I’m remiss in not posting this last week when it debuted, and I suspect many CDM readers have heard already, but if not – drop everything, and have a listen (in full) to ‘Platform,’ the new LP from composer/producer Holly Herndon.
The full LP is now on Spotify, etc., or NPR First Listen.
There’s a lot to discuss here. “Platform,” as the name implies, is intended as a first step toward other interactions. There’s the process and technique behind the music itself. A fearless champion of the laptop’s instrumental and compositional potential, Holly has made the album itself and the discourse around it into a means of demonstrating and discussing the kinds of processes that can realize the possibilities of the computer. There’s a conceptual conversation to have, investigations into the worlds of technology, utopia, and electronic surveillance – more than just music, the album is a project about our digital lives. And then there’s even plenty to say about Holly’s own career trajectory. More than anyone I know, she has been able to successfully bridge the academic electronic musical realm, the world of festival and club stages, and the popular media view of electronic music. (And yes, I count three largely separated cultural islands there. I’ve now and then personally drowned in the seas that separate them, so this is no small feat.)
But because those are all wonderfully deep rabbit holes into which to climb, I think it’s best to start with the music. Hearing them for me had an odd sense of familiarity. I’d heard some of these track in some form in a couple of live shows, but to me, that sensation with music is a flag that I should pay close attention to what I’m hearing. Pop or “hooks” or not, there’s something that happens when a composition works, a way it finds its way into your brain. It sounds like you’ve heard it before the first time you’ve heard it, and stays with you and makes you want to hear it again. Because this record is in the mainstream press, you’ll see some writers stumble around odd descriptions like “techno.” But it seems to me timeless, genre-less. Part of its genetic code is modern: this dense forest of repeated samples and slices, a self-awareness and comfort with the means of production. Another part feels like a modern answer to much earlier work of Eno, Laurie Anderson, retold by a generation that grew up with those sounds. But from that soup comes tracks that feel like songs, feel fully formed, get into your head.
In between, there are also great moments of theater and wit, so I’ll be curious to see where the “platform” leads.
But more than that, blending her voice digitally through the whole spectrum, Holly makes her music really sing. To be a platform for technique and higher concepts, I think that’s essential: the machine has to have a voice, and more than ever, you have the feeling Holly has found her voice.
I’m writing I know largely to producers (hello, CDM nation). And I know many of you, like Holly, have brains crammed with technical knowledge; many of you have tried to mediate between cultures like dance floors and academic music labs. My sense on “Platform” is of an artist who found a way to speak and sing with that voice, literally and broadly. I don’t think your voice will necessarily sound like Holly’s. But I hope this is the sign of more music to come.
For that larger audience, Holly has something to say – about collaboration and the implications for the wider tribe of people making music with computers. Posted to her Facebook page yesterday, on the occasion of the release:
Ever since I released my first album a couple of years ago, I have been humbled to see just how far my alien songs can travel. Thanks to a tireless community, it has been an incredible few years for experimental music. Abstract sounds are being embraced far beyond their traditional niche, and it made me wonder, what can be done with this new opportunity? Holding hands with a wider audience, can we channel abstraction towards greater action?
For this reason, Platform demanded to be a collaborative project, and I feel so grateful to have worked with some of my favorite artists to pull this together. Metahaven, Mat Dryhurst and Matt Werth have been a pivotal inspiration from the beginning, and Colin Self, Amnesia Scanner, Claire Tolan, Spencer Longo, Amanda DeBoer, Akihiko Taniguchi, Cuahtemoc Peranda, Stef Caers and Mark Pistel have all played crucial roles in this release. Thank you!
Many great minds have inspired pieces on this record. The ideas and spirit of Suhail Malik, Benedict Singleton, Jacob Applebaum, Keller Easterling, Guy Standing, Reza Negarestani, Amber Case, Benjamin Bratton, Hannes Grassegger, Jacob Applebaum, Laura Poitras, Nick Srnicek, Brian Rogers, Amber Halford, Nathan Jurgenson and Barry Threw regularly appeared in our discussions and continue to influence our aspirations for Platform going forward. Thank you!
We have received generous support from many several organizations for which I am really grateful – Lighthouse, CCRMA, Wallris. Thank you!
This album is just the beginning of a greater project, and I’m ecstatic to have partnered with 4AD and RVNG Intl on this journey. We need new fantasies, new archetypes, new strategies and new ways to love. All of the power we need to make something special happen may well be found in the rooms we dance in.
Optimistically, Holly xx.
I hope we get into these other conversations and hop on this ‘platform’ with the artist in coming weeks. In the meantime, some reading to get you started, and hopefully inspire some other conversations to have.
More reading, as we work on that:
“I’M INTERESTED IN INTRODUCING ALIEN SOUNDS.” [Kaput magazine]
Holly Herndon: the queen of tech-topia [The Guardian]
Shape Shifter: Underground star. Experimental musician. Stanford Ph.D. candidate. [The California Sunday Magazine]
Musician Holly Herndon taps into politics, the NSA and your Facebook photos [Wired UK]
Holly Herndon’s Trying to Find New Ways to Play the World’s Oldest Instrument
Serial Experiments for a Better Future: Holly Herndon’s ‘Platform’ [Rhizone]
One issue we’ll have to discuss is this quote, from the Guardian story:
“A lot of people complain about it being less engaging, less natural, less emotional, but my laptop mediates so much of my life: my Skype, my bank account, my emails, my relationships,” she says. “It’s actually a hyper-emotional instrument; it has more emotional content than a violin could ever dream of.”
