Xiu Xiu
La Foret
Release Date: Jul 12, 2005
Genre(s): Indie, Rock
Record label: 5 Rue Christine
Music Critic Score
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Album Review: La Foret by Xiu Xiu
Excellent, Based on 2 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
As conceptual as Xiu Xiu's fusion of post-punk, gamelan, synth pop, folk, and noise might seem, the group's music never feels overly cerebral or detached. On the contrary, it's usually brimming over with often contradictory emotions: love, hate, sex, violence, fear, and humor cling together so tightly in Jamie Stewart's songs that they can't be separated. Harsh and beautiful words and sounds remain intertwined on La Foret, which ranks among Xiu Xiu's subtlest, and scariest, albums.
Opinion: Excellent
As I was getting to know Xiu Xiu's last record, Fabulous Muscles, I thought of it as their weirdest album. Now that I'm getting to know La Forêt, I again feel like their latest is also their oddest. This may not mean that their music is getting progressively stranger. What it probably means is that the process of getting to know a Xiu Xiu album takes a long time, because much of their music is based on apparent opposites.