Xiu
Xiu is not easily categorizable; genre-wise they straddle, fuck with, vomit all
over and reinvent so many different kinds of music, which makes a live
performance of theirs an experience worth documenting. Few artists can take the
avant-garde and beat the shit out of it quite the way they can – and it isn’t
uncommon to leave a Xiu Xiu gig both completely invigorated and utterly
exhausted, with the emotions dangling bloody by thin threads of half-sanity.
I
was fortunate enough to find myself in Brooklyn, New York on the evening of
September 23, when Jamie Stewart and birthday girl Shayna Dunkelman took to the
Union Pool stage not once, but twice; passionate, energetic and dynamic, they
tore a hole through all of my expectations and far exceeded my hopes.
The
evening began with January Hunt’s musical project New Castrati, a harshly
droning onslaught of synthetic sounds and samples, a truly deranged and
dreamlike performance conducted in near-darkness.
Xiu
Xiu threw themselves into their first performance with ardent aplomb, combining
and converging timelines and moods. The setlist represented the span of their
canon, showcasing tracks from their newest album, Forget, while paying respects
to their past musical ventures and peppering their performance with a strangely
harmonious disarray as a result.
Shayna
Dunkelman’s mastery is matched only by her gusto; watching her whirlwind
through rhythm and settle into the gentility of the keys, one senses the sheer
joy tempered by a peaceable spirit which wraps an eclectic, vibrant powerhouse
of a musician. At the other end of the stage, Jamie Stewart’s frenetic energies
wreak havoc on the senses – he is at once unassuming and unabashedly unhinged,
a walking, flailing, trembling contradiction twisting through the most emotionally
honest material composed, and as he lays waste to his own psyche before a
crowd, the catharsis is obvious, and infectious.
Xiu
Xiu played a second full set a mere two hours later on the same stage,
following New York native Sarah Lipstate, better known as Noveller. Noveller’s
music is colored with rich melodies, ambient veins and subtle trickeries with
bow and pedals. She served as a comforting bridge between the spillages of poignancy
that were Xiu Xiu’s presences.
If
anything, the second set felt like a denouement; something crucial hovered and
vibrated even as the night began to wind down. In such an intimate venue,
quietly dramatic tracks like “Dear God, I Hate Myself” and “Tonite and Today
(What Chu’ Talkin’ ‘Bout)” take on a weighted significance, while the bombastic
“I Luv Abortion” and pop-sensible newer songs like “Jenny GoGo” and “Wondering”
glow with their danceable delightfulness like the friendly embraces of kindred
spirits.
They
are not for everyone. They are not like anybody else touring right now. Their
myriad talents and the intensity of their performances will, guaranteed, blow
the walls of the mind wide – and, having been stage-side for both of these
incredible sets, I for one will be affected for some time. I look forward to seeing
Xiu Xiu again, and encourage anyone seeking the dichotomy and the intense,
psychotic beauty in the unnamed corner of musical expression to find them on
their current tour.
Visit
http://www.xiuxiu.org for information and
upcoming tour dates.
-Dana Culling