Xiu Xiu Biography

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Xiu Xiu (disambiguation).

Xiu Xiu

Angela Seo and Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, 2010

Background information

Origin San Jose, California, U.S.


Genres ​ Experimental rock
​ art rock
​ noise pop
​ electronic
​ post-punk
​ avant-pop
​ art pop

Discography Xiu Xiu discography

Years active 2002–present

Labels ​ Polyvinyl
​ Upset the Rhythm
​ Bella Union
​ 5 Rue Christine
​ Absolutely Kosher
​ Free Porcupine
Society
​ Kill Rock Stars

Spinoffs ​ XXL

Members ​ Jamie Stewart


​ Angela Seo
​ David Kendrick

Past ​ Cory McCulloch


members ​ Yvonne Chen
​ Lauren Andrews
​ Caralee McElroy
​ Ches Smith
​ Shayna Dunkelman
Website xiuxiu.org

Xiu Xiu (/ˈʃuːʃuː/ SHOO-shoo)[1] is an American experimental rock band, formed in 2002 by
singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. Currently, the line-up consists of
multi-instrumentalists Stewart (the only constant member since formation), Angela Seo, and
percussionist David Kendrick. The band's name comes from the film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down
Girl, which has influenced the sound of their music, according to Stewart.

Xiu Xiu released their first two albums, Knife Play (2002) and A Promise (2003) on 5 Rue
Christine to positive critical reception. In-between the two, the EP Chapel of the Chimes was
released via Absolutely Kosher. The compilation album Fag Patrol was released shortly
after, and their third studio album Fabulous Muscles was released in 2004. La Forêt was
released in 2005 after Caralee McElroy joined the group, and The Air Force followed in
2006. 2008's Women as Lovers was released via the main Kill Rock Stars label in 2008, and
McElroy departed the group shortly afterwards.

Dear God, I Hate Myself was released in 2010 and was the first Xiu Xiu album to prominently
feature longtime member Angela Seo. Following a signing to Polyvinyl and Bella Union, Xiu
Xiu released Always (2012) and Angel Guts: Red Classroom (2014). In between those two
projects, the group released a Nina Simone tribute project, Nina, in late 2013 via Graveface
Records.

Plays the Music of Twin Peaks (2016) followed, an album consisting of covers from the Twin
Peaks soundtracks originally as a Record Store Day exclusive release but re-released by
Polyvinyl later that year. Forget (2017) and Girl with Basket of Fruit (2019) were released
afterwards, and Xiu Xiu released their twelfth album Oh No in 2021. Their thirteenth album,
Ignore Grief, was released in March 2023.[2]

History[edit]

2002–2004: Formation and early years[edit]

Jamie Stewart formed Xiu Xiu in 2002 after their previous band, Ten in the Swear Jar,
disbanded.[3] Stewart and Cory McCulloch continued from the previous group, and were
joined by Yvonne Chen and Lauren Andrews.[4] The band's sound was characterized by its
use of indigenous instruments and programmed drums in place of traditional rock
instruments: harmonium, mandolin, brass bells, gongs, keyboards, and a cross between a
guitarrón mexicano and a cello for bass, etc.[4] Stewart states that the group is equally
influenced by Nina Simone and Krzysztof Penderecki, by The Birthday Party and Orchestral
Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD).[5]

Xiu Xiu would tour their first LP Knife Play, and its successor EP, Chapel of the Chimes, in
2002, blending both melody and cacophony with a heavy reliance on percussive
instrumentation and brass instrumentation.

Following 2002, the group would shrink in membership as Yvonne Chen left to focus on her
vegan boutique Otsu and self-published magazine Zum, while Cory McCulloch also stopped
touring, focusing instead on producing the band's next two LPs. A personal loss would affect
Xiu Xiu as well, as Jamie Stewart's father, musician and record producer Michael Stewart
was found dead after an apparent suicide.[6][7] Coping with these losses, Stewart would
record the group's follow-up to Knife Play, 2003's A Promise.

Jamie Stewart and Caralee McElroy performing "Bog People" from La Forêt in July 2005

Continuing to focus on the subject matter of Jamie Stewart's personal life – as witnessed
previously by Knife Play – A Promise acts like a concept record of internal despair.
Consisting of ten tracks, the record was oriented towards a more or less acoustic
presentation, rather than relying on the booming brass and percussion which had worked to
make Knife Play. However, the record did not veer from the formulated programming for
which Stewart and McCulloch would be praised by fans and critics alike. A Promise also
contains a cover of Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car", a version that has been praised for its
stripped sound and Stewart's distressing vocals.[citation needed]

