Colin Ward · CRFW

howl / lust howls

A recurring word in Colin’s track titles across the alphabets era. Two
overlapping uses: the specific phrase “lust howls” (a near-direct
restatement that surfaces three times across six years), and a broader
“howl” vocabulary attached to animals, dreams, and calls.

This is the first motif documented in the vault and serves as the worked
example for the motif kind.

Tracks (chronological)

“lust” + “howl” cluster

  • _Documentation/Music/alphabets/07_08 [_]/lust howls in the afternoon.mp3 (2007–2008)
  • _Documentation/Music/alphabets/07_08 [_]/lust howls and calls for mating like locusts do.m4a (2007–2008)
  • _Documentation/Music/alphabets/09 [_]/lust calls and sex dance.m4a (2009; “lust calls” variant — same conceptual register)
  • _Documentation/Music/alphabets/unreleased/lust howls.mp3 (2013; Ableton .asd sidecar from 2015 indicates Colin returned to the file)

Broader “howl” vocabulary

  • _Documentation/Music/alphabets/BESTUV09/11 plesiosaur howl outs and swim bump.mp3 (2009)
  • _Documentation/Music/alphabets/sep09/04 plesiosaur howl outs and swim bump.mp3 (2009 — likely same source)
  • _Documentation/Music/alphabets/fantazia2010/15 robo goats howl and bang.mp3 (2010)
  • _Documentation/Music/alphabets/DEC09SCIFI/04 robodogs nighttime cage howls.mp3 (2009)
  • _Documentation/Music/alphabets/M_A_Y_09[DONTTAKEITSERIOUS,IMALITTLEKID]/12 maywolves hum and talk w_ shooting stars in the background.m4a (May 2009 — “maywolves” implies the same animal-howling register)

Reading

Across six years, “lust howls” / “howl” sits at the intersection of three
registers Colin used: animal calls (locusts, plesiosaurs, robo goats,
robodogs, maywolves), erotic/bodily language (“lust”, “calls for
mating”, “sex dance”), and late-night dream/ritual energy (the
unreleased/ 2013 track sits next to “DEC09 SCIFI” 2009 framing).

The phrase isn’t loud — it appears in titles, not band names or release
names — but it’s persistent. For a website, this is the kind of motif page
that lets a reader follow a thread through Colin’s vocabulary that the
project/release structure doesn’t expose.

Notes for future passes

  • The 2015 Ableton .asd sidecar on unreleased/lust howls.mp3 suggests
    Colin returned to the track that year. Worth checking adjacent 2015-era
    Killd By session files for any “howl” references; the motif may have
    carried into Killd By that the alphabets-only sweep missed.
  • “calls” as a word might be a sister-motif (lust calls, plesiosaur howl outs
    and… swim bump) — possibly worth its own entry if a sweep finds 5+ tracks.

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