Muff's Modules & More

mjsemtex · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:13 am Post subject: 'witch house'?

seriously, what the hell? i keep seeing this come up as a 'genre' / 'tag' or whatever and it confuses the hell out of me...

mjsemtex · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 9:30 am Post subject:

How to be a Witch House Poser.

Chris - Monday Aug 29, 2011 at 6:03 pm
Witchhouse = hipsters affecting the Goth Industrial scene. they essential ruined the post punk scene so now they’re on to the next flavor of the week.

Norman_Phay · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:07 am Post subject:

There was a thread on this witch house/ghost drone/rapegaze (!)/w/e thing a while ago, the search function doesnt seem to be bringing it up for some reason. In theory, it sounds like something right up my street, in practice, that salem fader fort performance is a big genre stumbling block for me for some reason confused

mjsemtex · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:13 am Post subject:

zdarma · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:16 am Post subject:

Maybe this one:
http://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22230&highlight=haunt ed

BLVCKJEVNS · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 10:20 am Post subject:

Sounds nothing you think it would and the folks at pitchfork that have used it painted several artists with a pretty broad brush, by their standard portishead would be witch house. A lot of it is basically screwed and chopped hip hop with some ambient synth and delayed vocal. My friend Ben on here runs the label tundra dubs which puts out some stuff like it, he also put my tape out but it sounds nothing like witch house, closer to minimal synth

mjsemtex · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 11:19 am Post subject:

i certainly don't buy into most of these genre / sub-genre / sub-sub-genre / watever kinds of things.

but, this one struck me as the most amusing as of lately (or not lately i guess).

bentundra · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:53 pm Post subject:

Fuck yes! I've been waiting for this thread to appear...

I run a label, Tundra Dubs (link in my signature). I've been working within the "witch house" universe for a little over two years now - I've put out a lot of artists who early on branded themselves as "witch house" but have since moved on.

Please dot NOT ignore all music just because its tagged something stupid like "witch house."

From my experience, it's a lot about MicroKorgs, 808 loops, and some trust fund baby rapping in a half comatose state.

Also, since I'm on topic, an essential witch house list:

White Ring
Master Suspiria Vision
Anything on Tri-Angle Records [oOoOO, Balam Acab, Holy Other]
SALEM [Not a fan, but they are kind of the poster-boys/girls for this type of music]

My label does a lot more than witch house - if anyone's interested, check out the YouTube channel.

Babaluma · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:58 pm Post subject:

i love balam acab and mater suspiria vision. love the visual aesthetic, don't really care for the label though, it's just good music!

bentundra · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 12:58 pm Post subject:

Awesome double post. Here's a really good traditional "witch house" video. Video by Ceremonial Dagger (look him up - he's amazing).

Babaluma · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:00 pm Post subject:

we had a couple of threads on MSV already:

www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=22528

www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=35799

Babaluma · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:01 pm Post subject:

speaking of genres, did you hear about sea punk?

so funny...

bentundra · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:04 pm Post subject:

confusional · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 1:46 pm Post subject:

All the cool kids are listening to woolpunk now. Using soldering irons stolen from noisebridge, they hack yarn into socks and scarves, and then bike down to the Wave Organ and danse under the stars while drinking Bulleit Rye and eating free pastries from Tartine bakery. It gets sloppy. Dead Banana

[s]http://soundcloud.com/bradleyallen/the-wave-organ[/s]

rico loverde · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:00 pm Post subject:

I was hoping youd see this thread Ben!!!

RealDudes · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:15 pm Post subject:

witch house?
welcome to last year
hihi

mjsemtex · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 2:29 pm Post subject:

bentundra · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 3:52 pm Post subject:

It's all electronic music. Witch house was originally intended as a joke but stuck. It's miles ahead of "rape gaze" and all of the other garbage genre names.

laserpalace · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 4:14 pm Post subject:

bentundra
Glad to see you on the forum!

I also have close ties to the genre but I refuse to label any of the music we put out as such, although I can't deny it's impact. We have done releases with Modern Witch and one of the people that coined the term Pictureplane in the past. From what I understand it was definitely made to be very tongue in cheek. Unfortunately I see it as being far more harmful nowadays, as people tend to make generalizations about any electronic music that utilizes harsh, dark tones and vintage synths. I'm sure somewhere there is a forum about Throbbing Gristle being the first Witch House band... d'oh!

To me it's post hip hop industrial largely inspired by dj screw... but that's a mouthful.

