xx

Moderne britisk indiepop, atmosfærisk, rimelig chill

Not a fan

I've heard the first track before which is fantastic but haven't listened to the rest of the album. This is pretty good. It isn't perfect and it is a little background music-y nothing is super standout aside from the first track. I'd say its a little ahead of its time with this dreamy pop ness which took off more in the 2010s.

I quite enjoyed this album. Some fine songs on here that make good use of the female singer's sultry voice. The mood throughout is dark and emotive with nice washes of synthesizers, simple but effective guitars and a tight rhythm section. Favorite songs on first listen; VCR, Crystalized, Shelter and Night Time. It does bog down a little in the second half and I do find myself hoping for something a little up tempo ...Night Time does somewhat fit that bill and Stars helps things end on a relatively high note. All in all a good album that I can't give a full 4 because of the lull in the middle. 3.5 stars

The front half of this album was more upbeat, and the back half was more somber and melancholic. At times the delivery of the vocals almost felt forced in that the singers were putting no flair on singing at all, almost as if bored. I did, however, enjoy the harmonies of the male and female vocals. The music delivery was uneventful, with simple guitar riffs and drum beats, typical of new age pop music. Favourite songs: Islands, Heart Skipped a Beat, Intro (an upbeat instrumental number), Chrystalised, VCR An interesting note about the song Fantasy: It begins as a relatively slow and boring song, but around the 1:30 mark, the bass kicks in in a big way (it would be a great subwoofer tester at that point) Least favourite songs: Night Time, Stars, Shelter 3/5

Was ok, not amazing, not bad

simple in concept and chill. like it.

Fairly solid

blah blah blah

more my thing but too mellow

The first song I knew. It had me hyped and ready for the album. Overall I liked the sounds and instruments it is the most relistenable album so far. Just kept waiting for the beats to drop and they didn’t

(3.2) i liked the mixed vocals. Nice surprise recognizing the intro song.

I like the economy of resources and the restraint and subdued nature of both music and lyrics. After a while, it starts to feel monotonous but, in general I like it.

Pleasant without being memorable

Maybe if they went for a third X it would have tipped the scales. Not a bad listen, but not headlining festival worthy.

This one passed by my ears like a wispy cloud of echoey guitars and unobtrusive vocals. Nice but not the groundbreaking indie music I had been led to believe

Its ok

Sounds like the sings never get going

Heard before: not in its entirety I couldn’t really get into it (minimalistic, but unremarkable). The sound was nice enough though.

Cool mellow sound, but overall just OK. Would listen to it in the right mood, say while reading, but prefer Sigur Ros.

It kind of drifted past me without creating a great impression, may need another listen?

I found the vocals a little too subdued but enjoyed the music. Infinity was my standout track. 3/5

Interesting instrumentation meets uninspired, brooding songs. 2.5/5

Quite ok. Cozy indie rock with electronic elements

3.5 stars, nice soft female and male vocals, most songs feel like a conversation in between both singers, mixed with nice clean reverb sound on the guitar, simple, but really nice. An enjoyable listen for sure

Hadn't heard of The XX before - though VCR and a couple of the other songs were familiar to me. I thought the album started strong, particularly liked 'Islands', but then fades away. The space I liked initially sees them melt into the background. 'Infinity' is pretty close to 'Wicked Game'. All up, happy to be introduced to The XX

Not much to say. It just was.

No album better captures the post recession, pre-fascism sober feeling of 2010s youth than this one. There’s a simmering anxiety under each song but for this very moment you feel fine. From a pure listenability perspective, this is a very solid album throughout. Especially impressive that it overcomes the Intro, which I easily could’ve been caught in the web of seeming like a gimmicky car commercial.

I really feel the people who make these lists are really out of touch with what is relevant past the mid 00's. Listened to this before and as I remembered it's pleasant but forgettable.

This is a good listen, but definitely fades towards the end. Don't quite understand how they got so popular tbh - it's not super accessible, and it's quite laid back and chilled out. Not my favourite, but a comfortable three heading in the direction of (but not reaching) a four. Probably would have made 4 if it had stayed at the level that the first three tracks set.

Definitely worth more listens. Having to give it a 3 for now.

Good background music, but it's a bit wishy washy

I think this would be perfect to listen for either an early morning, a lazy day off, or even napping on a hill in the shade under a big tree. So calm and lowkey, but it's hard to find particular favourites as it's the mood you remember the most.

It was neat and I could see how it would've been a bigger deal in 2009.

really dig about half of the songs so I can’t give this 5 stars. The other half I’m meh on. Great throwback.

Atmospheric, moody, a hit of nostalgia.

Sparse music for simple background noise. I like a handful of tracks but there were a little too many dull moments to rate this higher. Favorite track: Islands

meh

How can an intro be the best track

Mooi, sfeervol album.

Ik kan me voorstellen dat mensen hier boos van worden. Ik vind het rustgevend maar ook wel erg non-descript. Vooruit, ik rond het af naar boven.

Pretty good, a little boring if I'm being honest though. 3 stars.

Glacial Gen Z whispering. Post-punk vibes abound here and miserable teenagers with funny haircuts. Best Tracks: VCR; Crystalised; Islands

I enjoyed it but it definitely wanted me to keep wanting more, to be honest. The whole thing seemed pretty mellow. 7/10

Minimalistic

Listened to on 5/23/22 3/5 Favorite song: intro Very indie and intimate with lots of random pauses in the songs - the intro is great though

meinlaust

Great chill out album, doesn't grab me but a brilliant album nonetheless.

