Julia Holter - "Marienbad" live at MOCAD

Julia Holter's music reflects the conventions of her classical training, but it is also uncannily poppy. Holter's approach to crafting songs centers around what she describes as "open ear decisions: what seemed to sound best for that moment." This blindness to reference unintentionally steers her work along the experimental pop spectrum most commonly associated to New York's Downtown music micro-universe of the 80s, specifically the works of Laurie Anderson and Arthur Russell. Her songs are written instinctively, and treated with an off-kilter fastidiousness, working an orchestral variety from minimal instrumentation. Julia has an unusual fascination with the thought and art of the middle ages. Arcane poetry and mystical saints adorn her music, as well as her faux-naif take on medieval figurative art.