I'm not sure if this really deserves a thread but there seems to be so few places where any info is gathered about this "scene" that I just wanted to see what you all thought.
My friends have been into some of this stuff (everyone I know seems to agree that Salem is the best one: http://www.myspace.com/s4lem), and I know that it's a mostly internet scene, very few of these guys play live (I know someone who had a hell of a time trying to book a show for one of these guys), and they're all into mining the same well of ideas including obscure names that include numbers and a sound that's basically goth minimalism with screwed and chopped drums in there.
I'm digging Salem myself. What else do you guys know about this stuff?
― filthy dylan, Monday, 14 June 2010 23:04 (2 years ago) Permalink
There's a thread that covers a bunch of this stuff here:
Salem - What kind of music genre is this ?
I'm a sucker for it (I like the oOoOOO, or however they spell it, stuff I've heard, too).
I can't bring myself to call it "Witch House."
The videos of Salem playing live at some FADER event were depressing. They murdered their entire mood and mystique for me. Some great tracks, though. Curious how a whole album of it would work.
― Becky Facelift, Monday, 14 June 2010 23:58 (2 years ago) Permalink
the P4K feature on this stuff is pretty good and useful (http://pitchfork.com/features/articles/7806-ghosts-in-the-machine/). I still have no idea of what to make of any of it other than I've decided that I'm cool with a goth revival after being on the wrong side of things the last few times around. Balam Acab and oOoOO are both working for me and I like what I've heard of White Ring even though they are biting what Salem did already pretty hard.
― fffv, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 01:46 (2 years ago) Permalink
"witch house"
― baout it baout it (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 03:51 (2 years ago) Permalink
The videos of Salem playing live at some FADER event were depressing hilarious
― baout it baout it (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 03:52 (2 years ago) Permalink
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 03:57 (2 years ago) Permalink
<3 the comments
sorry to get all Chris Ott here, but it's unfuckingbelievable to me that I can count at least three "tastemaking" music websites staffed with living breathing 30-somethings can actually feign excitement over underdone, underdeveloped bullshit like witch house and chillwave.
― baout it baout it (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 03:57 (2 years ago) Permalink
i'm dying at this video -- there's no way this isn't a joke
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 03:59 (2 years ago) Permalink
basically, Jeff Mangum and Julian Casablancas melded into one person and start mumbling over Brett Scallions from Fuel and some other random lady playing arbitrary notes on Korgs set to "spooky"
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 04:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
*started
I think the name "Witch House" is great! Much better than "drag". It would only be better if they were all actual Witches. Seriously.
― theskysgoneout (Jason Pitzl-Waters), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 05:31 (2 years ago) Permalink
I mean, it's so descriptive. You think, what would I find in a Witch House, and you instantly start to think of spooky stuff.
Also, I thought the White Ring/oOoOO single was quite good.
― theskysgoneout (Jason Pitzl-Waters), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 05:33 (2 years ago) Permalink
As a genre I don't know if I can defend this stuff, certainly from charges of it being underdone and underdeveloped and God that video was embarrassing, but I can't help but love some of this stuff.
― filthy dylan, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 07:13 (2 years ago) Permalink
Jesus Christ, I hadn't seen *that* video. I'd only seen the below one (from the same show), which features some painfully out-of-tune vocals and some embarassing electric drumming. That other video is mind boggling. Is it possible that they really did damage their nascent career with this single gig?! The previous reports from their shows made them seem genuinely mysterious and frightening (the other thread mentions a few shows) - this is possibly impossible to recover from.
― Becky Facelift, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 09:28 (2 years ago) Permalink
http://www.thedailyswarm.com/headlines/buzz-band-salem-gets-booed-stage-fader-fort-during-sxsw/
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 11:49 (2 years ago) Permalink
those videos are amazing. i think i would pay good money to see them live purely on the back of those. they should play comedy festivals.
― stirmonster, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 12:43 (2 years ago) Permalink
tempted to plug in my keyboard up here and mumble over random notes
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 12:50 (2 years ago) Permalink
Hey, I kind of like those Salem clips, reminds me of cLOUDDEAD somehow just not as good. Never need to hear them again though.
I remember somebody posted an oOoOO vid that I liked too.
