The xx

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风格: #独立流行　#独立电子乐　#梦幻流行　#未来车库舞曲
地区: United Kingdom 英国

艺人介绍

乐队简介

The xx一支来自伦敦的乐队。出版首张专辑唱片前，就有国际各种音乐媒体大肆渲染，夹道欢呼，这样开始音乐生涯，再幸运不过了——英国的媒体宠儿The xx就可以证明。乐队四个成员，Romy Madley Croft, Baria Qureshi, Oliver Sim 和Jamie Smith都还没满二十岁。The xx乐队的首张专辑唱片，xx，既有难得的成熟，又具有年青乐队特有那份青涩的妖冶，使人印象深刻。尽管the xx的音乐不是前无古人，不过唱片里流露出超越年龄的智慧，吟唱恋爱时辗转难眠的苦涩味道，是近期罕见的佳作。

现在有一些新乐队，不是喜欢各种各样的特效叠起来一块儿玩，就是倡导极简主义。The XX就是后者。同样属于在今年内被英国媒体力捧的新军，The XX却低调、简约、神秘得像他们的这个乐队名称。处女作《The XX》开场当中那鼓机创造而出的振奋人心的气场，几乎让人以为他们又是一队仗着初生牛犊那种不怕虎的猛劲而力闯乐坛的小愤青，然而事实情况却是那种简致的电子节拍和鼓机的共同作用，合奏出独属于The XX的低保真风格音乐，同时，良好的音乐素养是组成The XX的四个年轻人身上的品质，这种人格魅力决定了他们专辑的品质。人声相对而言较弱的他们，据悉可能会针对电子乐器材和鼓机，而创作一张纯器乐专辑。

Xx里的音乐，更象是实验室，而不是车库的产物。精致考量的平衡，饱满的氛围，歌曲断续的节奏，阴沉、疏懒的吉他，营造出一种安详、淡淡的情绪，静静地渗透、萦绕着你，而不是象多数歌曲那样直入耳膜。乐队没有直接照搬已经成名的乐队Radiohead 或 Interpol的套路，尽管还是会有人会拿来做比较。其实，The xx的音乐养分来源比人们推想的更广泛、更折衷，从后朋的Young Marble Giants（经常会被拿来比较），到现今的R&B，及这两极中间的音乐。这些音乐元素在xx专辑里熟练地编织、裁合，把唱片当作一个整体来听，这种感觉会更加明显。请把音量尽量调大，或者戴耳机仔细倾听，草率而浮光掠影式的倾听，会遗漏掉那些细微的，唱片真正出彩之处。

挑刺的人会说the xx的歌词没有脱离年青人那些情感关系和性的陈词滥调。这基本上没错，不过他们年纪轻轻，能从相对有限的经历里，传达出这些有感染力的情感，已实属不易。“You applyin’ pressure to help me crystallize/And you've got the faith that I could bring paradise”，这是唱片第三首歌的开头，在乐队简约、贝斯主导行进的音乐氛围里，探究两性关系里的无常和忧虑。类似Crystallized这样的歌曲，充斥着纠结和焦虑，诗性盎然，也是乐队出众的地方。

他们亦具有化腐朽为神奇的才华，例如，他们翻唱已故的R&B女歌手Aaliyah的作品“Hot like Fire” ，去掉了流行和R&B那份轻浮味，歌曲还依旧动听。

作为一支非常年青乐队的首张唱片，xx可谓精彩。简约到近乎简陋的制作，却承托出他们的幽静、内省的歌曲，唱片提醒我们，青春期的哀愁和年轻人不竭的创造力。完全有理由期待乐队的下个作品。