3.5

Confer toutes les critiques d'albums classés Post Erasmus Indie déjà générés par Robert.

Intro bangs, rest is meh

Very pleasant. Thats all.

As chill as possible, very soft vocals and tight beats, minimal but sharp melodies.

Good songs- wasn’t in the mood for this type of music when it was shown to me though

Decent but iron-deficient. Minimalist to the point of approaching insubstantiality. Like a one-track tape of a Cure recording session. More dozy than dreamy. The biggest problem is that all the best hooks and grooves are cut off prematurely. There’s a likable modesty that avoids twee-ness (thank God) but never gets beyond or resolves the pleasant state of suspension it reaches on track after track. One wonders, for ex, how the undeniably (and inoffensively) groovy opener would sound like if left to fully expand and turn into, you know, a song. Similarly, “VCR” works as an homage to old tech, but the downside of that authenticity is that it risks sounding like an outdated video game (albeit one played by emo-tending lonelyhearts). Another ex: “Islands” raises the heart rate briefly and then, well, ends. The best hooks on the entire record – as on “Night Time” – need (and deserve) more space and time, too. The overall effect is awfully ‘80s – who else wants Bronson Pinchot or Griffin Dunne to star in a movie to which this is the soundtrack? The record merely interests, never impels. 3.1 (but only for pro-genre bias) / 3.

Chill. Nice lyrics.

There were a few songs like Crystalised and Intro that have tempo and are really good. On the other hand the ambient songs are not so interesting and there sure are a lot of them.

Atmospheric indie with an extra dose of melancholy. I like the simple guitar work, which creates a moody vibe and reminds me a bit of the Cure at times. If you're going to pull off an album so sparse, you need good song-writing and exceptional vocals (like Beth Gibbons for example). The song-writing is pretty good and a few of the earlier tracks stand out. I was familiar with a remix of "Crystalized", which I quite liked. The female vocals by Romy Madley Croft are okay, but Oliver Sim's vocals bog the album down.

Intro is the best intro song of all time. There I said it. It's also the best song of the album, pity that its less than 3 mins, but then again it leaves you wanting more. When this debut album from The xx was first released I thought it was Everything But the Girl for the aughts, it captured the zeitgiest of the time perfectly: spare, subdued, melancholic, minimalist and disaffected vocals. 13 years later the world has changed and this unfortunately sounds somewhat dated.

I always assumed the xx was an electro pop band, so I wrote off this album as a relic of an era. Listening now, many years later, I honestly felt underwhelmed. I enjoy the songs themselves, sure, but it doesn’t hit the way current pop does. That is obviously a sign of the evolution of popular music, and how in 2009, this WAS the current and future style. You could call the xx pioneers for this type of pop/electronic music. That is why this record is so highly regarded. Listening in 2022 provides a different perspective.

Ehh it was ok. Lots of good mood that’s overshadowed by a dreary yet polished sound which- in my opinion- overstays it’s welcome

pretty chill

It’s fine.

Pretty good.

Agréable à l’oreille, cette musique linéaire finit par être soporifique.

Minimalist, occasionally not very interesting.

Where do I know the intro from???

Not my style

This is one of those albums that I loved at the time but forget exists. Really enjoyed hearing it again. It’s a very specific mood, but they do it so well. And there are some great songs on here - particularly VCR. Reminds me to check out some of their other tunes / albums. A nice nostalgia trip, and one that still sounds fresh.

ehhh fannst þetta aldrei frábær plata, alveg solid en frekar boring

Pretty good, enjoyed the vocals and the music was interesting.

Атмосферный вайб чилл

Probable ent que marie aimerait ca. Ca ressemble a angus et julia stone et ce genre de musique. 3.5

it's alright. I feel it should be better than it actually is, or rather I should like it more than I do, but at some points it just gets kinda stale. with that being said though, there is some good stuff on here.

Quite enjoyed this. Good background music. 3.5

Ein paar finde ich gut, ein paar nicht ganz so gut. Ich hatte es mir tatsächlich schlimmer vorgestellt.

Pleasantly surprised. Very nice and easy to listen to. Despite being generally chill and relaxing, it doesn't put me to sleep like some other soft pop albums on this list. Not something I expected from the ominous album art. Very strong 3/5.

Ok. I dont know where Ive heard thae first track before but it was very recognizable.

I tried but never got into this band. Sure they sound good and I get little flashes of other bands I really like which instead of warming me to The XX just make me want to go and listen to the others. This album just washed over me and hasn't left that much of an impression. With some other bands I get implored to give them another listen in the hopes that something will grab me, in this case I am just going to move on.

It's an alright album, the instrumentals sound really good most of the time. The vocals though are just plain boring, they almost never try and explore new ranges and mostly keep a same tone 6.5/10 Favourite tracks: VCR, Intro

Jújú, það má alveg hlusta. Ég er þó mun hrifnari af rödd Crofts en Sims. Lágstemmt og ágætt atmó, oft berstrípuð töff production, en lögin grípa mig ekki sérstaklega.

whatever

6.2/10

Decent minimalistic indie, that creates a special atmosphere which makes it perfect for background listening but fails to command more attention

Passable background music.... No need to listen again

Amazing production; generic and forgettable lyricism; poor hooks; boring guitar work; interesting bass lines; feels slightly soulless and meaningless 6/10

Good concentration music

Okay. Some sparse electronic melodies that aren't half bad.

