Bjork - Medulla

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Has Anyone Heard it Yet?

― My Underwear Is Melting (My Underwear Is Melting), Saturday, 31 July 2004 21:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I've been searching on Soulseek for weeks and everyone only has "Triumph Of A Heart" and "Desired Constellation" which are pretty meh. And those retarded glitchy web clips, but those don't count.

― Sansai, Saturday, 31 July 2004 22:10 (twenty-one years ago)

From Amazon

Bjork is one of the most recognized stars in the world. She has sold millions of copies of her groundbreaking albums, she is an icon of cutting edge style, and she has received worldwide acclaim as an actress. Medulla, Bjork's first new studio album in three years, finds her delving deeper than ever before into her haunting and exhilarating sound and vision. Innovative as always, Bjork has this time built the songs on Medulla entirely from vocal tracks, with no instruments appearnig on the album, creating a soundscape unlike anything you've ever heard before. Special guests include Rahzel from The Roots, Mike Patton of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle, an Inuit throat singer, an Icelandic choir, the world's greatest human beatboxes and more

i don't know what to think about this

― My Underwear Is Melting (My Underwear Is Melting), Saturday, 31 July 2004 22:26 (twenty-one years ago)

i can tell you what to think about this..

bjorkappella

― cutty (mcutt), Saturday, 31 July 2004 22:27 (twenty-one years ago)

damnit i can't find it anywhere on soulseek

― My Underwear Is Melting (My Underwear Is Melting), Sunday, 1 August 2004 05:34 (twenty-one years ago)

me neither, all i've heard is the two songs previously mentioned, though i think "desired constellation" is quite beautiful ("triump" on the other hand reminds me of a radiohead b-side from amnesiac or hail to the thief - not a good thing).

― Josh Love (screamapillar), Sunday, 1 August 2004 10:54 (twenty-one years ago)

it is underwhelming

― mark p (Mark P), Sunday, 1 August 2004 15:46 (twenty-one years ago)

(hey mark i saw yr book in my local cd store's very paltry lit section, hats off to yr distribution team!)(ps. have you been away from ilx or have i?)

― m. (mitchlnw), Sunday, 1 August 2004 15:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I've dl'd a different version of "Triumph of the Heart" that has a bunch of bloopbleepery and shit. It's actually nice in a subdued kinda way, but I want MORE subdued, I want to hear this Bjorkapella.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Monday, 2 August 2004 12:51 (twenty-one years ago)

yes, I was really looking forward to an actual a cappella record, but what I've heard so far has just been using voice as source material for pretty typically Bjork sounding electronic pop.

― dleone (dleone), Monday, 2 August 2004 12:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I like "The Pleasure is All Mine" and "Mouth's Cradle" so much more than anything I've heard from Björk in the past 7 years.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Wednesday, 4 August 2004 23:52 (twenty-one years ago)

"I like "The Pleasure is All Mine" and "Mouth's Cradle" so much more than anything I've heard from Björk in the past 7 years."

So... sharing is caring...

― Sansai, Thursday, 5 August 2004 00:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I wish she'd do more stuff like Debut, you know

Also: "ew, mike patton"

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Thursday, 5 August 2004 00:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Have you guys heard the Jad Fair mp3 album where he does this with the all-vocal backing tracks? It's batshit insane and free on his website:

Sunshiney Sunshine: A free album by Jad Fair

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Thursday, 5 August 2004 01:08 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't know what to think about this

Think how fortunate you are that you found what you wanted on allmusic.com

― Which Describes How You're Feeling All the Almanac (Autumn Almanac), Thursday, 5 August 2004 01:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Or Amazon, as it were.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 5 August 2004 01:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Agreed with Melissa, disagreeing with dleone. Still hoping "Triumph of the Heart" is some remix of sorts. It's not BAD, by any means, but I don't get any emotion from it.

In fact, from what I've heard, THIS is how the hideous Vespertine should have sounded like, considering the concept Bjork was going for. Anyhow, marked improvement over that.

"Pleasure is all mine" is an instant favorite.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Thursday, 5 August 2004 02:11 (twenty-one years ago)

Can't find "Please Is All Mine" yet, but "Where Is The Line" (definitely a studio version) is quite good. Great percussion, cool oriental harp, and at the end Rahzel butts in: "Yo, Pete (wacky beatboxing)! Yo, Pete, (wacky beatboxing) there's a girl on the phone!"

― Sansai, Thursday, 5 August 2004 13:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, the song she's playing (sampling?) is a traditional Celtic piece called "Women of Ireland". I like the second half of "Where is the Line", but the first half doesn't do anything for me. Just sits there, and I guess I've heard that Celtic melody too much to pretend Bjork is being clever.

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 5 August 2004 13:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Dear me... Melissa, I understand how you felt about Vespertine now, because I don't like this new stuff atm.. though because it's Bjork the overwhelming urge is to assume that the rest of the album will be great...

― edward o (edwardo), Thursday, 5 August 2004 13:35 (twenty-one years ago)

This album is out on my birthday. I'm going to make an effort not to hear any of it in advance, unless there is a single... the last album I did that for was Uh Huh Her, and that's magnificent.

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 5 August 2004 14:09 (twenty-one years ago)

vespertine >>>>>>>>>>> medulla

― mark p (Mark P), Thursday, 5 August 2004 14:30 (twenty-one years ago)

And he would know!

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 5 August 2004 14:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Vespertine=still possibly the worst thing ever.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Friday, 6 August 2004 01:05 (twenty-one years ago)

mark p, could you explain what you find so great in Vespertine? I'm not being pompous or an asshole, I am honestly wondering.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Friday, 6 August 2004 01:44 (twenty-one years ago)

As far as I know the best thing about Vespertine was the "Pagan Poetry" video where she's nekkid.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 6 August 2004 01:48 (twenty-one years ago)

"As far as I know the best thing about Vespertine was the "Pagan Poetry" video where she's nekkid."

Nah, that was pretty gross, it looked like she hadn't bathed in days.

I just like massive-sounding choirs and orchestras playing sleepy, "stereotypically" pretty melodies along with glitchy percussion. It's got some rough spots ("Heirloom" is terrible, the second-to-last one is rather dull and trying too hard), but overall I think she accomplished what she set out to do, I enjoyed it, and I don't think people are willing to accept that it's [i]supposed[/i] to be v"frozen"-sounding.

― Sansai, Friday, 6 August 2004 02:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Melissa - explain how "Everytime" is good and "Hidden Place", "Undo" and "Aurora" aren't. My breath is bated.

And "It's POP, that makes it okay!" isn't gonna work.

― Sansai, Friday, 6 August 2004 02:56 (twenty-one years ago)

it looked like she hadn't bathed in days.

has she ever looked like she has?

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 6 August 2004 03:15 (twenty-one years ago)

he's right, it's a terrible video and there's no hotness about it.

And Vespertine is seriously underrated, yeah.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Friday, 6 August 2004 03:45 (twenty-one years ago)

He probably is right. I only saw it once in the middle of the night when I was drunk and anyone naked on TV looks good.

― AaronHz (AaronHz), Friday, 6 August 2004 03:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I will forever associate Vespertine with 9/11, as I bought it on 9/10 and listened to it often that whole week.

― ||amateur!st|| (amateurist), Friday, 6 August 2004 04:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I think vespertine is heartbreakingly beautiful. but this new one has me very suspicious. I still hold onto the belief that she can do no wrong, but everyone else I've ever felt that way about has let me down eventually, so...

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 6 August 2004 05:09 (twenty-one years ago)

The good songs on Vespertine ("Cocoon," "Undo," "Unison," "It's Not Up to You" and maybe "Pagan Poetry") + the good songs on Medulla ("Who Is It," "Oceania," "Where Is the Line," "Triumph of a Heart," "Pleasure Is All Mine" and maybe "Mouth's Cradle") = best Bjork album ever. But far be it from her to make a consistently great album, anyway.