― seandalai, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 13:13 (2 years ago) Permalink
yeah I dig this stuff - it doesn't surprise me to learn that it sucks live but that raver stay wif me mix was great. serious q, whiney: do you really not want to hear stuff that's "underdeveloped"? retrospectively people almost always end up most excited about where a given style or band was when anybody involved was still trying to figure out what exactly they were doin
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 13:37 (2 years ago) Permalink
dude, you can't see that elevating chillwave/witch house bands is a response to this desperate web culture to be FIRSTFIRSTFIRSTFIRSTFIRSTFIRST? This is barely music. Most bands that make formless noise put more energy and care into their art than this shit. I think as someone who clearly puts a lot of work into his lyrics you should be insulted that people barely excited enough to poke at a toy keyboard is getting so much shine. It's like Casio dubstep, come on fuck a guy
― insane drown posse (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 13:47 (2 years ago) Permalink
yeah there's that for sure and I gotta be honest I was listening to Satoh all morning and then I opened this thread and went "maybe I'll listen to that oOoOo" or however you spell it and it sounded really profoundly sorry by contrast, but that Raver Stay Wif me mix really worked for me. I don't really get mad when people get a lot of publicity/buzz though because I gotta lay bare my indie heart here: when something gets a lot of buzz, the chance is like +/- 100% that that means it sucks balls imo - if I spent any time/energy resenting worthless garbage betting buzz, I'd go completely insane
it's like ok yeah making any kind of a big deal about this stuff is silly, but it's pleasant enough with a martini or two
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 13:52 (2 years ago) Permalink
I don't even know if that's how you use "+/-" actually what I mean is "pretty much nothing buzzy is ever any good is it"
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 13:53 (2 years ago) Permalink
I mean, the "buzz" around this is so contrived and suspect too. I would be surprised if I ever knew someone IRL who listens to "witch house" but most of my friends are over 20, so
― insane drown posse (Whiney G. Weingarten), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 13:57 (2 years ago) Permalink
kinda hoping it takes off because the terrible band names would be great for ilx display names
hahaha that video is almost st sanders-y. i'm sure it wouldn't be quite as embarassing if the music wasn't mixed almost inaudibly low.
― emotional radiohead whatever (Jordan), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:02 (2 years ago) Permalink
oh man the other video (where he's trying to rock on the roland spds) is even better/worse
― emotional radiohead whatever (Jordan), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:04 (2 years ago) Permalink
ok I had a long post and then I watched that Fader thing where dude is rapping and rhymes "self" with "self" 7x in a row
fuck this forever, I withdraw my support
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:22 (2 years ago) Permalink
there's no way this is real, seriously: "you the one who's down with it / y'all down with shit / but now my dick hard so go down on it / haaaaaaaah! / so smoke it out"
great job all around
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:24 (2 years ago) Permalink
OK that was just one bad performance by one band. To me the whole Chillwave/Witch House thing is people who make very interesting noises but so far are terribly incompetent at songwriting. But that's gotta change at some point, I hope.
― the subject of many men’s thoughts (daavid), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:34 (2 years ago) Permalink
But that's gotta change at some point, I hope.
well but the thing is & this is what my long post was about: it doesn't change if you get buzz/shows/money at a loads-of-people-see-it level early on; where's the impetus to improve if you're already playing for big crowds before you're writing anything worth hearing? in indie rock since forever, people who get successful while they're still rocking some really annoying affectations/bad singing don't then learn to sing/drop the affectations. they play them up, because the message they've gotten was "this is the side your bread is buttered on."
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:39 (2 years ago) Permalink
(and if they do actually get better, it can be a very irksome uphill battle persuading supporters that you're not actually "selling out"/changing your style for ignoble reasons)
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:40 (2 years ago) Permalink
people who get successful while they're still rocking some really annoying affectations/bad singing don't then learn to sing/drop the affectations
there's also the thing in indie rock, though, where the people get more and more successful and totally lose the thing that made them interesting in the first place
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:44 (2 years ago) Permalink
which seems to have happened lately to The National, Wilco, Conor Oberst, Spoon, Broken Social Scene, etc., etc.
