Monday, February 28, 2011

REVIEW: Julianna Barwick - The Magic Place

8.25 out of 10

Somewhere deep in a mystical forest a monk choir is harmonizing gloriously. They may be a bit of ways away from you. You don't know how far exactly, or where it's coming from, but their voice rings with so much heavenly clarity that you can't ignore it.. Everyone has a preferred way to fall asleep, I like music sometimes. One of the most common artists I go back to when I'm in the mood for a soothing lullaby is Julianna Barwick. Her angelic voice is something I want/need in my life every once in a while. Her method is quite simple, extremely effective, mysteries, and absolutely stunning.

You can place Ms. Barwick anywhere between Ambient Folk (Grouper) & Dream Pop (Lovesliescrushing). What Scott Cortez does for guitars (and voice too I suppose:) Julianna does with her voice (record voice, loop said voice, record voice, loop said voice, record voice, loop said voice..) and a touch of a few other sounds. On "The Magic Place", an ode to a special place in her childhood, Julianna dives head first into a pool of her own sustained/looped & repeated vocals. Throughout each song's buildup of (more and more) layered vocals, elements of white noises/found sounds, and sparse piano keys are added. It's a really gorgeous thing that many performers can't pull off all that well. But with Ms. Barwick's work you could almost swear there's an entire choir there. Very fluid, extremely pretty, pitch-perfect/harmonious, ..and perhaps most importantly, it's wonderful to fall asleep to.

Fans of structure-less structure can't resist feeling a sense of comfort wrapped in these heavenly walls. RECOMMENDED.

Standout Tracks: Keep Up The Good Work, Cloak (♥ the piano), Vow (♥ the bass), Bob In Your Gait (yummy:p), Prizewinning (kind of reminds me of RxGibbs:), Flown ..so yeah, all of them.

No comments:

Post a Comment