Stephen Mejias

One of my favorite albums of the year comes from Brooklyn-based artist Julianna Barwick. The album is called Florine. Michael Lavorgna told me about it. It was months ago and I remember leaving work that day and rushing over to Other Music to buy the album. I got one of the first 200, pressed on white vinyl. Karen congratulated me and told me that I’d be very happy with the music.

“I’ve been listening all day long,” I said. “As soon as I heard her music, I knew I had to have the album.”

“Oh, that’s so great. I’ll let Julianna know. She’ll be happy to hear that.”

Karen seems to know everyone.

Florine has spent lots of time on my Rega P3. It fills the listening room with sounds. I was going to say “otherworldly sounds,” but these sounds are clearly of this world. They are simply not the sorts of sounds we are used to hearing. “Whale songs” my neighbor says. “That’s all I hear.” Corrina says she hears “a siren luring a mariner on a moonlit night—eerie and seductive.” Julianna Barwick runs her voice through a guitar pedal to create loops. In the resultant layers of sound, we hear whales, sirens, cries, melody, and percussion. It’s mostly lovely and lulling, sometimes discordant, sometimes miraculous. I’ve seen this performed in concert, and it’s as captivating to watch as it is to hear. Time seems to slow down to a strange, strobing crawl.

Florine is the only work by Julianna Barwick that I own. Her self-released debut, Sanguine, is available only on CD, but there is a chance that it will be released on vinyl. (Michael Lavorgna told me about this, too.) M’Lady’s Records, in a Kickstarter project, is hoping for at least $4000 in pledges, by 8:17pm EDT on Friday, the 15th, in order to support the limited edition vinyl release of Sanguine. Kickstarter funds creative projects with all-or-nothing funding. That is, every Kickstarter project must be fully funded before its time expires, or no money changes hands. This way, the company explains, there is less risk for everyone, and artists have the opportunity to test concepts. There are several different levels of support. Pledge more money and you get more stuff. For instance:

A pledge of $1 gets you a personal “thank you” from Julianna and M’Lady’s, sent to you on a postcard. Pledge $15 or more and you’ll receive Sanguine on LP. Pledge $25 or more and you’ll receive the Ultra Deluxe Edition, which includes the LP and a bonus 7” (limited to 200 copies worldwide). For the hot wax-obsessed audiophile: Pledge $50 or more, and you’ll receive test pressings of both Sanguine and the bonus single. For the audiophile who wants to bring the live performance into his home: Pledge $600 or more, and you get everything plus: Julianna will come to your town and perform a show just for you. How great is that? Such a bargain!

(JA: Can I expense this?! What’s the accounting code for “awesome live show in my apartment”?)

As of now, with just four days to go, M’Lady’s has only collected $1344. Does $4000 seem like a lot of money for a limited-edition vinyl release? It’s not. Brett Lyman of M’Lady’s Records breaks down the cost here.

Why not take a chance on some new music? For more info and to make a pledge, go here. I’ve made my pledge.