Björk - Vespertine and B-sides Poll

Boy, hard choice between 'It's Not Up to You' and 'Heirloom'

From reading the og album thread It seems like this is one of the most polarizing records (of an already poarizing artist). Personally speaking, I love it and think it was the last great album she made. Song-wise I've always been torn between the fragile, clicks and cuts gone pop of Cocoon, and Heirloom because it effectively evokes the joy and playfulness of Post all over again.

The Domestica b-side and Aurora compete for the third place.

think it was the last great album she made.

I can understand why you say that. I don't see it the same way though.

Personally, I'm one of the Medúlla occultists. Now, if you were to say that was her last truly great work, I'd be inclined to agree.

Even haters of this album have to admit that the videos of the Vespertine tour with Matmos + Zeena Parkins + Greenlandic choir + the local orchestra are impressive.

Xpost: I like Medulla and I love the concept behind it but theres too many songs in there which I end up skipping. Personally I think the acapella experiment wouldve worked better in an ep or half an album... Just my humble opinion. I think its a good album.

I didn't realise people don't like this album, thought it was one of the few albums of hers people agreed on. This is my second favourite album of hers and one of the most perfect winter albums. Will probably vote for It's Not Up To You just ahead of Hidden Place.

"Hidden Place" was part of the best mashup ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0FqNQ520q8

Hidden Place.

oh this is a beautiful album. pagan poetry probably.

absolutely gorgeous album. i never got the impression it was widely hated, more that its few haters were very vocal - assumed that most people rightly consider it part of björk's imperial phase. it's a really good companion/flipside to homogenic imo - the grandeur of that album turned into intimacy. i have a lot of time for medúlla which was really interesting and not just in a distant ~admirable~ way but wow it's kinda sad to think that yeah this is björk's last great album. volta had immediate thrills but none of them stuck and biophilia was pretty indefensibly boring, "ipad" "apps" or not.

think i'm very boringly going to go with "hidden place" but her vocal on "aurora" might be the best of her career.

don't really remember any of the b-sides, were any of them notable?

why is this poll happening in june though? do you people even notice the seasons. i can't listen to any of these songs in the summer.

björk albums ranked

homogenic >>> vespertine >>>>>>> debut > post >>> medúlla > selmasongs >>>>>>>>>>>> volta >>>>>>>>>>>>> biophilia

i can't listen to any of these songs in the summer.

It is very much a winter record although I listened to it loads when it first came out, which I think was August/September?

'Generous Palmstroke' is the standout b-side here for me. Will probably vote for 'Aurora'.

This is my favourite Bjork album. I'll have to listen to it again before I decide, but early leaning towards Pagan Poetry.

this might be my fav bjork album, and probably most underrated. i used to really rep for "an echo a stain" but lately i've been enjoying "it's not up to you". just a sublime little jam.

"Pagan Poetry," which took my breath away in 2001. Still her best arrangement.

lol pagan poetry easily c'mon

Still her best arrangement.

yeah it kinda overtook hyperballad for me

Hidden Place
Cocoon
It's Not Up To You
Undo
Pagan Poetry

That's a side one to rival just about any.

But, yes, this:

why is this poll happening in june though? do you people even notice the seasons. i can't listen to any of these songs in the summer.

This was the first album where she started recording her vocals loud and high-pitched and I can't deal with the sound of her voice on it or any of her records until Biophilia. Cocoon and An Echo, A Stain are obv so undeniably gorgeous tho

vespertine was def a go do some hallucinogens n walk around in the summer album for me

I'd forgotten how lush this album is; I think the last time I listened to it was 10 years ago

It never really read as a "winter" album to me, I always associate it with smothering heatwaves

"Frosti" is so Bonnaroo.

"Generous Palmstroke" is so awesome. Especially on the "Vespertine Live" CD that one little Indian put out.

Actually that live disc is probably my favorite Bjork thing. Hearing these things performed as arrangements is amazing.

Going with Cocoon. Not just the sexiest song, but also a song great to have sex to.

I think I may have written years ago on some other thread I mostly lurked on about how this album made an interesting companion to Kid A, which came out around the same time and was equally wintry. That one got all the accolades, this one just Bjork being Bjork. Cold millennial angst vs. sex in a hot spring.

But I agree with those who like this best of all her work. Some really fun "imaging" of the various clicks and pops if you're inclined to listen to this through speakers. One question: the lyric about a train of pearls shot across an ocean — is this just Goldie's spooge?

I LOVE HIM
I LOVE HIM
I LOVE HIM
I LOVE HIM

is one the most perfect moments ever recorded

nope. It's

SHE LOVES HIM
SHE LOVES HIM
SHE LOVES HIM
SHE LOVES HIM

no it's
"He makes me want to hand myself over"

oh is THAT what she says

"Pagan Poetry" 4 eva

http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/seconds/bjork-cocoon.htm

Infusion kinda fucked up their "Pagan Poetry" remix. It really deserves a better prog house mix.

Moka that is awesome, thanks for sharing. Wholeheartedly agree.

Been listening to Medúlla today and there's way too many filler / awful songs in it, no? There were only 6 songs in there that made me glad to revisit the album, namely: where is the line?, who is it?, oceania, desired constellation, mouth's cradle, triumph of a heart. From those six I would only place two or three as career highlights.

