Under the radar of mainstream culture, unsuspecting genres have been quietly blending in the bedrooms of overactive imaginations. One such amalgam came in collaborative form when UK-based indie-rock band Hood brought Why? (Yoni Wolf) and doseone (Adam Drucker) from California-based avant hip-hop group cLOUDDEAD (which also includes David “odd nosdam” Madson) into the studio on their 2001 album Cold House (Aesthetics). Having been fans of each other’s work, the two groups were destined to work together — and tour together.

Where Hood’s sound jumps between “lo-fidelity avant-pop” and “pastoral, nearly instrumental songs,” cLOUDDEAD meanders through similar territory, but adds a skewed hip-hop vision to the mix. Though stunningly unique on their own, the two mesh well together, play well together, and their sounds blend into something like nothing else you’ve ever heard. Read more