XIU XIU + J. JOSEPHINE – GREEN DOOR STORE, BRIGHTON 8.6.23
As a teenager, I consistently imbibed myself within the strange and beautiful artists present in the underground and indie circles, whether that be through the avant-folk medievalism of Richard Dawson, the psychedelic spiralings of Animal Collective or the monumental force of Swans; but one group that always got my attention at the age of 19 was Xiu Xiu.
Spearheaded by Jamie Stewart, Xiu Xiu is an explorative experimental group that have been releasing consistent records for the last two decades or so. You never know what to expect from Xiu Xiu; you may get pop-woven soundscapes on albums such as 2017’s ‘Forget’, you may get releases comprising of Nina Simone covers and ‘Twin Peaks’ soundtrack re-imaginings, or you may even get harrowing, disturbing and downright terrifying arrays of noise and percussion on albums like 2019’s ‘Girl With Basket Of Fruit’. Thursday night saw Jamie Stewart, joined with long-time member Angela Seo as well as drummer and percussionist David Kendrick (known for his involvement with groups such as Devo and Sparks), conclude their six-date UK tour following the release of their most recent album ‘Ignore Grief’.
Entering the queue outside the ever-familiar Green Door Store put me in an odd place of anachronism; I’ve spent the last nine months or so visiting there to catch friends’ gigs, or dance at the 80s club night, so going to a gig of a favourite artist felt somewhat baffling… still didn’t make the evening any less enjoyable! The show commenced fifteen minutes later than the 8pm planned time with local ambient and noise artist J. Josephine!
The audience began to quieten down as Josephine donned her spectacles and set up her saxophone before playing some ambience from her iPod (as an continuously avid iPod user, this made me happy!). For the first few minutes or so of the set, Josephine spent her time dialling and tweaking her Korg Mono Synth, with the resulting sounds consisting of a distinctive, pulsating rumbling; this current atmosphere brought out my appreciation for tape and electroacoustic alchemists like Graham Lambkin and Jason Lescalleet, something that sits dormant in my listening sphere, especially when experiencing live shows.
The rumbling started to intensify, coupled with faint strings, sharp in texture, like something straight out of Tim Buckley’s Starsailor. Eventually, these haunting, but blooming sonorities die down, volumetrically collapsing into soft, sequential synth chords, before Josephine’s saxophone eventually comes into play. Her sax performances verge on the atonal side of harmony, something that, in more conventional musicalities, would stand in an odd place, but here, they’re almost terraforming around these synth textures, like a warped take on something from David Bowie’s ‘Low’ record.
This cinematic dystopia conjured up by Josephine begins to fuzz and intensify, with her sax playing reaching new levels of escalation, almost sounding like it’s crying for help. The synths are subsequently swapped with heavily-filtered chords, akin to the sounds of orchestra hits, submerged and oceanic in tone. After an ensuing collapse in aura brought upon by high-pitched frequencies from her oscillator, Josephine rests from the saxophone and starts to bring the performance to an end. The room is silent, until an overwhelming rapture of applause and cheer emanates from the perpetually invested audience.
Support and listen to J. Josephine here: jjosephine.bandcamp.com
As Josephine packs down, the subtle sounds of the sonorous Scott Walker begin to bleed into the room via the speakers; it is always a thrill to hear Scott in public somewhere! The trio of Xiu Xiu silently assembled on the stage, leading to immediate admiration from the crowd. None of the members engaged in much audience interaction through the set, however Jamie Stewart makes his introduction by congratulating Josephine’s set, before remarking on how lovely it is to visit “our fair city” for the first time in a long while. A gentle soft synth tone leads us into the opening cut ‘Pahrump’, from ‘Ignore Grief’, released in March this year. The song breathes a frightening chestful of air with Jamie’s hushed vibrato vocals carrying a weight of vulnerability that does not leave the stage until the end of the night.
‘Ignore Grief’ saw Xiu Xiu explore more experimental and industrial territory, so the loud drum hits from David Kendrick and smashing of gongs and cymbals from Jamie and Angela Seo on this performance represent the style so perfectly! Jamie, Angela and David waste no time before heading into the following ‘Botánica De Los Angeles’. Easily in my top three Xiu Xiu tracks of all time, this song makes use of thunderous guitar performances and shimmering Korg synths, not to mention Jamie’s lyrics holding this solemn weight of death and trauma through the track.
The third song of the night, ‘Maybae Baeby’, another new cut, sees the percussive side to Xiu Xiu shine through with Jamie playing around more with sample pads and ringing bells, while Angela delivers her quiet spoken word. The beats in this song switch from heavy industrial to almost marching band-like snare rhythms, something that carries the song through very nicely. The group followed this up with a song from one of their more poppier albums (‘Forget’), entitled ‘Petite’. Despite it having a more accessible sound compared to some of the set so far, it doesn’t make it any less of a haunting listen with fragile humming from Jamie, as well as some dark, but blossoming electric guitars soaked in reverb. The next track, ‘A Bottle Of Rum’, easily one of Xiu Xiu’s more modern classic tracks, while it feels very odd hearing Jamie sing instead of Liz Harris from Grouper who appears on the original version, it’s still a monumentally propulsive and melodic listen with galloping drums and heavenly sounds coming from Angela’s Korg synths.
‘Master Of The Bump (Kurt Stumbaugh, I Can Feel The Soil Falling Over My Head)’ was one of the few Xiu Xiu songs I had not yet heard before the show, so this was an intriguing point in the set for me. This track felt somewhat ballad-like despite Jamie’s overwhelmingly frightened vocals and warped guitars that sound like something off of Scott Walker’s final few releases. However, now we come to an incredible three-song streak in the performance, kicking off with an all-time classic Xiu Xiu song, ‘Apistat Commander’; David commences a kick drum pattern that is instantly recognisable to many a Xiu Xiu fan before leading to a more glitching and abrasive introduction than the original that appears on 2003’s ‘A Promise’. The song feels revamped and revitalised in today’s context for the group and works beautifully with abrupt tempo changes and percussive solos amidst these devastating lyrics and melodies!
