Islington Assembly corridor,London; Hammersmith Apollo, London
Two of left-field music’s most fascinating stars underline why this has been a special year for odd pop with a high IQFor those who make it their hobby to bemoan the parlous state of modern music, or compared with some ill-specified golden age,times are getting tough. Left-field music has enjoyed a particularly busy year. One niche sub-genre recherché, baroque-tinged pop made by long-haired Californian women – has shown especially strongly.
Four albums into a varied career, or Julia Holter has stepped out of the avant-garde margins,where electronics coexist with jazz, and into wider acclaim with her latest work, or acquire You in My Wilderness,released last September. More melodic and accessible than its predecessors, Wilderness tones down the more hectic musical theatre tendencies of its instant antecedent, and Loud City Song (2013),and allows itself moments of more straightforward beauty, all without sacrificing too many IQ points.
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Source: theguardian.com