HOLLY HERNDON

Movement is the debut release by Holly Herndon. Herndon’s music draws from a diverse range of influences, from Meredith Monk and Laurie Anderson to Pan Sonic and Florian Hecker.

Herndon will support the release of Movement with select live dates, including a performance at Unsound Krakow 2012. Press confirmed for Pitchfork, The Fader, WIRE, FACT, Resident Advisor, Mojo, Guardian etc. Limited edition LP with spot varnish finish. Holly Herndon’s Movement is the debut offering of material by the young musician, modernist, and machinist.

Restless for reckless cultural immersion, Herndon left her Johnson City, Tennessee home as a teenager for Berlin, Germany. For several years, Herndon lived and learned techno music as party dweller and performer, eventually returning wide-minded to the States to pursue a Masters in Electronic Music at Mills College. Under the guidance of network pioneer John Bischoff, Roscoe Mitchell, and Maggi Payne, Herndon pursued her experiments with processed voice and explored embodiment in electronic music. Started at the end of Herndon’s studies, Movement is a test chamber that hybridizes her modern composition training and undying devotion to club music.

To this extent, the influences of Maryanne Amacher and Galina Ustvolskaya are as prevalent in Herndon’s music as Pan Sonic and Berlin and Birmingham 90s techno. Still, in line with pop deconstructionists Laurie Anderson and Art of Noise, Movement is purposefully positioned to reach new ears beyond a niche. Honoring a strong tradition of computer composition from Stockhausen to Florian Hecker, Herndon is unapologetic about using a machine as her primary instrument. She builds most of her own instruments and vocal effects in the visual programming language Max/MSP, and sees it as a principled part of her practice to push the most modern processors to their limits. Herndon’s ability to sharp turn from synthetic psychosis to hard-coded human sensuality allows Movement approachability for any listener knowingly or unknowingly seeking technological enlightenment.

For those listeners escaping grid integration for holistic antiquity, keep a copy of Movement handy. You’ll need the manual for reconfiguration later.