark melodies and unsettling walls of noise. "Poe Poe" and "Over Over" are about is "normal" as things get, boasting twisted techno rhythms over forlorn synths (Fans of Nine Inch Nails and the Cure will likely appreciate these); "Anne Dong" is barren and desolate, evoking imagery of a cold, lifeless planet. "Suha" is a sort of ballad, with sad, eerie accordion and string melodies adorning Stewart's subdued vocals. "Homonucleus" is similarly subdued, with squawking, free-jazzy bursts of noise interspersed throughout. The album ends with the massively minimal "Tonite and Today", where everything finally just collapses. A dark, enveloping piano ballad, this song reaches unfathomable emotional depths that would even make Mr. Reznor feel better about this life.



If you haven't figured this out by now, this album is not for the faint of heart. To be honest, it's something I really have to be in the mood for (and I'm not sure I even want to meet the person who's in the mood for it all the time). It's intimidating, uncompromising, and unsettling, but if such is your pleasure, you'll dig it for sure."