Robert Henke last month at NODE Festival used a panel I was moderating to argue that the laptop needed to go away, as I understood it primarily because he wanted to make music away from the machine that brought all these rivers of information and communication. (Sincere apologies to Robert; I think I practically shouted at him when he told me that’s what he wanted to talk about, as I was afraid it’d derail the entire panel in a whirlpool of unsolvable and oft-repeated design critiques of the machine and I decided, selfishly, I mostly wanted to talk about something else.) But Holly reframes the whole question in an interesting way – if a challenging one, since it makes us consider the machine as an object, as an instrument, and as the emotional-social context for the music itself.
Remember when I talked about rabbit holes? Yes, see you in Wonderland in our next installment.
Out now on digital, CD, vinyl.
Wait, let’s here still more… Recommended by my friend chaircrusher, don’t miss this collaboration with Jlin, from Gary, Indiana.
And while the American press get hung up on “techno” – and Holly’s stint (and regular visits) to Berlin – I think they’re ironically missing some really important character in her music that isn’t from Berlin and isn’t from techno (at least in their present iterations here). Even here in the German capital, a small but growing group of artists look to the US for footwork and bass music and an antidote to the gloom and sparseness of the current trend lines in the techno scene. So, when Holly plays Berghain next month, she can also bring a breath of fresh air.
Actually — scratch that. This track is fresh enough that it doesn’t really need any analysis. But what you will here is the same personality that shines through on the new record. And breathing personality into machines is what electronic production is all about.
And here’s to the Gary, Indiana – Tennessee by way of Berlin and CCRMA pathway for these two fine artists.
As a note, for those who want a digital copy but not from iTunes, the “Buy CD/Vinyl” button on her site goes to 4AD, where you can also buy MP3 or FLAC.
Really liking what I’ve heard so far.
As a note, for those who want a digital copy but not from iTunes, the “Buy CD/Vinyl” button on her site goes to 4AD, where you can also buy MP3 or FLAC.
Really liking what I’ve heard so far.
As a note, for those who want a digital copy but not from iTunes, the “Buy CD/Vinyl” button on her site goes to 4AD, where you can also buy MP3 or FLAC.
Really liking what I’ve heard so far.
Earnest, narcissistic, vacuous – an exercise in technique for its own sake and a meaningless triumph of style over substance. Aural wallpaper for aesthetes, obscurists and devotees of the soulless. I’ll sample the shit out of it though…
What, really?
I actually have no problem with someone having that opinion. But now I’m curious – like, which part?
(Unless you mean my article, in which case – troll away. But musically, then, I love critique, even ones I disagree with – just need to *understand* the critique)
I have a theory that anytime anyone posts a scathing critique of someone else’s work in an internet comments section without divulging *why* they feel the way they do, their action was the result of them feeling threatened by the work in some way. It is most likely that narwhale just wishes his/her music was this awesome. Or he/she is bitter that Holly is receiving a level of praise for this work that narwhale wishes he/she was receiving instead.
Why else would anyone bother to tear anything down? Negativity, in this sense (anonymously complaining that you think something is “vacuous”… see also “irony”) logically must stem from one’s own feeling of inadequacy. Otherwise you would just decide you didn’t like something and move on without feeling the need to tear it down.
…Back to the music, this is some of the most exciting stuff I’ve heard in a while. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this album for some time and I can’t wait to hear the rest. Thanks for this gift Holly, and thanks Peter for introducing me to it!
Such perception, such insight, such…amateur psychology. So wide of the mark, too, as much of it habitually is. Normally I would have “moved on” without comment, however something in the hyperbolic tone of the article made me do otherwise. That and the constant reference to emotion – the one thing which I felt the music was most lacking in.
Hey man, I’m feeling the music, I really am. If you aren’t feeling it then I guess you aren’t feeling me. Which is a shame really, because I’d love to feel you. You feel me, man?
people certainly seem to like bit-crushing
I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that any kind of negative response is, in part, a result of the responder feeling threatened in some way. Of course, working out the specifics of that way is the difficult bit… I don’t doubt that narwhale was left utterly cold by the music he heard, and was annoyed with PK/CDM/HH for… I dunno, wasting his time. That doesn’t invalidate your assessment; having a chunk of your lifespan stolen is, you know, kinda threatening. But it’s a wholly internal kind of threat, not one that should be aired in public, because what wastes one person’s time might give another person the reason they didn’t know they needed to go on living.
maybe people feel so strongly that they dont feel the music and they want to connect with others and ask what am i missing , are there others out there ? Am i alone in thinking its not that great ? its dialog , some negativity will come from a small kernel of inadequacy yes to be sure , but when you talk using adjectives like awesome you betray yourself , this is not awesome, making music with a computer is not awesome , what it is is dilligent computer programming using daw , something that creates awe is surely an act where somone puts themselves at risk , anyway I have a real bug bear with the overuse of the adjective awesome as you can tell , nothing made from daw creates awe
This is the most ludicrous statement I’ve read in a long time. People complaining about the use of technology/computers to create music always reminds me of when Bob Dylan was booed for switching to electric guitar.
