Stuff You Might’ve Missed – Hood (UK)

Hood / Domino

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Fueled by the personal vision of brothers Richard and Chris Adams, Leeds, England’s Hood  combine such disparate sources as loner folk, Flying Saucer Attack fuzz, Bark Psychosis dynamics, New Zealand song-writing iconoclasm (think This Kind of Punishment/Pin Group), quality pop and collage aesthetics into an exciting sonic stew. – Slumberland Records calalogue
For Hood, life’s a glitch, and then you cry. – Spin

While their early work suggested more standard rock direction (inspired by the likes of Lou Barlow project Sebadoh) , English band Hood gradually moved away from some of their early lo-fi aspirations and started incorporating some of the more esoteric loops, sound effects and textures into their music. Late 90s glitch/IDM scene also provided inspiration for much of their work.
Primarily, Hood was the work of brothers Chris and Richard Adams helped out by a number of other musicians.  Adams brothers formed Hood in 1991 and their debut was “Sirens” single, which came out in 1992 on Fluff label, followed by another single – 1993 “Opening Into Enclosure” (also on Fluff).
1995 saw the release of their first proper full-length called “Cabled Linear Traction”. The Big Takeover magazine pointed out that the record is not good for certain purposes (i.e. as a backdrop for romantic nights spent with your neighbor), but when the band creates a song that is more than 30 seconds long, they can deliver some great space-age lo-fi melodies, which alone make it worth the price of the record.” Another reviewer characterized “Traction” as a wonderful, confusing mixture of Crabstick, the Wake, the Field Mice and extremely grim northern fortitude amongst the disturbing ambient bits.”
Next year, saw the release of “Silent 88″ album, which was characterized by Wire magazine as  a”home recording” that “has a 26-track menu of pretty acoustic passages, full-throated howling over fuzz guitar, primitive chamber pieces, still life abstract passages and out of nowhere an insane snippet of drum ‘n’ bass with mournful piano and curdled electronics.”
In 1998 the band produced “Rustic Houses Forlorn Valleys”, which Vox magazine characterized as a wondrous aural treat.” Vox pointed out that on this album Hood dropped “their earlier lo-fi experimentalism for a more tactile feeling of isolated beauty.”
1999 brought “Cycles Of Days And Seasons” which was described by New Musical Express as “a record of quiet and displaced loneliness.” and “full of the uncanny sensation that you’ve somehow ended up in the wrong place, but can’t remember where.” Speeder Magazine called “Cycles” “a masterpiece of superlative experimentation.”
New millenium saw Hood producing three new albums (as well as plenty of singles and compilations of old/rare material) – 2001 “Home Is Where It Hurts” (which Mojo magazine described as a collection of “whirring, clicking electronics, parlour piano and violin drones”) and “Cold House” (which NME characterized as “a revelation confirming that indie isn’t dead”) and finally, 2005 “Outside Closer”, which All Music Guide described “the most reliant the band has been on traditional song form, altered only by those vast echo chamber effects you’re accustomed to hearing from them.”
After “Outside Closer”, Hood decided to take a break and went on hiatus, with all the band’s members concentrating on solo and side projects, including Declining Winter (which includes Richard Adams) and Bracken (which includes Chris Adams).
Band Members:
Andrew Johnson (Famous Boyfriend, Remote Viewer, Septemberist)
Chris Adams (Bracken, Downpour)
Craig Tattersall (Archivist, Boats, Famous Boyfriend, Humble Bee, Remote Viewer)
Gareth S Brown
John Clyde Evans
Matt Robson
Matthew Allison
Richard Adams
Ross Parfitt
Stephen Royle
Stewart Anderson
Discography:
Sirens 7″ (Fluff, 1992)
Opening Into Enclosure 7″ (Fluff, 1993)
57 White Bread 7″ (Hedonist Productions, 1994)
Cabled Linear Traction CD / LP (Fluff, 1994 / Slumberland, 1995 / 1999)
A Harbour Of Thoughts EP 7″ (Orgasm, 1995)
Hem / Hood Split (Back From Wow Vol. 1) 7″ (Malpractice, 1995)
Hood / Carmine Split 7″ (Orange, 1995)
Lee’s Faust Million Piece Orchestra 7″ (555, 1995)
I’ve Forgotten How To Live 7″ (Love Train, 1996)
Secrets Not Known To Others 7″ (Earworm, 1996)
Silent 88 CD / LP + 7″ (Slumberland, 1996)
Structured Disasters CD / LP + 7″ (Happy Go Lucky, 1997)
Useless 7″ (Domino, 1997)
(The) Weight 7″ (555, 1998)
Filmed Initiative 7″ (Happy Go Lucky, 1998)
Rustic Houses Forlorn Valleys CD / LP (Domino, 1998)
Remixes EP 12″ (Drop Beat, 1999)
The Cycle Of Days And Seasons CD / LP (Domino, 1999 / Labels, 1999)
Hood / Steward Split (Benjamin Whiskey 4) 7″ (Jonathon Whiskey, 2000)
Remixes 10″ (555, 2000)
The Year Of The Occasional Lull 7″ (Rocket Racer, 2000)
Cold House CD  / LP (Aesthetic, 2001 / Domino, 2001)
Selected Compilation Tracks:
“Girl Called Heaven” on 3 Band Flexi (Tangled, 1993)
“Ley Lines” on Bedroom Ambience: A Collection Of Home Recordings (Enraptured, 1997)