Whitehouse split up (1 Viewer)

[Gambra]

It's with a rather heavy heart that I write to announce that the forthcoming dates in the UK this spring culminating with the May 8th concert in Vienna, will most probably be the last that Philip and I do together. It's totally amicable and I have plenty of ideas and new plans for the music, and PB will continue to do Consumer Electronics.

Ah well. Pity I never got to see them.

 

[lympog]

jaysus, bands breaking seems to be all the rage right now

 

[Gambra]

At lest these dudes are/were more important than The Chalets. Or Aslan. Or Paddy Casey.

 

[lympog]

At lest these dudes are/were more important than The Chalets. Or Aslan. Or Paddy Casey.

even damien dempsey????

 

[Gambra]

Especially. Damien. Dempsy.

 

[lympog]

you know the earring makes him cool, right..?
still it a shame another very good band has bit the dust

- leigh

 

[Eddie Gorilla]

sad news

 

[Kermit McDermott]

A fart has more melody

 

[BC]

both william bennett and philip best are in a very creative mode at the moment, wb will be exploring the possibilities of african instrumentation in new ways (see the instrumental sections on "racket"), pb is busy with new musical and lyrical pieces for his consumer electronics project (which - as those familiar with the "nobody's ugly" and his lyrical writing on the last couple of whitehouse albums will know - is sure to be remarkable). at this stage the areas they can each explore in their solo work are sure to be rewarding. and the last three whitehouse albums have been, in my opinion, three of the greatest releases of the last decade, at least (and much down to the fact that wb and pb had the chance to explore their own unique styles of composition). i certainly dont see it as some massive full-stop or closed chapter, in fact the opposite...


prefuse, i find the fact that your avatar is richard james highly ironic in this case

gambra, i'm sure pb will continue to play his CE sets live (and they are quite an enjoyable show indeed) and i believe wb is planning on working live again in the future (he did a solo set in japan last year at the kitakyusu event).

 

[Kermit McDermott]

I give you that brian, RDJ has made a lot of noisy shit but Its far our weighted by loads the cool melodic stuff.

 

[broken arm]

I give you that brian, RDJ has made a lot of noisy shit but Its far our weighted by loads the cool melodic stuff.

Aphex mixed in a whitehouse tune towards the end of his set at the Portishead ATP last december. (not his first time doing so)

it was fully amazing.

 

[shitepipe]

Aphex mixed in a whitehouse tune towards the end of his set at the Portishead ATP last december.

it was fully amazing.

really? that appears to have been deleted from my memory files. hardly surprising....

 

[BC]

I give you that brian, RDJ has made a lot of noisy shit but Its far our weighted by loads the cool melodic stuff.

the last whitehouse album, "racket", is very precise and valid in terms of technical composition. the use of acoustic percussion instruments is particularly complex. and the general awareness of tone in virtually all whitehouse pieces is extremely controlled, pretty much to the same extent as modern classical music, especially lucier, ashley, stockhausen, niblock.

i am aware that the work of whitehouse is very much an aquired taste. in fact, i very much disliked them upon initial hearings. however i have since come to consider them to be one of the most innovative, remarkable and rewarding musical projects i have heard.

the "its all noise" reaction in no way stands up to actual technical considerations of timbre, rhythm and melody. and as for the lyrical content, which many - such as the wire - seem unable to overcome, the lyrics to the last three albums have been on a par with leonard cohen in terms of sheer poetic perfection. the is in no way pure "noise music". this is the stuff of craft, not a fucking load of distortion pedals and feedback, or some dope-smoker idely sampling and pissing about with reason.

but the only way to appreciate this sort of music - just as with the likes of cage and varese or even many free jazz records - is to leave your presuppositions at the door and experience it in its own terms. yes, it might be intense, but why should that be a challenge or an obsticle? arent most good things those which are overwhelming and take time to appreciate?

i'm not going to tell anyone "you should listen to whitehouse", really the musical tastes of other are of little interest to me, but this whole "theres no melody, its all just noise" criticism simply doesnt hold up.

 

[mackle]

Glad I got to see them even if it was cut short by him falling of the stage!

 

[Kermit McDermott]

Fair enough brian.