Xiu Xiu Collaborate With Larsen, Release Live Album

What happens when a miserable romantic from California meets a mysterious gang of rock deconstructionists from Italy? Ciautistico! That's the title of the debut chunk of sound from XXL, a collaboration between Xiu Xiu and the Italian outfit Larsen. (They'd better hope the staff of the hip-hop magazine doesn't find out, or there's gonna be some serious beef.) The album is out now on Important Records, and according a press release, offers a "schizophrenic" mélange of "orchestrated pop songs, almost-techno beats, and minimalistic droning tracks," all "edited out of long, intense jam sessions" but "framed in a common melancholic mood." Duh, of course it's in a melancholic mood, it's a Xiu Xiu record.

Tracklist:

01 Paw Paw Paw Paw Paw Paw Paw
02 Minnie Mouseistic
03 Ciao Ciautistico
04 (Pokey in Your) Gnocchi
05 Distorted Duck
06 Lipstick Fair
07 Prince Charming
08 Birthday Song
09 Sunday

The kindred groups first encountered each other when Xiu Xiu mastermind Jamie Stewart opened for ex-Swans anti-diva Jarboe in Seattle. Larsen followed him on the bill and, says Stewart, "melted my brain and heart." Undaunted by the destruction of these vital organs, Xiu Xiu traveled to Larsen headquarters in Torino to record. Glockenspiels, theremins, and harmoniums abounded, much wine did flow, and the album was born in less than two weeks.

Ciautistico! is the fourth Xiu Xiu-related disc of 2005 so far, following the full-length La Forêt, a split single with Devendra Banhart and Accordion Solo!, a compilation from the proto-Xiu group Ten in the Swear Jar. But Stewart and co. are very prolific mopers. On October 11, the album Life and Live will hit American shores, having been released this summer by the Italian label Xeng (they sure do love those Italians). It collects cuts from the Fag Patrol EP as well as Stewart solo acoustic songs recorded while touring with Banhart, including a cover of the Smiths' "Asleep". Shut the lights off and turn it up:

01 20,000 Deaths for Eidelyn Gonzales, 20,000 Deaths for Jamie Peterson
02 Sad Redux-O-Grapher
03 King Earth, King Earth
04 I Broke Up (Version A)
05 Thanks Japan!
06 Sad Pony Guerilla Girl
07 Asleep
08 Jennifer Lopez
09 20,000 Deaths for Eidelyn Gonzales, 20,000 Deaths for Jamie Peterson
10 Helsabot
11 Dr. Troll
12 Brooklyn Dodgers
13 Nieces Pieces
14 Clover
15 I Broke Up

Xiu Xiu are finishing up an American tour with a performance at the Bottom of the Hill in San Francisco this Saturday, September 24, but rest assured, they won't stay off the road for long. Important Records says that XXL will not be a one-off project, but a living, breathing band. To prove it, the Italo-American collective will venture forth on a trans-Atlantic tour in the near future, sending quivers of anticipation throughout the not-quite-emo, not-quite-techno scene

source: pitchfork.