5 Rue Christine
2006
The Air Force
About This Album
After the expansive darkness of La Forêt, Xiu Xiu return with The Air Force, a set of songs that manages to be just as challenging as La Forêt, but sparer and somehow more eclectic-sounding at the same time. This time around, Jamie Stewart and company's explorations of vulnerability and ugliness-beauty are even more vivid; as usual, Stewart's breathtakingly concise, poetic lyrics are front and center. He captures longing and self-loathing on "Buzz Saw," singing "Your acne is like pearl/I swear mine is like brimstone." On the closing track, "Wig Master," he whispers, "Loneliness isn't being alone/It's when someone loves you/And you don't have it in you to love them back," a statement as devastating as it is true. Even for a Xiu Xiu album, The Air Force has a remarkable mix of contrasting sounds and textures: "Bishop, CA" builds dense cathedrals of noise, while the icy, bustling electronics on "Vulture Piano" suggest delicate mechanical wildlife. Meanwhile, the koto, violin, and piano on "Pineapple vs. the Watermelon," "Glue Stick," and "The Fox and the Rabbit" give these tracks the intimacy of chamber music.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,6,7 and 11)

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