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:45 (2 years ago) Permalink
yeah I think that effect is generally overstated by indie ppl who're just mad that they don't get to feel as exclusive as they did before
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:47 (2 years ago) Permalink
not citing you necessarily, I don't listen to much of that stuff and am mainly thinking of people who hated on Wowee Zowee because it wasn't Slanted: there were plenty of 'em, but nowadays they all pretend they loved WZ from the jump
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:48 (2 years ago) Permalink
sure, it totally is overstated a lot of the time, but as someone who genuinely loved and still loves super hyped records by all of those bands, it also just seems true
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 14:57 (2 years ago) Permalink
I got five bucks says in three years you'll revisit High Violet and say "this is loads better than than I thought it was when I wanted it to be the same record as its predecessor"
obligatory disclosure, I haven't heard & probably won't ever hear High Violet though I like its name.
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 15:02 (2 years ago) Permalink
why won't you hear it? do you avoid a lot of the big name indie bands?
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 15:03 (2 years ago) Permalink
"this is loads better than than I thought it was when I wanted it to be the same record as its predecessor"
i don't usually have this with issue with any band, really -- i mean, I like Master of Puppets and parts of St. Anger, so. not that those two records were consecutively released, but
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 15:05 (2 years ago) Permalink
I don't listen to much indie rock at all unless I think the lyrics are awesome or the musicianship is of ridiculously high caliber
guess how often that's the case
starting a suggest ban campaign because you said you like parts of st. anger
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 15:09 (2 years ago) Permalink
anyway that's enough of this, nobody cares about indie rock any more than anybody cares about witch house
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 15:10 (2 years ago) Permalink
why though? i'm genuinely curious why you don't really dig the genre much!
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 15:10 (2 years ago) Permalink
I kind of am uninterested in making the witch house thread the "how I feel about indie rock" thread yo
― get your bucket of free wings (underrated aerosmith albums I have loved), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 15:12 (2 years ago) Permalink
alright dude, fair enough
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 15:13 (2 years ago) Permalink
anyway, I just listened to "Frost" on Pitchfork, and I really, really like it! so I'm willing to give them a second chance; it seems credible enough that at least some of the reason for the abject awfulness of the Fader Fort performance is directly due to sound problems at the venue
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 15:26 (2 years ago) Permalink
Salem's tracks on their 7"s *ARE* really great! And some of their homemade videos are incredibly haunting and hypnotic (there are several linked in the other thread). I think Whiney's whole This is barely music. Most bands that make formless noise put more energy and care into their art than this is bullshit, actually - Salem have managed to create a genuinely interesting sound and aesthetic (that *of course* is going to be cheapened by sound-a-like bands and inclusion in a blog-christened "scene" with a ridiculous name). Those live videos are just really unfortunate, in every way.
― Becky Facelift, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 15:35 (2 years ago) Permalink
yeah, they really are -- even given sound problems, the disparity between that they're doing in those videos and the quality of "Frost" is kinda insane
― ksh, Tuesday, 15 June 2010 15:58 (2 years ago) Permalink
actually those videos make 'frost' sound terrible to me. same shitty musicians and presets, it's just on the grid and mixed better.
― emotional radiohead whatever (Jordan), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 16:02 (2 years ago) Permalink
(i only just heard it for the first time now btw)
― emotional radiohead whatever (Jordan), Tuesday, 15 June 2010 16:03 (2 years ago) Permalink
Found this on the Disaro myspace. I'd say is about halfway between Witch House and Chillwave. I like it.
― daavid, Friday, 25 March 2011 00:10 (2 years ago) Permalink
Dunno if this is the right thread or not, but this new Sleep ∞ Over song is lovely
― ka£ka (NickB), Tuesday, 5 April 2011 12:00 (2 years ago) Permalink
I generally haven't been too keen on this scene, but I'm liking this a lot: http://alteredzones.com/posts/1396/zoned-holy-other-u/
― Fellini.Kuti, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 23:29 (1 year ago) Permalink
I also like the last.fm picture
― Fellini.Kuti, Tuesday, 31 May 2011 23:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
Are Holy Other witch house, then? Heard "Your Love" randomly on the radio last night (OK, not randomly, on one of Erol Alkan's radio shows) and was completely struck by it, but out of context it seemed a lot more ambient-ish, like a slowed-down fuzzy version of The Field. But I'm hopeless with trying to get my head around genre. And I didn't really like the other MP3 that's floating around the interweb.
Anyway, I like it.
― Aphex Twin … in my vagina? (Karen D. Tregaskin), Monday, 25 July 2011 16:17 (1 year ago) Permalink
I've heard Holy Other pegged as such, but I don't really have a feel for what that genre tag means myself... I do like the new EP quite a lot, too.