Maybe “nothing made from daw crates awe” to you, Bratty Bear, but you are not me. I find Holly’s work very awe-inspiring. I think she is a genius sound designer and her music resonates with me emotionally. Your attempt to dismiss any music made with a computer honestly makes me pity you. What a dull outlook on art. Have fun not liking anything anyone makes for the rest of time; that sounds like a real drag.
Which part Peter? Well, both tracks available from your link. This music, to me, is very self-consciously all about technique – the endless cutting and pasting, the time stretching, the sample juxtaposition – all mildly interesting (even after all these years) in themselves yet here, to me at least, the sum total of their parts is a soulless zero. What separates Holly Herndon’s music from the work of, let’s say, 4tet or Edmund Eagan or even Imogen Heap, is the lack of narrative – a kind of thematic unity which gives a piece structure rather than being a random series of events, mercilessly resampled and resynthesized simply because they can be. I am reminded of the worst excesses of metal or jazz guitarists, for example, where the emphasis is on the technical – a primary focus is on a “look how clever I am” showmanship rather than saying anything musically meaningful. And I recant my flippant “sample the shit out of it” statement, because on 2nd and 3rd listening I don’t hear much of interest in purely sonic terms. Multi-textured vocals aside, synths and drums (especially) are pretty unadventurous and vanilla preset-like. Hardly “alien sounds.” Truth is, I’d never heard of Holly Herndon before and your “drop everything” hyperbole made me do just that in anticipation of hearing something truly outstanding, instead of which what i heard simply put me (evidently!) in a bad mood! ‘Course it’s all subjective innit…
Are you really insisting that because you couldn’t find a narrative, a soul, to her music, that there can’t be one there? I haven’t heard it yet, but I’d say that’s a pretty astonishing claim. The process of listening to music, for me at least, is a positive engagement with it; I’m not looking for the soul in the music, I’m looking for it to resonate with mine. That HH’s music doesn’t resonate with yours is clear, but are you sure you want to extend that into an assertion that it can’t resonate with anyone’s? Or worse, that people with whom it does are somehow aesthetically inferior to you?
Because that’s where your first comment was going, and I find that notion offensive.
No. Not at all. You extrapolate erroneously. Although I have no idea what you mean by “aesthetically inferior.” And the thing to remember about offence is that it is so much more often taken rather than given.
That’s not infrequently because the giver doesn’t invest as much attention as the takers.
Pardon?
For me, listening to music is the act of attempting to unwrap that narrative, be it technical, lyrical, etc. It’s a puzzle.
I really like your analysis, but let’s also remember that we have the right to be offensive. Narwhale is exercising that right 🙂
And I have the right to be offended, and to say so. What I don’t have the right to do, what nobody has the right to do, is forge my offence into chains and bind him with them.
(Also, thanks. 🙂 )
Okay, now I at least know what you’re saying.
However … “both” tracks means you didn’t listen to the album in its entirety, which is where you would get a more complete sense of narrative. (I was surprised NPR even embedded properly at all; their Web infrastructure seems to be from about 15-20 years ago. It’s after the release date, so you can listen via Spotify…)
It’s potentially a fair criticism, but then I think any artist – really, *any* artist – probably deserves more than a two-track listen. There is a bigger context here; the work was intended very clearly as a full LP.
its well made but Im in agreement with the narwhale , its a pointless exercise , I admire the work gone into it , but the concept is thin, the relationship with technology that we all have ,pretty dry He’s got a strong point this is like jazz wank ,the talking to the laptop bit , really mawkish millenial laurie anderson, also sounds some of it like the voices in the part of the big lebowski with maud when she is hung suspended to and makes one of her artworks the annoying voice sound art in the background , from 35.00 onwards dunno what the track name is , anyway its all kind of super serious and a real turn off , mind you i hate square pusher and all that chin stroky stuff too ,
“there is no there there”
— Gertrude Stein
Earnest, narcissistic, vacuous – an exercise in technique for its own sake and a meaningless triumph of style over substance. Aural wallpaper for aesthetes, obscurists and devotees of the soulless. I’ll sample the shit out of it though…
What, really?
I actually have no problem with someone having that opinion. But now I’m curious – like, which part?
(Unless you mean my article, in which case – troll away. But musically, then, I love critique, even ones I disagree with – just need to *understand* the critique)
I have a theory that anytime anyone posts a scathing critique of someone else’s work in an internet comments section without divulging *why* they feel the way they do, their action was the result of them feeling threatened by the work in some way. It is most likely that narwhale just wishes his/her music was this awesome. Or he/she is bitter that Holly is receiving a level of praise for this work that narwhale wishes he/she was receiving instead.