First listen. Never heard of them before. When I first listened to it I thought is simple and a little boring. But, after a few more times, the music really grew on me. I appreciate the mood and feeling of the album. It makes me want to listen to more by this band. 3/5.

It was fine. Didn't really like it, but it didn't really annoy me or anything. Just kind of there. I generally thought the female singer was a lot better than the male one. No strong feelings besides that. Probably could've died without hearing it.

"Intro" is in its own right a very recognizable song. This album overall does fall short of the impact that "Intro" had on the world of music if that is what brings listeners to this album, and this will undoubtedly be a slow drip of disappointment for these people. The real payoff for this album is not allowing that disappointment deter one from giving this an honest listen. Secondly, The xx has a sound that is associated much with club attire, or runway modeling. The xx and their gently pulsating rhythms may invoke feelings of retail shopping at department stores drawing from that club energy to drive customers to purchase chic outfits, etc. However, once those things are settled and objectivity reluctantly takes over, the xx is a fine band, their vocals are mellow and they do well for this type of soul. One wants them to be good, and the truth is they are --- once one is able to get their song "Intro" out of the equation and let The xx be who they are, it is a very nice listen and may in fact leave the listener in a state of pleasant, yet unexcited surprise.

A very beautiful sound. It may not be my taste, but it was a very nice album.

Solo escuché la primera canción

Intro slaps obvs but I liked their newest album better. Good vibes tho

Good album but it’s the type of album you fall asleep to

Just ok. Way too chill for me, and all the songs sound the same.

intro connue chill melancholic. easy girl and boy voices ok, indie minimal guitare, un peu répétitif a partir de la 8

3 stars. Nothing spectacular

Chill album, nice background music

It’s a good album, it’s different to most stuff of the time. But it kinda sets itself an almost impossible task with the opening track, which is a killer and a half, before becoming distinctly domesticated. It is what it is, I suppose.

This still holds up as a solid overall LP, but on relistening it's clear how much this album suffers from static song structures. Most tracks tend to ride solely on a repeated 8-bar verse, and while they tend to end before things get grating a few tracks stay well past their welcome.

6/10 Esquecivel, legal

Decent indie tracks - Intro a good song. Maybe a little slow

Quante volte avrò ascoltato "Intro" senza sapere chi fossero gli XX! Mi sono piaciuti un sacco, ma sento come di non avere più l'età per queste cose e mi viene la depressione perché mi sarebbe piaciuto conoscerli prima, tipo nel 2009. Sarebbe un 3.75 ma la mia vecchiaia impone il 3.

Questo è il classico disco che sforna canzoni da season finale delle serie TV. Fa parte del periodo da cui uscitanno gruppi come i Daughter o gli Oh Wonder. Questo genere lo percepisco un po' come musica fatta da graphic designer (tipo Tycho), quel minimalismo piacevole ma più che altro di arredamento. Nonostante sia un precursore in qualche modo del genere secondo me gli manca la profondità dei Daughter o la vena più pop degli Oh Wonder. È un 2.5 pieno che premierò a 3 solo perché questi The XX hanno inventato degli stilemi che poi verranno usati in modo più sensato. Vorrei votare 2 solo perché uno dei membri del gruppo si fa chiamare Jamie xx.

I saw the word "atmospheric" as the first word to describe xx, and I immediately wanted to hate this album with the white hot intensity of a thousand suns. The opening track (annoyingly enough titled "Intro") is an instrumental that sounds like wants to be the soundtrack for a Google Nest commercial, and I mean that as a complement. The second song, "VCR" was already a turn off for the song title alone (I wouldn't have minded "8-Track" or "Betamax" but "DVD" would have been even worse). And as I listened to "VCR", this fucking thing grew on me. A pleasant surprise. I couldn't even be disappointed that it shattered my earlier expectation of having "The xx" destined to be branded with a 1 rating. And as much as I seemed to enjoy listening, I really can't think of a time when I'll want to seek it out again. But that probably says more about me than it says about the album. I guess I'm just curious as to everything else that's out there. That's probably why all my friends call me Whiskers.

I liked this pretty well. The call and response aspect of the duet vocals was an unusual touch for alternative rock and well executed.

Chilled, low key electro that starts well with some catchy, charismatic tunes but loses its distinctiveness as the album continues.

I liked it for what it is. Still able to invoke emotion despite being light and generally simple. I did like how the vocals seemed to be singing to each other like a dialog, but after awhile it was just a lot of the same.

3. it's pretty good, very pleasant. That said on Monday I don't remember it...

I really like the xx, and I'm learning as I go through this project that I like this genre more than most. This album is too minimalist. It's such a product of its place and time, where indie bands were basically persecuted if they dared to show too much emotion through their music, so they put it all in the words and left the music as an afterthought. That's too harsh an assessment for this particular album, but it's clear they suffered from these influences. Best track: Crystalised

Slow and almost haunting lyrics. Not anything I latched on to, but nothing that was bad either

Emoji Monday: 😑 Great album for those times you want to feel semi-comatose . Good simple melodic guitar riffing. I like the singer’s whisper vocals. 3.5 stars, but rounding down, because I don’t often want to feel semi-comatose.