Homogenic, Vespertine and Post have at most 2 songs each which I don't really care about and even those are good enough to prevent me from hitting the skip button.

i guess "it's in our hands" isn't technically a vespertine b-side but it first started getting play around the time of that album, right?

the soft pink truth remix ruled
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUioN7fJnyc

With Selma Songs my fandom suffered its first blow, but Vespertine restored my equilibrium. Medulla killed it.

I love Its in our Hands. It's not technically a vespertine cut but it was played throughout the tour and vespertine is the most obvious reference for it. Should have included it in here mayhaps.

bjork could release a terrible album every six months for the next fifty years and it wouldn't be enough to kill my fandom. bjork4eva, bjork4lyfe. my answer to this poll is pagan poetry.

early 00s mount eerie used to cover "undo" iirc. time i saw it was at a campground and phil getting the crowd to repeat the chorus in front of a huge fire was a beautiful experience.

Btw, around the vespertine-era she used a lot of samples. She hired most of the original artists and she recurred to interpolation/inspiration most of the time rather than actual sampling, so a few of these didn't appear in the booklet:

Hidden Place
Schoenberg - Verklarte Nacht

Cocoon
Opiate - Welcome!

Undo
Opiate - 1% in 2/3 speed

Heirloom
Console - Crabcraft

Unison
Oval - Aero Deck

It's In Our Hands
Gigi Masin - Clouds (also sampled by Nujabes and To Rococo Rot)

Wow, it never occured to me that that warm sound of Opiate's 'Welcome' was more or less recreated for 'Cocoon! And I love both tracks. Job well done then.

doesn't seem fair to judge her on selma songs, it wasn't typical "her" but it fit its intended goals, went well as the dancer in the dark soundtrack

also "Scatterheart" is amazing

It never really read as a "winter" album to me, I always associate it with smothering heatwaves

it was recorded in Malaga in August! so you're right

aw shit that was Homogenic n/m

I didnt really appreciate the "shove the mic down the throat" technique but this is probably my favorite of Bjork's all things considered

who only has sex in the winter?

I didnt really appreciate the "shove the mic down the throat" technique but this is probably my favorite of Bjork's all things considered

I am told that it is the sound of her singing into an SM58 in front of the studio monitors blaring a near-final mix. Vocal take is phase-reverse, bleed is eliminated, fantastic performances are the result! But I don't like the sound of her voice via this technique, trebly and oppressive. Still a marvellous record! I'm going to vote "An Echo, A Stain"

I agree too that Medulla was a difficult listen in sum but its hits are imo the best of the post-Homogenic era, "Who Is It" aaghh what a great song

"hits"

"Who is it" charted as respectably as Isobel, so

Listened again today, this is a fantastic album isn't it? Hidden Place, Cocoon, It's Not Up to You, Pagan Poetry, Aurora, Echo and Unison would all be worthy winners.

Voted Undo.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

"Generous Palmstroke," "Mother Heroic," and "Domestica" are among my favorite songs of hers, probably moreso than anything on the album proper.

my favorite bjork album altho i am kind of crazy (ie i love volta oops)
voting undo

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

This poll reminded me of a great Top of The Pops moment. When Cocoon shot into the charts at number 35 she got to perform on the show but for some reason she only did a minute of the song. Not sure if that was her decision or the producers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-RSfP7kdvw

Great introduction from the host too.

i thought pagan poetry would win by a more comfortable margin.

Thought "Cocoon" would also do better, but the top 3 were really the only 3 I really considered voting for. Good job poll.

Pagan Poetry	8
It's Not Up To You	7
Undo	7

This is my Christmas album of choice.

so beautiful the whole thing

I want to repoll this because no song got over 100 votes. Which is a crime.

Twenty years old today!

a state of emergency!

wow I forgot how good “An Echo, a Stain” is when you crank it

this time I'm going to keep it all to myself

hidden place and heirloom are all-time, crop up frequently on random lists I listen to ... there's a beautiful intimacy to the way her vocals are mashed with the music on this album, some of her whispery best

It saddens me but this is the last thing of her that I liked.

I still really liked 'Medúlla', but yeah, after that there's no record that impacted me so much, which saddens me as well.

Saw her on this tour. She was wearing wings, iirc. Also iirc, last album of hers I listened to more than once or twice, though there were definitely a couple I recognized as good, even if I didn't want to listen to them.

Out of her post-2001 output, Medúlla and Vulnicura are my clear favourites, although I have to say that whenever I'm in the mood for some Björk I usually reach for Post, Homogenic, or Vespertine. Not to say there aren't gorgeous moments on Biophilia, Volta, or Utopia - it's just that listening to them as a whole feels like work at places.

Speaking of the tour, the concert at the Royal Opera House is a must-watch, there's even a full version up on YouTube with AI-upscaled image quality that looks crisper than the original DVD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRGn-YrJZtk

thank u 4 this btw

also awww at matmosssss

I'll take this over everything else she's done, combined, with the possible exception of the first Sugarcubes record.

I have a recurring dream

Came 32nd in the NME albums of the year list that year which is basically a hate crime.

Cocoon and then Heirloom and then Domestica

I like every song in here though

Lol just realized I started this poll and my opening post pretty much made the same ranking. Yay for consistence.

I do no longer think this was her last great album so at least that changed.