i went for a walk today along the sand dunes at lake michigan.

the sky was perfect.

all along the beach were thousands of dead lady bugs.

North America

* with Dirty Beaches and Father Murphy
# with Yamantaka//Sonic Titan and Father Murphy

5/1/12    Xiu Xiu    Raleigh    NC    Kings Barcade
5/2/12    Xiu Xiu    Washington    DC    Rock and Roll Hotel*
5/3/12    Xiu Xiu    Philadelphia    PA    First Unitarian Church*
5/4/12    Xiu Xiu    New York    NY    Bowery Ballroom*
5/5/12    Xiu Xiu    Cambridge    MA    Middle East Downstairs*
5/7/12    Xiu Xiu    Northampton    MA    Iron Horse*
5/8/12    Xiu Xiu    Portland    ME    SPACE Gallery*
5/9/12   Xiu Xiu    Montreal    QC    La Sala Rossa*

5/10/12  Xiu XIu     Quebec City  QC   Le Cercle*

5/11/12   Xiu Xiu    Ottawa    ON    Mavericks*
5/12/12Xiu Xiu    Toronto    ON    Lee’s Palace*
5/14/12Xiu Xiu    Pontiac    MI    Crofoot Ballroom – Pike Room*
5/15/12Xiu Xiu    Grand RapidsMI    The Pyramid Scheme*
5/17/12Xiu Xiu    Chicago    IL    Lincoln Hall*
5/18/12Xiu Xiu    Madison    WI    Memorial Union Terrace*
5/19/12Xiu Xiu    Minneapolis    MN    Triple Rock Social Club*

5/20/12Xiu Xiu   Des Moines IA  Vaudeville Mews*

5/21/12Xiu Xiu    Omaha    NE    Waiting Room*
5/22/12Xiu Xiu    Lawrence     KS    The Jackpot Saloon*
5/23/12Xiu Xiu    Denver    CO    Bluebird Theater*
5/24/12Xiu Xiu    Salt Lake CityUT    Urban Lounge#
5/27/12Xiu Xiu    Seattle    WA    Barboza/Neumos#
5/28/12Xiu Xiu    Vancouver    BC    Biltmore Cabaret#
5/29/12Xiu Xiu    Portland    OR    Doug Fir Lounge#
5/31/12Xiu Xiu    San FranciscoCA    Bottom of the Hill#
6/1/12    Xiu Xiu    Los Angeles    CA    Center for the Arts, Eagle Rock#
6/2/12    Xiu Xiu    San Diego    CA    Soda Bar#
6/5/12    Xiu Xiu    Marfa        TX    Padre’s#
6/6/12    Xiu Xiu    Austin        TX    The Mohawk#
6/7/12    Xiu Xiu    New Orleans    LA    One Eyed Jacks#
6/8/12    Xiu Xiu    Birmingham    AL    Bottletree#
6/9/12    Xiu Xiu    Atlanta    GA    The Earl#

NOISEPARK

“In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of Knife Play, two long time friends and avid Xiu Xiu fans are working together to create an old school fanzine called “THIS IS THE WORSE ZINE EVER, I AM GOING TO CUT OPEN YOUR FOREHEAD WITH A ROOFING SHINGLE’. This zine will be available for free at the May 31st Xiu Xiu show at Bottom of the Hill.

We welcome all Xiu Xiu fans to contribute anything they want- show and album reviews, love letters to Xiu Xiu, personal stories, embarrassing poetry, ranting delusional fantasies, etc. Please try to keep all writing short, like from 500 to 1000 words max. We also welcome any Xiu Xiu related photography and art work. We really want someone to send in a pencil drawing of a band member, like the kind people would do in high school with horrible shading and all mapped out on a grid?!?! That would be awesome.

Did you make an overly melodramatic music video for Suha in your Digital Arts class? Was your polaroid used in the Xiu Xiu: The Polaroid project? Was your Xiu Xiu tattoo used on the album art for Always? We want to hear from you!

Please send all submissions to hellapluswhatever@gmail.com by May 15th.

Thanks!

-Jillian”
also note the below as a symbol of a new utopia (look closely)

You constantly revile me with your singular lack of vision. Be aware, there is an essential truth and beauty in all things. From the death throes of a speared gazelle to the damaged smile of a freeway homeless. But that does not mean that the invisibility of something implies its lack of being. Though simpleton babies foolishly believe the person before them vanishes when they cover their eyes during a hateful game of peek-a-boo, this is a fallacy. And so it is that the unseen dusty build up that accumulates behind the DVD shelves in the rumpus room exists also. This is unacceptable.

I will tell you this Rosalina, not as a taunt or a threat but as an evocation of joy. The joy of nothingness, the joy of the real. I want you to be real in everything you do. If you cannot be real, then a semblance of reality must be maintained. A real semblance of the fake real, or “real”. I have conquered volcanoes and visited the bitter depths of the earth’s oceans. Nothing I have witnessed, from lava to crustacean, assailed me liked the caked debris haunting that small plastic soap hammock in the smaller of the bathrooms. Nausea is not a sufficient word. In this regard, you are not being real.

Now we must turn to the horrors of nature. I am afraid this is inevitable. Nature is not something to be coddled and accepted and held to your bosom like a wounded snake. Tell me, what was there before you were born? What do you remember? That is nature. Nature is a void. An emptiness. A vacuum. And speaking of vacuum, I am not sure you’re using the retractable nozzle correctly or applying the ‘full weft’ setting when attending to the lush carpets of the den. I found some dander there.

I have only listened to two songs in my entire life. One was an aria by Wagner that I played compulsively from the ages of 19 to 27 at least 60 times a day until the local townsfolk drove me from my dwelling using rudimentary pitchforks and blazing torches. The other was Dido. Both appalled me to the point of paralysis. Every quaver was like a brickbat against my soul. Music is futile and malicious. So please, if you require entertainment while organizing the recycling, refrain from the ‘pop radio’ I was affronted by recently. May I recommend the recitation of some sharp verse. Perhaps by Goethe. Or Schiller. Or Shel Silverstein at a push.

The situation regarding spoons remains unchanged. If I see one, I will kill it.

That is all. Do not fail to think that you are not the finest woman I have ever met. You are. And I am including on this list my mother and the wife of Brad Dourif (the second wife, not the one with the lip thing). Thank you for listening and sorry if parts of this note were smudged. I have been weeping.

Your money is under the guillotine.

Herzog.