Better than expected fun indie pop! Was going to give a four, but the end mellowed out TOO much and blended.

Solid start but didn't really progress.

xx is the debut album by English indie pop band the xx. Although the xx had been strongly influenced by R&B acts, the album also drew comparisons from critics to alternative rock, electronica and post-punk sounds. The melancholic songs on xx feature minimalist arrangements and are built around Smith's beats, Oliver Sim's basslines and sparse guitar figures played by Baria Qureshi and Romy Madley Croft, who employed reverb in her lead guitar parts.

Do like a few of their songs - this album was alright

Really promising opening sounds in terms of establishing a sound and a mood that I felt I could soak up for the duration of an album. Unfortunately, it plateaued after that, and sank into a wallowing sadness that I found less interesting.

Maybe the ones who popularlized the tight-production, low-key-moody indie-vocals that still is a popular genre in itself. I like most of the songs, but I can't say they blow me away. Very indie-radio friendly, I still hear The xx played on our local hip radio. There is not a lot of difference between songs, to be honest. Very one-dimensional on this album.

Nice and chill. Not a listen to all of the time kind of album, but nice for a relax.

Recognise many of the songs. It’s very bleh. Not so bad for a 2 so will give it a middle of the road 3. Vocals are very annoying in part. I think they have a few vocalists which is throwing me. Jamie XX has some good electronic music on his solo stuff. AIB advert has “Loud Noises” which many people will recognise.

This album is pornographic! Though not as obscene as the woeful TRIPLE X, this album is twice as profane as X. X started in Los Angeles in 1977, then 28 years later in 2005, XX was formed. By the same progression XXX will make its debut in 2033. Chalk it up to decaying moral standards, but the reality is that XX wasn't as lewd as you might think. As a reviewer it is my job to tell you that most, if not all songs are super-mellow and there's no fucking. The album is relatively short, weighing in at 38 mins. and an easy listen. I suppose this album represents somewhat of a turning point in music in the late 2000's. It's a delicate fuse of real and electronic instrumentation that exists effortlessly. Intro is the simple, dark beauty used to sell AT&T and Hugo Boss that you've heard many times before. It's the recognizable instrumental and an easy listen that subtly builds amongst single-note plucking. The balance of the album includes more complex songs but maintain the overall feel of the first. There's an effortless fun vibe about this album as such if it had existed before 2009, it would be might be called The Moldy Peaches. Also, it's worth noting that the dude singing sometimes sounds like Kurt Vile, it's subtle and distant, but once you hear it you can't unhear him. So, if you don't care for Kurt, I probably just killed this album for you. Finally, for the freaks out there looking for music to get the joyknob turning, this album isn't for you. I would suggest checking into Big Black's famous album from 1987.

Good

Understated and smooth

I can see that it's a good album, but it just never does that much for me. Maybe I've never been in the right mood for it.

Easy, chill background music.

Fanstastic opener, kinda underwhelming and sleepy after. Pretty though.

-"Crystalised" was nice -Overall chill and fine, but nothing of note really

An ok album. Nothing that really stood out, but inoffensive to listen to.

beginning is good, after 5th song, album becomes a bit boring and repetitive, 7/10

Good for background music though sometimes the female voice will take you out of it (discordant with the music.)

Listen, it’s a good album. Is it great? No. It’s ok. And that’s it! Perfectly pleasant chilled out sort of trip hop stuff. But fuck me, it gets samey. By track 4 you know you’ve heard the lot. Still, it’s ok.

The hits are hits! And then there are other songs...

Reminded me of a romcom movie soundtrack but music was decent

I’ve tried to get into this. Just missing something

I wouldn't call it anything special. Not sure why it's on this list tbh, never heard of this group before

Not inspiring. Uninteresting.

Really like the XX - better live than on record tho

Just nice background music.

3/5 nice album, but ultimately not for me

Don't think I've ever heard of these guys, but first song is recognizable and I like it, so this could be fun! It was okay, but nothing special. 3/5.

Memories, Flow festival

Quiet and easy music. Kinda rides the same wave for the whole album, making it devoid of interesting dynamics. Hard to stay engaged when it does so little to engage. Really it's only until the end that I find it picks up a bit and does more. For what it's worth though, the reverb-filled dream pop is a nice listen. I just wish it did more.

Not my usual taste but I enjoyed listening to this. The first track was worth 4* easily, loved it but overall a good 3***

Bit meh.

I always said 'I like the xx' but I suspected that maybe this was because it was trendy, really I didn't really listen to them much. Now I realize that I actually do like the xx! I really do!

Was gab es eigentlich an ikonischer Musik nach diesem Album? Aus irgendwelchen WM-Songs fällt mir gerade nichts ein. Auf Albumlänge ist mir das aber schon damals nicht tragfähig erschienen, und meine Traurigkeit hat sich zu diesem Zeitpunkt nicht mehr so artikuliert, wie die es hier tun.

the first song is a vibe - "intro." it's kind of music i would just prefer to have on in the background, but it is fun.

Solid album, these guys were gonna be huge and then dipped off. 3.75

Better than I expected. Good for a rainy day

Good album. Minimal beats and vocals that are really clean.

had some highlights little boring

3

Unsure, seems a bit like it passed me by.

