Hood and Cold House

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what do people think of the new Hood album, and, indeed, Hood in general?

i've never really been a Hood afficianado myself, liked some of their stuff and all but nothing more than that really, but much of the new album is very good indeed, perfecting the rainy west yorks streets vibe. i think they're trying to go new places with this one as well, but still keeping the core aesthetic (the use of vox from dose and why are very good precisely because they are low in the mix and don't jar - similarities with third eye foundations universal cooler?).

i'm also interested in the kind of rural-urban thing they have going on, and i wonder what robin c in particular makes of what i guess is a very different slant on a supsoedly ruralist aesthetic (i do think the sound is very evocative of West Yorks though, a grimyness not applicable elsewhere?)

and also, Radiohead. Are Hood similar to Radiohead in any way? i think they are far superior to Radiohead (but i have to admit i am not a Radiohead fan particularly). The Hood vision seems somehow more realised?

thoughts?

― gareth, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

My only thought is that I really want to hear it.

― Mark, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I love Hood quite a bit and have been frustrated that recent releases haven't surfaced over here. So this new album sounds like something I really need -- badly!

"Her Innocent Stock of Words" is up there with my all time faves by anybody...

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

One of the many albums I'll need to catch up with over the holidays (as well as DNTEL, Playgroup, new Her Space Holiday, etc.).

― Marcello Carlin, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

The following post is a reissue. I'm too lazy to find a way to say the same thing differently:

I finally woke up and bought a Hood record -- the new one -- after hearing the umpteenth comparison to Bark Psychosis. It's a scary comparison for me since I have an eternal chubby for BP, but I took the gamble and it makes a little sense. Haven't made my way completely through the record yet, though it does seem a little uneven. Second song instantly made me think of the missing Disco Inferno single -- or what a DI reunion single might sound like. (Yeah -- have another scary comparison.)

― Andy K., Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Oh and Ned -- it's out in the US on Aesthetics.

― Andy K., Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I got it a few weeks back, but I don't think I've totally got to grips with it yet. It truly does feel wintry and ice throughout, nary a trace of warmth throughout. I agree that their restraint works well, they blend fairly disparate styles together without showing the joins. except 'I can't find my brittle youth' is more-or-less standard miserable indie fayre.

Hood are similar to Radiohead in the sense of bolting idm/glitcy paraphenalia onto trad. indie/rock format... but I don't feel they're superior (then again, I am unfortunately a drooling radiohead fanatic.) why? er, I can't really say - I think what Radiohead do is less obvious, perhaps, than some of this here Hood stuff. That is, despite Amnesiac being a lot less cohesive than Kid A, their use of electronics (etc) is a lot more subtle than on Cold House.

― clive, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I rather like Hood, the new album is very pretty, but they're a bit gimmicky and dull. There's something very "Look! We do glitchy beats with sensitive songwriting! Aren't we novel?" The songs just aren't all that good. But it's nice to put on on a rainy day. Something to ignore while reading a book. They have no sense of dynamics, so it's quite easy. Occasionally they happen upon an interesting melody or sound, but it's hard to notice in between the flavorlessly twee vocals and the rather homogenous sound. The Dose One and Why? contributions are a bit pointless and annoying, and smack of some sort of strange bid for the New and the Now.
The Hood vision to me doesn't seem more realized than Radiohead's...there's maybe a sense that they are less excited and inspired and fumbling, they're better imitators of glitch than Radiohead, who opt more often for a slow pulse, drums, or a drum machine.

― Melissa W, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Got cut off---Hood's glitch seems somehow canned or tacked on though. It seems very lazy yet conspicuous, as if they want everyone to hear their forays into it.

― Melissa W, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

The Cycle of Days and Seasons is much better.

― Melissa W, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I'd kind of agree with what Melissa says, in that the specific glitch sounds on the record seem almost an afterthought - the first track for example starts off almost self-consciously glitchy but doesn't get really good until they replace the glitch noises with an anexoric quasi-drum&bass loop, and there's other tracks where the glitch noises just sound totally random (though if they've been listening to DAT Politics etc. maybe that's a deliberate effect). In that sense Radiohead, er, "assimilate" their IDM influences into their songs better.

I reckon the best moments on the album are the ones which dont't go for overt electronica showiness or revert to indie type but strike for a middle course - "You Show No Emotion At All" is very electronic but in a more classicist New Order meets Disco Inferno sort of way, and there's some other great tracks that sound like nods to Bark Psychosis (one actually sounds like a collabo between BP and Maurizio!) although Hood could benefit from a bit more of Bark Psychosis' finesse.

