Xasthur
Defective Epitaph
Hydra Head (2007)
One-man black metal projects certainly have become overabundant in the past couple of years. I'm not exactly sure what brought on their increased presence in music, but nevertheless, their popularity has grown exponentially in recent years. Xasthur, which is the project of Malefic, has been releasing material under this moniker since 1995. Defective Epitaph is his sixth full-length release and … Read more
Xasthur
Subliminal Genocide
Hydra Head (2006)
If you ate nothing but the guts of ravens, the shells of beetles, and the wax from vinyl, your shit might slide down your pants dense and black as night. Assuming shit doesn't have the connation of something bad, this soulless turd sums up Xasthur's newest full-length, Subliminal Genocide, in how it sounds, the way it makes you feel, and … Read more
xDeathstarx
We are the Threat
Facedown (2007)
Maybe I am the only one that can see the irony in a Christian straightedge band having a song called "The Great Opiate" since organized religion has always been thought of the opiate of the masses for free thinking atheists around the world. Then again, I don't think xDeathstarx could bang two brain cells in their collective seven heads to … Read more
Xibalba
Años en Infierno
Southern Lord (2020)
Southern California's Xibalba is back with a new LP titled Años En Infierno. The title of their third studio album translates to "years in hell," and it is a loathsome pillar, raised in tribute to the pain of living in a world populated by misery and ruin. Somehow the band's sulfurous combination of doom and death metal and hardcore from across the Americas, … Read more
Xibalba
Hasta La Muerte
Southern Lord (2012)
It would be impossible to have missed the mark Xibalba have left on the hardcore scene thus far. The band has toured incessantly and released a small handfull of recordings in the past few years. A389 took notice last year and released a discography LP and shortly after Southern Lord took notice and staked a claim upon the band's follow … Read more
Xibalba
Self Titled
A389 (2011)
Xibalba translates to "Place Of Fear" meaning a place where the evil go when they die in Mayan culture. There is no more fitting name for what Xibalba, the band, do musically. Over the past few years the band has managed to build a relentlessly heavy sound giving nods to Max Cavalera era Sepultura and Disembodied. These influences are readily … Read more
Xingfoo&Roy
Green Around The Gills
Independent (2022)
It's always nice to know one of your friends and favorite bands is doing good stuff and this example goes to a Singaporean band called Xingfoo&Roy. I met them initially 6 years ago. Me and some friends in our tiny town arranged a gig for the band. They're super nice and I think I've been in love since they put … Read more
Xiu Xiu
A Promise
5 Rue Christine (2003)
Quite the record. Nothing you are going to sit down and just listen to as background music because it needs your attention. Quivering vocals, electronic drums with random ADD outbursts, acoustic guitars, yet this whole record comes together as being very cohesive. There are some down points to the record though. Walnut House is so incredibly boring. Nothing happens until … Read more
Xiu Xiu
A Promise
5 Rue Christine (2003)
Xiu Xiu are a frustrating band in the sense that their originality is quite apparent, but for many people they are difficult to "get into." After coming away from their 2002 release Knife Play without having really "clicked" at all, I decided to give them another chance with A Promise. Almost wiping clean any trace of a riff or melody … Read more
Xiu Xiu
A Promise
5 Rue Christine (2003)
Xiu Xiu are a frustrating band in the sense that their originality is quite apparent, but for many people they are difficult to "get into." After coming away from their 2002 release Knife Play without having really "clicked" at all, I decided to give them another chance with A Promise. Almost wiping clean any trace of a riff or melody … Read more
Xiu Xiu
A Promise
5 Rue Christine (2003)
Somewhere between unforgiving and yielding, you'll find Xiu Xiu. This music is something I can't quite put my finger on, but it's similar to Godspeed You! Black Emperor. The difference between the two being Xiu Xiu loves electronics and likes to add spastic noises at random. Furthermore, Xiu Xiu is more unpredictable. They seem to like to screw around with … Read more
Xiu Xiu
A Promise
5 Rue Christine (2003)
Quite the record. Nothing you are going to sit down and just listen to as background music because it needs your attention. Quivering vocals, electronic drums with random ADD outbursts, acoustic guitars, yet this whole record comes together as being very cohesive. There are some down points to the record though. Walnut House is so incredibly boring. Nothing happens until … Read more
Xiu Xiu
Angel Guts: Red Classroom
Polyvinyl (2014)
Xiu Xiu (pronounced “shoo shoo”) is a critically-acclaimed, Los Angeles-based, avant-garde duo. It’s comprised of founder James Stewart and Angela Seo, a member since 2009.Their melancholy, Bowie Low-esque sound can be heard in the music of contemporaries like Majical Cloudz and Grimes.Angel Guts: Red Classroom, Xiu Xiu’s latest release from Polyvinyl Records, makes up for Nina, their horrid, cringeworthy Nina Simone tribute album from 2013. On their ninth full-length, … Read more
Xiu Xiu
Fabulous Muscles
5 Rue Christine (2004)
This is the first time I've ever managed to find the perfect soundtrack for an art exhibit. After viewing a collection called "Late Modern European Prints," and listening to Fabulous Muscles on the drive back, I realized that both works were attempting to challenge the limits of creative representation in order to show that when said challenging occurs, art can … Read more
Xiu Xiu
La Forét
5 Rue Christine (2005)
Xiu Xiu is one of those bands you either love or hate. They are hard to get into; they talk about some of the most socially taboo topics, and in general are just out there. To me, their music is a cacophony of amazing music. On their latest outing, La Forét, meaning 'the forest' or 'the drill', the band returns … Read more
Xiu Xiu
Life and Live
Xeng (2005)
Xiu Xiu are an anomaly in modern music. This at least, if nothing else, fans and critics of the group can agree on. Intermittently fragile, sad, tense, evocative, provocative and even humorous, the emotionof Xiu Xiu itself is overwhelming. Mix this with the often aggressive screeching broken electronic feel of a lot of the musical accompaniment and the on-edge, straight-from-the-asylum … Read more
Xiu Xiu / Devendra Banhart
Split
5 Rue Christine (2005)
Take two of the indie music world's hottest acts, stick them together on a split release on one of the best record labels in America, make the vinyl any number of pretty colors and patterns and you have a recipe for success. Along with a ridiculously predictable, by numbers, 'I can't be bothered thinking too hard' way of opening a … Read more
