Xiu Xiu -- La Foret

In a word -- perplexing.

This is the first time in ten years that the band responsible for my fave album of the year delivered a follow-up album the very next year (Blur, "Parklife", #1 from 1994 ... followed up the next year with "The Great Escape", which was my #4 of 1995). It's not so surprising considering that I'm a big Spiritualized fan. So, the Xiu Xiu album is uniquely anticipated around these parts.

My initial reaction is that Jamie Stewart wrote the album with solo live performances in mind. I've heard a few 2004 live recordings and they're usually quite sparse, even on some of the busier "Fabulous Muscles" tracks. "La Foret" retreats to the emptier, drone-y style of "A Promise", with few rhythmic elements, minimal accompanient, and the most improvisational feel of any Xiu Xiu album to date. Maybe I'm rushing to judgement about the improvisational element (there's a fine line between "improvisational" and "formless", particularly for Xiu Xiu, who love the use of silence in their recordings, never moreso on "La Foret"), because I'm feeling a drunken, caustic anger in the album similar to John Cale's "Music For a New Society", which *is* improvised to a large extent. And it took me a while to appreciate that album, in fact, I didn't care for it much until I revisited it after hearing the live versions from "Fragments of a Rainy Season".

The album seems to end weakly, as "Dangerous You Shouldn't Be Here" and "Yellow Raspberry" slowly slip away in a whimper. The louder tracks, such as "Mousey Toy" and "Pox" are more instant, as is the quiet but compelling "Rose of Sharon".

I'm slowly coming around to it.