“Bob In Your Gait,” off Julianna Barwick’s Asthmatic Kitty release, The Magic Place (February 2011), makes me feel like I stumbled into a performance being held in a little church set in the middle of the woods. It’s so settling, so reverential . . . the gentle piano cadence matched by ethereal, maybe celestial, voice, going round in a circle that feels wholly salubrious. The echoey, warehouse style of recording makes it feel like a real moment in time has been captured. If you’re sad, it will probably make you feel a little sadder. If you’re happy, it may make you feel a little contemplative. At it’s worst, there is a musical mushiness to it, something indiscernable, but I think that’s what makes it so emotionally resonating at the same time. This is the third album from Julianna Barwick who is known for crafting large, loop-filled soundscapes that recall some early 90s 4AD and at times the minimalism of works like Neroli from Brian Eno.