During this time, Stewart recorded Fag Patrol, a collection of previous recorded material as
well as covers of songs by The Smiths and their previous group with McCulloch, Ten in the
Swear Jar. Released as a handmade CD by Rob Fisk's and Kelly Goodefisk's Free
Porcupine Society, Fag Patrol was limited to only a few hundred copies (however saw a CD
repress in 2005, and a vinyl reissue by Improved Sequence in 2021).[8][9] In the spring of
2004, Stewart and McCulloch released what is considered by many to be the group's most
accessible album, Fabulous Muscles. More pop-friendly in its sound than previous releases,
Fabulous Muscles boosted Xiu Xiu to new heights in terms of popularity, largely thanks to its
single "I Luv the Valley OH!". The tone of the album reflected an "incredibly, incredibly
violent, incredibly jarring, and difficult to take" string of events in Stewart's life.[10] Stewart
described their lyrics as "never fictional".[10] They told Pitchfork that Xiu Xiu songs are based
around five topics: family, politics, sex, love and lovelessness, suicide, and how they are
connected.[10]

With the departure of Lauren Andrews in 2003 – who wished to focus on her academic
studies – Stewart was joined on stage by their "long-lost" cousin, Caralee McElroy in
2004.[11] The two would tour relentlessly throughout that year, releasing not only the group's
third LP, but also split recordings with This Song Is a Mess But So Am I and Bunkbed, along
with the "Fleshettes" single – which featured a rendition of the Ten in the Swear Jar track
"Helsabot" by McElroy.

2004–2010: La Forêt to Dear God, I Hate Myself[edit]

Seen as a return to Stewart's more dark and crabby demeanor, Xiu Xiu's fourth album La
Forêt alluded to a frustration which Stewart had felt throughout the process of recording the
2004 record. Centered around the topic of "horrible times in horrible lives" as well as
Stewart's personal frustrations with then-U.S. President George W. Bush,[12] La Forêt is
characterized by an altogether different sound – layered by mandolin, harmonium, clarinet,
cello, autoharp, and tuba.[13] In addition to La Forêt, Xiu Xiu would join Italian experimental
group Larsen in forming XXL, which released its first LP, ¡Ciaütistico!, in 2005, followed later
by its successor ¿Spicchiology?, in 2007.[14] Stewart also issued formative splits throughout
2005, working with artists such as The Paper Chase, Kill Me Tomorrow, and Devendra
Banhart.

Jamie Stewart at a performance in Stockholm, Sweden, November 2010

In 2006, Stewart would break from tradition by ending their professional relationship with
McCulloch. They then started recording with San Francisco-based band Deerhoof's
drummer Greg Saunier as producer for Xiu Xiu's fifth LP entitled The Air Force.[15] Saunier,
who had previously worked with Stewart on Knife Play, created for the record a greater wall
of sound – a stark contrast to that of McCulloch's discordant attitude towards production.[16]
The Air Force would be supported throughout 2006 by a three piece ensemble, as Stewart
and McElroy were joined by drummer/percussionist Ches Smith, who himself had previously
worked with the group on Knife Play. Produced by Greg Saunier, Stewart said that the album
is about "making other people feel bad" instead of feeling bad oneself and the year it was
released was "one of the first not dominated by personal tragedies"[10] Its major themes are
"guilt and sex as opposed to sorrow and sex".[10] Stewart considered it their best and most
consciously pop album yet. They said that the band was obsessed with Weezer's Blue
Album and The Smiths's The Queen Is Dead while on tour, though the album does not
reflect those albums particularly.[10] The Air Force also contained the band's first
album-based songs without vocals by Stewart – with McElroy singing "Hello From Eau
Claire", as well as the instrumental piece "Saint Pedro Glue Stick".[17]

A third EP – Tu Mi Piaci ("I like you") – of songs originally recorded by acts such as
Bauhaus, Nedelle, Big Star, The Pussycat Dolls, and Nina Simone was released in 2006,
along with a collaboration with ambient artist Grouper, entitled Creepshow. Shortly
thereafter, Xiu Xiu would record their sixth album, 2008's Women as Lovers. Their longest
LP to date, Women as Lovers attempts to hone the synth-pop influences of the group's
sound. Stewart's and McElroy's duet with Michael Gira of Swans on a cover of David Bowie
and Queen's "Under Pressure" is representative of this. Touring that year alongside Xiu Xiu
aluminist Devin Hoff on bass, the band's second four-piece incarnation would not last long,
as Hoff abruptly left the group soon after touring began.[18]

In May 2009, it was revealed that Caralee McElroy would no longer work with Xiu Xiu.[19][20]
Speculations ran as to what reasons McElroy had for leaving the group after five years of
recording and touring, though no explanation was given other than her subsequent
membership in Manhattan-based darkwave group Cold Cave, which she soon after departed
from in 2010. With the vacancies left by both Hoff and McElroy, Stewart and Smith recruited
Angela Seo in late 2009. Thereafter, the group would begin work on its seventh LP Dear
God, I Hate Myself, recording in both Oakland, California as well as Durham, North Carolina.
Once again shifting motifs, Xiu Xiu would this time choose to experiment with video
game-based programming, using the Nintendo DS to write many of the songs which appear
on their 2010 release.[21] The music video for the song "Dear God, I Hate Myself" received
attention online in 2010. The video consists of Seo inducing vomiting over the course of the
three-minute song, culminating with her vomiting on Stewart, who has been eating a
chocolate bar during the entire video.[22] Seo and Stewart have defended the video online
and in interviews, stating that the video illustrates the subject of the song in an extreme and
visceral fashion.[citation needed]

