Whitehouse: WORST TO BEST
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- čas přidán 4. 09. 2024
- Whitehouse, the pioneers of power electronics, are one of the most significant groups to emerge in the underground, with extreme performances and subject matters, so challenging that are guaranteed to make each listener feel uncomfortable.
Also forgot to mention that I'm only ranking their albums, including the 1981 collab with Nurse With Wound, no compilations, live albums or EPs. And obviously, this is just my opinion.
#Whitehouse #worsttobest #rank
Music and art in the intro by yours truly.
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Thanks for watching!
This is really gonna help me fill out the playlist for the office party.
hahahahaaaaa
thanks dude i'm really into this girl and have been looking for something special to play for her
Found this through WB himself sharing it on Facebook. :D
Really? That's awesome
Princess Disease sounds like Why You Never Became A Dancer's prequel
Definitely, and lyrically I feel they had to take a step back from cruise for bird seed because of how brutal the former was lol
@@nitro5247 yeah, also the new version of Philosphy has a little resemblance of Scapegoat
Thank you for making this. I got a bit interested in similar music and listened to bird seed some time ago, it is very great to have a video to watch in the background.
Nice analysis! Twice is Not Enough is my #1 with Peter Kurten second. Perfectly encapsulates the "game show host" attitude that suits Whitehouse so well, especially their live acts. That said I treat it and Never Forget Death as one album because I first heard it that way, so the scope might raise my opinion.
One of my friends said there was meant to be something on each album that was meant to make even diehard fans uncomfortable. Don't have a source on it, but it comes to mind when every time you show an album cover, I remember one track that I can barely stand to hear even today...
I read somewhere they wanted to follow more typical song structure on Twice. And I like how Stefan Jaworzyn (Skullflower), and S Albini are on it too.
I only listen to all of their album once (except few exceptions). But new britain was on the top to me. I liked the simplicity of it and i finded that the sound from this album was more "powerful" and violent than the rest. Like it was like the track "philosohy", but extended into an entier album.
Maybe i need to listen it again
And the silence to me was really cool. Like. In other album, tracks are instantly followed by other tracks. And if a good track happen at the middle of the album, directly when the next track goes you will forget the track kind of too early. But in this album, you actually have time to "digest" the track, and i find this idea brillant. Like, you listen the track, and then you have a little bit of time to remember the track and to play it inside your head before going to the next track. It add "breathing point" into the album. I have no clue if it was the reason behind this, but to me, it's a satisfying answer, and more album should use this idea of silence between tracks.
Same, New Britain is the one I always return to. Bennett's vocals are definitely there but drenched in feedback and hidden in the mix differently from all the other albums. It's sister album Buchenwald is good too, but a little less consistent.
coming back to this video after 1-2 years of getting into noise i can't agree with you more about wriggle like an eel. i can't place a word on how the backing synth (or whatever it is) makes me feel but i know no other song can make me feel that way. that combined with the insane vocals, lyrics, and drums just make for the perfect power electronics song
Good video I always thought 150 Murderous Passions was really underrated and its one of my favorite Bennett projects
I still like their early work. The first 2 especially and Erector is also pretty good. But after that their sound changed a bit with a prominent high pitched sound. Great White Death is also good. But I like that early Death Industrial drone that permeates those albums.
I love their early work too!! Erector and Total Sex/Birthdeath Experience are all masterpieces. I like dedicated to Peter Kirsten but after that album I didn’t feel like I wanted any more of that particular high pitch squeal. I feel like it works in Erector because of the other elements. I love the more minimalist approach. That said, Bird Seed is also pretty cool.
would love a worst to best on prurient
Almost impossible because his catalogue is massive, but I might do a top 10 with my favourites.
Best: White Magic
Worst: Everything else
would love to see you talk about sutcliffe jugend
Already have a review on the Slaves No More album, they have a huge catalogue so it's hard to cover all they've done, but I do enjoy some of the stuff they've put out.
so happy youtube acknowledges my awful taste in music to recommend me this
This is a brilliant breakdown. "If you're looking for an album to crush your soul, look no further than this one."
