Xiu Xiu’s deeply personal music has unravelled over the course of a decade or so.
With a continually fluctuating line up, the band has centred on songwriter Jamie Stewart and his probing, deeply personal art-rock vignettes. Cult heroes in the American rock underground, British tours by Xiu Xiu are sadly rare on the ground.
With their new album ‘Dear God, I Hate Myself’ gaining warm reviews, Xiu Xiu decided to take the plunge and head to Britain.
Playing a series of sweeping, dramatic shows the San Jose group were greeted with reverence by their fans. Taking a camera along with them for the ride, ClashMusic is proud to present a very unique travelogue.
Jamie Stewart kindly agreed to take a series of photos, which are accompanied by Haiku. In order to preserve the structure of the poems, they are presented below in addition to appearing as captions to the photos.
Haiku
1.
colonial tears
erected at Brighton beach
why would you be proud?
2.
when in london
korean food awaits you
deep in the suburbs
3.
its Sir Thomas Moore!
looking rather ghoulishly
at the passing cars
4.
Jakub holds the doll
that he sleeps with everynight
his girlfriend likes this
5.
this snowy wasteland
was a recommended drive
a yeti might pounce
6.
jump in and away
the cold water is waiting
like a gray puma
7.
to eat everything!
this much food means l love you
oh, we are so full
8.
a child’s humor
inspired this photograph
demon British dykes!
9.
two eyes peek through this
aquarium of hot tea
the fish are boiled
10.
the shirt says it all
everyone on this planet
oh, read it and weep
11.
it was my birthday
the phone was a hot, pink slit
and no one called me
12.
i have given up
on understanding you jerks
get away from me
13.
should i smash through this?
it is only a window
and i am a beast
14.
it fell off a bridge
it was a gift from a friend
a lovely KA-BOOM!