12:12 Tune of the Day: Basic Space — The xx
Posted By Ben W. on September 18, 2009
Phil Spector is my favorite producer in music history. So wrapping my head around minimalist pop still doesn’t come naturally for me. But when the minimalist pop in question is as good as The xx, I suppose I can cope with the idea of not employing 16 piano players for one song.
The xx is a group of four kids from London. They’re real young. Like 20. And they already produce themselves. Pretty impressive.
Their roots are in electro and beat programming. But the key word with them really is minimalist. There is a lot of room to breathe in their songs. They certainly don’t use beats to create excitement. They use them to create tension and atmosphere. As a result, their debut album, xx, may not be a thrilling listen track-to-track. It’s very compelling, though, as a single 40-minute entity — perfect late-night mood music.
The group’s real secret weapon is the dual-lead vocals of Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim. Reportedly friends since childhood, their voices interact perfectly — charming, intimate and remarkably soulful. Very, very soulful, in fact. This album wouldn’t be half as good as it is minus the soul conveyed in their vocals.
It’s all very reminiscent of the quieter parts of OutKast’s The Love Below (especially this). Which is really cool, because for being such a great, groundbreaking album The Love Below hasn’t proven to be very influential. Leave it to a bunch of kids from England in 2009 to pick up where Dre left off. Strange.
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