「伦敦是个永远不会令人厌倦的城市，即使在它让人沮丧时，仍令人感到惊奇……」乐队键盘手Baria Qureshi如此形容着他们所生活的城市。当此等对伦敦的着迷，透过The XX的音符获得抒发，以十一首精简迷人的旋律勾勒着伦敦充满紧绷和冲突的城市景观，Romy Madley Croft和Oliver Sim媲美The Kills男女双主唱的完美和谐，迷蒙慵懒的吉他和着Bassline沉稳深邃的律动，The XX将节奏蓝调刚柔并济的节拍，以摇滚形式重新输入后，舒缓自信的超龄音乐厚度， VCR、Night Time、Heart Skipped A Beat…一首首彷佛迷走的城市、望着陌生又熟悉风景时，苦涩和甜蜜交织的矛盾情绪，凝聚出直追Tricky和Burial那般穿梭都会深夜的低迷冷凝氛围！

乐队成员

现成员

Romy Madley Croft – guitar, vocals

Oliver Sim – bass guitar, vocals

Jamie Smith – synthesiser, drums, keyboards, beats, MPC; record production

前成员

Baria Qureshi – keyboards, guitar (2005–2009)

History

2005–2009: Formation

The band members met while studying at Elliott School, the same school attended by Hot Chip, Burial, Four Tet, actor Pierce Brosnan and singer Matt Monro. The group has downplayed the influence of the school on its career: "A teacher from Elliott who had never even taught us said how great we were. It's a bit annoying. We were left alone, more than anything – although I'm sure that helped us in its own way." Oliver Sim and Romy Madley Croft started the band as a duo when they were 15. Guitarist Baria Qureshi joined once it began performing in 2005, with Jamie Smith, also known as Jamie xx, joining a year after. Smith, although schoolfriends with Croft, Sim and Qureshi, joined the band after being formally introduced by Young Turks.

2009–2011: xx and Qureshi's departure

The xx's debut album xx was released on 17 August 2009 through the British independent record label Young Turks, and was met with critical acclaim. The album ranked on best of the year lists, ranking ninth on the Rolling Stone list and second for NME. In the 2009 NME The Future 50 list, the xx was positioned at number six, and in October 2009, it was named one of MTV Iggy's "Top 10 Bands with Buzz" (at the CMJ Music Marathon 2009). "Crystalised" was featured on iTunes (UK) as Single of the Week, starting from 18 August 2009.

Though the band had previously worked with producers including Diplo and Kwes, Smith produced xx and co-mixed with Rodaidh McDonald. The xx recorded its first album in a small garage that was part of the XL Recordings studio, often at night, which contributed to the low, whispery nature of the album.

In August 2009, the band headlined its own concert tour. The xx has toured with artists including Friendly Fires, The Big Pink, and Micachu. In January 2010, Matt Groening chose the band to play at the All Tomorrow's Parties festival which he curated in Minehead, England. In addition, the band played at five music festivals in the United States, Coachella, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.

In late 2009, second guitarist and keyboardist Baria Qureshi left the group. Initial reports stated that this was due to exhaustion, but Oliver Sim later said that the rest of the band had made this decision, "Also to be fair to her, people have an idea about that she left the band. She didn't. It was a decision that me, Romy, and Jamie made. And it had to happen."

The music of its debut album was used extensively on television and in the media, such as 24/7, Person of Interest, NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games; during the series Cold Case, Suits, Mercy, the Greek version of Next Top Model, Bedlam, Hung, 90210, as well as being the feature song for the March 2010 E4 advert for 90210, Misfits, the Karl Lagerfeld fall/winter 2011 fashion show, Waterloo Road, and the film I Am Number Four. In May 2010, the track "Intro" was used by the BBC in its coverage of the 2010 general election. This led to the band playing the track on an episode of Newsnight. The track was also played before the UEFA Euro 2012 and UEFA Euro 2016 matches at stadiums in Poland, Ukraine, and France and featured during the end of Top Gear season 19 episode 6 "Africa Special Part 1". Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and Sander van Doorn's 2012 single "Project T", which launched the Tomorrowland 2012 aftermovie, contains samples from "Intro"; van Doorn had earlier released a remix of the song in 2010. The song was also sampled in Rihanna's "Drunk on Love" from her album Talk That Talk and was featured in the films It's Kind of a Funny Story and Project X.

