JessFranco
Posts: 2515
Joined: 30/9/2005
From: London
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The recent oppressively hot weather, followed by the onset of what looks like an early autumn, has sent me back to the slower, darker sections of my record collection.The genre of 'drag', 'zombie rave' or 'witch house' has been picking up some terrific press from the likes of The Guardian and Pitchfork in recent months, despite the deliberately under-the-radar approach of its leading lights (oOoOO, †‡†, Gr†ll Gr†ll, ℑ⊇◊⊆ℜ, GL▲SS †33†H, '†∆†, etc) who have opted to make their names either unGoogleable or unpronounceable.
Cynics might suggest that much of the music is simply other people's songs played at the wrong speed. Fans would point out that may be true but it still sounds amazing. It's unquestionably an acquired taste but anyone with an interest in dub, dubstep, hip-hop, synth-pop, indie-rock or straight-up chart music might still find something to love. Beats that crawl along like a syrup-hazed pulse are a hallmark - the primary influence of the genre is the Codeine-fuelled 'chopped and screwed' style of 90s rap pioneered by DJ Skrew. The most important secondary influence is probably Italian horror - from synths that echo Goblin and Fabio Frizzi's dark soundtracks to the stream of samples that litter the songs.Vocals are buried, phased, distorted and end up sounding positively demonic.
All of which sounds incredibly serious, and it is to some degree, but there's also room for cover versions of Sash's Ecuador and a whole album dedicated to recontextualising the musical career of Lindsay Lohan, released on the day she went to jail.The brighter commercial end of hip-hop is also an inspiration - Nicki Minaj makes a surprising number of appearances on mixtapes.
Salem have picked up the most attention. The rather beautiful Redlights suggests why:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=weDQIkGhEkY
...while their Trapdoor makes the connection to hip-hop more explicit:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AA13-Ykrob4&feature=related
A personal favourite are the Mater Suspiria Vision cult / collective who excel at buggering about with high-pop classics like Real Life's Send Me An Angel:
http://vimeo.com/12270751
...and the aforementioned Ecuador:
http://vimeo.com/12550725
I'm aware that it's fairly silly and arguably quite pretentious but there's some great stuff there. Any fans? Any recommendations?
< Message edited by JessFranco -- 21/8/2010 11:15:02 PM >
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Drag / Witch House / Zola Jesus - 
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