You got the love (live remix) - The XX feat. Florence Welch

You got the love (remix live) - The XX feat. Florence Welch

The first encounter I've had with The XX was in 2010 or 2011 when I approached their remix of one of my favourite songs ever, i.e. 'You got the love' by Florence + the Machine, and I was disgusted by that. That kept me far from them for a couple more years, when in 2013 I finally got close to them thanks to some friends' suggestions, and of course I could only regret letting so much time pass by without their music! Still, that 'You got the love' never met my taste, and I couldn't but be amazed about how two of my favourite bands could get together and create something that I found so hateful. The same feeling transferred through to my viewing of their live remix during the recent Night + Day event The XX organised in Brixton. Still, for how much the song didn't please me, their collaboration on the stage was magic, especially how Florence could remix her voice live even better than a DJ could do in a studio...! And that drew me to listen to the song again. And again. And again. And again. And again. And, well... I guess you understood by now what happened afterwards!

"You know it's real! I know, I know, You know it's real! Eh eh eh eh eh eh"

#sundayrevival Fantasy - The XX

Fantasy - The XX

Being obsessed with The XX today, I can't seem to stop listening to their new album's 2 bonus tracks ('Seasons run' & 'Naive') and to their absolute best 'Crystalised'. Given that I can't keep re-posting the same songs over and over again, I'll give you another gem off their debut album as for today's sundayrevival! A hellish rest of the month is about to being for me after a nice home-made sushi night with friends, so I don't know how often I'll have the time and energies to post here. I wish you the best second half of February before disappearing under the amount of work that is waiting for me!!!

Seasons run - The XX

After listening to the first few songs of the new XX album, I felt disappointed and a bit frustrated by the fact that they had sold themselves to the cheap, mainstream electronic beats, guided by Jamie and his experimentation. I missed the intimate atmospheres created by their former songs, and luckily I found them again starting from the middle of the album ('Performance' saved my opinion of it during the first listen, it dragged me out of the deep waters I had fallen into). Now I have made my peace with the whole of it and I am starting to appreciate it as a whole, but I still love more the tracks that carry a stronger "The XX" signature. This bonus track is one of them and is quickly becoming a new favourite of mine!! (PS: Click on the image caption for a link to the song)

Seasons run - The XX

Intro - The XX

Intro - The XX

After listening to a weird Xmas playlist in my car, the iPod went on with the subsequent playlist (XX) and after a glorious Intro with pumped-up volume in the car, I played it again on my computer and then again in the car while driving to the supermarket. I can't deny how great this song feels, especially when it gets played over and over on repeat. This all brought me to listen to what is a music masterpiece (yes, I'm not talking about 'VCR', I'm talking about what comes next!), my favourite XX song and (now) the first song I started listening after 2012 that reached 100 plays on iTunes. Happy 100th play, 'Crystalised'. And in a short while, you'll be joined by the glory that comes before you (and yeah, again, I'm not talking about 'VCR')!

Come find me - Emile Hanyie (feat. Lykke Li & Romy XX)

Come find me - Emile Haynie
(feat. Lykke Li & Romy XX)

Hello people!! Today's been the first day of this week I didn't have to wake up early to carry out some courses around the city, and of course I ended up staying in bed until midday! I know myself all to well by now... but it's ok! Not a long day, but a really enjoyed one! And I wanna share with you some music I've been enjoying lately, just to stay on topic! I found out this song (and this songwriter) thanks to - I don't remember if Lykke Li's or the XX's facebook page - I think Lykke Li's. It turns out Emile Haynie has been composing songs for other people in the past few years and now he has released his first own album, with other singers featuring on the songs and offering their vocals. This is my favourite for the time being, a very introspective song, very Lykke Li's style, I'm sure you'll all gonna enjoy it too!! Have a good night!

