FIRST UNITARIAN CHURCH
Local songwriter and CalArts graduate Julia Holter comes from an artistic and academic background, but her experience and training, rather than making her music sound mannered and premeditated, instead open up new passageways of creativity. No matter how you approach them, the songs from Holter's deceptively titled third album, Loud City Song, are quietly beautiful, gently moving idylls. Her fragile vocals float over the icy soundscape of "World" with a refined delicacy, as a wave of orchestral strings washes sympathetically over her. The rhythms pick up a little on "In the Green Wild," where Holter's intricate weave of voices and harmonies recalls the baroque art-pop of Kate Bush and Jesca Hoop. Most of the time, however, Holter's subtle, contemplative songs, which move stirringly from folk and classical influences to an almost-jazzy expansiveness, sound unique. —Falling James
Related Stories
The Best Concerts to See In L.A. This WeekSeptember 9, 2013
The Best Concerts to See in L.A. This WeekendSeptember 6, 2013
Gavin Turek Turns Heartbreak Into Dance MusicSeptember 12, 2013
The Best Concerts to See In L.A. This WeekJuly 1, 2013
Music Picks: Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg and Crazy SqueezeJune 27, 2013
More About
thu 9/12
SANTA MONICA PIER
The seaside location of tonight's concert is all the more fitting since images of water course throughout Jimmy Cliff's starring role in, and soundtrack contributions to, the classic Jamaican reggae film The Harder They Come. Even as Cliff's character, the struggling gangster/singer Ivanhoe Martin, resorts to ever more desperate and violent acts, the cool blue of the ocean surrounding the island serves as a soothing, spiritual contrast to the blood that begins to flow. Intoxicatingly languid original songs like "Sitting in Limbo" further sharpen the contrast between the tropical-paradise setting and the real-world poverty Martin is trying to escape. One of the soundtrack's most memorable ballads, "Many Rivers to Cross," also involves a watery spiritual cleansing. Since finding fame in the film, Cliff has spent much of the ensuing decades crossing many large rivers and oceans, only to find that his site-specific search for identity has taken on a worldwide resonance. —Falling James
Now Trending
Around The Web
-
Still Strong
Phoenix New Times
-
Three Links
Dallas Observer
-
Best Swedish metal bands
Westword
