Julia Holter

This one is a lot more song-based but still uses the same special spectral glue that kept the last one together.

hmmm, guess i'll have to wait till i hear the rest of it then

Just starting to listen to the album stream. I like the composition of this first one - I won't mind too much if it's the ambient stuff that gets lost in the wash, as I felt like that was the least interesting thing about her. I'm more interested in seeing where she goes with the classical/operatic influences in a pop sphere...

ah see i loved the found sound ambient stuff, "The Falling Age" was one of my favourite tracks last year, had an amazing David Lynch/Ligeti creepiness to it

There are definitely a couple of tracks with a Broadcast-esque phrasing in here, but really, I'd say it sounds more like someone who has similar influences to Broadcast than someone who is indebted to them. There's more Laurie Anderson, y'know.

Yeah, I wouldn't disagree at all, I was just struck by the similarity which had only just occurred to me.

Okay, there's a 'Goddess Eyes' reprise type track on here? Not feeling it as much as the version on Tragedy. I was agonising for ages over what the vocoder bits of that reminded me of, by the way, and the answer is 'Amory Blaine' by John Sims.

FACT "Mix" is great// mainly field recordings of pop radio, says something to me about the comfort and/or loneliness of the FM space

http://www.factmag.com/2012/02/13/fact-mix-316-julia-holter/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cq2S-2VpdDk

^ this is great too btw - Julia Holter with Linda Perhacs, whose influence you can definitely hear in Holter's work.

nite jewel on keys
JH plays on her rec also
end of public service announcement

(psyched for this rec because i always liked 'in the same room' more than any of JH's shortform stuff, really)

oh right, i never knew that!

this slays tho
http://vimeo.com/10725439
xp

"Goddess Eyes II" is the biggest curveball for sure, not 100% convinced by its dubby radio pop metamorphosis. On the whole the album feels less unique than Tragedy at this point in time, she seems to be mining very zeitgeisty influences rather than striking out in her own soundworld. Still a very good album though!

listened to the stream now & thankfully them 2 videos definitely aren't representative, plenty here that i like, esp "In The Same Room" & "Fur Felix"
had no idea Linda Perhacs was playing live dates!

Why sing when you can't sing? Why make the same "half an hour with a synth=a pop arrangement" crap as every other nobody? Marks of brilliance these are not. Things have changed since The Zombies were about.

Those are interesting questions, which I'd be interested in discussing further. Perhaps you should start a thread about them, though, because they're not really relevant here.

Perhacs comparison otm, tho also I hear some Charming Hostess kinda avant-gardey Meredith Monk too. Almost kinda wish it was more Perhacs-esque; i love that sublime quietness in her voice. Ekstasis gets a little busy sometimes...

emil.y otm, i will derail this thread into the ground if someone is seriously pressing "Why sing when you can't sing?"

I just think you good young people should be pushing for better.

I hadn't really thought of the Perhacs comparison before, but yes, it definitely fits. Monk is a weird one, in that I don't associate the *sound* with anything of Monk's I've heard, but I would eat my hat if Holter wasn't a fan.

not really comparable, but while i'm listening to the album i can't help but think i'd rather be listening to the karen dalton album...

Between this, Grimes, and Frankie Rose, it seems that Pitchfork is on an 80s 4AD revival kick or something.

Wait what there's a new album already?

Comes out on Tuesday I think.

tragedy is the fucking best

It's streaming at NPR http://www.npr.org/2012/02/26/147294456/first-listen-julia-holter-ekstasis#playlist
I love this girl, Tragedy on vinyl was twice a gift last year

listening to this today. enjoyed tragedy' but i like this more - a lot less reverb, thankfully.

put this in the "not for me but i respect what she's doing" pile. but i'm not crazy about all the laurie anderson comparisons. laurie anderson is hilarious, julia holter is not.

Wait what there's a new album already?

