The Air Force (album)

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.

The Air Force
Studio album by
Xiu Xiu
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)
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic76/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [2]
Pitchfork Media(8.0/10) [3]
PopMatters(8/10) [4]

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. He 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]

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

Track listing

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

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

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
  1. "The Air Force by Xiu Xiu". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  2. The Air Force at AllMusic
  3. "Xiu Xiu: The Air Force: Pitchfork Record Review". Archived from the original on 2006-10-31. Retrieved 2006-09-14.
  4. "Music Reviews, Features, Essays, News, Columns, Blogs, MP3s and Videos - PopMatters". Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  5. Stosuy, Brandon (April 9, 2006). "Xiu Xiu". Pitchfork Media. Archived from the original on July 23, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2014.
  6. "FEEDING THE RAGING HEART". Natali Film. 2020-07-14. Retrieved 2022-04-15.



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