The Bowery Presents

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The xx
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The xx arrive with their brilliant debut single ‘Crystalised’ – released on 20th April 2009 on Young Turks.

The xx are a London quartet, featuring the dual lead vocals of Romy Madley-Croft and Oliver Sim (who also play lead and bass guitar respectively), Baria Quereshi (keyboards and guitar) and Jamie Smith (beats, MPC sampler).

All 19 years old, The xx are childhood friends who formed while attending the Elliot School – the south west London comp whose alumni also includes such acclaimed boundary-pushers as Burial, Four Tet and Hot Chip.

Bonding over a shared love of stripped back anti-folk and mid-90s R&B, The xx’s unique sound befits a wide range of influences that include everything from Aaliyaah to Cocorosie, Rhianna to The Cure, Missy Elliot to the Chromatics, The Kills to Ginuwine, The Pixies to Mariah Carey and Justin Timberlake to Tracey & The Plastics.

These influences combine via beautiful, hushed vocal duets and a brilliantly inventive use of samplers and low-end frequencies to produce the stark, sweet melancholic pop of this debut single. Available on 7” vinyl, ‘Crystalised’ also features a cover of band favourite Aaliyah’s ‘Hot Like Fire’ on the b-side that further expands The xx’s hauntingly soulful sound. Both tracks are produced by the band themselves and engineered by Cocadisco’s Rodaidh McDonald.

Meanwhile, The xx are currently putting the finishing touches to their debut album, due for release later in 2009. Due for release on XL Recordings imprint Young Turks (Holy Fuck, Young Turks), this will be the first ever album to be recorded in XL’s in house studio.
Nosaj Thing
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L.A.-based producer Nosaj Thing (Jason Chung) is a sound innovator. His electronic sound scapes and wild beat tectonics play like vignettes that affect the listener's mind as deeply as he hits their soul. Without a doubt, Nosaj Thing is among L.A.'s finest musical modulators.

Jason's early work came awkwardly but not at all haphazardly. At age 13, he took his first computer from his father, an archaic PC that struggled even with word documents. In the hands of Nosaj Thing, it became an Intel Celeron home studio. With a "donated" copy of Reason, a demo version of Ableton Live and a computer mouse (he couldn't afford a MIDI controller), Nosaj Thing began making music. He built his first productions note for note on the electronic staff of his Frankenstein studio. When your focus is strong, all you really need is a machine that works.

In high school, Jason picked up a day job at a local music store, focusing his efforts on the arduous task of saving up for his first Mac. But Destiny had become fond of Nosaj Thing's resolve. In a contest, Jason won a favored producer tool: his own honest copy of Logic Pro. Wild circumstances? Perhaps. But he's still using it, winning beat battles, remix contests, gigging and DJing within his network of like-minded musical vigilantes. Now 24, Nosaj Thing creates nothing less than the sound mastery of beat driven, experimental electronics from a gifted noise constructor.

Nosaj Thing has received Artist-to-Watch accolades from XLR8R, remixed Daedelus and Flying Lotus, won Plastic Little/Turntable Lab's remix contest featuring MF Doom, and won L.A.'s prestigious Project Blowed beat battle. He has shared the stage with the likes of Sixtoo, Architecture in Helsinki, DJ Krush, Z-Trip, Free the Robots, Flying Lotus, D-Styles, Edit, and Daedelus. He's a staple and a crowd pleaser at L.A.'s underground hip-hop good time, Low End Theory. Comparisons run along with Ratatat, DJ Shadow, and Boards of Canada. A survey of his own record collection will turn up pieces from Aphex Twin, Stereolab, Radiohead, Daft Punk and Eric Satie. In so little time, he's accomplished so much. With his first full-length in the works, be prepared to hear a lot more noise from Nosaj Thing.
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