Why else would anyone bother to tear anything down? Negativity, in this sense (anonymously complaining that you think something is “vacuous”… see also “irony”) logically must stem from one’s own feeling of inadequacy. Otherwise you would just decide you didn’t like something and move on without feeling the need to tear it down.
…Back to the music, this is some of the most exciting stuff I’ve heard in a while. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this album for some time and I can’t wait to hear the rest. Thanks for this gift Holly, and thanks Peter for introducing me to it!
Such perception, such insight, such…amateur psychology. So wide of the mark, too, as much of it habitually is. Normally I would have “moved on” without comment, however something in the hyperbolic tone of the article made me do otherwise. That and the constant reference to emotion – the one thing which I felt the music was most lacking in.
Hey man, I’m feeling the music, I really am. If you aren’t feeling it then I guess you aren’t feeling me. Which is a shame really, because I’d love to feel you. You feel me, man?
people certainly seem to like bit-crushing
maybe people feel so strongly that they dont feel the music and they want to connect with others and ask what am i missing , are there others out there ? Am i alone in thinking its not that great ? its dialog , some negativity will come from a small kernel of inadequacy yes to be sure , but when you talk using adjectives like awesome you betray yourself , this is not awesome, making music with a computer is not awesome , what it is is dilligent computer programming using daw , something that creates awe is surely an act where somone puts themselves at risk , anyway I have a real bug bear with the overuse of the adjective awesome as you can tell , nothing made from daw creates awe
This is the most ludicrous statement I’ve read in a long time. People complaining about the use of technology/computers to create music always reminds me of when Bob Dylan was booed for switching to electric guitar.
Maybe “nothing made from daw crates awe” to you, Bratty Bear, but you are not me. I find Holly’s work very awe-inspiring. I think she is a genius sound designer and her music resonates with me emotionally. Your attempt to dismiss any music made with a computer honestly makes me pity you. What a dull outlook on art. Have fun not liking anything anyone makes for the rest of time; that sounds like a real drag.
Which part Peter? Well, both tracks available from your link. This music, to me, is very self-consciously all about technique – the endless cutting and pasting, the time stretching, the sample juxtaposition – all mildly interesting (even after all these years) in themselves yet here, to me at least, the sum total of their parts is a soulless zero. What separates Holly Herndon’s music from the work of, let’s say, 4tet or Edmund Eagan or even Imogen Heap, is the lack of narrative – a kind of thematic unity which gives a piece structure rather than being a random series of events, mercilessly resampled and resynthesized simply because they can be. I am reminded of the worst excesses of metal or jazz guitarists, for example, where the emphasis is on the technical – a primary focus is on a “look how clever I am” showmanship rather than saying anything musically meaningful. And I recant my flippant “sample the shit out of it” statement, because on 2nd and 3rd listening I don’t hear much of interest in purely sonic terms. Multi-textured vocals aside, synths and drums (especially) are pretty unadventurous and vanilla preset-like. Hardly “alien sounds.” Truth is, I’d never heard of Holly Herndon before and your “drop everything” hyperbole made me do just that in anticipation of hearing something truly outstanding, instead of which what i heard simply put me (evidently!) in a bad mood! ‘Course it’s all subjective innit…
Okay, now I at least know what you’re saying.
However … “both” tracks means you didn’t listen to the album in its entirety, which is where you would get a more complete sense of narrative. (I was surprised NPR even embedded properly at all; their Web infrastructure seems to be from about 15-20 years ago. It’s after the release date, so you can listen via Spotify…)
It’s potentially a fair criticism, but then I think any artist – really, *any* artist – probably deserves more than a two-track listen. There is a bigger context here; the work was intended very clearly as a full LP.
its well made but Im in agreement with the narwhale , its a pointless exercise , I admire the work gone into it , but the concept is thin, the relationship with technology that we all have ,pretty dry He’s got a strong point this is like jazz wank ,the talking to the laptop bit , really mawkish millenial laurie anderson, also sounds some of it like the voices in the part of the big lebowski with maud when she is hung suspended to and makes one of her artworks the annoying voice sound art in the background , from 35.00 onwards dunno what the track name is , anyway its all kind of super serious and a real turn off , mind you i hate square pusher and all that chin stroky stuff too ,
“there is no there there”
— Gertrude Stein
Earnest, narcissistic, vacuous – an exercise in technique for its own sake and a meaningless triumph of style over substance. Aural wallpaper for aesthetes, obscurists and devotees of the soulless. I’ll sample the shit out of it though…
What, really?
I actually have no problem with someone having that opinion. But now I’m curious – like, which part?
(Unless you mean my article, in which case – troll away. But musically, then, I love critique, even ones I disagree with – just need to *understand* the critique)
I have a theory that anytime anyone posts a scathing critique of someone else’s work in an internet comments section without divulging *why* they feel the way they do, their action was the result of them feeling threatened by the work in some way. It is most likely that narwhale just wishes his/her music was this awesome. Or he/she is bitter that Holly is receiving a level of praise for this work that narwhale wishes he/she was receiving instead.