― Rich, Friday, 6 August 2004 05:20 (twenty-one years ago)

does this mean you have medulla?

― kyle (akmonday), Friday, 6 August 2004 05:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Melissa - explain how "Everytime" is good and "Hidden Place", "Undo" and "Aurora" aren't. My breath is bated.

That is such a cop-out, Sansai. There isn't such a thing as an objective "good" in music, technical complexities aside.

What I find interestingly amusing is the fact that Mel and I were two of the very few people in the planet who despised Vespertine outright. And now that we're finding this to be a noticeably marked improvement over the latter, everyone's kinda "meh" about this one. Ah, musical preferences. Such a complex subject.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Friday, 6 August 2004 05:44 (twenty-one years ago)

And Vespertine is seriously underrated, yeah.

UNDERRATED? In what planet? Did you miss the sea of praise? Did you know that it's her best-selling album yet?

If anything, Vespertine is an extremely overrated, formulaic un-effort.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Friday, 6 August 2004 05:50 (twenty-one years ago)

uh, did you read this thread?

maybe the mainstream critics liked it, but very few others did.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Friday, 6 August 2004 05:55 (twenty-one years ago)

I read this thread, all right. Still an overrated album.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Friday, 6 August 2004 05:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow, I might actually not get this, and I was getting all the Homegenic singles and stuff 4 years ago... Bjork was the coolest stuff around when I was 17, but I never listen to her anymore. huh. I'm kinda sad about it.

― derrick (derrick), Friday, 6 August 2004 06:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Melissa - explain how "Everytime" is good and "Hidden Place", "Undo" and "Aurora" aren't. My breath is bated.

"Everytime" is kind of a nostalgia thing for me. It has the same piano tone as a lot of old Enya songs that I liked when I was like 8. It has that dumb overused Pachelbel's Canon structure to evoke emotion. And it's so quiet for a big pop ballad. There's no big swelling moment. I think it's its quietness that gets me. It sounds so small and broken coming out of the radio.

As for all those Björk songs? I feel nothing. I can barely remember them. And I've heard them so many times. The prettiness of Vespertine is so vacuous. I love strings. I love choirs. But not layered on like colored frosting on an angelfood cake. The album just makes me feel physically ill, as if I've just gorged myself on packages of nutrasweet.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Friday, 6 August 2004 07:44 (twenty-one years ago)

"Did you know that it's her best-selling album yet?"

Is that true? I find that quite bizarre. Who was left to cross over to?

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 6 August 2004 09:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeps, Tim Finney. I find it quite bizarre as well. I'm fond of your nickname, by the way.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Friday, 6 August 2004 09:51 (twenty-one years ago)

um...

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 6 August 2004 09:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Even if it's your real name, it sounds good.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Friday, 6 August 2004 09:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Well thank you then.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Friday, 6 August 2004 09:57 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.orchestralibrary.com/instruments/Timpani.jpg

I used to be play the timfinney in the symphony.

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Friday, 6 August 2004 12:18 (twenty-one years ago)

1. vespertine is NOT bjork's bestselling album, far from it. as a general rule, in terms of sales w/r/t bjork's full-lengths, the law of diminishing returns applies

2. for the first year vespertine was out, i tended to veer towards melissa's interpretation - it seemed structurally elaborate but ultimately kind of hollow to me. i eventually realized that, with the exception of a few extraneous songs which remain numbingly boring (both "sun in my mouth" and "an echo a stain" just kind of droop, and certainly stop the album's momentum dead), that was part of its charm. hearing the ensuant remixes (herbert, ensemble, etc) helped a lot, maybe because they served to underline how malleable those melodies and song structures are. compared to debut and post (both of which contain some of bjork's most *songful* moments), vespertine seems a bit like a shell, but that's kind of the point - it IS a shell, or a casing, or a cocoon, or whatever cheesy analogy you want to apply. bjork said while she was making the album that she wanted to make music that people could listen to around the house, which i think was her way of saying she wanted to make as ambient (cf. eno's definition -> wallpaper) a record as she could possibly make. i think it's misunderstood as an album b/c it has no formal ties to the songful verse-chorus-verse bjork circa "army of me," "it's oh so quiet" etc but it's also obv. not nearly wallpapery enough to even come close to proper, formal ambient. that said, i do think there's a lot there - certainly more than is given credit for - and i find it hands down her most *inhabitable* record, for whatever that's worth

3. 'diminishing returns' applies to medulla as well. the playfulness and bravado that comes with the album's gimmick (NO instruments, everything is vocal, although a lot of them are vocal samples mulched, rearranged and digitally sculpted to SOUND like instruments, so expertly and faithfully that you end up wondering what the point was) wears off over time. not surprisingly, this record is about bjork's voice more than any other has been, which is saying a lot, and may explain my adverse reaction to it - there's a part of me that wishes she'd been canny enough to do a kid a and obscure her vocals beyond recognition, but she doesn't have the kind of self-doubt required to necessitate such a move

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 6 August 2004 12:58 (twenty-one years ago)

*cough*

(radio rips)

― mike t-diva (mike t-diva), Friday, 6 August 2004 13:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm suddenly a lot more interested in this album since mike t-diva's post...

― snowballing (snowballing), Friday, 6 August 2004 13:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay, Melissa, if it's about the arrangements that's perfectly valid. Still, Mark P is totally OTM, and he said it a lot more fluently and persuasively than I did. Kudos.

― Sansai, Friday, 6 August 2004 13:51 (twenty-one years ago)

Surely surely "Post" is her best-selling album. Right? Then "Debut" as second.

― edward o (edwardo), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:02 (twenty-one years ago)

correct

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:25 (twenty-one years ago)

According to RIAA figures, Post and Debut went platinum. Homogenic went gold. Vespertine has sold less than 500,000 copies.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Each Bjork album offers fewer songs that could be played on pop radio than the last. Yet, there is the idea out there that she is getting less adventurous over time. A first?

― dleone (dleone), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Gosh, I listened to those radio rips, and I'm not sure what to think. I'm not really feelin' it, I guess.

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:50 (twenty-one years ago)

"DO DO /DO" is great!

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:52 (twenty-one years ago)

"Mouth's Cradle" is even better!!!

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:56 (twenty-one years ago)

do do/do is not on the album

― mark p (Mark P), Friday, 6 August 2004 14:56 (twenty-one years ago)

"Aurora" always struck me as the best song on Vespertine by a MILE. Supremely melodic and remarkable (some might say "heavenly" — though not me) use of the chorus.

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Friday, 6 August 2004 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

'According to RIAA figures, Post and Debut went platinum. Homogenic went gold. Vespertine has sold less than 500,000 copies.'

that's only in the US. According to bjork.com Vespertine sold more that 1 million copies in the first week and went to number one in a few countries including France and Spain . I'm not sure but it could be easily her best selling album.

'do do/do is a remix', completely different to the album version.

― daniel t, Friday, 6 August 2004 16:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, remix or no, Dodododododo and Mouth's Crade are great. I'm so glad I can look forward to buying this album again (funny though, I never got around to hearing Vespertine).

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 6 August 2004 16:58 (twenty-one years ago)

Um, these three songs are pretty fab sounding.

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Friday, 6 August 2004 17:15 (twenty-one years ago)

And is there a Mellotron-choir vibe going on in Mouth or what?

― Jay Vee (Manon_70), Friday, 6 August 2004 17:18 (twenty-one years ago)

>do do/do

another mp3-only matmos workout.

nice michael jackson sample.

― (Jon L), Friday, 6 August 2004 17:37 (twenty-one years ago)

"i find it hands down her most *inhabitable* record, for whatever that's worth"

It's a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there. There's something really claustral about it, like it's aiming for abstract expressionist but ends up (on occasion) pointillist.

It really can intoxicate, but also carry that intoxication towards nausea [cf. the perceived wisdom on "Loveless"].

