Halou, pronounced huh-loo, was a band from San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

, California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. Their music could be described as dream pop

Dream pop

Dream pop is a subgenre of alternative rock that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid-1980s, when bands like The Passions, Dif Juz, Lowlife and A.R. Kane began fusing post-punk and ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies into dreamy, sensual soundscapes. The term was almost...

 with female vocals; they are sometimes labeled trip hop

Trip hop

Trip hop is a music genre consisting of downtempo electronic music which originated in the early 1990s in England, especially Bristol. Deriving from "post"-acid house, the term was first used by the British music media and press as a way to describe the more experimental variant of breakbeat which...

, but the band rejects that label.

History

Ryan and Rebecca met in 1992, in Ryan's father's independent music store in Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz, California

Santa Cruz is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, California in the US. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Santa Cruz had a total population of 59,946...

. Three years later, they moved to San Francisco

San Francisco, California

San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...

. There they became Halou, releasing their debut album, We Only Love You

We Only Love You

-Track listing:#"Halfbreath" – 5:22#"Loop in Blue" – 6:19#"ifish" – 5:33#"La Mer" – 6:13#"Clip" – 2:51#"Present Tense" – 5:15#"It Was Safer When You Were Near" – 4:53#"You are One of Us" – 5:14#"Feeling This Is Like To Fall Awake" – 5:16...

in 1998

1998 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...

, on a small independent label called Bedazzled. We Only Love You was followed by a compilation of non-album tracks: Sans Soucie

Sans Soucie

Sans Soucie is a compilation of non-album tracks by Halou.-Track listing:#"Present Tense "#"Lovesong "#"Half-Gifts"#"I'll Carry You Two"#"Blue Eye Smile Girl"#"Words"#"You Are One Of Us "...

in 1999. Their second album, Wiser, was released by Nettwerk

Nettwerk

The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...

 in 2001, and their more recent, Wholeness & Separation

Wholeness & Separation

Wholeness & Separation is the third album by Halou.-Track listing:#"Separation" – 1:03#"Tubefed" – 3:11#"Honeythief" – 3:09#"Everything is OK" — 4:23#"Morsecode" – 3:20#"Stonefruit" – 3:21#"Your Friends" – 2:33...

and Halou, were both released by Vertebrae in 2006 and 2008 respectively.

Halou's first album was broadcast on influential independent radio stations in Seattle and Los Angeles. In recent years, the band has received coverage from notable news sources, and they have been recognized for their production talents:
In 2008, Halou announced that they would no longer be making music under the moniker, and the three part collaboration was over. Rebecca and Ryan Coseboom continue to perform together under the name Stripmall Architecture

Stripmall Architecture

Stripmall Architecture formed when Ryan and Rebecca Coseboom's previous band, Halou, dissolved. The expanded band includes Tim Hingston , Patrick Harte , Erica 'Unwoman' Mulkey , and other supporting musicians for their live shows and recording sessions...

. Count continues to be involved in music as a producer and engineer.

We Only Love You (1998)

1. "Halfbreath" – 5:22
2. "Loop in Blue" – 6:19
3. "ifish" – 5:33
4. "La Mer" – 6:13
5. "Clip" – 2:51
6. "Present Tense" – 5:15
7. "It Was Safer When You Were Near" – 4:53
8. "You are One of Us" – 5:14
9. "Feeling Like This is Like to Fall Awake" – 5:16
10. "I'll Carry You (Full Version)" – 7:47

Wiser (2001)

1. "Milkdrunk" – 4:53
2. "Wiser" – 4:36
3. "Him to Me to You" – 4:11
4. "Political" – 3:24
5. "I'll Carry You" – 5:57
6. "Before There Was Color" – 4:28
7. "Oceanwide" – 7:13
8. "I Would Love to Give Up" – 3:52
9. "Feeling This is Like to Fall Awake" – 4:47
10. "We Only Love You" – 5:28
11. "Arrhythmia" – 5:41

Wholeness & Separation (2006)

1. "Separation" – 1:03
2. "Tubefed" – 3:11
3. "Honeythief" – 3:09
4. "Everything is OK" — 4:23
5. "Morsecode" – 3:20
6. "Stonefruit" – 3:21
7. "Your Friends" – 2:33
8. "The Ratio of Freckles to Stars" – 5:22
9. "Alaska" – 1:24
10. "Wholeness" – 4:03
11. "Today" – 2:36
12. "Hollow Bones" – 2:56
13. "I am Warm" – 4:12
14. "Things Stay the Same" – 4:29

Halou (2008)

1. "Professional"
2. "It Will All Make Sense in the Morning"
3. "Evensong"
4. "Eejit"
5. "Breath Makes Smoke"
6. "Seabright"
7. "Sneaky Creatures"
8. "Any Bird That Dares To Fly"
9. "Clipped"
10. "Hollywood Ending"
11. "Crumbs and Dust"
12. "We Wear Strings"
13. "Company"
14. "Skimming"

Wholeness (2003)

1. "Everything is OK"
2. "Ingenue"
3. "The Ratio of Freckles to Stars"
4. "Wholeness"
5. "Wiser (Different)"
6. "Firefly"

Separation (2006)

1. "Honeythief"
2. "Everything is OK (Different)"
3. "Exoskeleton"
4. "Far Too Far"
5. "Tubefed (Instrumental Score)"

Albatross (2006)

1. "Cello"
2. "Ingénue (Different)"
3. "Albatross"
4. "One Sunny Day"
5. "Night Divides The Girls"

Sawtooth EP (2008)

1. "It Will All Make Sense in the Morning"
2. "Evensong"
3. "Breath Makes Smoke"
4. "The Professional"
5. "Clipped"
6. "Hollywood Ending"

Sans Soucie (1999)

1. "Present Tense (Different)"
2. "Lovesong (Original Demo)"
3. "Half-Gifts" (Cocteau Twins cover)
4. "I'll Carry You Two"
5. "Blue Eye Smile Girl"
6. "Words" (Low cover)
7. "You Are One Of Us (Grassy Knoll)"
8. "I'll Carry You (Edit)"
9. "Dog Dreams (Anymore)"
10. "Heroine (Anymore)"
11. "They Bite (Anymore)"
12. "It Was Safer When You Were Near (P'Taah)"

External links

• Halou's official website
• Nettwerk's website
• Your Friends Music Video on Eithiriel
• [ Halou's Wholeness & Separation album review at allmusic.com]