| Oh No | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | March 26, 2021 | |||
| Studio | Nurse (Jamie Stewart's home studio in Los Angeles) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 53:40 | |||
| Label | Polyvinyl | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Xiu Xiu chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Oh No | ||||
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Oh No (stylized in all caps) is a duets album and the fourteenth studio album by American experimental band Xiu Xiu. It was released on March 26, 2021, via Polyvinyl. It is described as a "duets album". Its lead single, "A Bottle of Rum" featuring Liz Harris was released on January 27, 2021. [2]
Oh No is made up entirely of duets. It was announced along with the release of its lead single on January 27, 2021. [3]
According to frontrunner Jamie Stewart, the features on the album reflect people that helped him realize that the "ratio of beautiful humans to shitty humans is more like 60/40", rather than what he had always assumed was "1/99". [4] He also explained that the album's lead single was inspired by Grouper's "Heavy Water/I’d Rather Be Sleeping". [5]
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AnyDecentMusic? | 67/100 [6] |
| Metacritic | 75/100 [7] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [8] |
| musicOMH |  [9] |
| Paste | 6.9/10 [10] |
| Pitchfork | 7.0/10 [11] |
| The Skinny | [12] |
Oh No received positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, it holds a score of 75/100 out of 12 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". [7] In particular, A Bottle of Rum featuring Liz Harris was well received by critics. The track has been called an "electro-pop stunner", [13] and one of the best songs of the week. [3] Writing for Mxdwn, Aaron Grech claimed that the indie pop track "blends Xiu Xiu's eclectic chord progressions and vocal styles, with Harris’ more spacious vocals and lo-fi ambiance". [5]
Reviewing the album for AllMusic, Heather Phares wrote how the album was, "Embodying hard times as well as the way friends lift each other out of them, Oh No also exemplifies the drama, mystery, and deeply felt emotions that have made Xiu Xiu a vital musical force for decades." [8] In the assessment for musicOMH , Matt Costell felt that by, "Embracing the participatory rather than lurking in personal mistrust, and supplementing their formerly disconsolate narratives with unusually contented flourishes, these diverse new manifestations substantially demonstrate that Xiu Xiu still exist in a universe of their own design, but that maybe they’re ready to temporarily negotiate ours once more." [9] In the review for Pitchfork , Brian Howe highlighted the album's accessibility; " By not trying to shock us, Stewart actually surprises us, and OH NO makes it easier to be a Xiu Xiu fan than it’s been in years." [11]
Writing for The Skinny , Tony Inglis was more critical in his review of the album, claiming that "The production is exceptionally murky – mostly collaborators move through the dark, uncertain world Stewart manifests with his Scott Walker-like crooning of glossolalia." [12] Clare Martin also shared similar sentiments in the review for Paste , stating that "Xiu Xiu’s esoteric lyrics and challenging, textured sounds are part of what make them so singular as a group, but can also be overdone. OH NO’s moving moments of catharsis and uplifting hope are muted by how exhaustingly over-the-top the rest of the album feels." [10]
All songs written by Angela Seo and Jamie Stewart, except where noted, and produced by Seo, Lawrence English and Greg Saunier.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Sad Mezcalita" (featuring Sharon van Etten) | 4:00 | |
| 2. | "I Cannot Resist" (featuring Drab Majesty) | 3:30 | |
| 3. | "The Grifters" (featuring Haley Fohr) | 3:12 | |
| 4. | "Goodbye for Good" (featuring Greg Saunier) | 4:17 | |
| 5. | "Oh No" (featuring Susanne Sachsse) | 2:37 | |
| 6. | "Rumpus Room" (featuring Liars) | 3:44 | |
| 7. | "Fuzz Gong Fight" (featuring Angela Seo) | 3:47 | |
| 8. | "I Dream of Someone Else Entirely" (featuring Owen Pallett) | 2:54 | |
| 9. | "One Hundred Years" (featuring Chelsea Wolfe) | 6:26 | |
| 10. | "A Classic Screw" (featuring Fabrizio Modonese Palumbo) | 3:19 | |
| 11. | "It Bothers Me All The Time" (featuring Shearwater) | 5:28 | |
| 12. | "Saint Dymphna" (featuring Twin Shadow) | 4:04 | |
| 13. | "Knock Out" (featuring Alice Bag) | 2:56 | |
| 14. | "A Bottle of Rum" (featuring Liz Harris) | 3:11 | |
| 15. | "Ants" (featuring Valerie Diaz) | 0:15 | |
| Total length: | 53:40 | ||
Notes
Credits adapted from Tidal. [14]
Xiu Xiu
Additional personnel
Xiu Xiu is an American experimental rock band, formed in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. Currently, the line-up consists of multi-instrumentalists Stewart, Angela Seo, and percussionist David Kendrick. The band's name comes from the film Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl, which has influenced the sound of their music, according to Stewart.
Fabulous Muscles is the third album by American experimental band Xiu Xiu, released on February 17, 2004 on 5 Rue Christine. The album marked a change in the band's sound, described as a depressive mix between experimental rock and synth-pop. It is considered to be more accessible than Xiu Xiu's previous two studio albums, A Promise and Knife Play. Fabulous Muscles has received mostly positive reviews from critics.
La Forêt is the fourth studio album by Xiu Xiu, released on July 12, 2005 on 5 Rue Christine. The album features John Dieterich of Deerhoof and Devin Hoff as contributors.
Knife Play is the debut studio album by American experimental rock band Xiu Xiu, released on February 19, 2002.
