I just learned about this new (I use the term with trepidation in 2k10) buzz genre called “drag” from the Pitchforks (via a link someone posted in the comments section on HRO – let’s give credit where it’s due). It’s also known as “witch house” and “haunted house.” I think I like the term “witch house” the best, mostly because if you Google it, it brings up all kinds of stuff about Salem, and everyone in Boston knows that Salem is some rich ma-fuckin’ shit.
They'd best start pumping out some oOoOO if they want to stay relevant, eh?
Anyway, I guess the deal with “witch house” is that it’s supplanted chillwave as the new style of “music” for all of us bloggers to get wet panties over. The best way to describe it is Goth dubstep – there’s some moody, “sweet ethereal shit” from the former and a bit of the slow-moving, sorta-danceable beats from the latter. I’m checking it out via Pitchfork’s handy-dandy “Intro to Witch House” playlist. Y’all can head over to the article, scroll down to the bottom, and give it a whirl yr’selves, if you think you’d be “down” with it. But if not because it sounds like it would be kinda depressing and boring to listen to, then…well, you’re pretty much right.
I won’t deny that the atmospherics are there – it is mad ambient, and yeah, some of it’s a little “spookay.” But it’s super droll. It sounds like crawling around on the floor in the dark with a fake-absinthe-induced haze. None of it ever seems to “go anywhere.” Take the song that’s playing now – “Heat High” by Fostercare. There’s an indecipherable vocal whisper-moaning over what sounds like the same note pressed down on a Casio keyboard, all backed by a very “straight-up,” unadventurous dubstep-like beat. That’s all that ever happens. I get the feeling that the person/people who created this song has/have little to no actual musical talent, or real experience beyond laptop knob-twiddling. Now, I’m the last people to hate on non-musicians for creating music, but “Heat High” implies that Fostercare, in addition to being non-musicians, don’t have a very good ear for what makes music, well, music. And that pretty well sums up my feelings on all of the songs I’ve heard from the witch house “camp.”
I’ll be honest – I’m kinda missing chillwave now, despite the fact that some guy I met at the Massive Attack show I went to earlier this month told me that it “doesn’t exist.” Chillwave may have been hokey and at times a bit lacking in character, but by and large it was still fun. It didn’t drag on, at least not in the unpleasant way that “drag” does – but I guess the point of a genre called “drag” is to make shit “drag” on, right? It may have been trite fluff, but it was great to dance to, and the melodies from a number of the songs it put forth (“Local Joke” by Neon Indian, “Feel It All Around” by Washed Out, “Low Shoulders” by Toro Y Moi, etc) were real head-stickers. Now, though, I’m sitting here trying to wrap my head around what people would like about a song like “Harmonikai” by Silent Diane with its droning dullness and yawn-inspiring repetition, and I’m making no progress. I’d be interested in finding out what everyone who told me Alan Palomo, Chaz Bundick, & Co. had no soul would think about witch house. No wonder the genre’s been linked to death and darkness – there’s no life to be found here.
(Listen to Flying Lotus instead. He’s way better at this shit.)
Yeah I was a big fan of chillwave and its clear that sound has gravitated darker to W.H. Really a big part of that is due to Salem who came out in that same period but kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. Now a whole “genre” & 2 music labels (disaro, tri angle) have followed in their footsteps. What people really haven’t figured out yet is their listening to a new reinvention of goth and darkwave. Sure its remodeled but you can find dark slow goth beats in clubs in most major cities on most Sunday evenings. I’ll be curious to see if they sneer at this or embrace it as their own.
I’ve been into some goth and darkwave – generally the less absurd/theatrical/trying-too-hard stuff – for a while now, and I really do get how witch house is an evolution of those styles. I see the chillwave connection as well. But what I’ve heard from the witch house artists is simply not very interesting, as I explain in the post. As always, I support genre growths, offshoots and whatnot, but I feel like much of witch house is just a spattering of watered down tone-deaf Knife knockoffs. From what I’ve seen in Boston, though, WH is definitely beginning to be embraced. TBQH I think this genre doesn’t have much staying power; there just isn’t that much to be liked.