music 2009 poll 4: the xx - xx poll

1. basic space
2. crystalised
3. heart skipped a beat (mad underrated imo!)
4. hot like fire
5. vcr

ha "basic space" is my least favourite by far - though the jamie xx space bass mix is amazing

"crystalised" or "infinity", though "shelter" has my single favourite moment on the album - "and i'll cross oceans, like never before / so you can feel the way i feel it too/ and i'll mirror images back at you / so you can see the way I feel it too" - <3 <3 <3 <3 so romantic

1. Infinity - love the almost Lynchian vibe on this one
2. Shelter - girl's singing on this is shiversome
3. Heart Skipped A Beat - their best, most moving chorus I think

I think I'm the only person whose fav is "VCR" but the whole album is great

vcr is not my favourite but it is SO GOOD

"heart skipped a beat"

this album is so amazing

Heart Skipped a Beat really reminds me of Absent Friend by Bark Psychosis.

didn't u complain @ beatrix kiddo for doing exactly this?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

shelter 4 sure

i realized that i like their "hot like fire" cover way more than the original "hot like fire" because it sounds more like "one in a million" than the other one does

VCR

Seriously, "hot like fire" listed in the poll but not "do you mind" or "teardrops"? cuz the kyla cover coulda been a contender. as could pretty much every track here, tbh, but in the end i went for Islands.

i dont 'get' the kyla cover still. what makes the o.g. so great is the contrast btween the sweetness of the melody & the muscle of the groove & thats lost in the cover, its just a reference

i included the "hot like fire" cover because a. i love it b. isn't it included on the vinyl release?

and deej otm

I've been a bit underwhelmed by all their covers really (bar the "You've Got The Love" remix if that counts, and I wouldn't like it nearly as much if it didn't have the cut-up vocals sections). For me they don't escape the "here we are covering this popular song in our trademark style" 2+2=4 feel.

Would rate them "Hot Like Fire" >> "Teardrops" >> "Do You Mind".

"teardrops" is by faaaar the best of their covers

it's a lot fuller-sounding than the rest so doesn't seem as negligible on record (live, all are heart-stopping)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

that's my #2, so okay. But poor Shelter, you have like three of my five favourite moments on the album and this is how you're repaid?

Islands is a weird one for me, it drifts by pleasantly when I listen to it, then I have absolutely no recollection of it.

I like "Infinity" because it points at how the group could expand their sonic palette while maintaining that spectral, um, crystalline quality - also it's a bit camp, which I think works for them.

apparently there is a blue nile remix of "islands", on the EP release of the song, which seems completely scrubbed from the internet. anyone heard it or know where to find it?

a blue nile remix of "islands"

i'm going to explode

right??

I don't have it with me at work, but ...

The xx really need to get Paul Buchanan in to duet with them. If Jessie Ware can do it, sure they can.

!!!!!

Had no idea. Found it on slsk, and have put it up here

https://open.spotify.com/track/79rGW2PkOeEL8qQfbzvapW?si=sLxfSNp2Rxq0YWMUWlxoZg

thanks LBI, was wondering how best to share

ty LBI!