na UK edition: the xx

Note: Not all of these records are UK or EU-only, but I wanted to at least showcase some of the bigger/more interesting/notable just-ins specific to overseas, beginning especially with this first record…

The xx, xx: I was waaaaaaaaaay off about this one. For some reason, I (wrongly) assumed The xx were an NME-pandering angular haircut/landfill indie band who would yelping their way into my life this week. When I got the promo recently I was immediately struck but what I heard — and what I didn’t hear. xx is a perfectly stark and oddly sweet debut, simultaneously indebted to the Martin Hannett space-is-the-place aesthetic and the gently prickly minimalist guitar of Young Marble Giants. Clearly a lot of you already knew this — xx was one of our most downloaded records yesterday. If you haven’t given it a shot yet, have at it. And keep an eye out for a larger feature later this week.

Jenny Lewis, See Fernando: A rollicking, kinda country-rock send-up from this indie queen. Is it weird that the intro here reminds me of “Ballroom Blitz”?

Dinosaur Pile-Up, The Most Powerful E.P In The Universe: This one actually is kinda landfill indie! JK GUYS, NO HATE MAIL, PLS! I remember finding Dino Pile-Up’s Myspace around the same time as our whole office got obsessed with Golden Silvers. More guitar-heavy (and dare I say… grungier?!) than the Silvers, though, for sure. They also have a song called “Cat Attack!!” which is pretty hilarious.

datA, Doors Of Perception/Leaves: Pretty much anything Tempa releases is gonna get at least a few spins around these parts. After the first few listens, this single seems to be a bit more… ruminative than some other bangin’ Tempa releases? Feel free to quabble with my adjective choices, but I think you’ll see what I mean.

Brennan Green, My First House: Some sparkling disco-y house from prolific remixer Brennan Green. This is the first release we’ve gotten on the site from preeminent NYC-based nu-disco label Wurst and I’m looking forward to a lot, lot more.

Various Artists, Echo Expansion: The tweak-ification of instrumental hip-hop continues with this bugged-out compilation featuring Flying Lotus, Ras G, Dntel and a gorgeous, twinkling opening track from The Life Force Trio.