The XX’s minimal blend of trip-hop, indie pop, and American R&B, is as an unlikely combination in 2012 as it was in 2009, maybe even more so, with the intervening years seeing the more is more, max bass, and then more bass of dubstep infecting both pop and rock. Thankfully, the London band remains willfully ignorant to trends with “Angels,” the first single from Coexist (9/11 on Young Turks), in both it’s solo-electric form, embedded above, and the full-band, but still very much strained version below. Who needs mega-bass when you have guitar, like rain drops losing their grip on leaves, collecting in the small puddle below, and a voice that hovers and whispers like morning dew? Whether out of time, or stunning enough to make time stand still, beauty will always have a place in music. Dubstep? Not so much.
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The Rockometer: Total Freedom by Spacin'
Let's talk about this Spacin' album, Total Freedom, 'cause to be honest, Total Freedom, and the previous Spacin' album, Deep Thuds, are pretty much the only things I've been listening to the past two weeks. Total Freedom shreds. It choogles. It's the work of jam masters. It's a jam monster. Read More
