Listening to Woven can be extremely annoying, and not just because their lead signer can’t sing (although that plays a large factor in it). Woven is so annoying because each of their records are textbook examples of how to squander potential. They’ve shown promise ever since their 2001 EP debut EPrime to become a great electronic act, maybe even a mainstream version of Aphex Twin. However, instead of embracing their inner glitch, the group continues to try and combine their natural talent for breakbeats and killer loops with generic, utterly boring alt-rock straight out of the late-’90s post-grunge handbook. Much of the blame for the band’s failure to successfully merge the two decidedly very different genres should be placed on singer Ory Hodis. There hasn’t been a signer this bad in a band this good since Einar’s days with Bjork in the Sugarcubes. Hodis seems to have two styles, whisper sing/speak and falsetto yelling/whining, and he can’t pull off either. Songs on Designer Codes are completely ruined by him. “Perception Whore” and “Inhale” are awesome IDM-inspired bits of insanity, kind of like Radiohead’s Kid A with some balls. But the second Hodis opens his mouth and unleashes his inner sensitive alt-rock bitch, the songs are totally ruined. Hodis should shut his mouth and Woven should either recruit a new lead singer or seriously consider reinventing themselves as an instrumental act, since that is one area they need no help in.
Never heard the band Woven before. Since I read the review i am curious and will check them out. By the way….Isnt that 6 styles of singing- whisper,sing,speak,falsetto,yelling and whining. Sounds pretty dynamic to me as far as singers go. Sounds like your secretly in love with mr hodis, or you went to the same high school and you still have issues with him beating you up.. LOL
I totally disagree with the article, I’ve been following this band for over 7 years and I believe they are a picture perfect example of a group that doesn’t compromise their sound… and the vocals are a large part of that sound, although I don’t believe they are intended to be such a large focus of the sound (as your article implies by your misguided interpretation), they are utilized as an instrument and a unique sounding one at that… if you can’t decipher it, perhaps you are the one lacking and not the music, I’d at least consider it a possibility…
it may not be a 5 star flawless release, but consider all the factors you didn’t discuss… this album is completely self sufficient!!! they’ve produced, written and recorded everything themselves
james,
although i believe in your right to your own opinion, it might behoove you to actually do your homework and know exactly who is singing (spelled correctly by the way) which songs. as you should know, woven had 2 singers on this album; ory and johnny. “perception whore” is sung by ory and features tiki lewis from the band piel; “inhale” was sung by johnny - not ory.
the next time you decide to rip someone a new one, check your own ass first.
Wow. Just, wow. I’m perfectly aware that music is subjective, but I’ve never been this aghast at a review before; this album obviously went straight over your head. Seriously, I do believe that people are entitled to their own opinion about music, but your claims to back up your judgment are simply lacking in any evidence whatsoever. The two previous reviewers addressed most of the glaring flaws in your review already, so I’m not going to bother dwelling on them, but I am truly in awe of how you can despise the vocals so much! Ory and Johnny (the band’s 2 vocalists) sound very similar (I often have a hard time telling them apart), but they both have excellent singing voices. If you can honestly listen to the song “Cosmonaut” and say that the section of soft vocals followed by the screaming at the end isn’t pure, raw emotion, then I’m afraid your ears are broken. The only possible way I could see where you’re coming from is if you had only heard them live as, admittedly, the vocals suffer quite a bit in their live performances (much like most bands).
The short version: Woven is one of the most innovative, talented bands of our time, and their latest album is their best yet. I’m truly sorry you can’t appreciate that, cuz you’re missing out man.