Melissa's also OTM in that they need to be better (or at least more consistent) songwriters. "You Show No Emotion At All" is fabulous, but otherwise their appeal is almost entirely textural, which is strange for such a comparatively song-focused band. That said, I need to listen to the album a lot more before I make up my mind entirely.

― Tim, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

Oh and Ned -- it's out in the US on Aesthetics.

You have made me a Happy Man.

― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I like the new record, but also agree that a lot of their earlier records (Cycle of d&s, Cabled Linear Traction) are more consistent and show better songwriting.. I think where they shine the most is on their singles. "Useless" i rate as one of my favourite songs ever, "Home is where it hurts" is top as well..

Hood's progression doesn't seem as much of an about-face as Radiohead's. It comes across as a bit more natural.

― electric sound of jim, Wednesday, 19 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

i find cold house to be fabulous, i lost touch with hood after tiring of silent 88 and cabled linear traction's sloppiness, used to make me think they were trying to blend boyracer and flying saucer attack almost shambolically. they are still not overly taut but the invention they now show makes up for the lack of sturdiness. i don't know anything about the comparisons to radiohead(who cares about radiohead) but i do see the comparisons to bark psychosis as being apt and thought to myself that some of the songs on cold house couldbe a premonition of the material on the next bark psychosis record as it is destined to be more electronic following on the heels of boymerang. instead of being lumped together with radiohead i would put hood with bands like fonda 500 or salako for i think they are coming from a definite rural hippy point of view and not any sort of fashionable nihilist district that thom yorke now finds his well-heeled comfort in.

― keith, Thursday, 20 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

hey what is with salako? i saw their record in my local record shop, saw that it was on jeepster and guessed that they were indie style, but the name to me instantly recalls john salako, the great ex-palace winger who is rotting somewhere horrid (readng, i think), his days of glory forgotten by most excpt for palace fans....so where did the name come from?

sorry this is off topic.

― ambrose, Thursday, 20 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

I love the way Keith put together Tim Hopkins's two least favourite words.

Salako? Yes, Ambrose, I thought of John S. from the Palace glory years as well. As far as their music went, I loved "(Have You Heard) Musicality" but, somehow, never heard anything else.

― Robin Carmody, Thursday, 20 December 2001 01:00 (11 years ago) Permalink

9 months pass...

for my sins, I have only just discovered this album.

oddly, I'm transplanting some of the imagery to what I'm familiar with ("The River Curls Around The Town" reminds me of when I could see my breath in Wimborne Minster, the *formality* of the winter landscape, very creepy and quite frightening, pure 1959) but it's clearly a very Northern aesthetic - closer to Barry Cockcroft's snowy moorland landscapes than to the Leeds streets of Braintax and Robbie Keane.

also have visions of the foot-and-mouth pyres (esp. during "The Winter Hit Hard"). "I Can't Find My Brittle Youth" is very different from the rest of the album and is a great, awkward, angular song - maybe that is the dislocated-by-the-city moment.

― robin carmody (robin carmody), Saturday, 28 September 2002 04:04 (10 years ago) Permalink

