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Out Hud:
Let Us Never Speak of It Again
My only prior exposure to Out Hud was a track from their first album Street Dad that surfaced on the 2004 Kranky Records Kompilation. The song in question Dad Theres a Little Thing Called Too Much Information was an appealing twist of spaced out noise and electronics, but it also made me a bit nervous to hear what the full length release would sound like. Street Dad had great critical reviews, but some were suggesting what a crazy dance act they were. I wondered whether the full LP would be a bit different, but the song I had just wasnt danceable at least not danceable without some ungodly quantity of illicit substances, it would seem. I became scared that this was another case of critics hyping inappropriate artists as an excuse to fuel their dance-punk band of the week quota. Now enter 2005s Let Us Never Speak of It Again. Not only does this album seem like a step up from my very limited knowledge of the bands past work, but it busts into fresh territory in the somewhat tired and predictable world of electronic music. The chaos and experimentation I first heard in Out Hud is still intact here, and every song twists in and out of funny landscapes sort of like a Future Sound of London album, if you were to ditch that bands ambient feel. The key difference is the occasional bass playing that gives the album a slight funk inflection. You could call it dub, I guess, but to me the end result is more of a general electronic rock feel, despite an almost complete lack of guitar. That instruments unnecessary here. Instead we have some great cello bits and enough changing electronic hooks to keep the album moving straight ahead on its course. I cant emphasize enough how good songs like Old Nude and How Long are. The former sounds a lot like Annie, with its poppy, lighthearted female vocals. Even better is how Out Hud back this formula up with some of their specialized noisy dub tricks. The end result actually is something Id consider danceable, yet its choppy noise interludes would help it blow away most dancefloor competitors, at least when judged for originality. No small feat. How then can How Long be any better? Well it starts out a bit intimidating with some heavy cello, but it quickly drops into another pop vocal track with a thick funk bassline. Then after a few lyrics, some heavy synths build up an electro vibe that sort of shocks you into consciousness as you listen to the LP. Typically baffling is the decision to release One Life to Leave as the early single. The music hooks are there I suppose, but the vocals are often fiddled with too much, filtered through noise and repeated for no good reason. Its still good, but no indication of the treasures to be found on the LP. I cant resist calling out Dear Mr. Bush, There Are over 100 Words for Shit and Only 1 For Music. Fuck You, Out Hud, the 11 minute instrumental that basically finds Out Hud crashing the party of Royksopps Night Out. Such playful silliness is no indication of the painstaking work that must have gone into creating this amazing album. The best tracks raise the bar for some of the best electronic artists out there today, and, more importantly, this release proves to those of little faith that there is plenty of room for chaos and experimentation in dance music.
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