#Xiu Xiu

RSVP HEREEmber Knight Releases CHERYL, livestreams via Youtube + MORE

The LA-based filmmaker, comedian and musician stretches their boundaries to create a playful and sometimes terrifying world where they can express all sides of themselves. Their sophomore album CHERYL, a ballet rock opera album,...

Tarra Thiessen

AF 2019 IN REVIEWOur Favorite Albums and Singles of The Year

Lizzo press photo by Luke Gilford, courtesy of Atlantic Records. Every year I keep a running list of new album releases. The idea is that I'll have new stuff on my radar, along with a go-to playlist if I'm feeling adventurous (or bored) and want to hear something new. This year that list grew to...

Lindsey Rhoades

LIVE REVIEWXiu Xiu @ The Chapel

Xiu Xiu, touring with members of Swans' live ensemble, played SF's The Chapel on 5/28. Photo by Shomei Tomatsu “Loner,” Thor Harris murmurs matter-of-factly, temporarily seizing the mic from Xiu Xiu frontman, Jamie Stewart. “Lonerrrrrr.” It’s a fitting accusation to thrust into this particular sea...

Lydia Sviatoslavsky

NEWS ROUNDUPBikini Kill Reunion, Toto Forever, and MORE

Lindsey Rhoades

ONLY NOISEA Year In Song

Certain songs have a way of tangling themselves in our days, weeks, and months, eventually embedding themselves in our psyche, forever to be associated with the particular time and place in which they meant the most to us. Here, Madison looks back on 2017 by recounting the songs that dominated each...

Madison Bloom

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ONLY NOISELeave The Party

Think about the last party you threw. Think about the beer bought and balloons inflated. Remember the quiche you labored over, only to realize no one wants to eat quiche at a party. Now consider the playlist you made. Don’t deny it – we all know you spent three lunch breaks compiling a shindig...

Madison Bloom

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ALBUM REVIEWXiu Xiu "FORGET"

The idea that beauty can be extracted from suffering is a bristling comfort, but a comfort nonetheless. Jamie Stewart has mastered this alchemic process in his 15-year post as Xiu Xiu founder and frontman. As we await impending doom – perhaps a nuclear fiasco, the severing of civil rights, or...

Madison Bloom

ONLY NOISEHopefulness

This year, I hope that in addition to pushing the boundaries sonically, artists will continue to use their work to further political and social discourse the way Solange did with A Seat At The Table, Anohni with HOPELESSNESS, and Common with Black America Again.

Madison Bloom

LIVE REVIEWXiu Xiu @ Glasslands

As the driving force behind experimental art rock outfit Xiu Xiu, Jamie Stewart has been known to push boundaries. Constantly reinventing himself (and his music), Stewart's eccentric and sometimes violent themes are what ties the project together most readily, his fragile shout the crux of the...

Lindsey Rhoades

AF MIXTAPEFarewell to Winter

This mix represents some of the best moments of February in terms of new releases and live shows we attended but keeps an eye on the springtime that's just ahead of us. You won't find many bombastic summer jams, but hopefully that delicious first blush of warmer weather permeates these tracks....

Lindsey Rhoades