Title: Cold House Stars: *****

Artist: Hood Label: Sensory Projections

Whilst for the northern part of the world, December brings
sleet and snow, maudlin melancholy, winds and welcomings of
seasons greetings and regrets, down here in the outer
antipodes we swelter on. The news flashes images of buffed
bodies beaching themselves, whilst the puerile pomp of
ceremonial pop blasts out from sound systems more
expensive than the cars where they have been installed.
Thankfully, for those of us more accustomed to mapping out
the spaces of our heads and homes, UK outfit Hood have
offered up their third album, the first to obtain a local
Australian release, where by they run riot on the blank slab of a winter sonic dream,
crisscrossing generic boundaries with a deft touch that offers up possibilities as quickly
as it moves onto new arenas.
What's so noticeable about Cold House, is paradoxically, it's unnoticabilty. In our
expectations of media-saturation and MTV madness, am album like this slips under the
surface, quietly calling out to be heard, not in a demonstrative, publicity-whored
manner, but more in a gradual process of recognition. Play after play has seduced me -
at first, it was the detachment of the vocals, a wryness that sat at odds with the
lyrical content of tunes like "You Show No Emotion At All". Then the orchestration takes
hold, in between the glitches and crackles of beats broken up, disturbed by pouting
trumpets and petulant violins. Each new listen brings up something fresh, and after 8
or 9 runs through, I'm still left jaw-slacked by peeps unnoticed before.
Hood's collaborations with hip-hop collective Anticon are equally unnoticeable,
suggesting a cohesion perfected by musical agreement, as Hood move from IDM
(Intelligent Dance Music) styled musings to more "structured" songs such as "I Can't
Find My Brittle Youth", a New Order-like melody that fractures into repeated
guitar-und-strum, only to be taken over by the Aphex Twin-like beginnings of "This is
What We Do To Sell Out(s)". Though many have compared this offering to Radiohead's
Amnesiac, Cold House is more mechanised and yet more human, more intertwining of
the elements rather than the seemingly-alienated antics of York and co. There's a
sense of escape offered here by the elements, at the same time as offering an
immersion into this haunting construction, daunting yet strangely cohesive.
So an album of beautiful paradoxes, hopeful glimpses, yet even longer longing. Frail yet
powerful, Cold House is the late-bloomer, the wallflower that reveals itself as one of the
most intelligent and rewarding releases of this year. Offering hope in the senseless
season of glib commerciality and throw-away sentiment, Hood are making grandiose and
gorgeous music to believe in.

From Logged Off, http://home.iprimus.com.au/laurapalmer/hood.htm

― Queen G (Queeng), Saturday, 28 September 2002 09:54 (10 years ago) Permalink

6 years pass...

richard from hood's new album as "the declining winter" is out, called haunt the upper hallways, and features a remix of my song "Kavan". Lovely package all around (both a 7" and a CD)

― akm, Thursday, 23 July 2009 17:22 (3 years ago) Permalink

Agreed, that arrived in the mail the other week. Been waiting for an AMG listing to appear so I can review it!

― Ned Raggett, Thursday, 23 July 2009 17:24 (3 years ago) Permalink

actually I haven't even seen it yet (I heard the remix work ages ago)! I think he also used a sample of our cello in something else. I can't remember.

― akm, Thursday, 23 July 2009 17:44 (3 years ago) Permalink

1 year passes...

It's "Cold House" season.

― djh, Sunday, 10 October 2010 18:34 (2 years ago) Permalink

11 months pass...

"Cold House" season has come a little earlier this year.

― djh, Monday, 19 September 2011 08:41 (1 year ago) Permalink

I feel you. It's still "Rustic Houses, Forlorn Valleys" season for me, a lot. But I'm sure "Cold House" season is just around the corner.

― Vision Kreayshawn Newsun (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 19 September 2011 10:52 (1 year ago) Permalink

^Ha. Played the former last week. And yes, the temperature's nearly right for Cold House to come out of its sleeve :)

― willem, Monday, 19 September 2011 13:44 (1 year ago) Permalink

I apologise. I'm being premature. There's not really enough of a frost for "Cold House".

― djh, Monday, 19 September 2011 19:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

Any idea where the sample on "The Lost You" is from?

("the same problem as usual ...")

― djh, Sunday, 25 September 2011 20:54 (1 year ago) Permalink

I had it primed and ready to spin .But maybe another week or so if those tragically wrong meteorolists are to be trusted.

Great, album.

― Jessie Fer Ark (Mobbed Up Ping Pong Psychos), Sunday, 25 September 2011 21:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

3 weeks pass...

"The Cycle of Days And Seasons" sounded perfect on my autumnal walk to Sainsburys this evening. Still not frosty enough for "Cold House".

― djh, Thursday, 20 October 2011 22:01 (1 year ago) Permalink

i wish these guys would get it together again for another hood album, as much as I love Declining Winter.

― akm, Thursday, 20 October 2011 23:21 (1 year ago) Permalink

Forthcoming box set.

― djh, Tuesday, 25 October 2011 14:23 (1 year ago) Permalink

Was emailing Richard a bit a couple of weeks back, forgot to ask for further details but sounds like they're happily keeping on in their own way.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 25 October 2011 14:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

Any news on this box set?

I wonder what they could add, musically, to the two excellent compilations from some years ago.

― Y Kant Lou Reed (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 25 October 2011 14:39 (1 year ago) Permalink

Would be nice if (the content of) Structured Disasters became available again.

― Sebastian (Royal Mermaid Mover), Tuesday, 25 October 2011 15:01 (1 year ago) Permalink

God, HOOD! It's been yeears. Wonder what happened to my copy of Silent '88? Did I let someone borrow it?