The ceiling feels much higher, and occasionally as if it's not there at all, on the fabby Vespertine Live album.

― Neil Willett (Neil Willett), Friday, 6 August 2004 17:46 (twenty-one years ago)

mark p,

Wears off over time? How long have you had the record?

My vocals-only Penderecki, Francois Bayle, Guy Reibel, Micheline-Coloumbe Saint Marcoux have been with me for years and haven't worn off.

Right now I can't expound, I have no time...

The point about Vespertine is the "songs" (with their flat melodies and schmaltzy arrangements) didn't have much of a skull. Just flowery adornments all over to make up for the lack of flesh. In my opinion, it was a conceptual and compositional failure. And, yes, I agree with you, it's an inhabitable space. Now Medulla, independent of its compositional "concept", seems to have actual tangible songwriting behind it.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Friday, 6 August 2004 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

>Micheline-Coloumbe Saint Marcoux

cool name drop

I like Medulla. If you like your Bjork weird, chances are you'll find much to enjoy on it. It's got some of the same 'too many cooks' problem as Vespertine; inviting every one of her friends to the party and then attempting to incorporate _as much as possible_ into the final mix, rather than making painful subtractive decisions. But since Medulla's going for strange instead of endless hyperdisney, even when you're not sure if it's 'working', it's still interesting.

― (Jon L), Friday, 6 August 2004 19:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I think that Medulla's only worthwhile when it's at its most ambitious (i.e. making POP tracks out of this seemingly impossible, vocal-only setup). The solo acapella stuff and the really straightforward choral tracks are the duds (and so are the "beat"-less experiments, to a lesser extent).

I say bring in the cooks.

― Rich, Friday, 6 August 2004 20:01 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the tracks with extremely layered details too actually, so hell... Patton mixed _quietly_ was a brilliant idea

Also, really looking forward to the remixes this time around.

― (Jon L), Friday, 6 August 2004 20:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Milton, always interesting to read your thoughts!

I haven't heard the entire record yet but am looking forward to it, esp. considering your descriptions, since I trust your taste ;-)

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Friday, 6 August 2004 20:30 (twenty-one years ago)

The (full) album has leaked. Check your local places...

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Monday, 16 August 2004 19:44 (twenty-one years ago)

hmmm... has it though? as usual i find myself in all the wrong places... nothing but fakes on slsk

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Monday, 16 August 2004 20:03 (twenty-one years ago)

you can see the video for oceania @ bjork.com ... striking as usual... directed by lynn foxx. but i wish she'd work with gondry again... ever since she shacked up with m. barney the videos have gotten a little more like fine art or alt.portraiture... and they're nice, but i prefer the gondry/cunningham/jonze axis of evil

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Monday, 16 August 2004 20:26 (twenty-one years ago)

gondry and jonze will do vids #2 and #3

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 16 August 2004 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

it appears to be tacit somewhere earlier in the thread... but how are you privy to this info, mark?
as an aside, meeting gondry, my sort-of-hero, was among the most disappointing experiences of my life, maybe... as pathetic as that sounds... i just expected something
sublime.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Monday, 16 August 2004 20:57 (twenty-one years ago)

>>hmmm... has it though?

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Monday, 16 August 2004 22:17 (twenty-one years ago)

eh?

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Monday, 16 August 2004 22:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Right, sorry. Darn Html.

Anyways, perhaps check out some of the bit torrent sites. Only one person had the full thing on slsk this afternoon, but it IS out there.

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Monday, 16 August 2004 22:23 (twenty-one years ago)

thanks, don't have to idle on refresh anymore : )

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Monday, 16 August 2004 22:25 (twenty-one years ago)

"Oceania" is absolutely GORGEOUS. Its bed of glissandi sounds like a more dissonant version of Debussy's "Sirenes." This track, though lacking a climax I feel would have fitted the melody well, shits over anything on Vespertine; from a great height.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Monday, 16 August 2004 23:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Wow, Sirenes is about as amazing as it gets for me. Quite a claim.

― dleone (dleone), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 00:14 (twenty-one years ago)

SUCKS (other than "Who Is It", "Oceania", and "Mouth's Cradle".)

That is all.

― Sansai, Tuesday, 17 August 2004 00:22 (twenty-one years ago)

"If you like your Bjork weird...."

I didn't know she was available in any other flavours - but I'm happy to stick with weird.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 07:15 (twenty-one years ago)

what torrents do i need to check? is not on indietorrents, for one

― matthew james (matthew james), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 09:31 (twenty-one years ago)

initial impression is aside from one meredith monkish bit of oddness that part and parcel the album is fantastic... i think it will probably be her least commercially successful album, but is probably her most artistically ambitious-- and, it sounds like, maybe even closest to what she imagined she'd like to make... basically, if you like bjork's voice, vocal harmonies in general or, uh, beatboxing... you will like the record.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 14:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Yay, I will like the record!

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 15:20 (twenty-one years ago)

www.suprnova.org

― snowballing (snowballing), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 16:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the Meredith Monkisms. I hear a lot of Monk on this whole record.

― (Jon L), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 17:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Another fucking chore to listen to...

― frankE (frankE), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 17:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Stewart Osborne wrote:

I didn't know she was available in any other [than weird] flavours - but I'm happy to stick with weird.

Oh, she is available in an absolutely sugar-free (aspartame) version in Selmasongs & Vespertine. As a doctor, I can warn you that listening to the aforementioned may cause horrible side-effects.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 21:29 (twenty-one years ago)

the album is interesting, but I'm finding myself unable to enjoy it as much as I feel like I should. I don't know. the all voice thing is making me keep my distance from it. it somehow feels like not a proper album to me.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 22:32 (twenty-one years ago)

It's so interesting how few people are liking this, in contrast to the immediate sea of praise for Vespertine. And it amazes me how they describe it as "weird" when it really isn't THAT weird.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Tuesday, 17 August 2004 22:37 (twenty-one years ago)

"Scatterheart" on _Selmasongs_ ranks among her best songs ever (as is "Mouth's Cradle").

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 03:34 (twenty-one years ago)

After the first listen, I like this. In fact, I'd go so far to say I like Bjork because she'll do stuff like this.

― dleone (dleone), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 06:32 (twenty-one years ago)

"Oh, she is available in an absolutely sugar-free (aspartame) version in Selmasongs & Vespertine. As a doctor, I can warn you that listening to the aforementioned may cause horrible side-effects."

Hmmm. They may be Bjork-lite but even sugar-free weird is still weird, isn't it?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 08:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Just like Vespertine, I thought to myself after the first listen "oh, just put on the headphones and maybe you'll hear things you didn't the first time." So here I sit, eleven songs into it feeling like I didn't miss a thing the first time around, it just really is that boring.

Also, do I need to hear Bjork gasping after *every* *single* *fucking* *pause*?

― frankE (frankE), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 14:56 (twenty-one years ago)

perfect balance of pop and avant. i love choirs so... my first impression was that it was
too meredith monk-ish, but i don't think so anymore... where meredith monk sometimes sounds constipated to me, bjork sounds ecstatic/enthusiastic/exapserated/terrified/etc.
beyond that, i was so nervous about the beatboxing but i think it works perfectly.
especially triumph of a heart... bjork's first club song in a while, i guess. though i'm not
sure i've been to that particular club-- anyone know where it is in SoCal-- i'd drive a
distance to dance among other humans to that.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Wednesday, 18 August 2004 15:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I like it, so far. I really like Olivier Alary's production on "Desired Constellation" - he's like a pocket Fennesz. Has he done anything else besides the Ensemble album, the two Björk remixes & the Piano Magic remix?

― locus solus, Wednesday, 18 August 2004 22:28 (twenty-one years ago)

guessing there will be a few of these in the used bins around town.....at least i'll get it at a good price .

― william (william), Thursday, 19 August 2004 00:45 (twenty-one years ago)

hurry up august 31st!!!!

