User ratings in Music are temporarily disabled. More info

Girl with Basket of Fruit
by
Girl with Basket of Fruit Image
Metascore
75

Generally favorable reviews - based on 11 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.1

Universal acclaim- based on 35 Ratings

  • Summary: the 11th full-length release for the Los Angeles-based experimental band led by Jamie Stewart and was co-produced by Angela Seo and Deerhoof's Greg Saunier.
Buy Now
Buy on

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 8 out of 11
  2. Mixed: 2 out of 11
  3. Negative: 1 out of 11
  1. Tiny Mix Tapes
    Feb 11, 2019
    90
    For going on 20 years, when Xiu Xiu have put out an album, it’s one of that year’s best. It’s no small thrill to see this trend continue.
  2. The Quietus
    Feb 22, 2019
    80
    There's nothing fetishistic, voyeuristic, or pathetically ambiguous here, more an outpouring of disgust that we seem to be in similarly horrendous times again. There are moments of beauty here too, of course, for that contrast has always been a hallmark of Jamie Stewart's songwriting, and what makes Xiu Xiu bleed where others merely pose.
  3. PopMatters
    Feb 8, 2019
    80
    The band's playfulness with both sound design and the use of sound effects is another excellent attribute of Girl With Basket of Fruit, as it sees them approaching this aspect with a more extravagant desire.
  4. The Wire
    Mar 7, 2019
    80
    The blithe ease with which it slips from unruly quasi-techno to Tony Conrad-like violin drone (“Pumpkin Attack On Mommy And Daddy”; “The Wrong Thing”) keeps this consistently diverting. [Mar 2019, p.62]
    All this publication's reviews
  5. Under The Radar
    Feb 8, 2019
    75
    For the most part, Girl with Basket of Fruit holds together with a strange logic.
  6. The 405
    Feb 13, 2019
    75
    Girl With Basket of Fruit proves there is no one quite like Xiu Xiu, and because their musical uniqueness may rub listeners the wrong way like a piece of sandpaper against the surface of aged metal, they are better and particularly special for this reason.
  7. The Line of Best Fit
    Feb 8, 2019
    35
    Unfortunately Girl realistically functions as little more than a jumbled hodgepodge of colorless notions, and another notch on the wall.

See all 11 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 5 out of 6
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 6
  3. Negative: 1 out of 6
  1. WOWWW
    Sep 2, 2022
    10
    This album is frightening, experimental in all the best ways, weirdly catchy, and most importantly, creative. The versatile vocals and everThis album is frightening, experimental in all the best ways, weirdly catchy, and most importantly, creative. The versatile vocals and ever changing "melodies" are treated with brilliant, bizarre, and realistic lyricism. The track-listing is impeccable, and I very rarely resist the temptation of listening to the whole album after hearing just one song. I do not rate albums 10 out of 10 with no reason. Believe me when I say this is one of the most unique projects ever created.… Expand
  2. ursaminorjim
    Dec 21, 2019
    10
    For an album as uncompromising as this (sonically, structurally and lyrically), "Girl with Basket of Fruit" has become one of the mostFor an album as uncompromising as this (sonically, structurally and lyrically), "Girl with Basket of Fruit" has become one of the most seductive records I've heard in a long time. I kept returning to it over the course of the year to soak it in and to soak in it. Even at its most brutal and chaotic ("Ice Cream Truck," "Scisssssssors") there are moments of almost giddy beauty and delicacy. It's an album that includes one of their most gut-wrenching and harrowing pieces ("Mary Turner Mary Turner") and one of their most open and tender ("Normal Love").… Expand
  4. AvoidedRat
    Aug 21, 2022
    10
    Absolutely fantastic album. From the rapid paced songs like pumpkin attack on mommy on daddy, to the darker more ominous songs like MaryAbsolutely fantastic album. From the rapid paced songs like pumpkin attack on mommy on daddy, to the darker more ominous songs like Mary turner, and to the slower tracks like Normal love, this album never leaves you bored and only wanting more. Only critique for the whole album is that amargi ve moo isn’t something I would enjoy out of the context of the album as a whole.… Expand
  5. filipkazm
    Feb 11, 2019
    8
    One of the best albums I have heard this year, there are suprising amount of catchy melodies hidden in the supposedly random sound clips, veryOne of the best albums I have heard this year, there are suprising amount of catchy melodies hidden in the supposedly random sound clips, very engaging listen… Expand
  6. musicwizard636
    May 7, 2019
    8
    By no contest, this is the greatest album released by Xiu Xiu. While remaining heavily dark and experimental, "Girl with Basket of Fruit"By no contest, this is the greatest album released by Xiu Xiu. While remaining heavily dark and experimental, "Girl with Basket of Fruit" contains the group's catchiest, most palatable songs to date.… Expand
  7. StevenX
    May 31, 2020
    3
    Overwrought, self-tortured naked emperor of the decade Jamie Stewart slides out his latest approximation of a Seventies acid trip that he'llOverwrought, self-tortured naked emperor of the decade Jamie Stewart slides out his latest approximation of a Seventies acid trip that he'll never have, greasier than a young Trump hairdo and nonsensical as a Shaggs tribute album sung in Croatian. Let's-throw-this-in-too sound collages grate, yet it's the hipster melodrama of the shouted/goth-warbled, random-phrase vocals that make you finally give up. "Smile and then don't!", he orders at the end of one "song" (like, no problem, dude), throws in an Alan Vega-esque backing track on the next one (on and off), then features a female voice listing bugs on the next. Surely this is the soundtrack to a documentary about The Last Man-Bun. It's very telling that the Xius' recent two-person cover of a ZZ Top song (and anything on the last album) wipes the floor with this mess. Focus, James, focus.… Expand

Current Music Releases

Full List »
99 Band on the Run [50th Anniversary Edition] - Paul McCartney & Wings
95 If I don't make it, I love u - Still House Plants
95 The Sky Will Still Be There Tomorrow - Charles Lloyd
91 COWBOY CARTER - Beyoncé
91 The Carnegie Hall Concert - Alice Coltrane
91 Funeral for Justice - Mdou Moctar
91 Here in the Pitch - Jessica Pratt
90 Iechyd Da - Bill Ryder-Jones
90 This Could Be Texas - English Teacher
89 I Got Heaven - Mannequin Pussy
89 Tigers Blood - Waxahatchee
89 All Born Screaming - St. Vincent
88 What Now - Brittany Howard
88 Only God Was Above Us - Vampire Weekend
88 Hey Panda - The High Llamas
88 Orquídeas - Kali Uchis
88 The Past Is Still Alive - Hurray for the Riff Raff
87 Filthy Underneath - Nadine Shah
87 i/o - Peter Gabriel
87 Blue Lips - ScHoolboy Q
All Current Music »