Music Review: A One-Woman Chorus of Angels
THE MAGIC PLACE by Julianna Barwick (Asthmatic Kitty)
by Will Wlizlo
March-April 2011
Somewhere between a lullaby and a hymn, Julianna Barwick’s ethereal sound is the manifestation of sacred innocence. Using a looping technique, Barwick unfurls layer after layer of celestial vocals, sunny ambient swells, and wistful piano melodies. Wrapped in a soft blanket of nostalgia, one can’t help but recall dusky, wild summer evenings. On The Magic Place, her first full-length album, Barwick transcends her own singularity, incrementally channeling the vocal force of what seems an entire medieval church choir.
RELATED CONTENT
Piano burning should really be done with an upright piano; the structure is much more beautiful tha...
Modern historians have found a Medieval mummy head showing that medicine and medical practices duri...
Every Sunday at 10:40 a.m.--sometimes a few minutes later when there's a holiday, a confirmation, o...
A centuries-old tradition of tolerance and diversity...
This article first appeared in the March-April 2011 issue of Utne Reader.