― reo, Thursday, 19 August 2004 05:48 (twenty-one years ago)

Off one listen just now - FUCKING WOW. Avant-garde acapella techno pop. Yes yes yes.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 30 August 2004 16:26 (twenty-one years ago)

as good as MANITOBA?!

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 30 August 2004 17:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha! Possibly! After two listens I've enjoyed it thoroughly. And I had Manitoba on the other day AND IT WAS STILL WICKED. Althought NOT QUITE THAT WICKED.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:04 (twenty-one years ago)

i would like to take this opportunity to point out that "acappella" != "avant garde"

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:06 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah, the Flying Pickets were doing it 20 years ago. Is it like them?

― Keith Watson (kmw), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:08 (twenty-one years ago)

i will grant you that her cover of "where in the world is carmen sandiego" is pretty special tho

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:12 (twenty-one years ago)

I would like to take this opportunity to say that I did NOT say that acapella did = avant-garde in the first place!

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:13 (twenty-one years ago)

My favourite bit is when someone does an impression of a pussy cat in the last song.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:14 (twenty-one years ago)

how is this avant-garde?

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:14 (twenty-one years ago)

I have never heard someone do an impression of a pussy cat in a human beatbox choral pop techno number before. I thought that compared to, you know, Maroon 5, it was quite unusual.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:17 (twenty-one years ago)

oh, we're comparing to maroon 5! now i get the manitoba love.

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:18 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm still not sure who Maroon 5 are. They've been number one in the album chart for a while but I've never heard of them outside of seeing the album in Woolworths.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Great article in the NY Times on Medulla.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:25 (twenty-one years ago)

"This Love" is worth a d/l, Southy.

― The Good Dr. Bill (Andrew Unterberger), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:26 (twenty-one years ago)

Equating the tracks I've heard off of _Medulla_ to Rockapella-style a capella music is really, really disingenuous, Mark. It's akin to equating med-era Skinny Puppy to Kajagoogoo because they both use synthesizers.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:27 (twenty-one years ago)

"Ancestors", for example, sounds like a Bjork soundscape with a Gremlin fucking her in the ass. Where's the Bobs analogue for that?

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)

er, i was joking?

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Ancestors is the Gremlin-sex one, yeah? Track 11? I can't make out the titles in this light anymore (weird black ink and not natural light = no clue what things are called).

I wish I had a gremlin.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I WAS SERIOUS, THOUGH. Where's the Bobs tune that sounds like they're getting fucked by Gremlins? I want to hear it.

― VengaDan Perry (Dan Perry), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:33 (twenty-one years ago)

check the b-side on the "san diego" seven

― mark p (Mark P), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:34 (twenty-one years ago)

It might not be a gremlin. It might be Bob Dylan.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I just made myself feel a little sick.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Monday, 30 August 2004 18:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Good lord the last track on this is absolutely fucking stunning. I'd love to hear it dropped in a club.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 18:47 (twenty-one years ago)

i would love for a track from this to become a popular single.

(like laurie anderson via "oh superman!")

i agree somewhat with the idea that this album is about her voice cause it often sticks out like a sore thumb.

i don't agree at all that the vocals have been distorted beyond recognition. in some cases, yes, but in most cases, no.

funny to have the occasional piano and synths and stuff and break with the overall effort to do without.

this is Kid A territory though. seriously, how many people out there own a mostly a cappella record? especially in this fashion? i think it's great for the average surface exploring music fan to be exposed to something a little more adventurous than some of the other rock band bullshit that passes for extravagant... re: see hair band playing with an orchestral accompaniment.

― msp (msp), Tuesday, 31 August 2004 21:43 (twenty-one years ago)

"crazy out there female a cappella records" from the last couple of years:

TS: Medulla vs Maja Ratkje's Voice vs Ami Yoshida's Tiger Thrush

Bjork's is, by a large margin, the most conventional and song-centric. I really like all of them. More like them should be made.

― dleone (dleone), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 00:59 (twenty-one years ago)

further back than the last few years, but

Meredith Monk - Mercy
Fatima Miranda - Concierto en Canto
Diamanda Galas - Vena Cava
Joan LaBarbara - Voice is the Original Instrument

― (Jon L), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 02:02 (twenty-one years ago)

"Mouth's Cradle" is fantastic! It's got the melodramatic force of "New World." But unlike that song's perhaps in-questionable-taste orchestral barrage, "Cradle" has an inquisitive arrangement that allows the track's songwriting force to emerge from unexpected seams.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 06:13 (twenty-one years ago)

But are any of those records going to have reached anywhere near the audience that Bjork will undoubtedly achieve? No one's saying she's done it first (a capella music was surely the very first ever music?), or best, but an amount of people are going to hear (and love, I'd wager) this record who would never even have heard of Meredith Monk or Ami Yoshida or Fatima Miranda. For all her idiosyncracies and nods of the head towards experimentation, Bjork is a POP singer with a huge audience, and she consistently presents that audience with beguiling and (seemingly) innovative records, the likes of which you simply don't get otherwise in the top 20 album chart.

― Jimmybommy JimmyK'KANG (Nick Southall), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 06:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Exactly, she is making 'uncommercial' records but is still regarded as a mainstream artist. She sang at the opening of the Olympics for gods sake. There is hardly anyone with that kind of broad acceptance making records like this.

― mms (mms), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 07:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I agree with both of you.

Harmonic Choir / David Hykes - Hearing Solar Winds
Morton Feldman - Three Voices
More All Day Singing From The Sacred Harp
Gesualdo / Hilliard Ensemble - Tenebrae
Berio / Cathy Beberian - Recital I For Cathy, Thema / Visage, Sequenza III
Phil Minton - A Doughnut In One Hand
David Moss
Julia Heyward - Nose Flute Big Coup
Demetrio Stratos - Cantare la Voce

― (Jon L), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 18:14 (twenty-one years ago)

Doesn't anybody hate this record, then? I've loved practically everything she's ever done, from Birthday to Vespertine, but I'm finding Medulla to be piss weak and virtually unlistenable.

― retort pouch (retort pouch), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 18:20 (twenty-one years ago)

i don't hate it that much, but yeah, i'm mostly right there with you.

― mark p (Mark P), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 18:20 (twenty-one years ago)

and nick, i think bjork stopped being a pop singer about five years ago, which might help to explain medulla's lack of songs

― mark p (Mark P), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 18:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I feel like the real Björk is finally back.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 18:22 (twenty-one years ago)

from where?

― mark p (Mark P), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 18:23 (twenty-one years ago)

From bland hell.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 18:25 (twenty-one years ago)

It's really not that good, except for "Desired Constellation," which is very pretty -- the "pocket Fennesz" bed she sings over reminds me of the To Rococo Rot sample in "It's in Our Hands."

Salvador said:

Odd, I'd say the exact reverse is true. Vespertine is the album that had songs and melodies; Medulla is the album that has adornments (all the messy voices) that disguise the fact that there's nothing remotely catchy on it.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 20:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Um, "Mouth's Cradle" is mad catchy.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 20:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Although I don't understand this "distracting adornments hides poor songwriting" charge being levelled at either of these albums, both of which follow directly on from songwriting styles she's used on her previous material and as such fit right in with the rest of her stuff as far as I'm concerned.

I will agree that overall _Medulla_ is more abstract than _Vespertine_ but I will not make the mistake of equating "abstract" with "non-existent" in terms of the songwriting.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 20:56 (twenty-one years ago)

"Mouth's Cradle" actually sounds like the track that would most fit in on Vespertine.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know tracks or titles yet, but what is the STRAIGHT-UP POP SONG that's in the middle of the disc? It sounds like the weirdest thing on the album because the songwriting (and even the beat) is stunningly conventional, I love it.

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 20:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I've only heard a bit and only once so this isn't an in-depth reaction, but there's one early track that I dug (I think Rahzel gives it a pop beat, might be the one jordan referenced), and track 3 is fucking absurd. Most of what I heard was too austere for me to bother with.

