White Williams - Smoke

I found it surprisingly difficult to find much of any current information on White Williams as he hasn't done anything musically since the release of Smoke in 2007. White Williams is the creation of Cleveland born musician Joe Williams who, along with an assortment of instruments and a few fellow musicians, was able to create a fairly minimalistic yet intently groovy album. The group's sound is more indie electronic than noise or anything of that ilk. The songs are traditionally structured and essentially pop interlaced. I was lucky enough to see White Williams play in Cleveland a couple years ago, and was impressed by the energy (not in any sort of spastic sense) that the music carried despite being as minimal as noted. It appears that Joe Williams had done most of the writing for this album during the time while traveling and subsequently finishing college in Cincinnati, OH. Perhaps having finished college and moving on into his career path, White Williams may have been a brief sort of "one-and-done" sort of thing. It would be unfortunate if that was the case, as the music is quite enjoyable for me still to this day. Expect medium-short length songs leaning heavily on the percussion and bass to provide the aforementioned groove while electronics and keyboards have plenty of room to roam, and vocals are essentially regressed to neutral or controlled tone. Relaxing and moving at the same time (comfortably groovy?).


White Williams - "New Violence"

The thing that jumps out to me is how not overproduced the drum and bass lines are in this song (and in general). It's a subtle pressing beat holding serve through the song. While electronic keyboards are able to fill in and add unique runs up above. The vocals are sung in Williams' deadpan 80's electronica fashion, stretching the words through the chorus or hook. The sped up keyboard/electronic runs really stand out as my favorite part of the song apart from the solid riff that picks up intensity rhythmically introducing the chorus.

Smoke was released on Tigerbeat6 Records but I wasn't able to find this album listed. They however say that you can contact them directly and they will search within their vault of material and perhaps track it down. There are currently about 30 (new and used) copies through Amazon available from what I can tell. Smoke runs about 40 minutes long, split amongst eleven tracks (including a cover of The Strangeloves' "I Want Candy"). Move it or lose it sister.