The Host - The Host

So is this album good?

 

Arecibo Message was pretty dissapointing to me. But it had it's moments. Haven't heard The Dissolve yet.

  On 3/22/2012 at 9:37 PM, Npoess said:

So is this album good?

 

Arecibo Message was pretty dissapointing to me. But it had it's moments. Haven't heard The Dissolve yet.

This album is pretty tasty. It's definitely a different animal than a usual Boxcutter album. Well....I'd say Dissolve is a nice transition in between his bass music and this (whatever it is) album. Very hard to describe it. Oh, and Dissolve is a lot better in my opinion compared to Arecibo Message.

Must buy this. Bound to be excellent.

 

And I liked Arecibo Message....

  On 3/23/2012 at 2:50 AM, NeuroPlastic said:

Must buy this. Bound to be excellent.

 

And I liked Arecibo Message....

I did too, don't get me wrong. I just like The Dissolve a lot more

Arecibo Message had Sidetrak. Which is probably my favorite Boxcutter track. But the rest of the album didn't do much for me. Glyphic is his best album in my opinion. It's really really dope.

 

Anyway... Back to topic. I've heard some samples of the album, it sounds very similar to Kuedo's stuff?

 

Also I really the album art for this album.

Edited March 24, 2012 by Npoess

  On 3/23/2012 at 9:54 PM, Npoess said:

I've heard some samples of the album, it sounds very similar to Kuedo's stuff?

 

First half = yes (on the count of the juke)

second half = no

i had a slight kuedo feel too when i first heard the samples.. but when i listened to the entire album a few times that feel/idea was entirely gone.

should put it on some more soon.. i think it's great.

 

also, that new mod isn't doing his job. :p

Boring cover, boring music. Won't buy

  On 3/26/2012 at 4:21 PM, Franciscus said:

Boring cover, boring music. Won't buy

*shakes head slowly* another top notch review from franciscus

  On 3/27/2012 at 12:18 AM, usagi said:

Boring member, boring post. Won't read

tl;dr

this album is great, but towards the end i feel like i'm listening unabashedly to the side project of two audio engineers with ponytails who record music using live instruments and MIDI. they pay the bills from weather channel royalties.

I'm loving this album, but all of the songs are short!

caught a 2-hour "The Host" dj set in Bristol on Friday night, very awesome stuff. Lots of layered percussion and fairly hefty deep basslines. Quite sparse sounds but played in a packed little club to about 100 people it worked really well. Guess I should check out the album

I didn’t post in this thread yet? This is a great album. I’d say it’s really reignited my interest in Boxcutter overall, as well.

From the Planet Mu newsletter

 

It's been over a year since Boxcutter alter ego The Host full-length came out. To celebrate, Barry has decided to give away a V.I.P of the opening track 'Geocities'. You can grab it HERE.

Edited March 22, 2013 by vincentvc

Barry is a top guy... his Soundcloud is always worth a look too, as he chucks loads of tracks on there.

Thanks for the "the host - neo-geocities (web 2.0 remix)" track.

This was really a great album imo, despite its not so great reviews.

Hmm, new boxcutter alias eh? Need to hear this.

probably my favorite of 2012. nothing comes close as far as the coverart/music melding. it's beautiful. easily in my top 5 coverart.

You know, I need to theorize about some of the themes of "The Host."

 

It is extremely rich conceptually. There are all of these wonderful parallels between waking/dreaming, real life/life that is hoped for.

 

The track titles are very deliberate. You have words like tryptamine, which covers hormones like melatonin and makes me think of dreams, or about the brain.

 

And then you have tracks like "neo-geocities" like some past/future paradise that could be digital or physical, but is an obvious reference to outmoded internet constructs, things that some feel nostalgic for.

 

And you have the wonderful "3am surfing" which is such a wonderful contradiction of imagery, especially in the context of the track's aural content---flowing water, birds, but there is a mournful, yet accepting tone from the instruments. At first you think, "wow, surfing at night, that sounds nice. the water would be nice and cool, but maybe you are surfing somewhere that is warm at night, and you have it all to yourself." but then you realize the surfing one would do at 3am is probably on the internet, which brings back the whole dreaming theme.

 

And the whole album is cast in a sort of digital haze, like it had been sitting on old computers for centuries, computers that a survey crew would find on a flooded planet, flooded from its melted icecaps.

 

like the track "internet archeology," which first makes me think about the movement of old internet nostalgia, but in view of the tropical melancholia sound of the album, and the art itself, makes me think of the flooded planet idea.

 

It's like being depressed about being a musician in this instant age of digital ubiquity and guaranteed obscurity, and then fantasizing about an age when the internet is ancient, defeated by nature, and those that survived live a life of simple, serene clarity.

 

there is also, an aggressive, manic, outerspace vibe to many of the tracks, like Org. Org reminds me of that cult episode of cowboy bebop.

Edited March 25, 2013 by sheatheman

Me too.

Yes, I revisited it a couple of weeks ago. Very nice, almost like listening to 2 EPs but the halves complement each other very well.

cool, thanks for that link

 

concurrence on this album's polish & class. It's like 75% of the vaporwave vibe without the latter's trash/glitch aesthetic; instead it's velvety smooth. tropical but not too tangy/tart, or something.

 

visually I'm reminded of 90s Lisa Frank-type psychedelic ocean prints, eg:

but again, classier, luxurious, you know? just a very dope album. hope we see more of this soon

Doorjamb,

 

I definitely separate this from vaporwave, though it is in the same zone, but i give barry rights before vaporwave people. I do love some vw though.

 

vaporwave is never as percussive, and is more sample based. barry almost certainly made everything from scratch. It's in a truer zone, more honest and genuine. I see the lisa frank, but more than that it reminds me of the big shell from mgs2.

 

Usagi, most of it is just cool and curious, but check out 1:17 of Angel Fire. It's my favorite moment on the whole album, and it is very wistful to me.

 

AND THANKS FOR THAT LINK!

Edited September 6, 2013 by sheatheman

Creative dimensional overlap:

 

sound familiar?

 

https://soundcloud.com/italdredrecords/naps-sludge-forthcoming-italdred-chronic-organicism

 

 

 

 

I mean, it sounds like a really good slow remix. The flanger/phaser on the clap is identical, as is the key. I feel like naps must be using the stems some how, but there is zero indication. This kind of stuff fascinates me.