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 21:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Did anybody wish Bobby McFerrin was more pretentious?

― CeCe Peniston (Anthony Miccio), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 21:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Jordan: "Who Is It," maybe?

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 21:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Probably! I'll check when I go home.

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 21:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Who wants to hear "Leave It" by Yes right now?

― sexyDancer, Wednesday, 1 September 2004 21:21 (twenty-one years ago)

I think milton is saying that if you like these you might want to check out these others to see where she might be coming from.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 21:27 (twenty-one years ago)

"Desired Constellation" is by far the worst and most meandering song on the album!

It's so blah and such a non-entity.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 21:48 (twenty-one years ago)

It could be shorter, yeah, but it's really the only song that made me stop what I was doing and really listen -- there's a really compelling immediacy to her voice.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 21:53 (twenty-one years ago)

This is all first reaction, obv.

― jaymc (jaymc), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 21:53 (twenty-one years ago)

I love Oceania and Submarine most so far. Triumph of the Heart and The Pleasure is All Mine are also quite good.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 21:58 (twenty-one years ago)

I got Bjork buttons, flats, and posters for free with mine. She looks like she could be an 11 yr old girl on the poster, it's a little icky.

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 22:07 (twenty-one years ago)

>Who wants to hear "Leave It" by Yes right now?

What I would give for a Dokaka cover of this song...

― (Jon L), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 22:08 (twenty-one years ago)

It was Who Is It...possibly the most conventional song she's ever done?

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 2 September 2004 00:45 (twenty-one years ago)

No. That would be everything on Debut.

― Eric H. (Eric H.), Thursday, 2 September 2004 00:58 (twenty-one years ago)

You know how many of my favourite albums you listed upthread, milton?!

(3.5 actually. I'll throw in Sainkho Namtchylak - Lost Rivers while there's still time.)

(Haven't heard the new Bjork album but am eager. I really love Vespertine, so so don't think it's bland.)

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Thursday, 2 September 2004 01:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Eric OTM; I was listening to _Debut_ this weekend and was taken aback by how ordinary everything on it except "Human Behavior" and "Venus As A Boy" sound.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Thursday, 2 September 2004 02:23 (twenty-one years ago)

"Who Is It" is made for VH1 though, if only through a non-a cappella arrangement. I can almost imagine soccer moms getting behind it.

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 2 September 2004 02:28 (twenty-one years ago)

Post comes across as more ordinary and conventional than Debut to me, although I know most people don't agree.

― wetmink (wetmink), Thursday, 2 September 2004 02:40 (twenty-one years ago)

But I could see some folky pop chanteuse doing it (with different instrumentation, of course) and having an easy hit. The Debut songs are more identifiably Bjork even when not performed by her, I would think.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 2 September 2004 02:42 (twenty-one years ago)

great but weird mixing.

― seahorse genius (seahorse genius), Thursday, 2 September 2004 08:22 (twenty-one years ago)

All of the housey songs on _Debut_ are very ordinary in a way that things like "Possibly Maybe", "Isobel", "Enjoy", "The Modern Things" and "I Miss You" aren't. Mind you they're still GOOD but the only "odd" thing about them is the fact that Bjork is singing them.

Furthermore, this is a progression throughout Bjork's career; _Debut_ is less idiosyncratic than _Post_ is less idiosyncratic than _Homogenic_ is less idiosyncratic than _Selmasongs_ is less idiosyncratic than _Vespertine_ is less idiosyncratic than _Medulla_.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:08 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't know about that. I see everthing from Homogenic on as being about the same "idiosyncratic", just different aspects of her idiosyncrasy. I don't believe anyone other than Bjork makes anything like those records.

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I've been listening to "Scatterheart" a lot recently (THAT should have been up for the Oscar, not "I've Seen It All") and it very much strikes me as being a more formalized, less pop-oriented rewrite of "Bachelorette". Most of the _Selmasongs_ material made a much bigger distinction between verse and chorus than the _Homogenic_ material, particularly in terms of the instrumental music. _Verspertine_ continues down this path with the introduction of the music box/unified sonic palette meme, something she hadn't really done on her previous albums and _Medulla_ takes that idea a step further by stripping almost everything down to permutations of the human voice, usually hers.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:17 (twenty-one years ago)

I'll grant you Selmasongs, but I don't think that was all Bjork either. However, I would definitely argue about the unified sonic palette thing - I mean, Homogenic, to my ears, has an extremely sonic palette (I might even say it's "homogenic"). Medulla literally features *more* of her, but I don't think, artistically speaking, it's more the essence of Bjork than Homogenic or Vespertine.

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I just crossed over into some kind of super fan or something (and I don't even like Vespertine that much!)

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

should be "extremely unified sonic palette" up there

― dleone (dleone), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Am I in the minority by loving Vespertine as her best work, liking Post, and absolutely never listening to Homogenic?

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I hope.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:41 (twenty-one years ago)

"Bachelorette", "Alarm Call" and "Immature" throw the _Homogenic_ unified sonic palette off somewhat, "Bachelorette" in particular; the _Vespertine_ version is "In a Hidden Place" which, if you strip off the orchestra, still sounds a lot like the other songs on the album ("Pagan Poetry" in particular) while "Bachelorette" still has a lot of other things going on in it that aren't in the other _Homogenic_ songs (for one thing, despite the acrobatics it's the most conservative melody on the album).

CAVEAT: I should listen to both albums again before I fully put myself behind this position but that's the impression of the albums I currently have. And, when I'm talking about idiosyncracies, I'm not so much talking about something being quintessentially Bjork as much as I am talking about distance from "the mainstream" (a concept so loose in definition that we are probably both right).

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

"Bachelorette" is still my favorite song of hers.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I think Hunter might be my favorite.

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:53 (twenty-one years ago)

yeah dom is right: if we're going to delineate bjork records based on her deference to some sort of 'sonic palette,' then homogenic should be where we start. she originally conceived it as a beats and strings record with strings mixed to the left, vocals in the middle and beats to the right so that you could tailor the album to yr mood. of course it was a stupid idea and thankfully it didn't last long, but she remained faithful to the "beats + strings" motif nonetheless. (fwiw, i don't see "bachelorette" as straying from the record's sonic model at ALL.)

incidentally i have just now put on vespertine for the first time in yonks. i have a sneaking suspicion that most people's problem with the album stems from its second half, which lumbers quite a bit until "unison". the notion that anything on medulla is as good as "hidden place" through to "frosti," though, is completely and totally bonkers.

― mark p (Mark P), Thursday, 2 September 2004 15:57 (twenty-one years ago)

The only song I even halfway like on Vespertine is on its second half. The one about swallowing little glowing lights.

― Melissa W (Melissa W), Thursday, 2 September 2004 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

(i would also advance the notion that, beatboxing and the fucking amazing vocal backflips on "oceania" aside, vespertine does far more interesting things vocally than medulla ever manages)

(xpost "heirloom"! that was a grower for me, but i've come round.)

― mark p (Mark P), Thursday, 2 September 2004 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Am I in the minority by loving Vespertine as her best work, liking Post, and absolutely never listening to Homogenic?

I'm with you 100%, Sundar (altho' I don't actually own a copy of Post; I have all the singles taken from it instead)

― Jeff W (zebedee), Thursday, 2 September 2004 16:00 (twenty-one years ago)

As far as singing is concerned, I agree with you, Mark.

As far as vocalizing is concerned: ABSOLUTELY NOT. I reference again the Gremlin-fucking as my prime example.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Thursday, 2 September 2004 16:03 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm enjoying Medulla more every time I listen to it. For some reason, I've still never heard Vespertine (actually, I know exactly why: the legion of people who say it's boring).

