THE MAGIC PLACE by JULIANNA BARWICK (2011, Asthmatic Kitty Records)

A strange and haunting album of music of eerie vocals and ambient sounds that could be the soundtrack to a surreally beautiful dreams or a Terrence Malick movie.

What Barwick is singing is completely indistinct. Her voice is an instrument that is layered and allowed to reverberate to create something truly ethereal that swells and rolls. It's quite dizzying.

Barwick is an american musician raised in Louisiana who uses her voice layers and loops. Beginning most of the songs in the album using a single refrain and building from there, adding the occasional piano or other softly played instrument. The effect is to create something sparse, haunting and intensely magical. It's all sounds bit New Age doesn't it but someone into this mix there is a distinctly Southern folk or Bluegrass echo. Perhaps it's that Barwick's musical background was in a rural church choir. There are moments where it reminds me of T-Bone Burnett's brilliant O Brother soundtrack. 

Described elsewhere as a mixture of the Cocteau Twins and an ambient Brian Eno record THE MAGIC PLACE but the act it reminds me most of Sigur Ros, though without the tendency towards the   euphoric. 

THE MAGIC PLACE is exactly that and I don't think I've heard anything like it before. Quite amazing. 

Julianna Barwick is playing Cafe OTO in Dalston, London, on 22nd November if you fancy hearing her in person.

WHITE FLAG

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqS5q5JTw8Q

VOW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JkSVvMn5Sc&feature=related

GIVE YOU THE GHOST by POLIÇA (2012, Memphis Industries)

Much hyped after their SXSW turn Minnesota's Polica fuse dubby and RnB basslines with electronica and shoe-gazing vocals. It's won the praise from critics and musicians, including Jay-Z and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon.

Singer Channy Leanagh is cooly hypnotic.  Her breathy vocals are heavily layered, drenched in reverb and auto-tuned to perfection which reading other blogs seems to be a point of consternation. The main criticism is that so many effects serve only to dehumanise her. But surely that's the point?

In an interview at SXSW she said "I am trying to meld into the three other band members and the music we're making and create a force between us that is cohesive and captivating." It makes perfect sense. Her voice completely blends with the instrumentation, rarely dominating. The lyrics to her swan songs are mostly indistinct.

Leanagh is backed by keyboards, bass and two drummers. Yes that's right. Two drummers!

The percussion is utterly restless and off it they bounce the throbbing basslines, electronic effects to create an expansive sound thats spacious and atmospheric. 

GIVE YOU THE GHOST is the kind of record you'd have hoped The XX would have made as a follow up to there debut. 

Like The XX the songs are moody and evocative ranging from the comfortably numb to the grief stricken. But despite minor key and downbeat tone the propulsive, often funky bass and dense drumming inject real energy, and keep the mood feeling upbeat, especially on the likes of 'Dark Star', 'From' and 'Leading To Death'

Along with the new Beach House record and last War On Drugs album  I think GIVE YOU THE GHOST is one of the most interesting indie records to come out of the States in last 12 months.

DARK STAR

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oQ5VEuHufI

FORM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX1cS6rf2YY

LEADING TO DEATH

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EhjllYFf6c