Top 25 Albums of 2011: #3 “With U” by Holy Other

The first time I listened to Holy Other’s With U, I didn’t know what to think.  It felt dark, creepy, and I envisioned it being played at some subterranean gothic club I’d have no business ever attending.  So I put it down and moved on.

Then something odd happened. A few days later I couldn’t get a couple of the beats out of my head.  It felt like an infection that I could only cure by listening again, and within a few days I was absolutely hooked.  

Holy Other makes ominous, down-tempo house music that is startlingly good.  His music is both sparse and rich, mixing trance bass lines and dark synth melodies with dreadful-sounding vocal samples.  

Adding to Holy Other’s mystique is the unusual public persona he’s crafted.  He allows very little to be known about him, and in perfomances he simply wears a towel over his head to conceal his identity, thus taking his creepiness factor up ten notches.

The best part about listening to With U is surprising yourself that you can get into this type of music; that is, music which sounds like it’s originating from a haunted club. And while With U is actually just a five song EP, all the tracks are engrossing and could go toe-to-toe with the best five songs on any other album put out this year. 

Standout tracks:

Holy Other - “Yr Love”

Holy Other - “Touch”

Holy Other - “With U”