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 2 September 2004 16:04 (twenty-one years ago)

"Bachelorette" is the most bombastic song she's done that isn't "Cvalda" or "Crying" and that piano has more of an impact on the song than I think people think it does.

Also, "All Neon Like", "Alarm Call", "Immature" and "Pluto" don't follow the "strings + beats" pattern at all.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Thursday, 2 September 2004 16:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, I really like the songs very much, but the human beat boxing is incredibly distracting and makes me think of some kind of "hip" commodified performance art like Blue Man Group. I really hope there's an entire non-acappella alternate version of this album called, say 'Oblong'.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 2 September 2004 21:32 (twenty-one years ago)

The acappella treatment should be given to maybe one song during a live performance only.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 2 September 2004 21:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I really like Medúlla; I'm surprised by how accessible it is, how it isn't just about Being Avant Garde. A lot of the songs could fit on to 'normal' Bjork albums quite easily. The programming is a little irritating when it drops in, though.

― The Lex (The Lex), Thursday, 2 September 2004 21:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Vespertine is my favorite Bjork album.

Sofar, Medulla isn't grabbing me in that way Vespertine did, but I was quite enjoying certain parts of it last night, and I played it on repeat five times.

― reo, Thursday, 2 September 2004 21:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Bjork doesn't need to wrap underdeveloped songs in conceptual annoyances - because her songwriting and voice are consistently amazing. I mean, if she really feels an incredible desire to do acappellas, then I think she should have done reinterpretations of her catalog. It's like she's subjecting these new songs to needless obfuscation. Also, if she wanted to work with 'the voice' she should've called Todd Edwards.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Thursday, 2 September 2004 22:02 (twenty-one years ago)

Spencer OTM.

― jaymc (jaymc), Thursday, 2 September 2004 22:09 (twenty-one years ago)

i share a similar opinion with you, spencer.
i feel like, at times, the layers are just too cluttered, and get in the way of the songs. it's distracting.

― reo, Thursday, 2 September 2004 22:11 (twenty-one years ago)

dleone, the fact that you like Vespertine just a tiny bit not only is beyond me but breaks my heart.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Thursday, 2 September 2004 23:58 (twenty-one years ago)

dude, I sold it back

― dleone (dleone), Friday, 3 September 2004 01:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Haha. ( high fives )

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Friday, 3 September 2004 11:32 (twenty-one years ago)

"Triumph of the Heart" is just dying to be remixed as a single version. Being such a sparse dance number, all it would takes is some house DJ beefing up the beats and adding some warm synth sounds throughout.

Oh, and Vespertine is my favorite Bjork album. I'm with you on that, Sundar.

― Michael F Gill (Michael F Gill), Friday, 3 September 2004 13:53 (twenty-one years ago)

Vespertine was too meek-sounding for my tastes, though I realize that was probably Bjork's intentions. The production was really well done, though. I am getting Medulla today and eagerly await gremlin-fucking noises.

― Je4nne ƒury (Jeanne Fury), Friday, 3 September 2004 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

Maybe a Soft Pink Truth remix for "Triumph of A Heart" would be good. The danciness of it needs to be exploited! Though I still shake my ass to it all the time as it is.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Friday, 3 September 2004 21:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Actually, "Isobel" is much more bombastic in terms of string arrangements than "Bachelorette." "Oceania" has a similar majestic quality that is emphasized by the swells of glissandi.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Saturday, 4 September 2004 00:22 (twenty-one years ago)

And I still despise "Desired Constellation." I don't understand why it's on the album at all.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Saturday, 4 September 2004 00:22 (twenty-one years ago)

The bombast is in the bass.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Saturday, 4 September 2004 00:38 (twenty-one years ago)

she should've called Todd Edwards.

maybe that's next!

― tricky disco (disco stu), Saturday, 4 September 2004 00:39 (twenty-one years ago)

also this:

great but weird mixing

is otm, but i haven't really wrapped myself around this album yet. i've only heard it on headphones and i think it requires 'environment'.

― tricky disco (disco stu), Saturday, 4 September 2004 00:44 (twenty-one years ago)

No, the bass in Bachelorette I'd describe as majestic, not bombastic. "Bombast" implies pretentiousness.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Saturday, 4 September 2004 01:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Vespertine is meek in a sense - it's soft and subtle and sentimental and doesn't grab you with dance beats or quasi-operatic wailing. But there's a lot in the details - the way the glitches rupture the smoothest surfaces; the tiny sounds such as bells or harp harmonics sometimes ringing in the background, sometimes glittering over the tracks; the ambient floats that go from eerie to warm. "Aurora" is gorgeous.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Saturday, 4 September 2004 03:10 (twenty-one years ago)

Shit like the way the voice 'becomes' a synth float about 3 min into "An Echo, a Stain" and the way it later gets chopped up. Those sick dissonant (microtonal?) electronic washes under her whisper.

― sundar subramanian (sundar), Saturday, 4 September 2004 03:17 (twenty-one years ago)

Parts of Post + Vespertine combined would make my fave Bjork album. As of now, her catalog seems like a succession of missed opportunities to me: as much as I like some songs, others start grating a bit too much for me to fully embrace an entire album. I should prolly get that singles / best-of volume and be happy.

But yeah, I also never listen to Homogenic, my addiction to Hunter and Bachelorette notwithstanding. At first I really admired it, and thought it her most exciting, but now feel like it lives up to the title's name, and for whatever reason, sounds too uniform - the chirping ticks and full-blown blast of Pluto near the end coming as a relief. There's a cold inertia to it, and aside from the aforementioned tracks, everything seems so polished and pristine and lacking in energy. Dull songs like Joga, etc. Even the ones that try to create dissonance, like Alarm Call don't distinguish themselves to me, it just seems like a lot of repetitive bells ringing, somewhat annoyingly (that, plus any song with the "pee-pee pee-pee-pee" in the chorus cannot be that "good.")

Half of Vespertine I can't stand for some of the same reasons as above (the songs seem to blur in this non-descript layer of flat icing - pretty on the surface, but empty). But the other half is tremendous, including, the more "commercial" or whatever singles like Hidden Place and esp Pagan Poetry, which I thought was some sort of emotional zenith for her as far as intimate / personal expression goes. Yes, very simple language, but tied to the music it was just right. If I remember correctly, I think Ryan Pitchfork tried to sairize it (too lazy to look it up), but the cascading "i love hims" tied to the resonant oriental chime was um, :cheesyness-alert:...magical to me...and quite poignant, an instance of a sort of trembling ambivalence between ecstasy/anxiety (she isn't totally SURE that she loves him, imo, which is why she needs to re-assert it so many times) that is very rarely captured in songcraft. Also: see the v recent Stylus feature on this to get a better idea of what i mean...

I've heard three Medulla songs so far, but Oceania is the only one that sticks

― Vic (Vic), Saturday, 4 September 2004 03:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Parts of Post + Vespertine combined would make my fave Bjork album.

It goes w/o saying that this would also be v. incoherent

― Vic (Vic), Saturday, 4 September 2004 03:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Also, she makes even really short, abstract e.e. cummings' poems sound revelatory due to her performance on Vespertine. Regardless of what i think of the music in some of the songs, it's prob her best vocal performance before this new one - the grate-factor was actually quite low on it throughout. And you can't leave out that it was a remarkably erotic record, even taken outside the context of those I AM SUCKING HIM - lyrics on that one song

― Vic (Vic), Saturday, 4 September 2004 03:49 (twenty-one years ago)

That last post I am basing on the given assumption that the new one is her best perf as it's all her, just the voice alone. Maybe some would argue that she sounds the same on each album, that her voice is the most identifiable "trademark" of her work, and I don't disagree there...it's just that her older songs would contain this annoying screech-factor to them if I heard them in the wrong mood. Not all of them, just some - like I Miss You (a song that I actually like) and esp It's Oh So Quiet

― Vic (Vic), Saturday, 4 September 2004 03:55 (twenty-one years ago)

"Bombast" implies pretentiousness.

