[03.02] I've been raving about Cold House to friends for a while now. And every time I strongly advise they give it a spin, I'm asked the same question: What does it sound like? I usually stumble around for some kind of definition, but always end up with "ummm…well, y'know Kid A? It's kinda like that, but completely different." Needless to say, I haven't been selling too many people on Hood. I'll attempt to be a bit more articulate about what has kept this CD on heavy rotation in my various music listening devices. Before Beta Band mixed in hip hop beats with Beatlesesque melodies…before Radiohead started pissing off critics (and some fans) with the experimental styling of Kid A, there was Hood—a tangle of lo-fi guitar fuzz, dismal vocals, electronic clicks and a hint of dub. The fifth full-length album from the UK brothers is their most ambitious effort to date.

The first track, "They Removed All Trace That Anything Had Happened Here," sets a bleak and dreary backdrop with delicate melodies gliding over a surface of fractured beats and vocal loops. The rest of the album switches back and forth between a slow, dreamy climate of noise and cold, sterile electronic-laced beats. But it's the juxtaposition of Chris Adams' (at times) precious and woeful vocals mixed with hip-hoppers cLOUDDEAD's nasally freestyling that make up some of the most interesting moments. —Aerin