2010–2017: Always to FORGET[edit]


Xiu Xiu members Jamie Stewart, Angela Seo in Aarhus, Denmark, 2017

In 2010, Xiu Xiu left Kill Rock Stars and signed with Bella Union and Polyvinyl.[23][24] Xiu Xiu
released Always on these new labels in 2012. It was called "magnificent" and given 5 stars
by The Independent[25] and given a 9/10 by Drowned in Sound.[26]

In April 2013, Stewart and Eugene Robinson of Oxbow released the collaborative album Xiu
Xiu & Eugene S. Robinson Present: Sal Mineo on Important Records after having toured
Europe together in February to promote the project.[27] [28]

In an email sent to fans on January 28, 2013, Xiu Xiu announced that "Ches Smith, Mary
Halvorson, Tim Berne, Tony Malaby, Andrea Parkins and Jamie Stewart just finished
recording an album in NYC of free jazz and art song versions of all Nina Simone songs." The
album, Nina, was released on Graveface Records on December 3, 2013.

In the same email, Xiu Xiu also announced that a new Xiu Xiu album was being made. Xiu
Xiu said that it is possible that it will be named Angel Guts: Red Classroom and that "it will
be a mean, tight hearted, blackness of Neubauten vs Suicide vs Nico." Angel Guts: Red
Classroom was released February 2014. It was given an 8 out of 10 by Drowned in Sound
and Mojo.[29] David Hartley of the band War on Drugs praised the album, calling it a
"stereoscopic assault."[30]

In June 2015, Xiu Xiu started a new Bandcamp page under the title "xiuxiu69". Since its
creation, they have self-described the page as an "ephemera shoppe specializing in
exclusive, obscure, out of print, experimental & overlooked zonk."[31] The page is used to
host projects such as non-studio Xiu Xiu releases, solo Jamie Stewart albums, ambient
projects, out of print Xiu Xiu collaborations and recordings from Jamie Stewart's former band
Ten In The Swear Jar. Xiuxiu69 also hosts sales of physical music and merchandise,
including LPs of Xiu Xiu material and material loosely related to Xiu Xiu such as Jamie
Stewart and Lawrence English's band HEXA.

On November 16, 2016, the band announced their next album FORGET, set for release on
February 24, 2017. The announcement was accompanied with lead single "Wondering",
signifying a return to more pop-oriented songwriting.[32]

2017–2023: Girl with Basket of Fruit to Ignore Grief[edit]

Xiu Xiu performed a long piece "Deforms the Unborn" based on the demonic possession of
children at the Guggenheim Museum in May 2018. The band released their eleventh new
album titled Girl with Basket of Fruit on February 8, 2019, via Polyvinyl.[33]

In April 2020, Xiu Xiu started a Bandcamp subscription service titled "XIU MUTHA FUCKIN
XIU". At its basic tier, it grants access to a monthly "XIU MUTHA FUCKIN XIU" digital audio
package, consisting of a new fully produced cover (notable examples being Xiu Xiu
renditions of "Dancing On My Own", "In The Garage" and "Dancing with a Stranger"), an
exclusive solo Xiu Xiu song, and an edition of the 12 chapter 120 part experimental piece
"Lamentation". So far, two chapters of "Lamentation" have been revealed, chapter one being
Spider Lamentation and chapter two being Woodpecker Lamentation. Tier two grants all the
above and "30 to 50 license free samples, full stems of one Xiu Xiu song for non commercial
exploration". Tier three includes the benefits from tiers one and two and a unique hand-made
postcard illustrated by Angela Seo or Jamie Stewart with a haiku written to you and posted
on the Xiuxiu69 Bandcamp page.

Their twelfth album, Oh No, was released on March 26, 2021. Its lead single, "A Bottle of
Rum" featuring Liz Harris, was released along with the album's announcement on January
27, 2021. Its second single, "Rumpus Room" featuring Liars, was released on March 4,
2021. "Maybae Baeby", the first single from their thirteenth studio album Ignore Grief, was
released on January 12, 2023. The album features new member David Kendrick, formerly of
Sparks and Devo.

Band members[edit]

Current members
● Jamie Stewart – production, vocals, percussion, guitar, synthesizers, keyboards,
piano, programming, bass, organ, harmonium, viola (2002–present)
● Angela Seo – production, vocals, percussion, piano, synthesizers, programming,
organ, harmonium (2009–present)
● David Kendrick - production, drums, percussion (2022–present)

Former members

● Cory McCulloch – production, bass guitar, mandolin, synthesizers (2002–2009)


● Lauren Andrews – synthesizers, keyboards, piano, percussion (2002–2004)
● Yvonne Chen – synthesizers, percussion, trumpet (2002–2003)
● Caralee McElroy – production, synthesizers, piano, harmonium, percussion, flute,
vocals (2004–2009)
● Ches Smith – drums, percussion, synthesizers, vocals (2006–2018)
● Devin Hoff – double bass, bass guitar, acoustic bass (2008)
● Zac Pennington – multi-instrumentalist (2011)
● Marc Riordan – percussion (2012)

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