Intro: mood music. Good for video Guitar Centric / Breathy MaleFemale duo 80s / Looper positive - reminds me of John Hughs vibe Everything kinda sounds similar the longer you listen...

not bad. i liked intro. funny how i like the first songs off the albums.

Need to be in the mood for The xx but they are damn lovely group.

It's just not my taste of music. There is very nice vocals and I rather enjoy the tubular guitar sounds. The whole album is a little slow and sad feeling which doesn't necessarily appeal to me but I'm sure there are people who enjoy this album a great deal.

This album has grown on me over time.

Dreamy. All the songs kind of sound the same.

Voices!

tava no clima certo pra ouvir isso hj

Good album. A bit repetitive. Band has good sound.

Yeah, pretty good if not a bit samey.

I never got all the hype about this, thought it might make sense this time. Nope, still boring, they even sound bored of their own songs

Great vibe, really liked it, was ready for it to end tho

The woman sounds better than the man. Quite chilled background songs

3,5

Decent effort. Would make a great backdrop to a social gathering. Will definitely require a few more listens

I liked it more than I expected to.

liked it enough to bookmark it and will check out more of their work. sent to a friend and he is already a big fan.

It was fine - several good songs on the record, but it is so slow and minimal, which just isn't my jam. Nothing inherently wrong, just didn't stick with me much.

Interesting album with strong atmosphere, but its fairly repetitive and dosent really have any diversity in the types of songs.

wasnt for me back in 2009, isnt for me now. downtempo apple adverts. some instrumentals sound alright (Fantasy, etc.), but they lose me again once they start singing

On paper I should really like this album. It did absolutely nothing for me. The intro was decent, but it only lead to disappointment

Was this the dawn of chill indie?? The oversaturation of the genre might be to blame, but to my 2026 ears this sounds like a whole buncha nothin' Standouts: Crystalised • Heart Skipped a Beat • Basic Space

One good Song eveybody knows - apart from that pretty boring.

Occasionally captivating, sometimes bad, but primarily boring. Their later output is far more dynamic and gripping. That said, this is a decent study in minimalism and stretching one specific guitar sound as far as it’ll possibly go.

Low-key ass je catch pas le hype

I don't really like the guy's vocals on this album and the songs border on boring. 4/10

it was bad.

i've tried to get through this record i think three times before? and never actually been able to sit through it completely without getting bored out of my mind by like the 4th track. now tbf this was a long time ago and my taste has changed a lot since them, but this definitely gave me pretty low expectations going into this. and honestly? i guess it wasn't as awful as i thought it would be (i didn't outright hate it or fall asleep listening, though i came close), but it definitely wasn't memorable; the only parts of it that stood out to me and stuck with me at all were the iconic "intro" and the bassline in "fantasy", while the rest all just blended together. it pretty quickly got both boring and a little annoying, though i guess it can make pretty good background noise if i have nothing better to put on. instead of taking time to talk about why i don't think this should be on the list, i'll just say a few names of albums that try to do similar things to this but much more successfully: turn on the bright lights, hurry up we're dreaming, carrie & lowell, in colour (which is by a side project by a member of this band! it even has a song, "loud places", which is just like the songs on this album if they were interesting!), overgrown, untrue. (also, why is this the first indie record i get? couldn't i have gotten something actually good instead?) in short: 2/5 album, very boring, has no right to be here over other stuff that does the same thing much better

Can’t for the life of me understand why these jokers have more than one album on this list. There are some fun groves, but the vocals sound like they’re asleep at the mic. Like they didn’t even want to be singing their own lyrics, which I get because their lyrics are fucking dull. This shit sucks.

This was a bit more interesting than the one from the other day. Still doesn't really get my juices flowing.

The album overall has this kind of uniqueness and simplicity in the instrumental but sometimes the vocals tend to lack a bit on certain songs. Overall it lacks of risks and feels a bit dull

Альбом слишком попсовый, но Intro я где-то слышал!

fine

Super iconic intro, really incredible. Unfortunately used so much for youtube shorts and whatnot that it kind of lost its novelty. VCR was a cute song and very relatable but the hook was not strong enough for me personally. Crystalised is a cool song, love the riff at the start, but is also missing something for me personally. Honestly this seems like the type of band that kind of leaned into a indie edm vibe that is chill. Never really messed around with it. Islands sounds nice too. But overall the takeaway is that the music is too slow or under stimulating. I do like the melancholy of Heart Skipped a Beat. Fantasy is awesome and surreal. Shelter by porter robinson is better. Still Shelter is prob my fav song so far beside intro. Still all that buildup for nothing? I need a scream or like a crazy guitar riff. Basic Space sounds like Human Music from that one rick and morty episode at the start lol. Infinity sounds fine. Hate how it swells just to deflate rather than pop or climax. 'There's a fine line between music that's "atmospheric" and "monotonous." ' and personally im in the latter camp. Night time is a bit more fun. I actually quite like this one and perhaps this is when the album clicked for me. It sounds sort of like Molchat Doma or even some Kino. I'm a fan. Let's see if the rest of the album ever makes me feel like that again. Nope, not that big a fan of Stars. Okay so prob like a 5/10 for me. I understand how this is an iconic album. The blend of minimalist sound with indie rock + electronic and dream pop elements are great. It's an incredibly intimate album and the guitars are artfully picked. The dual lead vocals of Romy and Oliver creates a fun push-and-pull.