Heart skipped a beat - The XX

Heart skipped a beat - The XX

I have been spiraling back into the XX mood in the last couple of days, don't remember exactly how or why, I remember it happened through the song Infinity, which has then kept coming back to me, but also thru others, such as this awesome one. I have a peculiar story of this song, as it is one of the last I started liking from their debut album, which I fell in love with at the beginning of 2013, when I approached them. Intro, Crystalised, Infinity, Stars and so on, one by one they each found a special place inside my heart. But not Heart skipped a beat. I mean, this song already stands out on its own, as it's the only one with a title longer than one or two words in their discography. I don't know why it went unobserved for a while, but then the magic happened: the last stop of the Study Tour, the amazing two weeks I spent in the US doing a field project on the influence of music on the Midwest society, was New Orleans and I vividly remember entering a frozen yogurt place with a few friends that were on the trip with me, one of those places where you can put all kinds of stuff on the yogurt (yummy!), and after I started eating my yogurt this song played on the radio, followed by one of Phoenix, which I started listening to in that same period. It really struck me, and since then Hsab found its own special place in my heart too.

Tides - The XX

Tides. (St. Ives, Uk)

Hello everybody! Here I am again, after a very tiring (ok, come on, not THAT much) but very very enjoyable (yes, THAT much) trip! Cornwall has been quite different from what I expected it to be, or at least the tiny part of it I've visited has. I enjoyed the whole of the trip: the company, the towns that have disappointed my expectations (Penzance) and those that have overcome them (St. Ives), unforgettable places (Land's end) that stimulated my thinking about the big questions of the world and places that I still have not been to (but I hope I will, i.e. Falmouth). Yes, I enjoyed also the seagull that landed on my head and stole half of my cornish pasty. That's part of the experience too!
Anyway, the highlight of our short journey has been for sure St. Ives with its beautiful beaches and its astounding tides. Tides that have (of course) suggested to me the music to listen to on the train and (of course) to post on the blog now! I enjoyed tides a lot (both the water movements and the music), hope you will too! Have an awesome beginning of the new week!

Reunion - The XX

Reunion - The XX

In deciding to post a song by The XX today I realised I haven't been posting anything by them since last year! That's such a long time! This reminds me that the blog has been going on for quite a while now! I'm very happy about it, I wasn't sure I'd be able to keep on going, instead finding a little time everyday to write here is almost always a pleasure (and sometimes a rush against time)! I really hope you've been enjoying the music until now and that you'll (keep) enjoy(ing) in the future!
Back to the XX. Today I'm posting (for the first time!) a song by their second album, Coexist. It's funny, 'cause I have started listening to them when both of their current albums were already out, so it wasn't really supposed to make a difference for me between them: similar style, similar genre, similar quality level of the music (?)... And instead it did (and does) make a difference. I don't know when it happened, but I drew a line between them and I have always had a kind of preference towards the first one, still, even if one could not tell at a "glance" if a song belongs to XX or to Coexist. Anyway, even with all my psychoses about the whole matter, I love Coexist too. And this is one of the little creatures I love the most. Maybe its own title might be the key to re-unite the two albums, who knows?

Infinity - The XX

Infinity - The XX

First day of winter, so you'll get what I was listening to at the end of last winter, just to close the circle. Get some XX.
We have also almost come to the end of the year, so you'll get what I've been listening to the most this past year.
Get some XX.

Happy first day of winter (and happy birthday)!
Cheers.

Islands - The XX

These dark and cold days of winter are not at all good for my mood. While waiting for my metheoropathy to disappear (pretty unlikely), or better for the next good season to come (still a looong way to go), one of the few things that bring me comfort is listening to great music that sounds even better in these gloomy times. And what better than the XX for that? Very little I'd say!

Crystalised - The XX

Tonight I have taken a very relaxing hot bath, I really needed it (in the sense that I needed to get clean!). I obviously didn't miss the chance to get a very relaxing (but powerful at the same time) soundtrack. I have to call into question my dear B. again so soon, and with her also the album that I have been listening to the most in the past year, i.e. XX, the debut album of The xx. I am totally in love with the whole album, but my super-favourite is this one for sure. It's a perfect tune for night time (even though there's another song on the album called Night time), so enjoy!!