― mac and me (Ówen P.), Friday, 2 March 2012 15:16 (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

some of it is older, i think, has circulated on mixes for a while

She was working on the two albums simultaneously

She went to school w/me! Psyched that she is talk of all the towns. Also from that FACT mix, I can tell she must live in my neighborhood.

i am liking this. i get the broadcast comparisons and hear sian alice group as well. there's a lot to absorb from this record though, those are only my first impressions.

yeah, def feeling this altho it may take a few listens to sink in

Enjoying this a lot, definitely hear some Broadcast influences.

overstuffed, dull

What does overstuffed mean?

this is not what i expected, far more pedestrian than tragedy; i liked it better when i didn't get julia holter but thought it was my fault, rather than the music's.

it's so SMALL sounding but not in a good way, not in an immersive detailed way, just...thin. and her voice is so mimsy

I really like her approach to melodic and harmonic development here, nearly every song ends in a completely different place to where it began and there are so many point when a new melodic line will come in at the most gorgeous moment. I don't understand the "overstuffed" comment upthread, it's actually pretty light (and the points where it falls down are where it isn't).

i honestly thought it was kind of...melody-averse. i spent a lot of time waiting for things to happen. not as much as on tragedy though.

a couple of the songs near the end are better.

I'm pretty adverse to 'ethereal vocals' in general, but I quite like this. Sound great over my morning coffee, making breakfast - I always need records like that :)

"four gardens" is my favorite on this i think

i keep singing the "many many moons" bit to myself

i honestly thought it was kind of...melody-averse. i spent a lot of time waiting for things to happen

It's not melody averse at all, but the songs are sort of structured like classical pieces where the really obvious melodies aren't necessarily there and upfront and centre, it takes time to reach them. I'm thinking of songs like 'Fur Felix', where it plays around over the top of that cello figure for ages and then consolidates into this really lovely repeated refrain, and then it starts undercutting it and breaking it up.

I can understand not really liking the aesthetic, but she knows exactly what she's doing. It's really light in terms of production and arrangement but there's a lot going on, it's not slight at all. Way better than the other 4AD artists mentioned on this thread.

Even the ambient bits feel a lot more purposeful than most ambient does, like the chords are drifting towards something.

a couple of the songs near the end are better.

Hah, the last song is my least favourite, I think she falls down when she picks up the pace and volume a bit.

I saw she tweeted yesterday that she was listening to Laurie Anderson for the first time, since the name comes up so often in reviews.

this cokemachineglow review is amazing/terrible!

http://www.cokemachineglow.com/record_review/6864/juliaholter-ekstasis-2012

discussion on its terribleness here: pitchfork is dumb (#34985859340293849494 in a series.)

found ekstasis dull (gave it only a couple cursory listens), like a really flacid broadcast-like music. wanted to like it cuz she's mad cute and champions michael pisaro's music. maybe it grows?

totally grows...love it to death now (took about 4 full spins)

this cokemachineglow review is amazing/terrible!

Ha, I think I'll go on the "amazing" side! Actually I thought it was a good piece and certainly made me want to listen to the album - which is kind of the point.

not trying to discourage you from posting either btw, I do appreciate the way you keep giving her a listen even after so many failed attempts to connect with her music

All about personal songwriting logic-realms I suppose! Fire-Toolz recommended this new one - loads of people I trust like her!

New album March 22!

https://www.dominomusic.com/res/9xGJ/600_600/Julia_Holter_-_Something_in_the_Room_She_Moves_-_Packshot_WIG506D.jpg

Something in the Room She Moves

01 Sun Girl
02 These Morning
03 Something in the Room She Moves
04 Materia
05 Meyou
06 Spinning
07 Ocean
08 Evening Mood
09 Talking to the Whisper
10 Who Brings Me

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQWtznaAIYE

Seeing her in April, can’t wait

Good new track for sure.

bass tone on this is my catnip

I'm still stuck on the cover. Also considered posting a pic of Tommy Wiseau. But count me as excited.

I'm still stuck on the cover.

Listened to Spinning on a proper stereo after heaps of phone / car plays - wow, so much beautiful detail

She is so great - feel like she could probably stand to be a lot better-known after turning out 5 excellent-to-stunning albums on the trot

New song pretty much pure bliss imo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNuEV9PzQMA

i've kept my mouth shut re:the pre-album tracks so far. i will break my silence by stating that those tracks have me excited enough that i may do a midnight listen for this one.

so excited. cover is great.

Might be career peak (so far)

10.37 local sidereal time + here is my first listen. will report back.