*Sigh* More bland 2000s indie rock? Are we serious? As expected, there is absolutely nothing even remotely interesting about this album. It's just basic modern pop with whispery vocals and basic beats. The lyrics are as basic as everything else on this album. So, yeah, this shit is not good. It's not anywhere near worthy of being on the list, so why is it here? I've asked this far too many times, and I'll ask it far too many more if this damn list keeps throwing random boring bullshit at me! Just give me good albums! This album is ranked #2 of 8 albums for 2009. Other 2009 albums rated by me: It's Blitz!(1/8)-4 Veckatimest(3/8)-2

xx keeps teasing you with it's stellar atmosphere, lovely production and clearly solid performances, but that's never enough to hide the fact this band can't write an actual hook into these tracks, most of which are at least 3 minutes long and yet still feel like they get cut off before they can actually develop into something. The only geniunely catchy moment in this is in the goddamn intro track, and even that one ends before you can get attached to it. It's honestly just sad, like watching a kid with talent deciding to give up too early into something.

kinda felt like 'that's it?' after it was over.

It was ok. Kinda slow

It’s minimalist but I was expecting some mood changes. Didn’t really grab me at any point and repetitive.

This came out in my early teenage years so I feel that I am disposed to like this one. I wanted more energy, the primary emotion from this album is malaise. I expected to love it but felt like it was pretty middle of the road. I really liked Intro and Fantasy

boring

is oké.. gwn echt heel saai maar niet per se slecht

Hilarious meme song

Quite dull. There's a moment near the back end where there's some oomph but it's quickly replaced with the quiet sound from the rest of the album. I didn't hear much emotion in their voices either. For emotional, ambient music, I prefer someone like Blanco White.

This is some hipster BS...

This shit was so boring

How boring was this? The shy vocal style is interesting I guess but not something I liked. I had high hopes the first two songs but they were quickly dashed. I see how it’s influential, sounds like all the twee/stomp clap pop that was on the radio when I was in middle school.

Opens with an 'oh this is them?!' classic - the catchy guitar line and idm drum machine creating a spacey ambiguous atmosphere, instantly recognizable but doomed to play on loop behind annoying short form videos forever. The rest adds a pair of singers trading whispered lines to the sparse reverby synth+guitars indie dance pop arrangement, dark and moody, light tension/release dynamics, easy listening - pleasant enough but pretty dull. The guitar leads are a huge Modest Mouse rip off: sad slow melodic messing with major 3rds/4ths and reverb. It's the epitome of post-hipster millenial retail music.

Not bad, but I couldn't sustain my interest. The male/female vocals got annoying after a while.

Intro led me to believe that this album is more than what is actually is: boring indie pop.

The way that the two singers pronounce words annoys the crap out of me. They don't pronounce their Ts or Ds enough and they end up coming out as this annoying "ts" or "dz" sound every time in words like "daytime," which they say more like "dzaytsime." Having to hear that for the length of an album is incredibly distracting. Outside of the way they pronounce words with Ds in them, their singing isn't much to write home about either. It feels like the kind of music I'd hear in a Burlington. Anyways, I appreciate them throwing Fantasy right in the middle of the album. Only took like 20 minutes to get something vaguely interesting. That song brings me to the other guy in the group, Jamie xx. Not to dismiss the secondary guitarist, but I actually knew who this guy was before this album because of his solo stuff. Somehow I never made the connection between that and this band, despite the name. His work as a producer here is mediocre, but I feel like it's more him being held back by the other people in the band than something in his control. It's all boring and low-energy to the point of making me feel tired by the end of it. In a word, yawn.

It’s pretty bland. Only a few bits are enjoyable but most of it sounds the same

I used to want to like this record. It has components that I like. Seventeen Seconds The Cure guitars, simple beats and understated vocals but I find it pretty dull.

6/10 banger album that aged a little bit badly Will i add this album to my library: already is

Dull. Inoffensive but incredibly dull

Second album from The xx on the list and it’s another two star. Much like I See You there’s nothing necessarily bad about this. I just don’t find it interesting. With no more albums on the list I would pretty much guarantee I’ll never listen to them again.

Could be good but I don’t think the music ever gets going. There’s a lot of intro through the album

Intro is great but then it’s kinda like why am I still listening… wish there were no vocals

Beats, fine. Vocals, bad

Not a huge fan of the make lead singers voice. Music is ok.

Sin interés, pero no es terrible.

Incredibly 2012 Tumblr feeling. Really shockingly bland. Felt like it belonged in a short Hulu series about young millennials.

Intro is really good - I had heard this before but had no idea who played it (and never heard of XX before). The rest seems almost like easy listening. Background music for a coffeeshop. Interesting sound, but not very daring.

imagining this being important to jack and lena

Good background music but doesn't stand out to me. I feel like it would be in the Winx tv show.

Rating: 5/10 It's mostly just boring to me. I like pop music that's ambient, atmospheric, dreamy, minimalist, all those things, but the xx specifically doesn't really do it for me. I find it pretty unmemorable and I really don't like their vocals. It's well produced, it's a vibe, especially that damn intro, and it's not explicitly offensive so it gets a middling score

I remember this. OK. Cant remember what it sounded like already.

