Julie Sokolow is a lo-fi

Lo-fi music

Lo-fi is lower quality of sound recordings than the usual standard for music. The qualities of lo-fi are usually achieved by either degrading the quality of the recorded audio, or using certain equipment. Recent uses of the phrase have led to it becoming a genre, although it still remains as an...

 singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

. A resident of Holmdel, New Jersey, Sokolow is a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Pittsburgh is the second-largest city in the US Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Allegheny County. Regionally, it anchors the largest urban area of Appalachia and the Ohio River Valley, and nationally, it is the 22nd-largest urban area in the United States...

. Her debut album, Something About Violins, was released in November, 2006, on the Western Vinyl

Western Vinyl

Western Vinyl is an independent record label based in Austin Texas. It was founded in 1998.-Bands and Artists Associated with Western Vinyl:*Anomoanon*Appendix Out*Balmorhea*Bexar Bexar*Botany*Bonnie Prince Billy*Callers*Carter Tanton*Chas. Mtn....

 label. Often drawing comparisons to Cat Power

Cat Power

Charlyn Marie Marshall , also known as Chan Marshall or by her stage name Cat Power, is an American singer/songwriter and occasional actress and model. Cat Power was originally the name of Marshall's first band, but has come to refer to her musical projects with various backing bands...

 and Mirah

Mirah

Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn , is an American musician based in San Francisco California. She has released five albums under the K Records label.- Background :...

,
Sokolow has gained acclaim for her decidedly lo-fi sound; the entirety of Something About Violins was recorded using the built-in microphone of her PowerBook G4

PowerBook G4

The PowerBook G4 are a series of notebook computers that were manufactured, marketed, and sold by Apple, Inc. between 2001 and 2006 as part of its PowerBook line. It uses the PowerPC G4 processor, initially produced by Motorola and later by Freescale, after Motorola spun off its semiconductor...

. Her music, which predominantly consists simply of her vocals and acoustic guitar

Acoustic guitar

An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...

, has been noted for its subtletly and introspectiveness

Introspection

Introspection is the self-observation and reporting of conscious inner thoughts, desires and sensations. It is a conscious and purposive process relying on thinking, reasoning, and examining one's own thoughts, feelings, and, in more spiritual cases, one's soul...

. Sokolow has also been heralded not just for the intimacy of her music, but for her awareness of her own fragile emotional state. All of the work on Something About Violins, including mixing, instrumentation, and album packaging art, was done by Sokolow herself.

After "Something About Violins", Sokolow moved from music to screenwriting and video work. In support of her first feature-length documentary, Goal Beyond, she has received a Pittsburgh Filmmakers

Pittsburgh Filmmakers

Pittsburgh Filmmakers is one of the oldest and largest media arts centers in the United States.This non-profit institution in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania began as a filmmaking-equipment access cooperative in 1971...

 First Works Grant and Heinz Endowment. Goal Beyond is an experimental documentary regarding the life and work of avant-garde writer, Che Elias

Che Elias

Che Elias is an American novelist and poet now based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.Elias relocated to Pittsburgh to attend Pittsburgh Filmmakers and remained in the area, subsidizing his primary interest of writing by working as a camera operator for Stroon Vision...

.

Something About Violins track listing

1. "Seasons"
2. "Your Wrists"
3. "Alternations"
4. "Violins"
5. "Expanse's Net"
6. "Solid"
7. "Business As Usual"
8. "Pictures"
9. "End March"
10. "In the Greenhouse"
11. "Motion Screen"
12. "All the Wrong Reasons"

External links

• Julie Sokolow's Official Website
• Julie Sokolow at Western Vinyl
• Julie Sokolow on MySpace
  MySpace
  Myspace is a social networking service owned by Specific Media LLC and pop star Justin Timberlake. Myspace launched in August 2003 and is headquartered in Beverly Hills, California. In August 2011, Myspace had 33.1 million unique U.S. visitors....
  
  
• Something About Violins at Amazon.com
  Amazon.com
  Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
  
  
• Julie Sokolow's Documentary, Goal Beyond