― Clarke B., Monday, 25 July 2011 21:20 (1 year ago) Permalink
protip: witch house is a "style" of music, not a "genre" of music
― I'm goin' hongrø-øøøøøøøøøøø (crüt), Monday, 25 July 2011 21:25 (1 year ago) Permalink
a guy introduced himself to me the other night as a "witch house DJ", in utter seriousness, and it was hard not to laugh. i admit total cluelessness, though
― geeta, Monday, 25 July 2011 22:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
RIP witch house
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 2 August 2011 18:53 (1 year ago) Permalink
†his Is A †rick
― markers, Tuesday, 2 August 2011 18:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
UPDATE: Witch house band †‡† (aka Ritualz) is "SO FUCKING PISSED RIGHT NOW", saying that Chino is totally “stealing my shit”. (via Living Ears)
― I for one am (Le Bateau Ivre), Tuesday, 2 August 2011 19:30 (1 year ago) Permalink
from "change (in the house of flies)": "I look at the cross"
lol @ ppl who didn't see this coming
― markers, Tuesday, 2 August 2011 19:32 (1 year ago) Permalink
as soon as I figure out what wolf house is & I invent the genre ppl are gonna flock to that shit so be ready
rip witch house, wolf house froze you forever
― pathos of the unwarranted encore (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Tuesday, 2 August 2011 19:48 (1 year ago) Permalink
― markers, Tuesday, 2 August 2011 19:52 (1 year ago) Permalink
I think the first wolf house comp is gonna be called "wolf house is in the house"
you'll all learn to love it
― pathos of the unwarranted encore (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Tuesday, 2 August 2011 20:43 (1 year ago) Permalink
so um this is awesome but not nearly as atmospheric as the other stuff under the witch house umbrella
like, even Creep has a chilly detachment to it; all of this is pretty much straight ahead bangin' dark synth pop, totally extroverted with none of the claustrophobia I consider to be the essential ingredient to a witch house track
obv it shits directly in Salem's hat
― CLUB PISCOPO (DJP), Wednesday, 3 August 2011 00:33 (1 year ago) Permalink
http://pitchfork.com/news/43411-deftones-dude-has-a-witch-house-project/
Kinda lame how dismissive Pitchfork is about this just because it's the Deftones dude. Deftones were a pretty interesting band, and Team Sleep, from what I recall, was way more radical than a lot of the shit getting Best New Music reviews these days. "Deftones dude," really?
Anyway - curious. Gonna download.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 02:22 (1 year ago) Permalink
And before anyone points it it, yes I'm aware I also called him 'the Deftones dude.'
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 02:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
yeah the whole "deftones dude" thing in the title was lame imo
― markers, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 02:23 (1 year ago) Permalink
If this has been of any value, it's in revealing a number heretofore unknown-by-me Deftones apologists among the contemporary rock crit. ranks.
― Badmotorfinger Debate Club (MFB), Wednesday, 3 August 2011 14:16 (1 year ago) Permalink
It's all the goths, you see.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 14:19 (1 year ago) Permalink
Ha! Check the archives, dude, there's much Deftones love on ILM.
― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Wednesday, 3 August 2011 15:38 (1 year ago) Permalink
That said I'm not feeling this EP at all.
This is witch house made in the 80s, right? well, except for the chorus.
― Shin Oliva Suzuki, Tuesday, 4 October 2011 17:58 (1 year ago) Permalink
haha I never would have thought to make that connection, but I can see it!
― Logg \ O / Logg (crüt), Tuesday, 4 October 2011 18:06 (1 year ago) Permalink
although, you could just as easily say it sounds like Slowdive or Lycia or something.
is this where ppl are going to talk about the Purity Ring album?
― PITILESS LIVE SHOW (DJP), Tuesday, 24 July 2012 16:21 (10 months ago) Permalink
ha. or maybe here? Johnny Fever's Not Pop Not Indie Shambhala: 2012 ed.
but people are talking about the Lorn record on the rolling indie thread so it's all up for grabs now.
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, 24 July 2012 16:31 (10 months ago) Permalink
I think... I really like this? It's kind of monochromatic though.
― PITILESS LIVE SHOW (DJP), Tuesday, 24 July 2012 16:34 (10 months ago) Permalink
yeah if i hear one song i think it sounds great, but if i hear two+ they start blending together.
their sound feels really inevitable to me, like it was only a matter of time before someone put these sounds together (not necessarily a bad thing).