Feel like I should have enjoyed this more than I did, but not for me

OK

feel like i'm bout to fall asleep to a vague, diluted version of my brother's indie mixtapes from '95.

The vocalists both suck and while there is nothing truly objectionable about the song arrangement and production, there doesn't seem to be anything inspired or inspiring here either. A fairly tedious, boring album. Personally, I was way more blown away by Imogen Heap's 2009 ELLIPSE than this.

Super forgettable. It wasn’t the worst, but I forgot I was listening to music for half of it.

Seems like there's probably a much more interesting album in here somewhere. But honestly I just spent most of it wishing I was listening to Interpol or Slow Club.

This album was like a terrible handjob. Track 1 - Intro promised interest, arousal, perhaps even brilliance. What followed was 35 minutes of musical edging, slow strokes of melodramatic, yet simultaneously entirely emotionless dirge. It's going nowhere, you want it to stop, but out of respect for the other party you stay quiet, allowing your mind to wander to anything but the matter at hand. After 25 minutes the quest for climax intensifies, but the wolf is far from the door. It is only as the final track - Stars comes to a blissful end that anything close to a climax is reached. It's over. Sweet, orgasmic silence.

sigma podcast intro, gotta respect that

Generic mediocrity

Meh. Nothing special.

Yes I’d like to order a scoop of vanilla ice cream on a slice of white bread with a marshmallow on top.

favs: intro heart skipped a beat shelter infinity night time rating 2.3/5

Car commercial music.

A lot of vocals over a simple guitar track. Not really my thing.

mid, wydaję mi się, że to kompletnie nie mój gust, ale może za którymś razem moja opinia się zmieni, żadna z piosenek nie przyciągnęła mojej uwagi 2,5/5, zdziwiło mnie to bo gatunek wydawał się bardzo mój

This wasn’t egregiously bad but for some reason I kinda hated it. It was just so boring and bland and underwhelming.

forgettable for me. I've heard the song 'intro' before but that's the only one that left somewhat of an impression.

Quiet; didn't really care for this one much

not rlly my style but would love to listen to more folk sruff like this

This one is difficult for me. It's not that it's outright terrible as much as that it's just boring. It's like boring Phantogram, and Phantogram isn't super interesting for me for the most part anyway. Somehow, XX is a bit more boring than Phantogram. It's like listening to a couple of hipsters record a boring jam session with their guitar and their Casio keyboard and sing over that, but even they sound bored and disinterested with what they're doing. I dunno, man, this one kinda sucks. 4.5/10

I hadn’t heard the album before, and perhaps I was expecting something different. Something a bit louder. Noisier. No, the album isn’t loud. It’s more like quiet, minimalist indie pop. The call it dream pop. But the album is a bit monotonous. No, very monotonous. Individual tracks hardly stand out, and not much sticks in the mind. It’s not a bad album, but it just doesn’t work for me. If I want to listen to that sort of music, I’ll listen to the quiet songs by Velvet Underground. Perhaps I’m simply too old for dream pop.

Sounded like music for a car advert. Started ok but by the end was rather boring

everything sounded the same

The first tracked showed such promise, but then on the second they began to sing and that promise quickly vanished. Things then got more tedious as each track passed, until the end when I felt like a coma was imminent. The instrumentation would be nicely relaxing on its own, but with the droning vocals my brain just wants to turn to jelly.

I wanted to love it but it is boring

redelijk

I am still looking for what makes this album special... so far, I haven't found anything. It is neither horrific nor a captivating, impressive record. It just is something, mediocre and not very detailed. After listening for the first half of the halbum, I was a bit suprised when "Basic Space" featured drums that were remarkable for the first time on the album, at least it was the first time I actually noticed it. I guess you can put it on as background music, but for me, it isn't anything more. 2/5

Dull and dated

The dual vocals don't match well. The guitars are repetitive. l'm all for minimalist pop that's not crazy overproduced but this is dull.

Цікаво) Інді, таке собі(

How to make an xx song: drums, guitar, and some mellow sleepy vocals

Intro was amazing.... and then completely meh

It's ok!!! The music was a lil..... slow and soft for me. ALso the intro song has been used in so many generic youtube videos its hard to not hear it as watchmojo music

Quiet and atmospheric, but generally too slow for my tastes. Probably a 2.5. I remember when this album was all the rage, but despite my love for 2010s indie music I also could t get that into it then.

Sounds like the kind of music a committee consisting of middle-aged men in salmon pink acrylic jumpers would come up with when asked to produce an album of "chilled indie". The Postal Service cover Young Marble Giants (two infinitely more brilliant bands who should have been on this list!).

Boring. Why did I "need" to listen to this before I died? Amateur instrumentalists and tuneless singing

I'm sure I've heard the intro track on TV over the years, it might have been on something like MasterChef. As for the rest of the album, I'm convinced that Robert Dimery gave up after the first edition of the book and just started plumping for albums which had made some random, ostentatious indie YouTuber's year-end lists as how the fuck is this something you need to hear before you die? It's vapid, corporate, air-conditioned nothingness. About as exciting as receiving a tax bill in the post.

Pretty much was what artists were gonna sound like in that scene for the next few years but it’s not like it’s particularly special

The only half-decent track on the album is the intro track... which should tell you how dull this album is. It definitely carried the scene forward, but the amount of ambience doesn't do it any favours.

repetitive

It sounds as though they’re as bored by their music as I am.

it has a place but on the dull end of the spectrum

Intro and Crystallised and that's about it.