It doesn't have that association for me. "Bachelorette" is a more forceful, assertive record than "Isobel".

(Vic, isn't she saying "beep beep" as in, well, an alarm call?)

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Saturday, 4 September 2004 16:22 (twenty-one years ago)

It doesn't have that association for me.

It does, for the English language.

Anywho, I do agree that Bachelorette is more "forceful" than Isobel. It's just not bombastic.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Saturday, 4 September 2004 17:26 (twenty-one years ago)

(Vic, isn't she saying "beep beep" as in, well, an alarm call?)

i never thought of it that way - i just assumed she was doing some silly bjorkian sound fx thang! i dont truly mind the song, i just stop noticing evrything about it and concentrate on the beep-beeps, and that becomes annoying

― Vic (Vic), Saturday, 4 September 2004 18:59 (twenty-one years ago)

"Alarm Call" is the one song on Homogenic I don't think much of.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Saturday, 4 September 2004 22:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Vic, why do you refer to "Joga" as "dull"?

I think it's truly beautiful.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Saturday, 4 September 2004 22:57 (twenty-one years ago)

Have you heard the Matmos remix of Alarm Call? I think it's better than the original - but then I loved the original, so you might just hate the Matmos remix even more.

― Lukas (lukas), Saturday, 4 September 2004 23:07 (twenty-one years ago)

I like the chorus, when she tries to indicate she's in that state of emergency. But the slow string opening, it kind of makes me impatient. Maybe it's a matter of segue - coming right after the drumming frenzy of "Hunter," few songs could sound vibant. It's not really a failure, just one I always skip.

― Vic (Vic), Saturday, 4 September 2004 23:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I've heard this being played in a couple of record stores (clerks must like it) and wanted to find out who it was. Then there would be no way I would accidently purchase these schreeching piece of shit.

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Sunday, 5 September 2004 01:47 (twenty-one years ago)

(Note to self: "bombast" is bad.)

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Sunday, 5 September 2004 02:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Its funny reading this thread bcuz there's almost a total lack of consensus.

― djdee2005, Monday, 6 September 2004 05:07 (twenty-one years ago)

It's all very bitty (Medulla, that is). I think I prefer the more densely arranged songs - especially the first track and "Mouth's Cradle" and "Oceania". The tracks with just Bjork acapella feel to me like half-formed ideas; they might have made a pleasant enough b-side but they kinda kill the momentum. (I thought about re-sequencing the tracks but haven't yet found any running order that flows well)

But the only track I dislike as such is the Tagaq duet - but then I don't much care for Meredith Monk on record either.

― Jeff W (zebedee), Monday, 6 September 2004 09:20 (twenty-one years ago)

ive heard medulla once and all i think is that i need to listen to it again.

so far homogenic is still my favorite and "bachelorette" still my favorite. dan did you ever see the bravo "profiles" tv show that was made while she was recording homogenic? i dont know if it is available anywhere now (i lost my taped copy) but it is worth looking out for.

homogenic was futuristic (at the time) but more tangible in its futurism whereas i think medulla doesnt seem to have (non-musical) analogs in the same way (or at least not that i am aware of).

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Monday, 6 September 2004 20:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Since I'm in Bjork mode, I finally went and picked up Vespertine today. Couldn't help but notice the three or so identical (and sorta sketchy looking) Bjork live cds. Homogenic Live, Vespertine Live, Post Live, etc. even though it looks like all of the cds them album tracks. Has anyone heard these?

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 6 September 2004 21:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Why all the hatred for Who Is It? upthread? It's very Tricky-ish, admittedly poppy, but quite great. It makes me think of making popcorn while really stoned.

― x j e r e m y (x Jeremy), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 00:20 (twenty-one years ago)

for anyone who wants to "get" this album i think this is a great start and view on the album

http://stylusmagazine.com/review.php?ID=2303

― seahorse genius (seahorse genius), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 00:42 (twenty-one years ago)

dan did you ever see the bravo "profiles" tv show that was made while she was recording homogenic?

No, I didn't have cable at the time. Grr.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 00:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Eh, that review overrates it.

And I agree with Dan that "Bachelorette" is one of her best songs. The strings are GOD. And the piano is fantastic.

― Salvador Saca (Mr. Xolotl), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 04:44 (twenty-one years ago)

More Bjork-age, this time from JM:

http://www.junkmedia.org/?i=1204

― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 12:29 (twenty-one years ago)

I've heard this and my conclusion is that no one will give Bjork any Dramamine.

I don't know what happened to her but it makes me sad. Dntel is the real Bjork these days, by my lights.

― You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 12:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I have to respectfully disagree. While the heavily electronic Matmos stuff she has done is my favorite of her solo stuff, I think Bjork's voice and oddball viewpoint are what make her compelling, not the varying styles she surfs. Still, for my money, if I go to the shelves the first thing I'd pull out is "Stick Around for Joy" to hear "Hit."

― BlastsOfStatic (BlastsofStatic), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 12:42 (twenty-one years ago)

DNTEL?!

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 12:45 (twenty-one years ago)

(The first two Sugarcubes albums > all of Bjork's solo stuff except _Post_, "Bachelorette", "Scatterheart" and "Mouth's Cradle")

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 12:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Tracer that's one of the more inscrutable comments you've made.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 13:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I've heard this and my conclusion is that no one will give Bjork any Dramamine.

Ah, you heard the Gremlin song!

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 13:22 (twenty-one years ago)

Really? I just think they (and 2Raumswohnung) make the kind of music I would like to hear Bjork making: brooding house-tempo micro-pop. Bjork's music lost its trackiness pretty quickly, and with it went part of the water-off-a-duck's-back attitude that always attracted me to her so much. That no matter how intense or knotted things get, this track is going to lift me up out of it eventually, and possibly show me something amazing. Bjork feels like she's becoming more and more obsessed and obsessive, like she's turning into some kind of musical David Foster Wallace, where the banal receives the same scrutiny of her enormous brain as the unusual or transcendent. As a result, her brooding feels less open, more grimly determined, less able to crack a smile and admit perhaps it's all kind of silly. I feel like she's just brooding herself into a little wet puddle.

― You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 14:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Doesn't sound like brooding to me. Obsessive, maybe. Indulgent, absolutely. I don't have a problem with that, because her music still sounds "open" to me. That doesn't mean it says anything about the world, or relates to it, but sometimes the most interesting things don't, at least on first inspection.

― Dominique (dleone), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 15:05 (twenty-one years ago)

My comments should be read as the consequence of someone whose favorite Bjork track right now is "There's More to Life Than This (not the toilet mix)" though

― You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 15:10 (twenty-one years ago)

That track is definitely in her top 10 (possibly the third-best track on _Debut_ in its toilet mix version).

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 15:12 (twenty-one years ago)

Over the course of my Labor Day I listened to Post, Homogenic, Vespertine, and Medulla, and while I REALLY like all of them, Homogenic is still the one that gives me a rush every time I listen to it (even if Post is more fun).

It feels like her most confident and under-control record to me. Everything is ideas instead of experiments, if that makes sense, it all just works.

― Jordan (Jordan), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 15:38 (twenty-one years ago)

"You can't handle love/It's up the ass" = THE GREATEST LYRIC EVER

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 15:39 (twenty-one years ago)

(I know that's not the "real" lyric, leave me my dreams)

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Tuesday, 7 September 2004 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

UPDATE: "Oceania" is phenomenal.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Friday, 17 September 2004 17:47 (twenty-one years ago)

what he said

― reo, Friday, 17 September 2004 17:49 (twenty-one years ago)

i love how with the choir the voices become this fluid body and it's like the body is running down a spiral staircase or is on a rollercoaster. it has this amazing effect like wind gusting.

― reo, Friday, 17 September 2004 17:54 (twenty-one years ago)

I never would've imagined in a million years exactly how appropriate it was having RAHZEL guest on this album.

