Julia Holter

I won't be at the St John's show - I'd probably have gone if I hadn't recently moved, that venue used to be five minutes walk from my house, now it's three trains and closer to 90 minutes :'( - but yr in for a treat.

Very much into this: https://soundcloud.com/dominorecordco/julia-holter-dont-make-me-over

That new single is brilliant.

Sorry to ... plant... inside
Echo, echo, echo, echo, echo, echo inside
We plan our purpose for his ...
We go, we go, we go, we go, we go outside, outside, outside
...fall, and summer gone,
Step to, step to, step to, step to outside
... creature love, follow, follow, follow follow one side
One side, one side, one side, one side

On a bit of a Julia Holter tip right about now

http://devonrecordclub.com/2015/01/23/julia-holter-ekstasis-round-77-toms-selection/

...but which is her best album? (This is the only one I own at the moment).

ekstasis probably my favourite, everything comes together perfectly imo

So Tragedy or Loud City Song next?

loud city song imo

Don't Dream it's Over (2007)

grant that this is 8 (!!) years old, but although i like most of her cover versions, they sound very much as if she applies the same spaced-out artiness (complete with 'distancing' effects on her vocals) to each one, in a quasi-formulaic way. it's getting predictable.

Julia Holter announces new album, Have You In My Wilderness
http://www.treblezine.com/24136-julia-holter-new-album-have-you-in-my-wilderness/

Julia Holter - Feel You
https://youtu.be/X2JgMniIpRM

New song is lovely

have you in my wilderness just leaked

I'm only three songs in and listening on shitty laptop speakers while packing stuff up and I can already tell that this is incredible.

more engaging on first listen than her other stuff

did Cole MGN produce this one as well?

sounds a little like julia is rerecording cocteau twins jams with lyrics translated from kobaian / hopelandish to english

interestingly enough, a good amount of this reminds me of enya? particularly "caribbean blue"

anyway i love it, julia is the best

did Cole MGN produce this one as well?

yep, fresh off the AOTY grammy win.

Really looking forward to this.

This is an amazing album and more people should be talking about it.

her stuff generally has a soporific effect on me, but will give this one another spin

Picked it up yesterday but haven't listened yet.

Night Song just floored me in Morrisons.

there's a trebly sheen on her vocals and a general 'brightness' about the music that makes it harsh on the ears. only heard the mp3s, but i don't have this problem with Loud City Song.. maybe i'm just old. or is it the excessive orchestral lushness that's simply buggin'

New album is a real grower

This is an amazing album but I find it mentally jarring to listen to

Still getting to know it but I love the arrangements - so light and graceful, birdlike somehow, that balance of ornament and simplicity. Great autumn album too

The sax solo on Sea Calls Me Home is hot! Also love the way she stresses the syllables on the chorus. I appreciate some might find her vocals mannered, but to me she does it in a really interesting and charming way.

Not all the songs have hit me yet like that one or Feel You, but as paolo says, it's definitely a grower.

her stuff generally has a soporific effect on me

― calstars, Monday, September 28, 2015 10:04 AM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

weirdly i think holter would be OK with this!

love the way she stresses the syllables on the chorus. I appreciate some might find her vocals mannered, but to me she does it in a really interesting and charming way.

Yeah I was reading something where she was talking about trying to match her enunciation and the timbre of her voice to the character of the arrangement and it does make a lot more sense once you start listening to it that way.

Whistling part leading into the sax solo is funny in a very wyattish way

Have become very addicted to this record in the last 24 hrs

The lightness of the production suits the record and her voice I think, the only time it really bothers me is when the drums are one of the few elements of the mix, they sound tinny and weirdly stiff, but then this isn't much of a drumming record in general.

The melody that comes in halfway through Betsy completely slays me.

secret weapon on this is the bass playing (is it a double bass or a cello?)

On first listen, the ending of Lucette Stranded On The Island actually made me stop and gawp at my computer.

I liked Ekstasis but I couldn't get my head around Loud City Song so I'm pleased to have enjoyed my first listen. Going to come back to this some more, certainly.

think i've just listened to it seven times in a row now. more trapped inside it with every listen

'i feel like i'm walking around in glue' indeed

I liked Ekstasis but I couldn't get my head around Loud City Song so I'm pleased to have enjoyed my first listen.

Same here - this one seems to take what was good about Ekstasis and couple it with a much more pop sensibility. The specific part of Lucette, from "the birds can sing a song" onwards, is glorious.

LCS is my favourite.

Each of her albums seems poppier than the one before (this isn't a criticism)

I think if she wanted to she could shift a lot of units

she just needs to hook up with taylor swift's publicist

fwiw loud city sing seemed a little more 'difficult' than ekstasis to me

*song

Love every one of her records incl the new one but "Tragedy" is pretty unbeatable

Yeah, this is excellent. Only heard it for the first time tonight but it sounds wonderful. I'd only really known Loud City Songs before and although I heard that lots in the last two years I'm struggling still to remember if that was a lot more electronic than this, like I'm thinking. All of the influences above are right of course, but I can hear Robert Wyatt here as well, especially in the way she kinda talk sings against her own main vocal. Lovely.

This hasn't had the same impact on me as Tragedy or Ekstasis did but there's a sweet Roxy Music vibe through the album that I really like.

not really enjoying this that much (yet) - it's a bit too straight-forward and light compared to the previous records.

"betsy on the roof" sounds like siouxsie and enya collaborating in the best way possible

The level of attention to detail on this one is astonishing, virtually nothing is repeated without being reframed in some way, the arrangements change constantly, even if it's just bringing an extra violin line in or something. In general I think harmony (or at least the possibilities of harmony) are undervalued in current pop music and Holter is excellent at it.

not yet familiar with the new one, but the more nimble, uptempo tracks on Loud City Song are great.. the songs that aren't so ~dreamy~ and reverb-drenched. the instrumental qualities (LSS) are a bit more understated and dry, where the new one feels bigger, brighter, more 'lush', more sheen-y.