Why else would anyone bother to tear anything down? Negativity, in this sense (anonymously complaining that you think something is “vacuous”… see also “irony”) logically must stem from one’s own feeling of inadequacy. Otherwise you would just decide you didn’t like something and move on without feeling the need to tear it down.
…Back to the music, this is some of the most exciting stuff I’ve heard in a while. I’ve been anxiously awaiting this album for some time and I can’t wait to hear the rest. Thanks for this gift Holly, and thanks Peter for introducing me to it!
Such perception, such insight, such…amateur psychology. So wide of the mark, too, as much of it habitually is. Normally I would have “moved on” without comment, however something in the hyperbolic tone of the article made me do otherwise. That and the constant reference to emotion – the one thing which I felt the music was most lacking in.
Hey man, I’m feeling the music, I really am. If you aren’t feeling it then I guess you aren’t feeling me. Which is a shame really, because I’d love to feel you. You feel me, man?
people certainly seem to like bit-crushing
maybe people feel so strongly that they dont feel the music and they want to connect with others and ask what am i missing , are there others out there ? Am i alone in thinking its not that great ? its dialog , some negativity will come from a small kernel of inadequacy yes to be sure , but when you talk using adjectives like awesome you betray yourself , this is not awesome, making music with a computer is not awesome , what it is is dilligent computer programming using daw , something that creates awe is surely an act where somone puts themselves at risk , anyway I have a real bug bear with the overuse of the adjective awesome as you can tell , nothing made from daw creates awe
This is the most ludicrous statement I’ve read in a long time. People complaining about the use of technology/computers to create music always reminds me of when Bob Dylan was booed for switching to electric guitar.
Maybe “nothing made from daw crates awe” to you, Bratty Bear, but you are not me. I find Holly’s work very awe-inspiring. I think she is a genius sound designer and her music resonates with me emotionally. Your attempt to dismiss any music made with a computer honestly makes me pity you. What a dull outlook on art. Have fun not liking anything anyone makes for the rest of time; that sounds like a real drag.
Which part Peter? Well, both tracks available from your link. This music, to me, is very self-consciously all about technique – the endless cutting and pasting, the time stretching, the sample juxtaposition – all mildly interesting (even after all these years) in themselves yet here, to me at least, the sum total of their parts is a soulless zero. What separates Holly Herndon’s music from the work of, let’s say, 4tet or Edmund Eagan or even Imogen Heap, is the lack of narrative – a kind of thematic unity which gives a piece structure rather than being a random series of events, mercilessly resampled and resynthesized simply because they can be. I am reminded of the worst excesses of metal or jazz guitarists, for example, where the emphasis is on the technical – a primary focus is on a “look how clever I am” showmanship rather than saying anything musically meaningful. And I recant my flippant “sample the shit out of it” statement, because on 2nd and 3rd listening I don’t hear much of interest in purely sonic terms. Multi-textured vocals aside, synths and drums (especially) are pretty unadventurous and vanilla preset-like. Hardly “alien sounds.” Truth is, I’d never heard of Holly Herndon before and your “drop everything” hyperbole made me do just that in anticipation of hearing something truly outstanding, instead of which what i heard simply put me (evidently!) in a bad mood! ‘Course it’s all subjective innit…
Okay, now I at least know what you’re saying.
However … “both” tracks means you didn’t listen to the album in its entirety, which is where you would get a more complete sense of narrative. (I was surprised NPR even embedded properly at all; their Web infrastructure seems to be from about 15-20 years ago. It’s after the release date, so you can listen via Spotify…)
It’s potentially a fair criticism, but then I think any artist – really, *any* artist – probably deserves more than a two-track listen. There is a bigger context here; the work was intended very clearly as a full LP.
its well made but Im in agreement with the narwhale , its a pointless exercise , I admire the work gone into it , but the concept is thin, the relationship with technology that we all have ,pretty dry He’s got a strong point this is like jazz wank ,the talking to the laptop bit , really mawkish millenial laurie anderson, also sounds some of it like the voices in the part of the big lebowski with maud when she is hung suspended to and makes one of her artworks the annoying voice sound art in the background , from 35.00 onwards dunno what the track name is , anyway its all kind of super serious and a real turn off , mind you i hate square pusher and all that chin stroky stuff too ,
“there is no there there”
— Gertrude Stein
Holy hot dayum! This is definitely for lovers of FSOL and Art of Noise!! The videos, the technique, the absurdity, the politics. Beautiful.
Holy hot dayum! This is definitely for lovers of FSOL and Art of Noise!! The videos, the technique, the absurdity, the politics. Beautiful.
Holy hot dayum! This is definitely for lovers of FSOL and Art of Noise!! The videos, the technique, the absurdity, the politics. Beautiful.
Peter, i can tell you’re a DJ through and through, breaking new artists, knowing your audience but also trying to stretch them, introduce something new and fresh. i like when you highlight artists, i wonder what you’ll pull out of your crate next…
Peter, i can tell you’re a DJ through and through, breaking new artists, knowing your audience but also trying to stretch them, introduce something new and fresh. i like when you highlight artists, i wonder what you’ll pull out of your crate next…
Peter, i can tell you’re a DJ through and through, breaking new artists, knowing your audience but also trying to stretch them, introduce something new and fresh. i like when you highlight artists, i wonder what you’ll pull out of your crate next…
I was peripherally aware of HH for a while now, but what really turned me on was her collaboration with Jlin, “Expand” — listenable/downloadable via Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/planetmurecords/09-expand/s-OozDh
Yeah, exactly – good pick, and probably deserves to be elevated to the story above.
I was peripherally aware of HH for a while now, but what really turned me on was her collaboration with Jlin, “Expand” — listenable/downloadable via Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/planetmurecords/09-expand/s-OozDh
Yeah, exactly – good pick, and probably deserves to be elevated to the story above.
I was peripherally aware of HH for a while now, but what really turned me on was her collaboration with Jlin, “Expand” — listenable/downloadable via Soundcloud:
https://soundcloud.com/planetmurecords/09-expand/s-OozDh
Yeah, exactly – good pick, and probably deserves to be elevated to the story above.
Really enjoyed her set at Moogfest even though the live sound was a bit off. Nice to hear these more pristine examples of her art.
Really enjoyed her set at Moogfest even though the live sound was a bit off. Nice to hear these more pristine examples of her art.
Really enjoyed her set at Moogfest even though the live sound was a bit off. Nice to hear these more pristine examples of her art.
RE: Narwhal’s comments De gustibus non disputandum, eh?
Making art is an act of extreme self-absorption, but done right is a personal, direct form of communication with other human beings. We’re all locked in our mind with only indirect access to the thoughts and feelings of others. We can communicate, imperfectly with our words, but music, painting, literary writing, sculpture, macrame, quilting etc are a way to important things our everyday discourse can’t about being human.
Which is the long way ’round to saying this: If you can’t connect with Holly Herndon’s work, the fault might be in you, not in her work.
What I hear is very emotional, and tied closely to voice-art like the work of Meredith Monk, but with a unique sense of mood and melody. As much digital messing-about as you hear in Richard Devine, but with a core of deeply felt emotion. And it has the kind of musicality one derives only from deep study.
There’s a whole bunch of people doing stuff I’d put in the same basket right now that I really love: Arca, Ben Frost, Tim Hecker, even tUnE-yArDs, and forever and always
Björk. Don’t like it on my account it, but don’t dismiss it out of hand.
“the fault might be in you.” hahaha!
Perhaps “incompatibility” is a less judgemental term?
Haha indeed I read that after your reply and thought “did I write that?” and more important “did I even mean that?” because actually I don’t. There’s nothing wrong with you; reaction to music is subjective. I’m sure there’s thousands of hours of music you’d rather hear, and you better get busy because life’s short.
At the same time, I disagree with everything you said. When I listen to Holly Herndon I don’t even hear technique, I hear music, and it’s the music I like. I can certainly hear that there’s a lot of sound design and processing involved but it’s beside the point, just a bonus for the tech nerd in me.
RE: Narwhal’s comments De gustibus non disputandum, eh?
Making art is an act of extreme self-absorption, but done right is a personal, direct form of communication with other human beings. We’re all locked in our mind with only indirect access to the thoughts and feelings of others. We can communicate, imperfectly with our words, but music, painting, literary writing, sculpture, macrame, quilting etc are a way to important things our everyday discourse can’t about being human.
Which is the long way ’round to saying this: If you can’t connect with Holly Herndon’s work, the fault might be in you, not in her work.
What I hear is very emotional, and tied closely to voice-art like the work of Meredith Monk, but with a unique sense of mood and melody. As much digital messing-about as you hear in Richard Devine, but with a core of deeply felt emotion. And it has the kind of musicality one derives only from deep study.
There’s a whole bunch of people doing stuff I’d put in the same basket right now that I really love: Arca, Ben Frost, Tim Hecker, even tUnE-yArDs, and forever and always
Björk. Don’t like it on my account it, but don’t dismiss it out of hand.
“the fault might be in you.” hahaha!
Haha indeed I read that after your reply and thought “did I write that?” and more important “did I even mean that?” because actually I don’t. There’s nothing wrong with you; reaction to music is subjective. I’m sure there’s thousands of hours of music you’d rather hear, and you better get busy because life’s short.
At the same time, I disagree with everything you said. When I listen to Holly Herndon I don’t even hear technique, I hear music, and it’s the music I like. I can certainly hear that there’s a lot of sound design and processing involved but it’s beside the point, just a bonus for the tech nerd in me.
RE: Narwhal’s comments De gustibus non disputandum, eh?
Making art is an act of extreme self-absorption, but done right is a personal, direct form of communication with other human beings. We’re all locked in our mind with only indirect access to the thoughts and feelings of others. We can communicate, imperfectly with our words, but music, painting, literary writing, sculpture, macrame, quilting etc are a way to important things our everyday discourse can’t about being human.
Which is the long way ’round to saying this: If you can’t connect with Holly Herndon’s work, the fault might be in you, not in her work.
What I hear is very emotional, and tied closely to voice-art like the work of Meredith Monk, but with a unique sense of mood and melody. As much digital messing-about as you hear in Richard Devine, but with a core of deeply felt emotion. And it has the kind of musicality one derives only from deep study.
There’s a whole bunch of people doing stuff I’d put in the same basket right now that I really love: Arca, Ben Frost, Tim Hecker, even tUnE-yArDs, and forever and always
Björk. Don’t like it on my account it, but don’t dismiss it out of hand.
“the fault might be in you.” hahaha!
Haha indeed I read that after your reply and thought “did I write that?” and more important “did I even mean that?” because actually I don’t. There’s nothing wrong with you; reaction to music is subjective. I’m sure there’s thousands of hours of music you’d rather hear, and you better get busy because life’s short.
At the same time, I disagree with everything you said. When I listen to Holly Herndon I don’t even hear technique, I hear music, and it’s the music I like. I can certainly hear that there’s a lot of sound design and processing involved but it’s beside the point, just a bonus for the tech nerd in me.
It would be convenient if they had the digital copy on Bandcamp seeing as everything else is on there. I know you can download it from the 4AD website but seriously if I have to create one more password
It would be convenient if they had the digital copy on Bandcamp seeing as everything else is on there. I know you can download it from the 4AD website but seriously if I have to create one more password ?. Seems like an odd thing not to do.
It would be convenient if they had the digital copy on Bandcamp seeing as everything else is on there. I know you can download it from the 4AD website but seriously if I have to create one more password ?. Seems like an odd thing not to do.
Well, now I’ve listened. Maybe I’m undemanding, as a listener; all I really ask is that I can close my eyes and lose myself in what I’m listening to. And on that scale, HH more than succeeds here. I can see where yur2die4 got the FSOL flavour, but for me it’s also a little reminiscent of Download. Which is never a bad thing. 😉
I like this when I’m in the mood for technical mastery. Like reading Anne Rice’s Violin. The story is okay, it’s the writing in that book I love. The over some practical limit descriptiveness is a treat not every author or artist can pull off. This also makes me immediately think of Mr. Bill in terms of style. I’d like to see her do a Mr. Bill type video session just to see part of her process. Groovy art too… I dig this work.
I like this when I’m in the mood for technical mastery. Like reading Anne Rice’s Violin. The story is okay, it’s the writing in that book I love. The over some practical limit descriptiveness is a treat not every author or artist can pull off. This also makes me immediately think of Mr. Bill in terms of style. I’d like to see her do a Mr. Bill type video session just to see part of her process. Groovy art too… I dig this work.
I like this when I’m in the mood for technical mastery. Like reading Anne Rice’s Violin. The story is okay, it’s the writing in that book I love. The over some practical limit descriptiveness is a treat not every author or artist can pull off. This also makes me immediately think of Mr. Bill in terms of style. I’d like to see her do a Mr. Bill type video session just to see part of her process. Groovy art too… I dig this work.
Peter, it’s also worth watching her talk as part of the RBMA lecture series from last year – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XmHQkFo_co. Giving the album a spin on Spotify now.
Peter, it’s also worth watching her talk as part of the RBMA lecture series from last year – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XmHQkFo_co. Giving the album a spin on Spotify now.
Peter, it’s also worth watching her talk as part of the RBMA lecture series from last year – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XmHQkFo_co. Giving the album a spin on Spotify now.
Well, it appears that Platform is a lot more “accessible” than her previous album “Movement”. Accessible in the sense that she added more melody and classic song structure to her compositions. Chorus and Home have been around in the blogs and music news all year 2014 already, so the sound of the album as such is not new to those who have already followed her. The bassline on Intereference is almost a pop song in itself with its drive and harmony.
Personally, that combination of pop and sound experiments is what appeals most to me. I find her nerdy excursions into sound design, using her voice as a source for so much more than just plain singing, involving her computer in the actual sound sourcing etc. interesting too. But, ironically, that appears to me more like an exercise for the sake of it than an artistic “narrative”. Having said that, I might just not get the “bigger picture”…
I believe, she has a relatively unique trademark sound in her work – and that not only includes the development she made since Movement, but definitely also her more experimental work (think: the Ada installation, the CAR project, her collaborations with Mat Dryhurst…) that does carry elements of what could be called her signature sound. And then there are those live performances, where she joins her technology (laptop, mixer, contact microphones) with a choir or a string quartet – which add another dimension to her art. And quite honestly, I find a lot of her work is really not easy to listen to…
Oh, and P.S. I dare to claim that quite a bit of her media coverage is not least due to the fact that Ms. Herndon is an attractive young woman with an extrovert attitude. If she were an overweighted, stuttering nerd with greasy hair, I am sure not equally many writers would write about her. I am not saying this to debase or belittle her work – just as a comment on how I believe common media work these days.
Well, it appears that Platform is a lot more “accessible” than her previous album “Movement”. Accessible in the sense that she added more melody and classic song structure to her compositions. Chorus and Home have been around in the blogs and music news all year 2014 already, so the sound of the album as such is not new to those who have already followed her. The bassline on Intereference is almost a pop song in itself with its drive and harmony.
Personally, that combination of pop and sound experiments is what appeals most to me. I find her nerdy excursions into sound design, using her voice as a source for so much more than just plain singing, involving her computer in the actual sound sourcing etc. interesting too. But, ironically, that appears to me more like an exercise for the sake of it than an artistic “narrative”. Having said that, I might just not get the “bigger picture”…
I believe, she has a relatively unique trademark sound in her work – and that not only includes the development she made since Movement, but definitely also her more experimental work (think: the Ada installation, the CAR project, her collaborations with Mat Dryhurst…) that does carry elements of what could be called her signature sound. And then there are those live performances, where she joins her technology (laptop, mixer, contact microphones) with a choir or a string quartet – which add another dimension to her art. And quite honestly, I find a lot of her work is really not easy to listen to…
Oh, and P.S. I dare to claim that quite a bit of her media coverage is not least due to the fact that Ms. Herndon is an attractive young woman with an extrovert attitude. If she were an overweighted, stuttering nerd with greasy hair, I am sure not equally many writers would write about her. I am not saying this to debase or belittle her work – just as a comment on how I believe common media work these days.
Well, it appears that Platform is a lot more “accessible” than her previous album “Movement”. Accessible in the sense that she added more melody and classic song structure to her compositions. Chorus and Home have been around in the blogs and music news all year 2014 already, so the sound of the album as such is not new to those who have already followed her. The bassline on Intereference is almost a pop song in itself with its drive and harmony.
Personally, that combination of pop and sound experiments is what appeals most to me. I find her nerdy excursions into sound design, using her voice as a source for so much more than just plain singing, involving her computer in the actual sound sourcing etc. interesting too. But, ironically, that appears to me more like an exercise for the sake of it than an artistic “narrative”. Having said that, I might just not get the “bigger picture”…
I believe, she has a relatively unique trademark sound in her work – and that not only includes the development she made since Movement, but definitely also her more experimental work (think: the Ada installation, the CAR project, her collaborations with Mat Dryhurst…) that does carry elements of what could be called her signature sound. And then there are those live performances, where she joins her technology (laptop, mixer, contact microphones) with a choir or a string quartet – which add another dimension to her art. And quite honestly, I find a lot of her work is really not easy to listen to…
Oh, and P.S. I dare to claim that quite a bit of her media coverage is not least due to the fact that Ms. Herndon is an attractive young woman with an extrovert attitude. If she were an overweighted, stuttering nerd with greasy hair, I am sure not equally many writers would write about her. I am not saying this to debase or belittle her work – just as a comment on how I believe common media work these days.
Laurie Anderson : Big Science … 1982 … 32 years ago … ironic .. hi-tech … soulful .. evocative … sexy … I guess every age has the right self reflecting music peak . and Holly Herdon with all her pedigree cannot be judged or criticised … she is a distinct and ultra detailed distillate of the vision of who and what puts her there where she is … negative critics are just full of fear (terrified I am from her cöinical nihilist power) .. positive enchanted mentors are full of light … ex-machina … one day robots will remind to the hi-tech humans what soulful music meant …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osHBA6YAHAo
Laurie Anderson : Big Science … 1982 … 32 years ago … ironic .. hi-tech … soulful .. evocative … sexy … I guess every age has the right self reflecting music peak . and Holly Herdon with all her pedigree cannot be judged or criticised … she is a distinct and ultra detailed distillate of the vision of who and what puts her there where she is … negative critics are just full of fear (terrified I am from her cöinical nihilist power) .. positive enchanted mentors are full of light … ex-machina … one day robots will remind to the hi-tech humans what soulful music meant …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osHBA6YAHAo
Laurie Anderson : Big Science … 1982 … 32 years ago … ironic .. hi-tech … soulful .. evocative … sexy … I guess every age has the right self reflecting music peak . and Holly Herdon with all her pedigree cannot be judged or criticised … she is a distinct and ultra detailed distillate of the vision of who and what puts her there where she is … negative critics are just full of fear (terrified I am from her cöinical nihilist power) .. positive enchanted mentors are full of light … ex-machina … one day robots will remind to the hi-tech humans what soulful music meant …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=osHBA6YAHAo
and while Laurie Anderson was anticipating the future .. thius brat is only stating the obvious … kitsch digital .. soon on stage with the Glitch Mob .. censure me again Peter .. ahahaha … what a prick
guarding his blog with dedication at any hour of night and day ..
and while Laurie Anderson was anticipating the future .. thius brat is only stating the obvious … kitsch digital .. soon on stage with the Glitch Mob .. censure me again Peter .. ahahaha … what a prick
guarding his blog with dedication at any hour of night and day ..
and while Laurie Anderson was anticipating the future .. thius brat is only stating the obvious … kitsch digital .. soon on stage with the Glitch Mob .. censure me again Peter .. ahahaha … what a prick
guarding his blog with dedication at any hour of night and day ..
Interesting reading!
https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/holly-herndon-new-love/
Interesting reading!
https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/holly-herndon-new-love/
Interesting reading!
https://www.ableton.com/en/blog/holly-herndon-new-love/