„Jamie XX’s „In Colour“ is also about the pleasure of being alone, enveloped in bass, in a sea of many; of refracting what can often be a superficial experience – London clubbing – into something more existential, more nuanced, more unified.“ (Kitty Empire)
„Kitty, I like the way you say it, yep.. I was impressed by both XX-albums that seeem much darker than this new one. There were some 20-somethings who had something to tell me, a guy from an older generation. But it’s never the question of age. Moments do exist…all the time. Now I think I will try this trip to „good old“ English dance-floors. We knew from the start that neon lights would someday turn nostalgic. But i’m not in the mood for sepia-tinged memories. I like being enveloped in bass, in a sea of many, all alone. What do you think, Andre?“ (Dave Simpson)
„Oh, nothing at the moment. Sorry, I only listened with one ear. Very unprofessional, sorry, and now on air, live, embarassing. But I got your point, and thanks for your invitation. I loved the second album of The XX even more, „Coexist“. The male, the female voice, low key, no drama, but tension throughout. The bass in the background, cool abstractions from the British dance culture. Guy Sigsworth is a huge follower of every new idea there. Bass ideas. Bass desires. The intertwining of electronica and voices. He is surely keen on this music. I still have to listen to this solo album of Jamie. I wanted yesterday, but then I stumbled on a very enigmatic album.
„Tell us.“
„The Magical World of the Strands“. Nothing new. Something quite old. From the early 90’s. Listened to it on miserable sounding Youtube, but it didn’t matter. Never heared it before. Stunning. Awesome. Fabulous. Something Ray Davies would love. I still have no words for it. Embarassing again, in a radio show. So sorry, don’t know nothing about this Michael Head guy.“ (Andre Barton)
„Well, Andre, it may be nice, sometimes to make discoveries that might have been favourite albums in your youth, right.“
„Yes. i just turned 20 when it was released, I think. Roundabout. I’m bad in mathematics. But I think that was the time. I often listened to The Damned and The Butthole Surfers. Creepy stuff, you know. But this record, „The Magical World of the Strands“ would have hit me like rock bottom. Its weird tenderness would have knocked me out immediately. Would be good stuff for my parents in the first place. Ha. You know, they smoked their ganja, while George Harrison was flooding the room with his Indian sounds.“
„Yep, Andre, we will give it a listen in one of our next shows. Kitty, can we return now to your album of the week. „In Colours“.
„Like to. The entire album feels a little like wandering around a rave, different sounds coming in and out of focus in the corridors, toilet queue chitchat forming part of the soundscape. The end of Seesaw, and that’s the one I want to play now, hopefully to a masmerized audience, is another Madley Croft track in which love goes up and down, finds some anonymous raver at a loss for words. “I just….” he splutters. “The world just…” he stammers. You know how he feels.“
„A bit like Andre tonight…“ (Laughter in the studio Rega EMS of BBC 7)