Another perfectly fine album that is completely forgettable.

I am not a fan of this genre, so this missed the mark for me.

Mid

This was pretty cool. I didn't love it, but if I heard it some more that could change. i like the sound.

goated intro, el resto no esta mal pero nothing exciting

pulga de bunda

Helt okej, vissa trevliga att lyssna på andra inte. Vissa var lite tråkiga, andra inte. Tyckte sången var lite jobbig att lyssna på ibland 🫣 Tyckte också att introt var bättre än många av låtarna 🫣 Islands och fantasy var najs 4,5/10

It was nice to have on in the background while I’m working, other than that this Album left no lasting impression on me, other than recognising the opening track as it’s been used in countless British TV dramas. 2.5/5 - boring

I feel like there's a lot of potential here but it's lacking that something extra, which is probably energy. The atmospheric sound is interesting but at times it feels like they played a wrong note or didn't hold one for long enough. At the end of the day, it's fine I guess.

Good bass lines and beats. Songs are a little too slow. "Intro" is the best of the record.

oh wow the song that plays in every annoying instagram reel is on here

While I have nothing against dreamy trip-hop — and I would be fine with any of these individual songs in the right spot on a playlist — this kind of droning, simple, unadorned, repetitive album does nothing for me.

A lot of these types of music on this list. Slow paced pop/rock indie shit. Alternative that is somehow boring and even worse than mainstream. I tried, i really did, but I cannot for the life of me like any of it.

Intro had me feeling that something cool was gonna happen but it was just quite mid

this is a top 1001 album? someone explain?

This is fine I guess. I liked Heart Skipped A Beat. It does drag on for me because it's extremely samey and while I can appreciate that in some bands for this it's just kind of a drag. It's not terrible or anything but pretty boring.

I knew what this would sound like as soon as I saw the artist's name in all lowercase. I wasn't wrong.

Very mellow and atmospheric

This isn’t bad, it’s just painfully dull.

Just a bit dull, too minimalistic, just not my taste. Crystalised was my song of the album and fav first listen

Album 56 Top 3 favorites off the album: VCR, Night Time, Stars I think I need to borrow a copy of this book because I truly do not understand why some of these albums are on here. Case in point: this one. How is this an album I need to hear before I die? Please, someone, explain it. Something about minimalism and ambience and and space and silence. I get it. I'm a musician. I promise. It is not a bad album. It's just not one I think I needed to hear before I die. Like if I had 1089 days left to live and I listened to one album every single day, this is one that would make me go, "really? I just spent 38 minutes of the last 1089 days of my life listening to this?" Maybe if I had an extra 38 minutes to spare, I'd put it on in the background, but damn. I genuinely try not to compare albums to one another, but here we go: at least it isn't Bob fucking Dylan or Coldplay. Also, if I wanted something with this vibe, I'd listen to Cigarettes After Sex instead. That is all.

boring

Definitively influential but only in terms of the basic sound of rock. Very solid songwriting overall, but too simplistic and hushed for lasting impact. Fantasy is probably my favourite track.

5/10

There's so little here to even critique. It's not unpleasant, and they nail the ethereal, quiet vulnerable vibe quite well, but this is like a serious version of Cattelan's Comedian

Melodies are fine, but it's mellow and on the whole a lot of aesthetics I didn't like. Nice work, but only 2 for me.

Atmospheric and pleasant-sounding indie music heavy on the delay and electronic rhythms. Kind of a laid back post punk vibe to it. All the songs on this album sound approximately the same. I can pick out their influences here and there, but it never transcends any of them. It’s the sort of thing that’s bland enough to have a broad appeal, which I guess is what landed it here. Not bad, but I assume that I’m going to forget what they sound like five minutes after the album is over.

Hard listen, very boring, should not be in this list. I think its telling that their most streamed song on spotify is the one in which they do not sing.

Completely faded into the background. Nothing stood out to me at all. 24 hours later, doing this review, I have zero memories of any of the songs.

I'm so sorry but I cannot do either of their voices.

I listened to this a couple of times and it just didn't stick. Didn't care for the dude's voice.

its so late 2000´s i cant omg. look, i like indie pop, i cant stand this album currently, i think i liked it back in the 2010s, right now? i cant

Overall pretty slow and boring? I see the atmospheric influences that really impacted the indie rock/folk scene of the 2010's but overall it's fairly simplistic and basic. Definitely an album I'd put on to fall asleep to.

unfortunately have to agree about it all being a bit dull, and the cursive singing got pretty insufferable real fast

Just no I was super into cutting edge pop when I was a young teen, but I think I really started to stop caring about it around in the mid 2010s when those stupid whisper vocals combined with minimal backing tracks took off (think Taylor Swift’s Blank Space, Beach House, Chainsmokers etc), and it sounds like this is might be patient zero for that epidemic. It’s just such a boring sound. It makes the vocals feel less important even if the lyrics come from the heart and there’s literally nothing else interesting going on musically. I get where the appeal for minimalist music like this comes from but it just feels like such a waste of time. It sounds pretty inoffensive and the album’s over pretty quick, so I can’t give it that dreaded 1 star, but I’m pretty certain I’ll never listen to this one again

Oh yes I'll take a same instrumentation for every song please Oh, and no identifiable melodies on the side