xx is the debut album by English indie pop band the xx, released by Young Turks, an imprint of XL Recordings, on 14 August 2009. Audio engineer Rodaidh McDonald and the xx strove for an intimate, unembellished sound. The band's Jamie Smith produced xx on his laptop, mixing in electronic beats. Strongly influenced by R&B; acts, the album also drew comparisons to alternative rock, electronica, and post-punk sounds. The melancholic songs on xx featured minimalist arrangements. Romy Madley Croft and Oliver Sim sang most of these as low-key duets, and wrote emotional lyrics about love, intimacy, loss, and desire. The album received widespread acclaim from critics, many naming it one of the year's best records. It became a sleeper hit in Britain and the United States. Although none of its singles became hits, xx benefited from the licensing of its songs on television and the band's 2010 Mercury Prize win for the album. In 2013, xx was ranked number 237 on NME magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xx_(album)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1720:

The Spanish Villasur expedition, intended to check French influence on the Great Plains of North America, ended in failure as it was ambushed by a Pawnee and Otoe force. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Villasur_expedition

1888:

A recording of English composer Arthur Sullivan's The Lost Chord, one of the first recordings of music ever made, was played during a press conference introducing Thomas Edison's phonograph in London. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lost_Chord

1901:

Gustave Whitehead allegedly made a successful powered flight of his Number 21 aircraft in Fairfield, Connecticut, U.S.; if true, this predates the Wright brothers by two years. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustave_Whitehead

1975:

The film The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which is still in limited release today, making it the longest-running theatrical release in film history, premiered in Los Angeles. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rocky_Horror_Picture_Show

2007:

Four coordinated suicide bomb attacks detonated in the Iraqi towns of Qahtaniya and Jazeera, killing an estimated 796 people and wounding 1,562 others. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Yazidi_communities_bombings

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

rupee: 1. The common name for the monetary currencies used in modern India, Mauritius, Nepal, Pakistan, the Seychelles, or Sri Lanka, often abbreviated ₨. 2. (historical) A silver coin circulating in India between the 16th and 20th centuries, weighing one tola (formerly 170–180 troy grains; from 1833, 180 troy grains). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rupee

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

Art is the great and universal refreshment. For Art is never dogmatic; holds no brief for itself; you may take it, or you may leave it.   --John Galsworthy https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_Galsworthy