Strongly influenced by modern R&B … the xx use a drum machine to complement their copiously tidy compositions. Unlike contemporary R&B fetishists Hot Chip or Discovery, who have clearly spent long hours internalizing Timbaland, the Neptunes, and other radio cognoscenti, the xx incorporate more abstract elements of the genre: a liberal use of bass tones and an unwavering focus on sex and interpersonal relationships.
━ Nearly perfect Pitchfork review of The xx that articulates why I couldn’t get enough of that album when it first came out and why I love it so. Read the rest of it here.
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thallydraper:

“Countdown” | Beyoncé

This track is a virtuoso performance from singer and producers alike, so giddy with the thrill of having someone have your back that it can’t sit still. The tempo shifts are like a smitten lover trying to calm herself down only to start babbling about how awesome everything is all over again a moment later. “Countdown” can’t stop spinning out new musical ideas every few seconds because maybe this zinging synth riff or this crazy orchestral percussion crescendo will help you catch the feeling, too. Beyoncé cycles breathlessly through every vocal trick at her command, from church choir ululating to fierce fast-rap, and somehow it’s both overwhelming and infectious, coming off like the most emotionally affecting sound effects record ever recorded. Sure, we’ve all been in love. But it’s doubtful we’ve ever sounded this damn excited about it. —Jess Harvell, Pitchfork

Funerals and Ghosts and Enjoying the Push

“…. Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Aeroplane Over the Sea, strikes me pretty much on a completely gut level all the way through, every time I listen. It’s an album I inhabit completely. ”

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