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, 24 July 2012 16:53 (10 months ago) Permalink
That's a good way of putting it; I feel like I've heard them a million times before but I can't really put my finger on where (the closest I could come was "Creep fronted by Kirsty Hawkshaw"). She's a wipsier vocalist than Amika and the songs are more fully baked than Kate Wax, so while there are definite similarities it slides into its own niche.
I think what's really keeping me at a slight remove is that musically there is a lot of crossover between their sound palette and Creep's but all the songs have the same singer, making them seem much more samey in comparison.
― PITILESS LIVE SHOW (DJP), Tuesday, 24 July 2012 17:47 (10 months ago) Permalink
btw just by posting about it you made me realize that they're little goth-ier than i had been hearing them (which was more 'up-to-the-minute bass music sounds + indie-ish pop').
― 40oz of tears (Jordan), Tuesday, 24 July 2012 17:59 (10 months ago) Permalink
just after playing this, I put on Geography by Front 242 and I swear every group getting tagged as "witch house" must have listened to this specific album
― PITILESS LIVE SHOW (DJP), Tuesday, 24 July 2012 18:40 (10 months ago) Permalink
fyi, a month later and I really fucking love Purity Ring, mostly because of the early Front 242 aping
"Fineshrine" is totally my jam
― Lil Swayne of Pie (DJP), Thursday, 23 August 2012 19:32 (9 months ago) Permalink
;_; it's lonely, being the only dude on ILX who actively cares about Purity Ring
― Technology of the Big Muff (DJP), Tuesday, 9 October 2012 19:28 (7 months ago) Permalink
― I don't even know wtf this band sounds like I'm just trollin (fffv), Wednesday, 10 October 2012 18:54 (7 months ago) Permalink
you'd be in good company in real life, they played here and people liked it and at least one person drove to mpls to see them again
I kind of found the lyrics irritating on listen, but OK when drowned by the rest of the music. Made them reasonable live.
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Wednesday, 10 October 2012 19:32 (7 months ago) Permalink
will CREEP make an album that gets released properly (as opposed to the usual bandcamp/soundcloud route)
i hope so ..
― mark e, Wednesday, 10 October 2012 19:33 (7 months ago) Permalink
they've released the singles on major label, right?
― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Wednesday, 10 October 2012 19:34 (7 months ago) Permalink
no idea .. have they ?
i just got digital gubbins ..
― mark e, Wednesday, 10 October 2012 19:37 (7 months ago) Permalink
CREEP is my most anticipated album at this point, I really really really really want that to happen immediately
re: Purity Ring lyrics, I get how they could make ppl cringe but every goth fiber in my being responds positively to the lines "cut open my sternum and poke/my little ribs around you"
― The Owls of Ja Rule (DJP), Wednesday, 10 October 2012 19:41 (7 months ago) Permalink
ahh, djp, together forever in love of beer, chips, and goth enhanced pop !
― mark e, Wednesday, 10 October 2012 19:51 (7 months ago) Permalink
*bumps fists, then stares dejectedly out into the rain pondering the futility of man's existence*
― The Owls of Ja Rule (DJP), Wednesday, 10 October 2012 19:53 (7 months ago) Permalink
think i preferred my choice of a night out sir.
― mark e, Wednesday, 10 October 2012 19:55 (7 months ago) Permalink
lol fair point
― The Owls of Ja Rule (DJP), Wednesday, 10 October 2012 19:57 (7 months ago) Permalink
Is witch house, the dark genre du jour, really scary? asks MTV in feature on new genre that lists Oneohtrix Point Never as a genre mainstay.
― Doran, Tuesday, 19 March 2013 17:30 (2 months ago) Permalink
>:-(
― the late great, Tuesday, 19 March 2013 19:35 (2 months ago) Permalink
I think you mean <|:-(
― ☠ ☃ ☠ (mh), Tuesday, 19 March 2013 19:36 (2 months ago) Permalink
philip morris owns triangles, RIP witch house: http://www.stonesthrow.com/news/2013/03/jonwayne-cassette-2
― shit tie (Jordan), Tuesday, 19 March 2013 19:44 (2 months ago) Permalink
lolllll
― puff puff post (uh oh I'm having a fantasy), Tuesday, 19 March 2013 19:51 (2 months ago) Permalink