Here's some of the stuff we have released, that people throw into that genre.

laserpalace · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 4:15 pm Post subject:

#seapunk

bentundra · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 5:49 pm Post subject:

Yes. The Modern Witch album is fucking great. Those guys are all awesome. I released a split 7" of them and Os Ovni. I recorded and mixed the Os Ovni side and it was mastered by Pat Stolley of Daytrotter.com fame. All tape mastering process!

confusional · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 6:03 pm Post subject:

James Mandible · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:49 pm Post subject:

I was okay with it when it started, but man did that bandwagon fill up fast. I guess that's kind of the way it is with music in general these days, but something about this trend in particular really called out all the trend hoppers.

Also seriously fuck sea punk. I heard of something recently called 'slime punk' but I'm not sure if that one's real or not.

bint · Posted: Tue Feb 07, 2012 8:59 pm Post subject:

i reckon these tracks are great

[s]http://soundcloud.com/brhgn/w-ch-hvg-lif-instrumental[/s]

Norman_Phay · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 9:01 am Post subject:

Norman_Phay · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 9:02 am Post subject:

Worst genre name ever surely is "blog house"?

neandrewthal · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:14 am Post subject:

Which house?

laserpalace · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:20 am Post subject:

The originator's of Which House (Party).

vav · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 1:16 pm Post subject:

Man, dubstep is awesome comparatively.

jimmyedgar · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:00 pm Post subject:

the whole witch house thing is a laugh, its fun and camp.. thats the whole point. the music isn't actually good per say, but its fun and has a vibe. might as well embrace the culture of what late teenagers are doing.. they are the future and it just regurgitates yearly. i myself think its cool, but seriously.. taking it serious is ridiculous/ironic imo

jimmyedgar · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:03 pm Post subject:

suitandtieguy · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 2:38 pm Post subject:

"Bloghouse" is a GREAT term because you know exactly what it means.

mjsemtex · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 3:27 pm Post subject:

bentundra · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 4:05 pm Post subject:

jonah · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 6:52 pm Post subject:

I think the most interesting side is the unprofessional and stupid one. At least there's some fresh blood in there. Since youtube exists I usually just watch the same videos from the 80's that many "pro" witch house groups draw inspiration/samples from....

I like DJ yo yo dieting.

digital_steve · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 7:16 pm Post subject:

I just listened to like half of the first video posted in this thread
... is this an actual genre, or a piss-take?
Sounds like mundane delayed-soaked production mixed with someone trying to sound like Nick Cave on Ketamine.

D/A A/D · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:57 pm Post subject:

DJ YYD is more chopped and screwed... Pat has been doing that since way before WH...

decaying.sine · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 8:58 pm Post subject:

I've really enjoyed the youtubes posted in this thread. I've never heard of this genre and kind of like it.

neandrewthal · Posted: Wed Feb 08, 2012 10:56 pm Post subject:

As for Salem, if I didn't already respect them for having the balls to put on their hilariously awful show at SXSW I do now.

more

laserpalace · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 3:24 am Post subject:

D/A A/D, jonah

Agreed, Pat is way more on the Noise/Screwed aesthetic. I love that Dormant Mirrors cassette!

As for the rest of it, I think it's kind of taken over as the new form of punk. Kids are exchanging guitars for tape players and synthesizers. Personally I prefer most of this over some terrible indie rock band but that's just me. Also I would take some shitty white goth kids making bad rap over jocks banging each other to aggro american dub step any day, I mean if I'd HAD to choose. lol

On an unrelated/possibly related note, I love all of these dudes:

If you ever have the chance to see Narwhalz, Sewn Leather, or DJ Dog Dick / Dog Leather I would recommend it, extremely chaotic.

CJ Miller · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:42 am Post subject:

First thing I thought when I saw the words witch house was: "ah, somebody's just discovered Nurse With Wound"!

Babaluma · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 5:46 am Post subject:

Yeah, there definitely seems to be a lot of older 80's Goth and Industrial influences on the whole scene, both visually and musically.

I found some of the tracks on this compilation quite good (although some were pretty bad too):

http://mishkanyc.com/bloglin/2010/11/24/%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%88%D0%BA%D0%B0 -presents-the-guide-to-grave-wave-3-disc-compilation-feature-article/

bentundra · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 2:42 pm Post subject:

Babaluma · Posted: Thu Feb 09, 2012 2:50 pm Post subject:

thanks ben. good overview and all sounding very different.

it sounds like a lot of so called scenes then, basically a slapped on appellation by the music press, when in fact it's a disparate group of sounds, people, places and influences, which just all happened to "break out" at a similar time.

Juxwl · Posted: Wed Feb 22, 2012 5:07 pm Post subject: