Three Takes on the spring 2012 Triangle Records EP’s

It can be difficult to gain a balanced perspective on an album after reading a single summary of the music. Bias can tilt a review, as can personal taste, history and just about everything else that is unique to the person writing it. So in an effort to offer an expanded perspective in such a medium, here are Three reactions, Three impressions, Three Takes on the Triangle Records released EP’s by Howse and oOoOO.

Jon

oOoOO 74/100 | Howse 52/100

Between Tri Angle Records’ two co-released EP’s, oOoOO’s is by far my preferred title.  I found the Howse release to be something of a formless ambient snooze.  It’s not an unpleasant listen, but it is fairly innocuous to the point of being boring.  I can see it having a time and a place (perhaps the soundtrack to an IMAX aquatic feature or perhaps an evening on Quaaludes) but outside of that potential scenario I have a difficult time engaging with it.  There’s barely anything to engage with – I mean sure, ambient electronica isn’t made with choruses and pop hooks, but at least take some chances within your own genre.  Throughout most of Howse’s EP the mood’s smooth surface is never really broken by so much of a ripple.

oOoOO has some similar qualities to its sister EP, but also fleshes it out a bit with sonics that are a bit less uniform.  The distorted vocals and moody synth tones give it a sinister dark edge, even if it too generally plays it on the safe side of the spectrum for the most part (it’s almost as if both these guys are creating music that is carefully calibrated not to disturb anybody’s chill trip by experimenting or trying anything new).   Still, for the most part I enjoy the druggy, soporific vibe the Ep holds to.

Will Wlizlo

oOoOO 60/100 | Howse 55/100

Whenever one of the standard bearers of a genre releases a pair of EPs in tandem, it’s hard not to look at it as a of a “state of the art” moment. Fairly or unfairly, this is the case for Tri Angle Records, which is one of the more reputable names in witch house (or drag electronica, as some call it). Their spring release schedule includes Our Loving is Hurting Us by oOoOO, something of a scene veteran, and Lay Hallow by Howse, a relative upstart. Both EPs showcase the stereotypical, stagnant drag sound, and a peek at how artists in the genre might sail out of their artistic doldrums.

oOoOO doesn’t stray too far from his tried-and-true sound: big fuzzy beats with a West Coast hip hop flourish, orchestral overlays, chirpy female crooning. Much of the EP is exactly what you might expect from the producer. A new element to his music, though, is pervasive, obnoxious use of cheesy synth melodies. Actually, cheesy is the wrong word. They’re campy. Like if Jar Jar Binks made a wandering cameo through a bleak Tarkovsky film. The hooks—which would sound more at home on a Nicki Minaj joint—always seem to worm their way out of a song’s lush layering right when you thought you’d make it through without any funny business.  “Starr” is the clear exception. Both arrhythmic and lurchy, the song features a fun star-guitar solo and throwback ’80s vocals—and unprecedented and fairly surprising track that also seems like a long-lost friend of the genre.

Howse’s Lay Hollow is quite different from oOoOO’s EP. In general, it’s more informed by ambient and drone, and doesn’t stray from abrasiveness. If you just listened to the first minute or so, each song on the album would fit perfectly on a Pop Ambient compilation.  “Old Tea,” the EP’s standout track, starts with a Tim Hecker-esque cathedral rafters drone scape, and then adds a tinny, skittering beat. The two elements complement each other’s more aggressive sides. Unfortunately, most of the songs lack the balance or the purpose of “Old Tea.” The vocal samples sound arbitrary and arbitrarily placed, like Howse just needed something—anything—to fill in the gaps. Although many of the producer’s builds are satisfying, when songs reach their climax, he typically can’t resolve their tension except by unplugging. They end when he runs out of things to do.

Signature sounds, be damned! Both producers need to exercise their muscles and cast off the crutches. oOoOO’s catchy hook pandering belittles his cerebral, tobacco-haze dance music, and arbitrary pacing and sample use on the Howse EP is confusing, if not infuriating. The most memorable songs on the Tri Angle EPs are those that find the artists experimenting outside of their usual mode.

Josh

oOoOO 76/100  Howse 57/100

Triangle Records had a pretty stellar year in 2011, which only leads to increased notoriety (and scrutiny) for their 2012 releases.  The label has decided to release a pair of EP’s to kick off the year, one from newcomer Howse and the other from oOoOO, who has been an intrgal part of the label from its inception.  Both continue the labels “witchhouse” sound, using slightly different approaches.

oOoOO’s half of the equation, the five song Our Love is Hurting Us, is a dark, hypnotic journey through the underbelly of jittery synth based R&B.  There are movements where the slickness gets applied a little too heavy, like on “Springs” when the female vocals and synth flourishes are a little to prickly.  The sound is most developed on the boom bat of “Starr,” where the melody and vocals are murky  and cut by a skittish, haphazard beat.  Like the bands previous, self titled EP, Our Love is Hurting Us sounds like a R&B/Hip Hop instrumental album run through a old tape machine in a haunted house, and is going to annoy as many people as it intrigues.

The Howse EP, Lay Hollow, is a little less gloomy, but still is a convoluted and sonically rich album.   Despite the sonic clarity that Lay Hollow has over Our Love is Hurting Us, the record feels even less focused and is much more prone to drift.  This isn’t your standard “ambient” drift, either.  The songs neither seem thought out (think Oneohtrix Point Never, Emeralds) nor have any of the intrinsic curiosity that comes from a record that is more free form (think Food Pyramid or Mark McGuire).  Tracks like “VBS” fail to either build to a logical conclusion nor have that free form exploratory sound.  It isn’t ambient synth and it isn’t the typical Triangle sound of warped R&B (like oOoOO, Clams Casino or How to Dress Well).  Lay Hollow feels like the worst case scenario to where the Triangle Records sound could end up if it is watered down and left in the hands of those who aren’t as talented or creative as has been the case so far with the label.