― Trip Maker, Tuesday, 25 October 2011 15:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

http://www.dominorecordco.com/uk/albums/08-11-11/6-cd-box-set

― djh, Sunday, 13 November 2011 18:31 (1 year ago) Permalink

Thanks for the link, but it does make me wonder... I mean, I have all the albums already, all the EP's and singles were fantastically compiled on Sarah's Misplaced Music some years ago. The "EP disc" only comprises of the Cold House and onwards EP's. So I have to shell out 50 quid for "The Hood Tapes" (that contains a lot of songs previously released)? If the albums were remastered that would at least be something for me to consider buying it. But like any great Hood fan, I own 95% of this already.

― Y Kant Lou Reed (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 13 November 2011 18:48 (1 year ago) Permalink

That sections where the drums are reversed on 'I Can't Find My Brittle Youth', wow.

― Franz Kappa (S-), Sunday, 13 November 2011 19:03 (1 year ago) Permalink

I prefer the rockier, earlier stuff tbh, so this doesnt interest me so much. and yeah singles compiled is really good. the first two albums are lost classics imo.

― spellcheck is really advanced these days (cajunsunday), Sunday, 13 November 2011 19:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

Still no Structured Disasters! :(

― Sebastian (Royal Mermaid Mover), Sunday, 13 November 2011 19:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

It's because that wasn't on Domino but on Happy Go Lucky I think, this is a Domino only release. I love Hood to death but this seems like a useless (no pun intended) release tbh

― Y Kant Lou Reed (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 13 November 2011 19:25 (1 year ago) Permalink

i have the hood tapes if anyone needs it

― dogs in hot cardies (electricsound), Sunday, 13 November 2011 21:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

i have everything on this but i may buy it just to get 'useless' on cd

or wait & download that one track

― dogs in hot cardies (electricsound), Sunday, 13 November 2011 21:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

ah i see their 'hood tapes' has twice the songs that my cd of the same name has

― dogs in hot cardies (electricsound), Sunday, 13 November 2011 21:51 (1 year ago) Permalink

'Useless' would be a reason to buy this, I agree, that song is all-time. But still, 50 quid is pretty steep

― Y Kant Lou Reed (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 13 November 2011 22:09 (1 year ago) Permalink

― Y Kant Lou Reed (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 13 November 2011 22:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

to be fair, it does state that all the CD's are "completely remastered from the original sources".

― matt h, Sunday, 13 November 2011 22:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

oh ok, I didn't see that, thanks

― Y Kant Lou Reed (Le Bateau Ivre), Sunday, 13 November 2011 23:54 (1 year ago) Permalink

I came to know the band through their Domino stuff, loved it, and checked out the early stuff. Which hit me so hard that I haven't had much use for the Domino stuff ever since; with the exception of some odd tracks (the Home is Where it Hurts EP is brilliant). So yeah, I'm more interested in a companion box compiling the old stuff, including leftover goodies.

― Sebastian (Royal Mermaid Mover), Monday, 14 November 2011 01:19 (1 year ago) Permalink

These guys were involved in Remote Viewer as well, right? Was into the first RV album in college.

― congratulations (n/a), Monday, 14 November 2011 01:48 (1 year ago) Permalink

both the RV guys were in Hood at one point but their main other thing was Famous Boyfriend

― dogs in hot cardies (electricsound), Monday, 14 November 2011 01:54 (1 year ago) Permalink

(which imo was >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> remote viewer)

― dogs in hot cardies (electricsound), Monday, 14 November 2011 01:54 (1 year ago) Permalink

Sebastian, do you own the Singles Compiled cd's? Hood recently placed a message on their website that they found some more copies (it's been OOP for some years now) and they are indeed dead cheap, as they put it. A steal, and a mighty good one imo.

― Y Kant Lou Reed (Le Bateau Ivre), Monday, 14 November 2011 09:02 (1 year ago) Permalink

@Le Bateau Ivre: yeah, I own those two (and love them dearly). I own everything by the band, except Structured Disasters, which I think is the perfect mix of old and new Hood. Impossible to find in hard copy though. Last time I saw it on eBay it sold for way above $100.

― Sebastian (Royal Mermaid Mover), Monday, 14 November 2011 11:00 (1 year ago) Permalink

shit really? i need to liquidate

― dogs in hot cardies (electricsound), Monday, 14 November 2011 11:01 (1 year ago) Permalink

^^^

― Lars and the Lulu Girl (NickB), Monday, 14 November 2011 11:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

"Useless" is actually my least favourite track from the Domino years.

