There was the shadow of OFWGKTA (and even more than the shadow) at Origami Vinyl on Wednesday night, as Hal Williams, aka Pyramid Vritra, was doing an in-store. According to his bio, Hal Williams is half of the Jet Age Of Tomorrow, half of the Super 3, part NRK, and part Odd Future, … and if you are already lost as I am, it is because there are many groups within the Odd Future supergroup and many side projects gravitating around it.
The store filled up with friends of the band, and I recognized among them OF’s Syd tha Kyd, she was checking some Flaming Lips vinyl before the performance! I mean, there may have been other members that I didn’t recognize!
Pyramid Vritra was in fact a duo, rapping over a sluggish-druggy sometimes jazzy or even electronic beats,… people were laughing, as they visibly knew the lyrics, which were delivered with detachment and a sort of second degree, venting some frustrations, sometimes rhythmically with dynamic beats, other times more melodically.
I have never seen OF, but these two guys were obviously much more restrained than the wild gang, almost mellow over their loops of beats and fluid synths, even the ‘bitch’ word was quiet and smooth. The music sometimes sounded like a jazzy 70s TV series soundtrack layered with a disconnected and cool rap delivery.
Under the alias Pyramid Vritra, Williams has released 3 unfinished story albums: Elouise; The Story Of Marsha Lotus, and Elenor, and he was coming to Origami to promote his full-length, re-mastered album ‘The Story of Marsha Lotus’, which was out on November 21st.
It was one of the most laid-back performance I have seen at Origami, Williams playing a short set for friends, sharing some inside jokes then getting with them now that he had played ‘a few songs from that vinyl shit’.