Outside Closer

Hood | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (February 8, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Domino
• ASIN: B0007D4M6I
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #368,919 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Introduction

2. The Negatives

3. Any Hopeful Thoughts Arrive

4. End of One Train Working

5. Winter 72

6. The Lost You

7. Still Rain Fell

8. L. Fading Hills

9. Closure

10. This is it, Forever

Editorial Reviews

Aujdio CD

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars drift music that in the end works just a bit too well, March 12, 2005

By 

cratesmusic.blogspot.com (CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Outside Closer (Audio CD)

Think Badly Drawn Boy meets the Notwist and you have a damn good idea of what Hood sound like: lush, mellow, melancholy, and often quite the psychedelic listening experience. There's plenty going on here but I found myself detaching from the music rather easily, not out of any dislike for the music itself but more from the fact that the majority of the album just seems to blend together a little too well. Despite its cinematic and often symphonic qualities, a lot of this just seems to kind of drift away from me. Maybe that's the point. This should in no way be read as a negative review as musically this is quite accomplished, and there's certainly plenty going on here to enjoy. Try before you buy with this one to see if it appeals to you. 3.5 stars but ill round it up to 4.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars another solid release from an oft-overlooked band, February 24, 2005

By 

somethingexcellent (Lincoln, NE United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Outside Closer (Audio CD)

In the time that Hood has been a band, many others have come and gone. Although I haven't followed them for their full decade-plus (nearly 15 years, actually) span, I have been with the group for closing in on a decade and must admit they're a group that always has my attention when they release an album, simply because they always seem to be pushing their sound and style into a slightly different direction. Their last album Cold House was by far their most unique, incorporating electronics in a way that felt perfectly natural and even somehow pulling cLOUDDEAD members in for vocal work on a couple tracks.

If their last album seemed like a drastic change to their longtime fans, then Outside Closer will seem like more of a logical succession of sound. Taking both techniques that they used on their last album, as well as reverting back even further in their catalog (at this point, it's hard to even believe the group started out doing sparse, droney post rock). After the short, filtered intro track simply titled "(Int)," the album really gets underway with what is also the first single from the album. "The Negatives..." punches with crisp beats and quick orchestral stabs while filtered guitars glitch and flutter and two-part vocals trade up. If you can imagine lush, slightly melancholy indie hip-hop with melodic vocals, it's something like that.

"Any Hopeful Thoughts Arrive" mixes sharp bursts of electronics and programmed beats with simple acoustic guitars and warm vocals while quick bursts of other elements (live percussion, harpsichord) flit into the mix. About halfway through, the track comes together with all the elements and feels even more complete. Although it's not as stark as some of their earlier work, "Winter 72" is a nice look back as a whole stew of instrumentation and vocals are drenched in a huge wave of reverberation, bleeding all the sections of the track together without becoming a dragging dirge.

"The Lost You" brings back the quick bursts of hip-hop influenced programming and might be the most pop-sounding track on the release, yet it doesn't sound out-of-place next to tracks like the more stripped-down and droning "L.Fading Hills." Like Cold House (and many of their albums, actually), lyrics seem to focus on locations and the feelings that they evoke. Even if you don't share the same local with the group, their observations seem to work applied to any place that strong feelings are conjured. Given the group has created another strong release, hopefully the last track on the album (entitled "This Is It, Forever") isn't about the future of the group.

(from almost cool music reviews)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Dreamy, September 16, 2005

By 

Douglas King (Cincinnati, OH United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Outside Closer (Audio CD)

If this CD were a painting, it would be an impressionist landscape. It's soft, dreamy, ethereal, abstract and yet not totally divorced from reality. The album is full of lullabies for world-weary grown-ups who might need to be reminded to stop and smell the roses, and remember that life is beautiful.