The xx
This quiet trio are perhaps an odd choice for an ATP festival given that they're seen, in some quarters, as a mainstay of the modern NME. And it's quite annoying to overhear some punters moaning about the band being boring. But only a dazzle-addicted clown would prefer the joyless and slightly risible prog wankery of, say, Ruins, to this truly sublime group, who, in an age of compressed, over-saturated noise, use acres of silence to their own advantage. The stark use of lighting and intense bass passages only serve to highlight how much they have matured and grown in confidence in such a short space of time.
JD