Ian Curtis Wishlist
Receiver

"Ian Curtis Wishlist" by Xiu Xiu is, I can say with certainty, my absolute favorite song. Jamie Stewart's wavering and crepuscular singing, the shadowy tapestries, the voice becoming increasingly schizo in a ritualistic performance infused with death, and then, the explosion of synth that forcibly drags you into Eden: it's a piece I listen to very often, and that every time brings me to tears. There's nothing to be done: it's when the music wounds me and heals every pain of mine. 

Discovering that a man, a woman, or a band (I haven't figured it out yet, and it's unclear) took the title of this song for their personal nickname shook me a bit. Especially because before listening, I read that his/their genre was witch-house, which made me wrinkle my nose a bit. A very fascinating genre, which I often listen to and explore with pleasure, but far too repetitive and generates far too many artists. Few of them truly deserve it: the Salem, of whom I already spoke and their excellent "King Night" are an example, but one could also mention Bathaus with their infernal EP "BASTIEN", Crim3s with their crepuscular compositions close to the harsher Crystal Castles, the acoustic intimacy of V?GINA WOLF, or the sexual White Ring. For the rest, the genre fascinates, yes, because of its inherent darkness, its amateurish bedroom cursedness, and its pagan imagery, but it increasingly seems stagnant and huddled with a (musically as well) repetitive theme made of symbols and allusions, often extremely boring, whether it's the fascinating logorrhea of Mater Suspiria Vision, or the forced and dismal wild beat of Zxz. But the list would really be endless. 

In short, it was only out of curiosity for the project's name that I decided to put this eight-track album into the player, not expecting much (or rather, expecting the worst, as my esteem for them would have remained equal). And yet. A great job. First of all, I don’t understand why (aside from the strange and falsely hipster titles and a certain dark sigh that runs through some tracks) they are associated with the genre, when in reality what they make is nothing more than electronic music, with noise and ambient influences. 

"Receiver" is a cohesive and crystalline album. Clear in its fierce rage (the extraordinary opening of "Flutters", a shroud of almost incomprehensible violence, but which almost immediately becomes addictive), that then extends towards scenarios of unspoiled beauty. 
An album that has the beast's heart in its hands, managing to build, through this animalistic and imperfect electronic, sighs, beats, suggestions. It builds a forest around you and throws you into an abyss. 

It is wild, but it is also magical. 

"Receiver" does not shock, it will not be remembered, it will probably be listened to only once by many who attempt to approach it. Yet, at the moment it plays in your stereo, it certainly makes its effects. And if my head is spinning, it must be a good album.

When the dizziness passes, maybe I'll dedicate myself to something else. 

With love.