The Air Force is the fifth studio album by Xiu Xiu. It was released on September 12, 2006 and was produced by Greg Saunier of Deerhoof, who also performs on the album with band members Caralee McElroy and Jamie Stewart.

Quick Facts Studio album by Xiu Xiu, Released ...
The Air Force
Studio album by
ReleasedSeptember 12, 2006 (2006-09-12)
Genre
Length34:37
Label5 Rue Christine
ProducerCaralee McElroy, Greg Saunier, Jamie Stewart
Xiu Xiu chronology
La Forêt
(2005)
The Air Force
(2006)
Tu Mi Piaci
(2006)
Close
More information Aggregate scores, Source ...
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [2]
Pitchfork Media(8.0/10) [3]
PopMatters(8/10) [4]
Close

Production

The album was produced by Greg Saunier of Deerhoof, and released on 5 Rue Christine in September 2006. Stewart said that the year was "one of the first not dominated by personal tragedies" and that the album is about "making other people feel bad" instead of feeling bad oneself.[5] Its major themes are "guilt and sex as opposed to sorrow and sex".[5] Stewart considered it their best and most consciously pop album yet. They said that the band was obsessed with Weezer's Blue Album and The Smiths's The Queen Is Dead while on tour, though the album does not reflect those albums particularly.[5]

Thumb
The album cover includes "Christ crowned with thorns" by Renaissance painter Fra Angelico.

Track listing

More information No., Title ...
No.TitleLength
1."Buzz Saw"3:01
2."Boy Soprano"3:23
3."Hello from Eau Claire"2:54
4."Vulture Piano"3:23
5."PJ in the Streets..."2:57
6."Bishop, CA"4:06
7."Saint Pedro Glue Stick"1:17
8."The Pineapple vs. the Watermelon"3:28
9."Save Me Save Me"2:39
10."The Fox & the Rabbit"3:12
11."Wig Master"4:17
Close

All lyrics are written by Jamie Stewart, except "Bishop, CA" and "Wig Master", which have additional lyrics by Angela Seo

More information No., Title ...
iTunes Store bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
1."Bonus Track"1:28
2."Feeding the Raging Heart"2:18
3."Bonus Track"1:13
Close

Notes

  • "Feeding the Raging Heart" is the opening song to the 2007 Robby Reis film of the same name.[6]
  • "Hello from Eau Claire" and "Saint Pedro Glue Stick" do not have vocals by lead member Jamie Stewart; instead, Caralee McElroy does all of the vocals on the former, while the latter is instrumental.

Personnel

Xiu Xiu

  • Jamie Stewart - Production, vocals (1-6, 8-11), percussion (1, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9), drum programming (2-4, 6, 9, 10), synthesizer (2-4, 6, 8, 10), guitar (2, 4, 5, 8, 10), bass (4, 5, 8, 9), sampler (3, 5, 7), harmonica (4, 6), piano (1), accordion (2), recorder (2), autoharp (5), mandolin (9)
  • Caralee McElroy - Production, vocals (1, 3, 6, 10), flute (2, 4), synthesizer (4), glockenspiel (9), cymbal (10)

Additional personnel

  • Greg Saunier - Production, vocals (1, 3, 5, 6, 10), sampler (2-4, 9, 11), synthesizer (1, 4, 6, 9), guitar (2, 4, 5, 10), percussion (1, 2, 5), piano (1, 8), drum programming (2, 4), bass (3), electronic drums (3), banjo (6), bass drum (6), snare drum (9), glockenspiel (9)
  • Devin Hoff - Double bass (2, 10, 11), bass (10)
  • David Horvitz - Koto (7)
  • Nedelle Torisi - Violin (9)

References

Wikiwand in your browser!

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Every time you click a link to Wikipedia, Wiktionary or Wikiquote in your browser's search results, it will show the modern Wikiwand interface.

Wikiwand extension is a five stars, simple, with minimum permission required to keep your browsing private, safe and transparent.