Dog Eat Dog is the 12th studio album by the Canadian singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell, released in 1985. It was her second album for Geffen Records.
Bluebird is the fifteenth studio album by American country artist Emmylou Harris, released on January 10, 1989, by Warner Records. Featuring mostly interpretations of work by artists such as the McGarrigle Sisters, Tom Rush, and Rodney Crowell, it included her most recent top-ten country-charting single, "Heartbreak Hill". The album enjoyed renewed interest in 2004 when "Heaven Only Knows" was used in the first episode of the fifth season of The Sopranos.
Evangeline is the eighth studio album by Emmylou Harris that was composed mostly of leftover material from past recording sessions and which did not fit into any of her other albums. Songs included a remake of "Mister Sandman", "Evangeline", which she had previously performed with The Band, Rodney Crowell's "Ashes By Now", and a cover of John Fogerty's "Bad Moon Rising". Though it received mixed reviews upon its release, the album was yet another commercial success for Harris. It was certified Gold in less than a year after its release. A single release of "Mister Sandman" did well on the charts, though neither Ronstadt's nor Parton's record companies would allow their artists' vocals to be used on the single, so Harris rerecorded the song, singing all three parts for the single release. Rodney Crowell's "I Don't Have to Crawl" was released as the album's second single.
The Air Force is the fifth album by Xiu Xiu. It was released on September 12, 2006, and is produced by Greg Saunier of Deerhoof, who also performs on the album with band members Caralee McElroy and Jamie Stewart.
Holdypaws is the second album by the indie rock band Deerhoof. It was released in 1999 on Kill Rock Stars, and reissued on vinyl by the same label on November 22, 2019, to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Deerhoof. Jamie Stewart of Xiu Xiu, a band that has worked with Deerhoof's Greg Saunier, has praised this album, saying "I had never heard anything like it before. It completely blew my mind and changed the way I thought about what music could be." Henry Rollins has praised this album, in addition to the band's EP Green Cosmos, saying "it gets the blood going. What a band."
Western Wall: The Tucson Sessions is a 1999 duet album by American singer, songwriter, and producer Linda Ronstadt and singer, songwriter, and guitarist Emmylou Harris, who had previously collaborated on two albums with Dolly Parton.
Through the Storm is the thirty-second studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin. It was released on April 25, 1989, by Arista Records.
Dear God, I Hate Myself is the seventh studio album by American indie rock band Xiu Xiu released on February 23, 2010. This is their first album since the departure of Caralee McElroy. The album features new member Angela Seo on piano, synthesizer and drum programming, with production by frontman Jamie Stewart and Deerhoof's Greg Saunier. This album marked a departure from the more analogue styles of Women as Lovers and The Air Force, and shifted stylistic choices to a more chiptune style, utilizing the Nintendo DS' KORG DS-10 software to program drum and synthesizer tracks.
Sharon Katharine Van Etten is an American singer-songwriter. She has released the albums Because I Was in Love (2009), Epic (2010), Tramp (2012), Are We There (2014), Remind Me Tomorrow (2019) and We've Been Going About This All Wrong (2022).
Always is the eighth studio album by Xiu Xiu, released on February 28, 2012.
Plays the Music of Twin Peaks is a tribute album and the eleventh studio album by American experimental band Xiu Xiu. Composed of cover versions of the music from the Twin Peaks soundtrack, it was released exclusively as a Record Store Day release on April 16, 2016, by Polyvinyl in the United States and Bella Union in Europe. It was produced by former Xiu Xiu member Jherek Bischoff and mixed by Deerhoof member Greg Saunier.
Forget is the tenth studio album by experimental band Xiu Xiu, released on February 24, 2017. Produced by John Congleton, Greg Saunier, and Angela Seo, it features contributions from Charlemagne Palestine, Kristof Hahn, Vaginal Davis, and Enyce Smith.
Girl with Basket of Fruit is the eleventh studio album by American experimental band Xiu Xiu, released on February 8, 2019. It follows the band's 2017 album Forget and was co-produced by member Angela Seo and Deerhoof's Greg Saunier. The album is supported by the lead single "Scisssssssors", which was released with an accompanying music video. A second single, entitled "Pumpkin Attack on Mommy and Daddy", was also released with a music video on January 15, 2019.
Hyunhye Seo, professionally known as Angela Seo, is an American multi-instrumentalist and vocalist best known for her role in American experimental band Xiu Xiu. Seo joined Xiu Xiu in 2009, and has contributed to every studio project by the band since The Air Force. The first album contributed to by Seo as a member of Xiu Xiu was 2010's Dear God, I Hate Myself. Seo has also played in the bands Deal$ and XXL, amongst playing on songs by Holy Hum and Blind Cave Salamander.
We've Been Going About This All Wrong is the sixth studio album by American singer-songwriter Sharon Van Etten, released on May 6, 2022, by Jagjaguwar. Van Etten wrote the whole album herself, and produced it with Daniel Knowles. The indie rock album was preceded by four singles. It was critically acclaimed and appeared on several year-end lists, and charted in several countries. A deluxe version of the album was released on November 11, with two more singles ahead of it.
Ignore Grief is the thirteenth studio album by American experimental band Xiu Xiu, released on March 3, 2023, by Polyvinyl. It was written by band frontman Jamie Stewart and new member David Kendrick. It was produced by fellow member Angela Seo, and recorded by Stewart at his home studio in Los Angeles, alongside a wide array of guest musicians including Charlie Looker, Ben Chisholm, Ezra Buchla, Patrick Shiroishi and Ian Wellman. The album artwork was designed by Janelle Abad, and depicts a white bat over a black background.