The next track is a cover of ‘Falling’, the theme tune from the classic TV show ‘Twin Peaks’. Xiu Xiu are notable for their album that reworks music from the ‘Twin Peaks’ soundtrack, originally composed by Angelo Badalamenti and this performance of ‘Falling’ demonstrates just how eloquently they captured the soundtrack’s atmosphere. Angela’s synth playing is immaculate and beautiful, David’s drumming is controlled yet freeing and Jamie’s singing is as stunning as it is delicate.
The now 19-year-old ‘Fabulous Muscles’ from the album of the same name sees the trio enter a more quiet point in the set, with the main focus directed towards Jamie’s wonderfully warm electric guitar adorned by lovelorn songwriting. It’s hard to describe the feeling I got from hearing these guitar chords disintegrating over themselves in harmony, but it was most certainly a strong emotional highlight of the night. Another unfamiliar cut to me, ‘The Fox & The Rabbit’ was an exciting kick in dynamics as it sits in a 5/4 groove and explores synthwork akin to that from Radiohead’s ‘Hail To The Thief’. Jamie’s vocals here are surprisingly authoritative and dominating, especially as the track reaches its euphoric climax.
The third and final new cut from ‘Ignore Grief’ entitled ‘Esquerita Little Richard’ is easily the most hellish and rhythmically-focussed performance of the set so far with extremely primal drumming from David and usages of train whistles and choking cymbal hits from Jamie and Angela. It was incredible to witness something so nightmarish and freeform in sound but still being able to acknowledge a cohesive musicianship between the three members. Another noteworthy cover that comes up often in live sets, New Order’s ‘Ceremony’, proved to be a real highlight of the show. Despite still staying relatively true to the original version, Xiu Xiu are able to warp the sounds around the song towards their own distinctive post-industrial palette with darker takes on the track’s guitar solos being a prominent feature here. The groovy ‘Rumpus Room’ saw a fair few audience members, myself included, jumping up and down to Jamie’s frantic shoutout choruses, not to mention the brittle but forceful rhythms.
Now, we come to what was easily the most emotional moment in the show, ‘Ian Curtis Wishlist’. Xiu Xiu fans who know this song will be familiar with not only the chilling synth passages, but also Jamie’s haunting screaming vocals on key lyrics of “IAN CURTIS, I CAN’T BELIEVE I SAID IT, WISHLIST!” and “I’M JUST KIDDING!”. Not for a long time have I heard an audience remain so quiet while listening to music like this; it was truly remarkable.
The final song of the main set, the title track from 2019’s ‘Girl With Basket Of Fruit’ commences with balloon blowing from Angela and Jamie, while David kicks off with a propulsive, marching rhythm. In elevated fashion, the lyrics are freakish and disorientating, not to mention the grating electric guitars that close the track out. An overwhelming applause sees the band exit the stage and the background music comes back on… but wait! Xiu Xiu head back on stage (it was very odd hearing the speakers back on again before an encore)! The audience were blessed to hear the ultimate fan favourite in Xiu Xiu’s discography, their 2004 song ‘I Luv The Valley OH!’. Complete with sing-a-longs abound, this one track alone reminded me just how beloved of a group Xiu Xiu still continue to be after all these years as a project.
As I slowly exited the main room at Green Door, I saw the opportunity to shake Jamie Stewart’s hand and thank him, not just for a wonderful set, but for making truly life-changing music. Witnessing the music of truly original and innovative underground indie icons was a one-of-a-kind experience for everyone involved and I felt excited to see where Xiu Xiu can take their music from tonight. Xiu Xiu are now currently enjoying select dates in Asia and Europe for the remainder of their tour, continuing to breathe new life to such dedicated fans the world over.
Support and listen to Xiu Xiu here: xiuxiu.bandcamp.com/music
Xiu Xiu setlist:
‘Pahrump’ (from 2023’s ‘Ignore Grief’)
‘Botánica De Los Angeles’ (from 2014’s ‘Angel Guts: Red Classroom’)
‘Maybae Baeby’ (from 2023’s ‘Ignore Grief’)
‘Petite’ (from 2017’s ‘Forget’)
‘A Bottle Of Rum’ (from 2021’s ‘OH NO’)
‘Master Of The Bump (Kurt Stumbaugh, I Can Feel The Soil Falling Over My Head)’ (from 2008’s ‘Women As Lovers’)
‘Apistat Commander’ (from 2003’s ‘A Promise’)
‘Falling’ (Angelo Badalamenti cover) (from 2016’s ‘Plays The Music Of Twin Peaks’)
‘Fabulous Muscles’ (from 2004’s ‘Fabulous Muscles’)
‘The Fox & The Rabbit’ (from 2006’s ‘The Air Force’)
‘Esquerita, Little Richard’ (from 2023’s ‘Ignore Grief’)
‘Ceremony ‘(New Order cover) (from 2002’s ‘Chapel Of The Chimes’)
‘Rumpus Room’ (from 2021’s ‘OH NO’)
‘Ian Curtis Wishlist’ (from 2003’s ‘A Promise’)
‘Girl With Basket Of Fruit’ (from 2019’s ‘Girl With Basket Of Fruit’)
(encore)
‘I Luv The Valley OH!’ (from 2004’s ‘Fabulous Muscles’)
