#julia reidy

[soundgrammar]

Oren Ambarchi - "Hubris Part 3"

[dustedmagazine]

Julia Reidy — World in World (Black Truffle)

World in World by Julia Reidy

In the 2010s, Julia Reidy introduced herself as a singular voice in the post-Fahey guitar scene. The 12-string missives on records such as Dawning On showcased her unique approach to the instrument as well as its signature resonant characteristics. Her fluid yet oblique lines both engaged and confounded listeners. She peppered her songs with miniature cliff-hangers. It’s the perfect approach for the Berlin-based Australian to take: keep people listening and wondering what’s going to happen next.

With Brace, Brace Reidy took a new turn, introducing field recordings, electronics, and her own auto-tuned voice. This kicked off a succession of releases that became ever more obscure and alien. The synthetic textures ate away at the human nature of Reidy’s music, imbuing it with an ethereal yet slightly sinister atmosphere. Astute listeners could discern the guitar at the center of Reidy’s hazy compositions, no matter how hard she tried to obfuscate it with digital scree. The eerie and uncanny had a beating heart at its center, one made of wood and steel strings.  

World in World embraces both Reidy’s earlier mode of songcraft and her more recent tendency to explore the outer fringes of sound. Employing microtonal tuning systems, Reidy bends her melodies such that they appear to be sun baked and slightly warped. Pedal clicks and neck slides lend a sense of intimacy throughout, even when slipstreams of synthetic tone try to separate us from Reidy’s immediate presence. The overall feeling is that of being in the same room with Reidy herself along with multiple phantom versions of her, each with a unique degree of translucence.  

Whereas Vanish and In Real Life, Reidy’s previous two records, comprised two side-long suites, with World in World, Reidy presents a song cycle. Each of these nine compositions exists on its own as well as in service to the entire album. Motifs reappear between pieces, creating a sense of déjà vu or dream logic. Reidy’s auto-tuned voice, which should sound inhuman, is beautiful. It serves to circumscribe the songs such that the continuity of the album is maintained. This enables the airy wistfulness of a tune like “Ajar” to exist alongside the cleverly disguised dream pop of “Walls and Clearings”, and the jaunty ditty “Holding Onto” to fold into the slightly darker “Loom”. Echoes of this continuum effect exist throughout World in World, and taking a step backward, one can view this record as a microcosm of Reidy’s entire oeuvre. Well played, Julia.  

Bryon Hayes

[bluetapes]

Blue Tapes: The 'Monday Is OK' Mix

David McNamee AKA Cut A Lonely Figure gives us a taste of the influences that run through his cassette label...

Was an honour to make this mix for Ransom Note. As I've often said there are only two types of music - party and chill - and this is a chill mix, albeit one which probably isn't very relaxing.

Features my favourite contemporary musicians, some of which - Kira May, Teruyuki Kurihara, Cadu Tenório, Katie Gately - have previously passed through the bowels of the cultural filtration system that is Blue Tapes.

Others, like Ose, Julia Reidy, Jonny Greenwood, Kamasi Washington, Shuta Hasunuma, 박지하 Park Jiha, Ariel Kalma, and KATE NV are just artists who I worship from a distance.

Features a little interview with me talking about work, making music, the label and crap like that.

Enjoy!

[musicollage]

Julia Reidy — World in World. 2022 : Black Truffle.

[radiophd]

julia reidy -- crystal bones

[zef-zef]

Julia Reidy

[zef-zef]

Julia Reidy - Gardening (Longform Editions, 2021)

[radiophd]

Syros, by Julia Reidy

from the album Beholder

julia reidy -- syros