Los Angeles, CA (Top40 Charts/ It's Alive! Media & Management) Los Angeles band Xu Xu Fang (https://www.xuxufang.com) announced today that they are in the midst of producing their debut full-length album with producer Ethan Allen (Black
Rebel Motorcycle Club, Tricky, Sleepy Sun). A sample of the music the band and Allen are currently working on can be heard here: https://soundcloud.com/xuxufang/album-preview
Xu Xu Fang's earlier efforts (These Days (2007), The Mourning Son (2008),
Seven Days Now (2009) and various one-offs for compilations) have garnered fans in both the press and music circles at large. The Los Angeles Times, Mojo, Pitchfork, USA Today and others have praised the band's sound and creativity including The Onion who described their music as, "Enormous, dark, psychedelic, beautiful, and full of meditative moods." As if that wasn't enough, their
Seven Days Now landed at #1 on Amazon's Trip Hop sales chart and The Mourning Son simultaneously reached #3 on Amazon's Psychedelic Rock sales chart.
"Xu Xu Fang disappeared for the last year or so to concentrate on new songs, and get this record together," said songwriter, drummer, and co-producer
Bobby Tamkin (formerly of The Warlocks). "Our new music is far beyond anything we've done before. The songwriting, sonics and production have stepped up big time. If I had to compare our new music to anything, I'd probably say a sad, yet tasty 'Diamond Dave' era
Van Halen hand roll with salmon and avocado."
It's been a strange and wonderful ride for Xu Xu Fang since their debut. In December 2009, Xu Xu Fang's single "Your Way" premiered on the TV show
Gossip Girl and was named Today's Top Tune on KCRW's Morning Becomes Eclectic. Singles "
These Days" and "The Mourning Son" were also scooped up by the hit TV show. High praise from unlikely sources followed as Xu Xu Fang was handpicked by Swervedriver to open the Los Angeles date on their reunion tour while The Cocteau
Twins Simon Raymonde personally wrote them a note proclaiming, "Fuck me sideways, if this isn't some of the best new music I've heard."
With an LA Weekly
Music Award under their belt, the band found success in various self-released tracks that appeared on EPs and one-off compilations. Each turn garnered the band newfound attention. In 2009, Xu Xu Fang covered The Cure's "Fascination Street" for a tribute record, and gained a fan in Sex Pistol Steve Jones who made the song a mainstay on his radio show, Jonesy's Jukebox. The tune was included in a USA Today podcast while Pitchfork hailed the version as, "A trip through
Massive Attack's Mezzanine, with static crackle, flutes, and a portentous tom beat inverting the sentiment from wide-eyed wonder to heavy-lidded menace." Randall Roberts of the LA Weekly called it, "A deep psychedelic meditation, a beautiful recording." European summer festival offers poured in shortly afterward.
Xu Xu Fang's 2010 cover of
David Bowie's "
China Girl" for another tribute record, scuttled the pop sheen of the original and gave way to a new, downright brooding, and unique version. MOJO Magazine praised the track by writing, "Xu Xu Fang's baked trip-hop China Girl…beats the recognized talent (Duran Duran, Edward Sharpe, Warpaint)."
Enter 2011, and producer/mixer, Alain Johannes. Known for his riff-heavy work with wildly successful arena rock bands, Johannes took an interest in Xu Xu Fang, and invited the band to his studio to work on new songs. It is these songs and many others that are forming the basis of the as-yet-untitled debut full-length record, which the band is currently working on with Ethan Allen.
