#26 on the 2009 Musical Advent Calendar

XX by the XX

The XX showed up on my radar organically. I don’t have enough time to check out every new-ish band that comes across the music blogs; consequently, just as the hype for them was building, I was looking the other way. But they showed up enough times in my Twitter feed that I felt foolish for having not listened to them earlier.

I came around, and I’m very glad I did. I wish my timing would have been a little bit better though, giving me the prescience to pick up a ticket to see them play to a sold-out crowd at Neumo’s last week.

The song above, “Basic Space,” is indicative of the band’s sound. I recommend you check out the video for “Crystalized” as well. And you can hear another song from XX thanks to Said the Gramaphone’s end-of-year countdown. If these songs strike your fancy, then you’ll love the album, plain and simple. Beyond that, I’m going to take the lazy approach on this one and say the songs speak for themselves.

__________________________________________

27. Grrr… by Bishop Allen
28. Keep It Hid by Dan Auerbach
29. It’s Blitz! by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs
30. Beware by Bonnie “Prince” Billie
31. Veckatimest by Grizzly Bear