Julianna Barwick, Papercuts, A Beacon School, et YACHT

If you enjoy artists that often intrigue and perplex during their live shows, Julianna Barwick may be just the performer for you. The Brooklyn based performance artist is well known for her instrumental soundscapes which are both vast and intimate all at once due to the ethereal qualities of the music composition. Her performance often leaves emotional impact on audiences as within the quietness, the drama builds and it can all become quite poignant when watching in an intimate setting.

Currently supporting her latest release 'Pacing & Nepenthe', Julianna is setting off across the US with her unique brand of ambient folk. Playing with a selection of incredibly talented musicians, the percussion and strings swirl around the room and the silence emphasises each crystal clear note before her intense, hypnotising vocal entraps you and transports you to somewhere other worldly. Her music feels like it should be the soundtrack to enchanting, bewitching fantasy film or an elegant ballet performance. It appears not to fit the tones of our hectic world, instead existing in it's own perfect dimension.

Haunting, equally simplistic glowing, intermittent light appears above them intensifying the religious, supernatural elements to the musician's performance. An incredible, emotive artist who's live show is more of an experience than a simple concert.

Papercuts is definitely one of those bands that you would never imagine how they looked correctly. Don’t get me wrong, they are brilliant live, but you’d never expect that voice to come out of Jason Robert Quever. If you’ve never heard them before, the best way to describe their sound: dream pop rock. He is a man of big stature, with a full beard but when he starts to sing, his higher register voice throws you a bit, but then it melds well with the band to form a euphoric sound. Coming from San Francisco, you can really get an idea of how his environment may have influenced the music.
Papaercuts have a smooth melody and Jason’s vocals really take the spotlight when you see them live. Opening with “Life Among the Savages,” his vocals flow with a lightness that contrasts well with the melody of his electric guitar. Immediately following they started to play “Dear Employee” which picks up the energy a bit. Jason finally introduced themselves and said a few things about the music and the process of their album. They finished off with two more songs called “Future Primitive” and “Afterlife Blues.”
Even though it was a fairly short set, seeing Papercuts live is definitely an experience. Because of the laidback energy that they emit, hearing them live sounds a lot better than their studio versions.

Yacht will give you a great show if you have any appreciation of their music. Any venue big or small I've seen them perform amazing shows.

Before Hot Chip I was actually afraid they'd outdone them and I adore Hot Chip. They're dynamic, engaging of the crowd and execute their sound with finesse. I'll continue to catch them whenever I can.