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BACK
HOUSE
OF LOW CULTURE
HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
By Nathan T. Birk
An understatement to end all understatements: Aaron
Turner is one busy dude. Most of y’all will probably recognize
the man’s name from the monolithic Isis and the dependably
challenging Hydra Head Records, but in addition to those two (demanding)
endeavors, he’s got the earth-moving Old Man Gloom, the ether-entrenched
Lotus Eaters, and one other project that brings those two poles
closer together—House of Low Culture. One of Turner’s
longest-brewing projects—not to mention his most expectation-defying—the
man made his HoLC debut in 2000 with Submarine Immersion Techniques
Vol. I, which sounded like exactly that. A couple years later, the
Gettin’ Sentimental double 7-inch followed, showing a more
pensive ’n’ restrained take on analog-based ambience and
a decided shift away from the lava-like chord-crush of the debut
LP. It even showed a bit of a sentimental side, but a dark humour
lurked within.
Alas, along comes the quizzically titled Edward’s Lament: An
Account of Salvation and Redemption in Nine Movements, an album
partially inspired by demonic cartoonist Edward Gorey, fittingly
drawing together sentimentalism and dark humour. Even more pared-down
than its vinyl predecessor, Edward’s Lament isn’t yer
usual ambient album. While many ambient albums stick to the tangible
route, where all frequencies are safe ’n’ convenient ’n’
well-perceptible, HoLC’s second full-length sojourn often doesn’t
exist for many stretches of song, its (submerged) frequencies often
on the periphery of one’s hearing if at all, as monged-out
pulses of miasmic heaviness intermittently crop up but then quickly
give way to ethereal vibrations. If anything, Edward’s Lament
could be viewed as a direct reaction to Submarine Immersion Techniques,
which by many accounts was something of a "training ground"
for certain Old Man Gloom ideas—or, at least, sonic motifs—that
would appear on later OMG records. Thus, is the new HoLC album a
truer expression of what Turner wants to accomplish with the project?
"This new album defines it more in its own personality,"
the man estimates. "A lot of the material for the first Old
Man Gloom record [Meditations in B], as well as for the first House
of Low Culture [album], was all pulled from the same well, so to
speak. And with this [new HoLC album], as soon as I did the tracks,
I was like, ‘Okay, these are House of Low Culture tracks, and
these tracks fit together to form something cohesive.’ So,
the idea was more focused, and yes, I did focus more on it being
its own personality this time around, which is another reason I
decided to work with James [Plotkin, prolific madman], because he
would bring an outside personality and flavour to the project. Then
again, it starts to stretch into Lotus Eaters territory [where Turner
and Plotkin are joined by the estimable Stephen O’Malley],
so it doesn’t stop being incestuous—just operating in
a slightly different corner."
So, is HoLC more personal for Turner, then, since it’s mostly
his project?
"Yeah," Turner agrees with some qualification. "Although
these days I’ve been doing more stuff with Jeff [Caxide] from
Isis, which continues the incest, but the live shows we’ve
done recently have been Jeff and I both, and he’s contributed
to some of the [HoLC] recordings, including the new album, as well
as some other stuff that’s still in the works. I guess House
of Low Culture is probably more of my project than anything else
I’m involved in, but at the same time, I do like to work with
other people. The way I work in this setting is I do whatever I
want and make the decisions and then I just sorta pass it off to
other people. Like, Isis and Old Man Gloom and even Lotus Eaters,
everything’s a group decision. I guess I’m driving House
of Low Culture more than the other projects."
That said, do you ever feel more pressure or less pressure since
it’s your main bag?
"I dunno…" Turner trails off. "I put a little
more of myself on the line, but ever since the beginning, I wanted
House of Low Culture to be sort of a ‘revolving door’—I’m
into the idea of working with whoever’s around me and inspiring
me at the time. And with the new album [and its artwork/layout],
I’ve tried purposely to make it really unclear as to who it
is, like I wanted it to be ego-less. I’m happy that it’s
my project and I like the fact that I direct it, but I want it to
be more anonymous and more minimal in its presentation than any
of the other things I do."
Being that HoLC is conspicuously unique in the rather nebulous ambient/experimental
realm—and, more so, that you’re more or less coming from
a "heavier" background—you’re not necessarily
following the orthodoxy of what ambient or experimental music should
be. So, from that perspective, how does the new LP achieve this—more
so than the first one, perhaps?
"I don’t know that it does necessarily," Turner concludes,
"but I feel like this album’s more focused overall and
all of my ideas have had more time to develop. So, whereas the first
album was just sorta toe-in-the-water, feeling things out, this
[new album] is more like I have a grasp of what I’m doing and
can present it in a more focused and digestible…well, maybe
not digestible… I wouldn’t say it’s more accessible,
but it’s easier to get a grasp on overall and get a direction.
The first record was more of an experiment, trying to do things
that I wasn’t used to doing, and now that I sorta understand
how to go about it more and having relearned my methods of composition,
I’ve now come to a new plateau of my capabilities within this
realm, and I’ve relied less on the things I knew and more upon
things that require a bit more thought and experimentation."
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