The xx  The xx (pronounced "the ex ex")[1] are a three-piece band from London, England, United Kingdom, formed in 2005.[2] They met while studying at Elliott School, notable for alumni including Hot Chip, Burial and Four Tet.[3] Despite starting as a four-piece outfit, The xx became a trio when their second guitarist and keyboardist Baria Qureshi left the group in late 2009.[4] In September 2010 they won the Barclaycard Mercury Prize. The group's debut album, xx, was met with critical acclaim, achieving a rating of "Universal acclaim" on Metacritic.[5] The album also ranked well on "best of the year" lists, placing ninth on the Rolling Stone list and second for NME.[6][7] In the 2009 NME The Future 50 list, The xx were positioned at number six, and in October 2009, they were named one of MTV Iggy's "Top 10 Bands with Buzz" (at the CMJ Music Marathon 2009).[8][9] Their debut album, xx, was released on Young Turks on 17 August 2009.[10] Though the band had previous worked with producers including Diplo andKwes,[3] they produced xx themselves, [11] while Jamie Smith and Rodaidh McDonald mixed it.[12] The xx recorded xx in a small garage that was part of theXL studios, often at night, which contributed to the sleek, whispery nature of the album.[13] In August 2009, the band headlined their own concert tour, xx Tour. The xx have toured with artists including The Big Pink and Micachu. Their single "Crystalised" was featured on iTunes (UK) as Single of the Week, starting from 18 August 2009. The xx's song "Intro" was extensively used on television: most recently in the first episode of HBO/NHL series 24/7 Pens-Caps Road To The 2011 Winter Classic, as well as in an AT&T commercial featuring Apolo Anton Ohno; often during NBC's coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, Canada;[14] during the series Cold Case; for the BBC News Newsnight coverage of the 2010 general election;[15], on Mercy ("The Last Thing I Said Was" episode) and also in Law & Order on the Dutch television network Net 5. "VCR" was featured in a Lie to Me episode. In episode 7 of the online BBC EastEnders spin-off E20 their cover of "Teardrops" was used. "Heart Skipped a Beat" was featured in a 2009 episode of90210, as well as being the feature song for the March 2010 E4 advert for 90210. "Islands" was used in an episode of the Golden Globe-winning medical drama Grey's Anatomy. "Stars" was used in E4's youth drama Misfits in December 2009. In January 2010, the xx performed in a 11-date sold-out tour in Scandinavia and Germany. A track mix of "VCR", "Shelter", "Intro", and "Crystalised" was also used in the Karl Lagerfeld Fall/Winter 2011 fashion show. Their music is currently being frequently used on school drama Waterloo Road. Second guitarist and keyboardist Baria Qureshi left the group in 2009. Initial reports stated that this was due to exhaustion, but the band later said they made this decision due to "personal differences".[16][17] The band appear to have stated Baria was invited to join them at the Mercury music prize awards but Baria stated on her twitter account she wasn't asked at all. According to Oliver Sim he invited Baria to join the band on stage at the awards but this did not occur, [18]a situation that has been ignored by the wider press.[19] The band was chosen by Matt Groening to headline two nights of the edition of the All Tomorrow's Parties festival he curated in Minehead, England. In addition, the band played in five of North America's most popular music festivals, Coachella, Sasquatch, Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza and Austin City Limits.[20] In September 2010 the band were announced as the winners of the Barclaycard Mercury Prize for their debut album xx, by judges Lewis Martins and Eliza Cowen, who commented on how fantastic the music really was.[21][22] Also in September, the band presented a 3-D audio-visual sculpture and played at the Big Top during Bestival 2010 on the Isle of Wight. Notes: 1 The singles "Crystalised" and Islands" were re-issued in 2010. |
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