Platform | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | May 19, 2015 | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 49:36 | |||
Label | 4AD | |||
Producer | Holly Herndon, Amnesia Scanner, Mat Dryhurst | |||
Holly Herndon chronology | ||||
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Platform is the second studio album by American electronic producer Holly Herndon, released on May 19, 2015, via 4AD. The album received wide critical acclaim upon its release. [1] It is the first commercially released album to include a track intended to trigger autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR), "Lonely at the Top". [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AnyDecentMusic? | 7.9/10 [7] |
Metacritic | 81/100 [1] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [8] |
The Guardian | [9] |
The Irish Times | [10] |
NME | 8/10 [11] |
Pitchfork | 8.7/10 [12] |
Q | [13] |
Resident Advisor | 4.0/5 [14] |
Rolling Stone | [15] |
Spin | 7/10 [16] |
Uncut | 9/10 [17] |
Winston Cook-Wilson of Pitchfork wrote that "Platform may turn out to be the most thought-provoking experimental electronic music release of the year." [12] Laurie Tuffrey of The Quietus wrote that "in so solidly refuting musical clichés, it can genuinely lay claim to the oft-used description forward-facing." [18] The Guardian 's Tshepo Mokoena wrote that "[Herndon] turns cold, lifeless synthetic beats into disconcerting, disjointed rhythms that glitch and collapse on each other", describing the album as "gloriously avant garde and fiercely inventive." [9] Drowned in Sound wrote that "at once Herndon’s most accessible and most adventurous record, this is digital age avant-garde sound art put through a pop prism, and it’s all the more exciting as a result." [19] Heather Phares of AllMusic described the album as "nuanced in how it combines political, technological and structural and ideological concepts." [8] In naming Platform among 2015's best experimental albums, PopMatters wrote: "It’s fair to say if you're unfamiliar with [Herndon's] work, you've never heard anything like it: EDM-streaked sound collage, at once robotic and deeply personal." [20]
Publication | Accolade | Year | Rank |
---|---|---|---|
The Guardian | The Best Albums of 2015 | 2015 | 24 [21] |
NME | NME's Albums of the Year 2015 | 2015 | 26 [22] |
Pitchfork | The 50 Best Albums of 2015 | 2015 | 39 [23] |
PopMatters | The 10 Best Experimental Albums of 2015 | 2015 | 6 [20] |
The Wire | Top 50 Releases of 2015 | 2015 | 6 [24] |
All songs written and produced by Holly Herndon; except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
1. | "Interference" | Holly Herndon, Mat Dryhurst | 4:41 | |
2. | "Chorus" | Herndon, Dryhurst | 5:55 | |
3. | "Unequal" | Herndon, Colin Self | 5:11 | |
4. | "Morning Sun" | Herndon, Dryhurst | 5:21 | |
5. | "Locker Leak" | Herndon, Spencer Longo | 4:15 | |
6. | "An Exit" | Herndon, Amnesia Scanner | Herndon, Amnesia Scanner | 4:58 |
7. | "Lonely at the Top" | Herndon, Claire Tolan | 4:31 | |
8. | "DAO" | 4:13 | ||
9. | "Home" | Herndon, Dryhurst | 5:53 | |
10. | "New Ways to Love" | Herndon, Dryhurst | 4:38 |
Charts (2015) | Peak position |
---|---|
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [26] | 183 |
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [27] | 20 |
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard) [28] | 13 |
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Holly Herndon is an American artist and composer based in Berlin, Germany. After studying composition at Stanford University and completing her Ph.D. at Stanford University's Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics, she pursued a music career internationally. Herndon's music often includes human singing voices, is primarily computer-based, and regularly uses the visual programming language Max/MSP to create custom instruments and vocal processes. She has released music on the labels RVNG Intl. and 4AD. Her third full-length album, Proto, was released on May 10, 2019.
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Mat Dryhurst is a British artist, musician, and technological researcher based in Berlin, Germany. Dryhurst often works on interdisciplinary audiovisual projects in collaboration with Holly Herndon. The duo is known for their contributions to music and art, in which they explore the creative potential and ethics of creating content using technologies, such as AI, Web 3.0, and blockchain. Dryhurst and Herndon have been listed among Art Review's Power 100 in 2021 and 2022.