We continue our "Best of NYC Countdown", covering every day one of the artists that made our Year End Best of NYC list here (a chart compiled by a jury comprised of local bloggers, music writers, promoters, record sotre personnel and DJs). Many of the bands in this list will play The Deli’s Best of NYC Fest in Williamsbur on May (6 shows in 3 different venues between the 13 and the 15).
Julianna Barwick is a one-woman choir, a skyscraper of bliss, a monumental swirl of ghostly energy. Moving mountains by using little more than a loop pedal and her crystal-clear voice, Barwick is the epitome of DIY energy. Put her in front of a microphone and it’s a punk rock take on new age, the scrappy basement show rocker making something drone-heavy, churchlike, meditative. Her triumphant phonemes are never mumbled or moaned, but confidently belted from the rafters. Think Kate Bush’s most heartwarming dreampop untethered from the shackles or rhythm or instruments or form or pop; just one heavenly, angelic coo multi-tracked into a prismatic haze. – Christopher R. Weingarten