I used to love Whitehouse when I was like 13-14 I had a pretty hard year that year tbh but I'll always have a soft spot for what I listened to that year especially whitehouse despite always being put off by their subject matter
I remember the last time I ever listened to bird seed, it ruined my day. I was just in awe that someone would even think to make something like that. Truly a unique listenting experience, not at all a good one, but one that sticks with you.
Haven't played it since 2018 and I don't think I want to lol at least not the title track
Great list! I noticed you said "Princess Disease" is about 3 minutes of silence when it's actually a hell of a track. Wonder if you had the same download back in the day that I did where that track actually was silence for its duration for some reason, must have been a glitch in the CD rip! Imagine my absolute shock when I finally heard the track about 3 years later. Just made me love Cruise even more!
Yeah that was a mistake of my part. I've actually heard Princess Disease before making the video, but for some reason I forgot about it and when I relistened to a downloaded version, it was just silence.
great video, youtube needed this!
Thank you very much!
Yay! So glad to see 150 Murderous Passions in too 3, as it is my second favorite of theirs! Awesome and underrated album.
Great video! I’m going to try my own power electronics album.
I thought I was the only one who thought Buchenwald was the worst. I have Halogen on vinyl as well, and I love it! So, what is your favorite Steve Albini produced Whitehouse album?
I sorta liked that album. Best said he was going for a droney sound and wanted to mimic a horns like strident motif. Don't know what was the final result was but it was at least different
Been a big fan of Whitehouse for about 20 years now ! Non of my friends like them but I just think they are wonderful! I have been lucky to get my grubby little mittens on most of there albums on vinyl ! Think I need to get 3 lps to complete the studio lps collection! The live actions is a complete other story !
I managed to cut the silence parts from New Britain on iTunes.
Awesome video! Keep up the good work!
Buchenwald is very underrated imo, very bleak
DO YOU BELIEVE IN ROCK AND ROLL?
WHY DON'T YOU STAND UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN?!
such a charming discography
He says “Traumatizing material” lol
Great to dance to
How do I find their albums? I can't find any outside Bird Seed and Cruise.
You either buy them physically or pirate download them. Whitehouse albums were never easily available.
@@Alpha27music I just saw this! I must go on the hunt. I've seen quite a few were at least easier to come by a few years ago.
They're on Bleep which you can buy and download them. The only ones not available are Psychopathia Sexualis and Right To Kill for obvious reasons. Birthdeath Experience, Total Sex and Erector are on Bandcamp too
Update I've listened to everything they've made and I'm a big fan. Quality Time, Asceticists (best production imo), and Never Forget Death are my favorites.
Although Total Sex's textures are really great to listen to as of late. (Phaseday is my ringtone and went off in Walgreens today no joke)
Great list enjoyed your thoughts. Racket is a personal fav. I'd love to see you also cover come organisation! Im still seethin at susan lawly for giving me 3 channel strikes for uploading 😂
Cut Hands Has the Solution it's my guilty pleasure, I really can't explain how this song makes me feel, it's misanthropic, but the same time feels like "hey, dude, get up, you know your life is a disaster. Change."
You look and sound so awesome, amazing video
I never thought I'd hear someone describe Whitehouse's music as "nice" 😂
My favorite is probably Bird Seed
Phillip Best was really the star imo, you should do this for consumer electronics, much better imo
guys do you listen to noise with lots of high frequencies with headphones? Will I destroy my ears?
Yes, and yes.
i got a thing or two or three to say about Sotos. to whoever is reading this, it's long winded but bare with me
The departure of Sotos had 2 sides to it, on one hand, alot of the bleak lyrical content that defined the group for such a long time was no longer in play, and in tandem with Best and Bennet worked very well considering the horrendous nature of it a dark, vile image of modern civilisation was created, and conveyed an unsafe and dangerous visceral experience. It's definitely not for the faint of heart to say the least, but it's also what gave them their appeal. songs about death, rape, child abuse, and generally a sick & ugly society. I think thats why i was so attracted to it myself, and some of my favorite works of Whitehouse had his involvement.