― djh, Tuesday, 15 November 2011 20:30 (1 year ago) Permalink

Not sure if this can be applied:

"To spread a little good tidings, or good cheer, or, actually, GOOD MUSIC we're offering 20% off all orders on the Domino Shop from now until the end of the year.

The holiday discount applies to all physical orders (CD/LP/Cassette) over £8.99/$10.00. Oh, and no pre-orders allowed, we're sure you understand.

To take advantage just visit http://dominorecordco.com/mart and enter the code HOLIDAY2011 at checkout."

― djh, Thursday, 17 November 2011 20:10 (1 year ago) Permalink

Oh, and no pre-orders allowed, we're sure you understand.

― tubbs farkas (electricsound), Thursday, 17 November 2011 22:25 (1 year ago) Permalink

But by 06/12/11 it won't be a "pre-order".

― djh, Thursday, 17 November 2011 23:35 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 months pass...

Been enjoying the dip back into all these -- will be reviewing the box set for Pitchfork.

― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 31 January 2012 17:54 (1 year ago) Permalink

I look forward to that read, Ned. I'm still hoping for a separate pressing of The Hood Tapes. Seems a bit much to invest in the entire set when I already own everything else.

― doug watson, Tuesday, 31 January 2012 20:04 (1 year ago) Permalink

Looking forward to that too, Ned, very much!

I agree with Doug Watson though, I won't shell out for this because I own everything apart from the Hood Tapes already. The singles and compilations compiled from some years ago were brilliant.

― future debts collector (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 31 January 2012 21:07 (1 year ago) Permalink

hood tapes isn't essential; let me know if you really need to hear it.

― akm, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 03:05 (1 year ago) Permalink

I've an "unofficial" version of the 2005 CDR but apparently the boxset version is expanded. They should just bandcamp the thing.

― doug watson, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 13:41 (1 year ago) Permalink

@hoodmusic tweeted earlier something along the lines of "apparently we're reissuing Cold House on vinyl soon". Domino website says the box will be in shops in March- maybe there'll be a download of the Tapes then. I'd like a legit download of Useless.

― Les Tressle (useless chamber), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 13:50 (1 year ago) Permalink

When I'd read about a deluxe edition of Cold House, I'd interpreted it as an expanded CD set. I'll be sad if it's only some 180g vinyl version.

― doug watson, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 13:59 (1 year ago) Permalink

http://www.dominorecordco.com/uk/news/31-01-12/hood-announce-cold-house-vinyl-re-issue-alongside-box-set

‘Cold House’ is repressed for the first time in a ltd edition of 500 for the world as a double gatefold lp cut at 45 rpm for maximum audiophile pleasure and also comes with exclusive liner notes to the vinyl edition and download codes.

― Super Receptor (Barnaby, Hardly), Wednesday, 1 February 2012 14:36 (1 year ago) Permalink

that is awesome and i will buy it

― akm, Wednesday, 1 February 2012 18:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

2 weeks pass...

A great review here: http://drownedinsound.com/releases/16821/reviews/4144509

― Les Tressle (useless chamber), Friday, 17 February 2012 10:49 (1 year ago) Permalink

Kinda annoyed that I pre-ordered this from the label and paid £24 only to find that it's £15 in both Boomkat and Norman Records this week.

― Super Receptor (Barnaby, Hardly), Friday, 17 February 2012 10:57 (1 year ago) Permalink

that's my review fyi, thx mayne

£15 for the whole box?? or are you talking about 'Cold House' on vinyl

(press release said RRP of £50 for the box but I couldn't find anywhere actually selling it for that much)

― Sylv_ebanks (DJ Mencap), Friday, 17 February 2012 11:12 (1 year ago) Permalink

Ah, sorry, I was talking about the Cold House reissue.

― Super Receptor (Barnaby, Hardly), Friday, 17 February 2012 12:38 (1 year ago) Permalink

ha, it seemed implausibly cheap but £24 seems wildly expensive for vinyl that isn't private press so there you go

― Sylv_ebanks (DJ Mencap), Friday, 17 February 2012 12:51 (1 year ago) Permalink

Okay! So my Pitchfork review is up:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/16248-recollected/

― Ned Raggett, Friday, 24 February 2012 17:06 (1 year ago) Permalink

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