This is majestic. Absolutely the best thing I've heard from her.

she buried "evening mood" in the running order really purposefully. it's this album's "vasquez." apt comparison, too-- this really does feel like the area that's on the other side of the long, mysterious bridge that wilderness discovered + that aviary traversed. same recognizable universe, but, well, leveledup. i don't even wanna get into specifics, but i'll end this with some nerd shit. if you don't know phillip k dick, it won't make sense to you, sorry. if you do, go back + read his descriptions of the music "linda fox" made + what it sounded like in the divine invasion. i know it’s just ambiguous babble, but hmm... some of it really hits. maybe pkd was hearing music from the future? timeline just off a bit, eh?

about half as long as aviary but twice as good. i know, just first listen. but damn.

First impressions:
- This is her sophisti-pop album: fretless bass, flute, keys, slow extensive developments in a private space
- Less demonstrative compositionally than Aviary, more cinematic and less rhythmic, more at rest
- She does everything I want her to do, but somehow there are no surprises
- Although Evening Mood and Talk to the Whisper are definitely late stunners

I obviously need to immediately relisten, but on the strength of the end alone, this is very solid and Album of the First Quarter.

'her sophisti-pop album' seems otm so far and i really like that

oh man "talking to the whisper"

yeah i love this

it isn't as immense as aviary but not much is and it might even be better anyway

aoty aoty aoty

about half as long as aviary but twice as good

wow. Aviary being one of the best albums ever made.

loved this, don’t know if i would choose it over Aviary but glad to live in a world where i can have both - she really has had an incredible run, no dud albums and always moving forward - just one of the most excellent artists and i hope this album bumps her profile some - i know she is appreciated but probably not enough relative to the quality of her work

someone needs to do a nightcore/sped up version of "sungirl" + start using it for tiktoks. let's meme julia holter into the mainstream!

emsworth otm

I loved this on first listen, now I’m listening to “Tragedy” again

(Everyone: listen to “Tragedy”, it’s one of the best debuts of all time)

this seems like v weird angle to come from, but I'd forgotten how much I love the preciseness of her diction

can confirm repeat listening is to the listener's benefit.

also good observation, nick. her music is nothing if not wholly intentional. is that what we talk about when we talk about "songcraft"?

"Talking to the Whisper" is stunning on this. Somehow she seems underrated now.

album is doing p good on metacritic so far. for a potentially more questionable source, it's currently on pace to usurp wilderness as her top rated album on rateyourmusic.com.

but also, it really is children's music that should be on the radio, so i get what you mean.

A bit too much flute on first listen. Balanced out by some great Weber-y bass playing. Besides that -- wow. The title track is an immediate favorite. She really captures everything elliptical and romantic I loved in Kate Bush's best music. But she is completely her own person.

this album reminds me of talk talk, david sylvian, and aerial which is all i could ask for

Great album, could have been her best but sadly there are about 3-4 weaker songs..

"Evening Mood" is gorgeous.

A bit too much flute

no malice whatsoever, but you're weird.

Yep this is great. Listening again to “Meyou” I recalled Whiney’s timeless Grimes takedown: “sounds like you’ve come home to discover that your cat has learned how to use Ableton”

^lol

xxpost wtf?

idk if this is a lazy take (it probably is), but "meyou" made me think of a medulla track from bjork (i mean this v positively)

xpost- hi jay vee! i'm just an offended flute fan having a goof. pay me no mind.

m bison-
i think it's an important part of the discourse to try + figure out where stuff came from. sighting medulla as a possible source is more than valid with that song. (i get that medulla wasn't the first or best or anything, but in a pop music context, the rules changed a bit after that album)

on that note, i will take this opportunity to bring up skin diver by nona hendryx. i only heard it for the first time in the past few years, but it immediately sounded like a distant relative of julia holter's music. the new album has solidified that for me.

+on that note, it blew my mind to find steve tibbetts on one of her artist-curated playlists last album cycle. idk why that's so entertaining to me. i found tibbetts years before holter, but the connection makes immediate sense.

If anyone here wants two tickets to her London show on the 9th let me know (and give me some way to contact you). I’ve got to be in Scotland for a funeral. Not looking for any money, just want the tickets to be enjoyed, gutted I can’t make it.

"Meyou" reminds me a bit of Meredith Monk's stuff, which of course inspired Medúlla, so cosign I guess

can recommend catching her on tour for this, live set up for the new songs was pretty incredible; Dev Hoff killing it on fretless bass especially. did a beautiful rendition of Meyou with Jenny Hval and her band too, though I think that was a London treat.

Gorgeous new album. The title track is a melange (no Dune) of just about everything I could want in new music. That is all.