― nickalicious (nickalicious), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Dntel is the real Bjork these days, by my lights.

I pretty much agree with this.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:07 (twenty-one years ago)

Is Death Cab for Cutie the real Radiohead?

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 17 September 2004 18:23 (twenty-one years ago)

i just realized that i've only ever heard Dntel remixes

― You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 14:16 (twenty-one years ago)

I have decided that this album is better than Vespertine, but generally unlistinable.

― Jimmy Mod, Los Sexx Yanqui (ModJ), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 14:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I like listening to it.

― Jordan (Jordan), Wednesday, 29 September 2004 14:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I like hating it!

― You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Thursday, 30 September 2004 17:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Everyone's happy!

― Jordan (Jordan), Thursday, 30 September 2004 21:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I love it. I love how monochromatic it is. At first I was like "Bjork, why? You always get the best producers, the lushest, wildest textures ... why such a limited palette?" But now I think it makes "Who Is It" and "Oceania" even more badass.

― Lukas (lukas), Thursday, 30 September 2004 21:50 (twenty-one years ago)

I bet you like "Mezzanine."

― You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Thursday, 30 September 2004 21:59 (twenty-one years ago)

Hmm, I've only heard one track off Mezzanine, so I dunno.

I don't mean badass in a "uniformly dark and ominous" way, if that's what you mean. More of a limited means "watch me blow up this tank with a stick of chewing gum" way. Oceania makes Hyperballad's strings and beats seem wasteful and silly.

― Lukas (lukas), Thursday, 30 September 2004 23:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I LOVE _MEZZANINE_.

― Dan Perry '08 (Dan Perry), Thursday, 30 September 2004 23:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Grr.

― You've Got to Pick Up Every Stitch (tracerhand), Thursday, 30 September 2004 23:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Mezzanine? Fantastic album.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Thursday, 30 September 2004 23:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Mezzanine - best Massive Attack album.
Medúlla - not best Bjork album but still pretty damn good.

― The Lex (The Lex), Friday, 1 October 2004 09:49 (twenty-one years ago)

SHITE, downhill from debut y'knaa

― ra'ting, Friday, 1 October 2004 21:56 (twenty-one years ago)

three weeks pass...

Medulla - that's very outstanding.very good.i liked it.
especially , "Where is the line with you", "Mouth's cradle" and "Oceania".Well, Bjork ir Bjork. Always exclusive.And fantastic.

― mhm, Saturday, 23 October 2004 11:33 (twenty-one years ago)

three months pass...

Sorry to bump this, but I just don't think "Where is the line" has recieved enough love. It's so driving! It has a few seperate bits! I like the part where it goes "I want to be- flexible"!

I just don't know why it didn't get mentioned more. I think "Where is the line" is a terrific pop song.

― Jole, Wednesday, 16 February 2005 13:12 (twenty-one years ago)

two months pass...

I think Medulla is my favorite Björk album now. MADNESS.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Friday, 6 May 2005 00:06 (twenty years ago)

I share your love for Where Is The Line, Jole.

― Lingbertt, Friday, 6 May 2005 00:14 (twenty years ago)

Has anyone heard the Fantomas/Mike Patton remix? It is INSANE.

― Telephonething, Friday, 6 May 2005 01:41 (twenty years ago)

Yeah.. it's something alright. Jeebus.

― The Brainwasher (Twilight), Friday, 6 May 2005 01:43 (twenty years ago)

two years pass...

http://www.uploadandgo.com/reg/images/6413bjork-pdiddy.gif

― Go, GO, GO, Thursday, 28 June 2007 14:54 (eighteen years ago)

one month passes...

Hello. This sounds wow

― Surmounter, Saturday, 4 August 2007 13:15 (eighteen years ago)

First heard this year, resurrected my interest in Bjork, which had disappeared in like '99.

― call all destroyer, Saturday, 4 August 2007 14:46 (eighteen years ago)

the harmonies/textures are intoxicating

― Surmounter, Saturday, 4 August 2007 17:23 (eighteen years ago)

This album is one of the most self-indulgent things ever recorded.

― HI DERE, Saturday, 4 August 2007 18:36 (eighteen years ago)

I dunno, it's a little bit too collaborative for that label.

― call all destroyer, Saturday, 4 August 2007 18:42 (eighteen years ago)

i find self-indulgent as a descriptor vague - it is often best to indulge yourself when it comes to creativity, in any event.

― Surmounter, Saturday, 4 August 2007 21:40 (eighteen years ago)

This album is one of the most self-indulgent things ever recorded.

-- HI DERE, Saturday, August 4, 2007 6:36 PM

correct. the album is also awesome.

― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Saturday, 4 August 2007 21:43 (eighteen years ago)

My favorite Bjork album for sure. Mouth's Cradle is like a synthesis of everything I like in pop music. It's a perfect song.

― Bus Driver Stu, Saturday, 4 August 2007 21:57 (eighteen years ago)

yes

― Surmounter, Saturday, 4 August 2007 22:35 (eighteen years ago)

wow

― Surmounter, Saturday, 4 August 2007 22:35 (eighteen years ago)

dan perry = career wrong-ist

― fandango, Saturday, 4 August 2007 22:44 (eighteen years ago)

"how am i going to make it right"

― Surmounter, Saturday, 4 August 2007 23:02 (eighteen years ago)

two weeks pass...

really this album is quite hooky. and i just love these beautiful choral underpinnings.

― Surmounter, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 02:42 (eighteen years ago)

The combination of throat singers, traditional choruses, Gregorians and Rahzel is astounding. This really is one of the sexiest, most textured records of the decade. Only Bjork album to make a top 10 list of mine; only one that I listen to regularly, though Post comes out once in a while.

― Jiminy Krokus, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 04:11 (eighteen years ago)

that's what's so surprising about it for me is the breadth of the texture. i didn't expect that. it really floods my heart. which sounds really corny but feels right!

― Surmounter, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 04:13 (eighteen years ago)

where is the line is really, really pretty

― Surmounter, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 04:54 (eighteen years ago)

bjork's effect is so physical on this album - it hits beneath the skin. and it's comforting.

― Surmounter, Wednesday, 22 August 2007 05:00 (eighteen years ago)

hehe i love how soulfully ridiculous i get with my posts. so i'm just gonna keep listening to this album, yep, that's the plan.

btw ever since someone pointed it out up thread i just can't enough of that "i want to be flexible" line in "where is the line."

mhmm.

― Surmounter, Thursday, 30 August 2007 19:02 (eighteen years ago)

Can we get this thread truncated and moved to a new Surmounter-only board?

― mh, Thursday, 30 August 2007 20:05 (eighteen years ago)

Perhaps on the oink forum

― mh, Thursday, 30 August 2007 20:06 (eighteen years ago)

eleven months pass...

what is that one with the crickets -- you know it sounds like nighttime and she's repeating some line

i'm sure i've mentioned it by name before but i couldn't think of it when it came on

― Surmounter, Thursday, 28 August 2008 04:55 (seventeen years ago)

oh right this:

"how am i going to make it right"

-- Surmounter, Saturday, August 4, 2007 7:02 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Link

she gets really excited

― Surmounter, Thursday, 28 August 2008 04:56 (seventeen years ago)

I kind of hate that song, though there's one choral remix of it which improves it.

― Turangalila, Thursday, 28 August 2008 05:43 (seventeen years ago)

i find it quiet and powerful

― Surmounter, Thursday, 28 August 2008 14:47 (seventeen years ago)

two years pass...

years on, "Ancestors" is still hilarious

― whelping at his sandpapery best (DJP), Wednesday, 30 March 2011 14:48 (fourteen years ago)

it really is

― lex pretend, Thursday, 31 March 2011 01:19 (fourteen years ago)

six months pass...

new one biophilia reminds me of this

― reggie (qualmsley), Monday, 3 October 2011 03:11 (fourteen years ago)

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