On the other hand, it can be said that Sotos is by the most amicable of definitions a creep with serious pederastic tendencies. It shows up throughout his writing, and it landed him in hot waters with authorities. His most notable controversy being his zine project from the 80's titled "Pure" which landed him a suspended sentence on a child pornography possesion charge. While by the chin stroking art crowd he is considered something of a modern Marquis De Sade (i think that was also a header in some magazine article about him), most rational people, even fans of power electronics, will usually not be too kean on defending him.
Having myself have read some of his work (the essay "Prime Time" in Apocalypse culture II) It's hard to argue that there isn't some level of sincere depravity. It has it's right to exist, but it's also the thing that made me severely dislike Sotos, as it seemed he took some twisted pleasure in exploring the perspective of a Nonce to a sickening level of detail. Even in his speeches, it just seems like long winded trite hidden behind big words, when all it conveys is that he is a sexual deviant of the worst kind.
His go-to argument is arguing that mainstream media is equally as guilty as child abusers in the exploitation of minors. And while abuse within things like hollywood, reality television, social media & news media have been confirmed, it's still no excuse in my opinion to believe that someone like Marc Dutroux or Thomas Watt Hamilton is in any way the same as a reporter on the news talking about a missing child or someone like Geraldo Rivera doing an exploitative heartstring-tugging special on JonBenet Ramsey, he didn't murder and rape the victim (the Ramsey case was the entire crux of "Prime Time") yet sotos is so twisted that to him those two things are completely interchangeable. is it fictional? arguably so, but considering its a major theme in most of his written work is this exploration of sexual depravity it begs to differ whether or not he gets off on it. Not to mention, he didn't seem to have a problem with exploiting victims of sexual abuse on Buyers Market & his various sound collages, by any means it would at least make him a hypocrite.
I guess you could argue that it elevated whitehouse and to an extent i can definitely agree. But even then after he left the group in 2006 and the group released Asceticists 2006- alot of the lyrics (especially the song Ruthless Babysitting) seemed like it was dissing Sotos directly. While it's not confirmed, i think the infamy of Sotos at the time was leaving a rather sour taste in the mouth of the band, the fans & the people from the outside looking in. Even the most thick-skinned smut merchants & scholars of shock content would get goosebumps at his work and i don't mean that in the flattering way.
But it begs the question to what extent we can separate the art from the artist as well. I have no problem with dark themes being explored in art, but learning more about peter has made me unnerved at the guy, and it honestly makes it alot harder on myself, because some of the best work of this group was done when he was in it. I think it makes for an interesting discussion and i wonder what you, and others think about it? i could be wrong about alot of this stuff & misinterpreting it. But thats just me. Still, i'd love to hear what people think!
While I do aknowledge and recognise the influence of Peter Sotos in the group and the underground scene in general, it is impossible not to raise suspicions about him as an individual, since he comes off more obsessive with these themes, rather than coming from a place of concern. Despite my different intepretation of these works since I condemn anything harmful and traumatizing described in these pojects, in no way would I play defense for people like these, who are more likely to put all those shocking stuff out there as a way of endorsement or normalisation.
@@Alpha27music i like to think that most people within the fanbase of this group or genre understand that the lyrics are an exploration of these themes & not an endorsement (At least on part of William Bennett & best respectively) i think thats why i can still bring myself to listen to it. the visceral appeal of releases like "Never Forget Death" or "Great White Death" is a combination of the depravity and the skullcrushing pounding noise that made it so attractive to myself. It felt like a cathartic experience listening to it. and that came moreso from Bennet & Best performance.
Another band that explores these sorts of themes is Brainbombs. Just with less tact (love them none the less) the reason i bring this up is because alot of their lyrical content explore Themes Whitehouse covers, But it feels less so that their lyrics come from a place of unhealthy obsession and moreso from a place of capricious punk rage. whereas with sotos you can find highly specific references & details that only either hardcore True Crime/Serial Killer fans would know about or seasoned sex offenders. And even then, obsession can turn very unhealthy, and listening to the way Sotos speaks & writes it wouldn't surprise me. Then again, rather have him have an outlet in writing & performance than acting on these obsessions. Still, it's no reason to like the guy.
