To hear Xiu Xiu is to be shaken, disturbed and shown something original. Jamie Stewart sings haunted and tortued, though always with a sense of humor somwhere below the poisoned blood. LA FORE is the most harrowing and beautiful to date, waltzing between acoustic parts so intimate you can hear his shoe scooting on the studio floor as he inches closer to the mic, and pounding dark-wave thunderstomrs where electronics go Mogwai lound and Jaime screams over the hissing, spitting deluge.