In September 2010, xx won the Mercury Prize. After the live ceremony screening, the album jumped from 16 to 3 on 12 September UK album chart, accompanying a 269% sales increase. XL's marketing campaign drastically expanded after this substantial win, with day-time TV advertisements and billboard campaigns on some of the UK's highest-profile digital billboards. Thanks to the highlighted publicity, XL Recordings says that it shipped more than 40,000 CDs in the days following the Mercury Prize. XL managing director Ben Beardsworth explained, "Thanks to the Mercury win... things are accelerating dramatically and the band will be reaching a bigger and bigger audience with their music." In another promotional initiative, the label sent out Saam Farahmand's audio/visual sculpture of the album when the band toured at Bestival 2010, as well as to an event at Seoul.

The xx was nominated for 'Best British Album', 'Best British Breakthrough' and 'Best British Band' at the 2011 BRIT Awards held on 15 February 2011 at the O2 Arena in London, although it did not win in any of the categories.

2011–2012: Coexist

In December 2011, Smith revealed that he wanted to release the xx's second album ahead of its festival appearances the following year, and that it was inspired by "club music". "The majority of stuff I'm working on now is the xx stuff. We're just about to start recording. Hopefully we'll get it done in time for most festivals next year, because that's the most fun." Discussing the sound of the album, he said: "We've all come back off tour and been partying a bit more. We left when we were 17 and we missed out on that chunk of our lives when everyone else was partying. Club music has definitely had an influence on the next record."

On 1 June 2012, it was announced that the follow-up, Coexist, would be released on 10 September. On 16 July 2012, it announced and released "Angels" as the lead single from Coexist. On 3 September 2012, in a collaboration with Internet Explorer, the xx released Coexist to stream on its website until the worldwide release date on 11 September.

In August 2012, the xx was featured on the cover of issue number 81 of The Fader.

The xx performed at Bestival on 9 September 2012 in front of the largest crowd at the festival. Its first North American tour started on 5 October in Vancouver, Canada, with dates throughout the US and Mexico.

2013–present: Touring, side projects and I See You

In 2013, the xx held a series of three festival-style concerts, called "Night+Day", in Berlin, Lisbon, and London. The festivals featured performances and DJ sets curated by the band, including Kindness and Mount Kimbie. Each festival culminated in a nighttime concert by the band. The band was nominated for a Brit Award for Best British Group, eventually losing out to Mumford & Sons.

In April 2013, the xx contributed the song "Together" to the official soundtrack to Baz Luhrmann's adaptation of The Great Gatsby. In March 2014, the xx performed a series of shows at the Park Avenue Armory in New York City. The show featured live visual effects and had a limited capacity.

In May 2014, the band revealed that they were working on their third studio album, working with producer Rodaidh McDonald at the Marfa Recording Company studio in Texas.

In May 2015, Jamie xx said that his debut album In Colour "has definitely informed what we're doing for the next album." The band also reported that the record will have "a completely different concept" than their previous records. In November 2015, the band stated that they would continue working on the record through December and it will be released in 2016. On 6 October 2016, it was reported the band was planning to release new music "before the holidays." On 10 October 2016, they announced that they were still working on the third album, but shared a playlist and added tour dates.

In November 2016, the xx announced that the release of their third studio album, I See You, would be on 13 January 2017. They released the album's lead single "On Hold" at the same time. On 19 November 2016, the xx appeared as the musical guest on Saturday Night Live. They performed the songs "On Hold" and "I Dare You". On 2 January 2017, the band released the album's second lead single "Say Something Loving".

In November 2016, UK and European tour dates were announced for the new album. On 25 November 2016 the band announced an extended residency at the O2 Academy, Brixton – adding four additional days to their original tour and setting the record for longest run of sold-out shows in the venue's history.

I See You was nominated for IMPALA's European Album of the Year Award.

The xx

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