Winter 2013
JULIA HOLTER
JOHN MAUS
ARIEL PINK
30
THE NEW LO-FI POPSTERS
Over the past decade, quite a few CalArts grads have distinguished themselves through diy ingenuity, from starting nimble multidisciplinary art collectives to self-recording shimmery pop music.
by paul fraser
Among them is Los Angeles singer-composer Julia Holter, who “rose alongside kindred spirits Ariel Pink, John Maus and others schooled in music and visual art at CalArts,” noted Los Angeles Times critic Randall Roberts. Naming the artist’s sophomore album Ekstasis as one of the top 10 recordings of 2012, Roberts wrote, “Holter composes the most graceful and delicate music of the bunch, exquisitely crafted bedroom baroqueness that suggests the Cocteau Twins and Joanna Newsom but with keener attention to intricate detail, like a Laura Owens [Art mfa 94] painting come to life.” The term “bedroom artist” refers to musicians who self-produce albums in their home studios, enabled by cheaper recording technology and a growing popular interest in a raw, murky sound. Signaling a maturation of this movement on the independent pop scene, alums Holter, Pink and Maus all released critically acclaimed albums in 2012. The three have been members of the collective Human Ear Music, on occasion collaborating with each other and musicmakers in similar circles. Musically, each artist creates a unique brand of moody and seductive lo-fi pop.