A funny thing to note is that Whitehouse is generally pretty straight forward, and seem to have a distaste of the contemporary art world (think of "Why You Never Became a dancer"- which is a scathing takedown of Tracy Emin) . To think they hung out with Sotos is just somewhat humorous to me since that runs somewhat more antithetical to their views on modern art & how shallow it is. But putting it in that perspective it really questions the validity of whether or not it's art & whether or not it's sick obsession on Sotos part.
I'm also not condemning people who are interested in Soto's work. As much as i do have vitriol for him I can understand the appeal in the sense of Extreme Art. But personally, i do not like him.
Sotos is a honestly quite the enigma. I've theorized that one motive to his work may actually be due to mental illness. He's expressed he feels almost forced to constantly analyze extreme subject matter, something that may be a symptom of OCD. I don't think Sotos inherently is malicious, there's a purpose to say, deeply understanding the motives behind terrible people in order to understand patterns that can be be prevented to hopefully prevent any further abuse. But Sotos seems almost obsessive, to a point where it's more damaging to himself than anything. It's clear from say, the lyrics on Asceticists 2006 that it damaged relations with his bandmates, and he's been somewhat irrelevant as a creative force since. I kinda just feel bad for Sotos as he's regarded as a weirdo/creep by most (including those in the extreme music scene) and his works really don't improve this outlook. He seems to have a low opinion of himself yet he keeps doing it. A really odd guy for sure. I don't he's a pedophile or sadist or whatnot, but he's certainly far from normal.
I don't think say, Buyer's Market is exactly exploitative. It was a collection of public television and broadcast material made to point out how abuse is in of itself is a commercial well, market. Moreso thats a label I'd give to the descriptions given to it by Bennett and company back in the mid 90s (i would assume this, although it could've been described this way by Sotos as well) where it's described as "a modern day classic" multiple times. Quite hypocritical in hindsight. I do love Whitehouse but some of their commentary has not aged so gracefully, similarly to the works of Sotos himself.
Unrelated but i find it interesting that Sotos has stated he is a fan of Judas Priest as well as Lulu (the infamous Metallica/Lou Reed collaboration) though thats all the traditional music influence I've been able to gather, let alone any musical influence of his.
Great video and hugely underappreciated, genius band. I like the Albini era best, with Halogen being the top track and Quality Time the top album.
Where do you lisen to these albums because I can’t find quality time
Bandcamp
What is the best place to listen to Whitehouse is?
Probalbly in a house corner at night, lights off, full volume, alone.
@@Alpha27music What about the best place to find the music on the internet?
There is not such place. You either download it, or direcltly purchase their albums.
@@banjogyro some of it can be found on CZcams, but I’ve found a decent amount on SoundCloud
@@somekidwithacomputer2939 got taken down a bit ago lol
Great White Death is the best album. Then mummy and daddy. The rest is all pretty good to okay.
So you find them disturbing?
Id' say so.
Sutcliffe Jügend next
Their catalogue is massive, and they have a lot a great recent stuff. Maybe a top 10 sometime.
@@Alpha27music that would be great
Nice to see a non white fella into Whitehouse and power electronics.
Why must race be brought into everything? What/why does it matter? I’m willing to bet that you’re the only person on this thread thinking about it.
Comments like yours is the EXACT definition of racism.
Let it go.
@@VaccumBlister6 bro what the fuck are you on
@@VaccumBlister6 my guy he didn't say Whitehouse was only for white people calm your tits.
@@VaccumBlister6 I agree, but maybe for a different reason.
Why in this day & age wouldn't we as people of color listen to such an important band, with now more accessibility than ever to all music? It's not far fetched. Assuming it's a "WOW" factor for a POC to be into this IS racist.
No one cares
worst to best masonna?
Quite hard, the catalogue is pretty big. Maybe a top 10 albums sometime.
I'm curiously irritated every time he calls an album a project.
This song "why you never became a dancer" makes me think of 2 girl school shooters who killed 32 and then themselves.. 🙂
Typical Hocico fan
Just discovered your channel. I have been scouring youtube for someone who's willing to really get into extreme stuff more so than a lot of people. Look forward to checking out your music as well.
Buchenwald is very underrated imo, very bleak