Ellie Herring
Kite Day
Racecar Productions
Street: 07.23
Ellie Herring = Lali Puna + LE1F + Blood Diamonds’ Phone Sex EP

Electronic artist and producer Ellie Herring is Lexington, Kentucky based and, though she seems to have a pretty substantial Internet presence, there’s not much written about her. The greatest genius of Kite Day, Herring’s second proper release, is the subtle percolation of trends in avant-garde and pop electronics, hip-hop production and current DJ/mixtape culture. This is big-room production, refracted inward for introverted listening. I could imagine the microbeat saturated “Anti-Alias” as a Vespertine-era Björk track, for instance. Though it’s “Thinking JFK” that’s the best here—one of the best that I’ve heard this year—Herring’s spectral, subdued vocals linger over a hazy plateau of Harold Budd & Brian Eno sonic moods. Let this poised, electronic mood flood into those perfection-tuned ears of yours. –Christian Schultz