Forty Minutes Of The Xx

Over the course of three Xx albums, a bunch of remixes and various solo releases The Xx defined some of what the 2010's would sound like, the three members conjuring up a minimalist and distinctive sound, a hint of indie- rock, reflective/ melancholic vocals by the front pair of Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim, and Jamie Xx's beats and laptop bringing in a sound from London's club scene and underground. I missed their debut album, the Mercury prize win and their media exposure putting me off (like the fool I can be sometimes about such things) and only really caught up with their second album and then especially Jamie Xx's solo album In Colour. Now, I find their music hugely affecting. Revisiting Jamie's Gil Scott Heron remix album recently sent hares running in my mind and hence today's mix. In the end, the real problem was choosing what to put in and what to leave out.

Forty Minutes Of The Xx

• Gil Scott Heron and Jamie Xx: I'll Take Care Of You
• Jamie Xx ft. Romy: Loud Places
• Jamie Xx: All Under One Roof Raving
• The Xx: Chained (John Talabot and Pional Blinded Remix)
• The Xx: VCR
• The Xx: VCR (Four Tet Remix)
• Jamie Xx: Let's Do It Again
• Jamie Xx: Gosh

In 2011 Jamie Xx remixed all of Gil Scott Heron's 2010 album, I'm New Here (it turned out to be Gil's final album). The new version, We're New Here, is full of Jamie's signature production techniques and is full of life and the joy of making sound. The album was Jamie's first full solo production, much of it created while on tour with The Xx. He said wanted it to sound like something you'd hear on pirate radio, 'a different genres... convoluted and mixed up'.  Post- dubstep apparently. 

Loud Places is the stand out from Jamie Xx's 2015 album In Colour, a record that was deservedly praised in the end of 2015 lists. This song, with Xx bandmate Romy on vocals, a song about memories,  connections, the solace found in crowds, intimacy, missing someone when they've gone, all those kinds of things. John Talabot's remix of Loud Places, the Higher Dub, is among my favourite records of the last ten years and that I didn't put it on this mix is a mystery to me too.

All Under One Roof Raving was released as a single in 2014, a celebration of nightclubs, music, scenes, youth culture, London and clothing. It samples crowd noises and voices from the 1999 film Fiorucci Made Me Hardcore, the list of brands at the end of the song 

John Talabot and Pionel's remix of Chained came out in 2013, the Spanish producers pushing the source track (from The Xx's 2012 album Coexist) into less minimal territories, the vocals from Romy and Oliver Sim ducking and diving around each other.

VCR was on The Xx's self titled debut album, released in 2010, which suddenly seems like a long time ago. The minimal sound, spacious production, woodblock percussion, single guitar line and melancholic twin vocals demonstrating what made their first album so good. 

The Four Tet remix of VCR is among Kieran Hebden's best work. Yep, that good. 

Let's Do It Again was the first new track from Jamie since 2020's I Don't Know, a 2022 track designed to sound irresistible in fields and festivals. This is the radio edit, a four minute condensed journey through peaks and troughs, samples and synth arpeggios and an anthemic vocal. It was at least partly a response to emerging from lockdown and being able to do things communally again. 

Gosh is the opening track on In Colour, a deep house/ future garage/ pirate radio single that leaps out of the speakers. 'Oh my gosh', the vocal sample exclaims, 'Oh my gosh/ Easy easy/ Hold it down, hold it down' and you know exactly what he means. 

The Most Beautiful Girl In Hackney

Another Top Boy related post following yesterday's Fuck Buttons double bill. At the end of episode three, series one, Sully says to his young daughter, 'You're the most beautiful girl in Hackney y'know', a line I instantly recognised (Sully is played by rapper and grime artist Kano). It took me a moment to pinpoint where I'd heard it before...

Girl

Girl is the final song on Jamie Xx's solo album In Colour from 2015, a dizzying swirl of synths and beats and a voice, chopped up and distorted singing 'I want your love'. The album, seven years old now, is a peach, a thoroughly modern mish mash of samples, voices and songs, spanning the range from bedsit broken heart laptop ballads (like Loud Places) to massive club tunes (such as Gosh). As well as the line of dialogue from Top Boy Girl samples Brian Wilson and Freeze's I.O.U.

Loud Places, with vocals from his Xx bandmate Romy, was remixed by John Talabot twice. This one is the pick of the pair, a stunning ten minute remix that builds gradually but incessantly, synths and voices climbing euphorically, drums padding softly and then a part of Romy's vocal- 'Didn't I take you to/ Higher places, you can't reach without me?' The second half, after six minutes, takes off elsewhere with the bassline leading and Romy's vocal shifting to breathy mutterings about ecstasy and, in a kiss off moment, not being around when he/ she/ they come down. 

Loud Places (John Talabot's Higher Dub)

Islands

It seems incredible that The xx's debut album is now twelve years old. It was one of those albums that grew in stature, slowly but steadily, and then in the 2010s everyone seemed to be trying to copy their sound. They definitely found a new angle on things, sleek indie songs with electronica's beats and space, nods to hip hop and the influence of some of the post- punk groups- Young Marble Giants and Cocteau Twins are both in there somewhere. Portishead too. The sparse, minimal arrangements, the sharp, clearly defined space that surrounds everything, Jamie Xx's laptop foundations and the foreground basslines with the spindly guitar lines that dance around plus Romy and Oliver's duetted vocals, all came together to make something that was fresh and new and for a sound that was so digital was very intimate and personal too. This song was a single and a perfect snapshot of what made them so good.

Islands

As a bonus, this is a Four Tet remix of another song from their debut album, VCR, a showcase for Kieran's skittery beats and topline melodies, a gorgeous eight minute re- working, that makes them sound like him and him like them. 

VCR (Four Tet Remix)

Last year Romy put out a solo single, a throbbing, electric ode to 80s synthesisers and summer holiday Europop, a button pushing euphoric blast of future nostalgia. Stick this on and make that lockdown disappear for a few minutes. 

Didn't I Take You To Higher Places You Can't Reach Without Me?

Drew posted this last week but on the off chance that there's anyone who missed it there or who reads this but not Across The Kitchen Table I'm going to share it here today. I've been playing it daily since I first heard it. John Talabot's remix of Jamie Xx's Loud Places. Drew called it mesmerising- which it definitely is. Add euphoric. And gorgeous. At ten minutes long, if you click replay twice that's half an hour of your day gone in a blissful haze, lost with that line or two of Romy's vocal isolated and repeated, and those wonderful drum patterns and synths. Between them Jamie, Romy and John also nail the happiness/sadness that is part of dance music and club culture- the communal joy of dancing against the loss of the lyrics. She's not waiting around, she's going, going, gone.

You Go To Loud Places

I'm still massively enjoying the Jamie Xx album. This John Talabot remix of one of the standout songs Loud Places strips it down, keeps Romy's vocal and then goes synth crazy at the end. Probably works best in a club but still sounds good at home.

Loud Places

My first few listens of the Jamie Xx solo album have been very enjoyable- it's got the tunes, it's well paced, full of thumping and/or interesting drums and percussion, and moments of bittersweet euphoria. The sleeve's lovely too. There's a garage/dubstep influence on the some of the songs which keep it from being too tasteful and give it a rougher edge. The Rest Is Noise already sounds like being the song you're going to hear out of open windows and on TV festival coverage. Another highlight is Loud Places, sung by bandmate Romy. This recent live performance from French TV has Romy singing and guitaring, a lively percussionist, a choir and Stella from Warpaint on drums.