Björk

[Mirror Image]

Apparently, Björk's new album Vulnicura is available, but only as a digital download right now:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/musicblog/2015/jan/21/bjork-vulnicura-first-listen-review

I'm not sure if I'll download it as I really want to wait until it's officially released. The album is already getting some good press.

[Henk]

Curious as well, never dived into Bjork. Cover looks nice.

[Linus]

Oh dear, now I may have to get into Björk again.

"the inky, jet-black flipside to Vespertine" sounds promising enough to me.

[Rinaldo]

Nice interview over at Pitchfork.

[Mirror Image]

Curious as well, never dived into Bjork. Cover looks nice.

Check out Post, Homogenic, and Vespertine first. If you like 'pop' music with an avant-garde twist, then Bjork is your woman!

[Mirror Image]

Oh dear, now I may have to get into Björk again.

"the inky, jet-black flipside to Vespertine" sounds promising enough to me.

Indeed. Bjork had become an obsession of mine whenever I started this thread, but I've cooled off now, but I still love her music and admire the hell out of her.

[Linus]

So, I've just listened through Björk's main discography again.

It seems to me like the road from Debut to Vespertine is one of maturity (yes way). Gradually, her untamed talents become more focused.

On Vespertine, after years of experimentation, she finally seems to be comfortable with the medium and only uses her "crazy" to accentuate certain parts, making them the more effective. Choirs and strings constitute a more natural component among the electric beats and the musical layers are beautifully developed into ambient soundscapes that seem to have a purpose, quite unlike the attempts on the latter half of Homogenic (which is valuable for its first three tracks).

Medúlla is more experimentation and didn't do much for me. Volta is a bit of everything from her career. Biophilia was a nice surprise, the songs are allowed to breathe again. The material is not as strong as on Vespertine, but I think this may be her second best effort.

In conclusion, if the new record truly is "the inky, jet-black flipside to Vespertine", I'm looking forward to it.

[Henk]

Check out Post, Homogenic, and Vespertine first. If you like 'pop' music with an avant-garde twist, then Bjork is your woman!

Thanks for the recommendations. I dig the new recording much. Played debut today, I like that recording. Maybe getting Vespertine as well.

[Mirror Image]

Thanks for the recommendations. I dig the new recording much. Played debut today, I like that recording. Maybe getting Vespertine as well.

Excellent, Henk. Bjork is so cool. What's interesting about her music, especially live is the instrumentation/arrangement is usually different than what is heard on the studio recording. She's always evolving and her music seems to evolve with her. Don't forget to check out Post and Homogenic.

[TheGSMoeller]

Hey, Friends,

The new Bjork album is good, not on par with Vespertine (still the best IMO) and it does contain a few light duds, but also contains 2 to 3 fantastic songs that could easily make a greatest hits compilation. The track Black Lake is not only a highlight for Bjork, but for modern music in general. As with most Bjork albums I'll listen to it over and over and find new appreciations as I dig in depper to the music.

[Linus]

The track Black Lake is not only a highlight for Bjork, but for modern music in general.

Wow, how so?

[TheGSMoeller]

Wow, how so?

I'm exaggerating, I'm just a big fan and get pumped when she releases something new. 

[Madiel]

Sigh. Once again, with her back in my Facebook feed owing to the large number of friends who are fans (there's a fair overlap between Tori Amos fandom and Bjork fandom) I am trying to explore her work, and...

It doesn't matter which album I try (and I've tried at least 4), I always end up with the same reaction: that there's some things I find wonderful but that they're mixed in with things I regard as bad or deeply off-putting. For every song I think is excellent, I can usually find another one that I find very boring or downright bad.

There are few musicians that provide me with such a frustratingly uneven listening experience.

[Linus]

There are few musicians that provide me with such a frustratingly uneven listening experience.

I would agree she's quite uneven. (Much less so on Vespertine, in my opinion.)

At her worst, Björk just loops a motif and "varies" it with drum fills, using textures that make no sense together.

But hey, there's always classical.

[Madiel]

(Much less so on Vespertine, in my opinion.)

I am actually deliberately saving that album until last in my current overview, partly because I suspect it may be one of the best. I'm not sure whether I've actually heard that album complete from beginning to end before, so it will be interesting.

I listened to Post this evening, and I think that's one where the standard manages to stay reasonable throughout. I wouldn't say, at least at this stage, that I think everything on it is fantastic, but neither did any of it have me gnashing my teeth.

PS And yes, sudden flurries of drum fills in an attempt to make things interesting is one of the things I don't like. Seem to recall that happening on Biophilia a few times...

[Linus]

PS And yes, sudden flurries of drum fills in an attempt to make things interesting is one of the things I don't like. Seem to recall that happening on Biophilia a few times...

Indeed, on that album I think she completely botched e.g. "Sacrifice" (a song that otherwise had a nice melody going) by all of a sudden drowning it in "avant-garde" drums.

Good luck with Vespertine, I was surprised myself by how well it held together.

[Rinaldo]

There's only one Björk album that I enjoy from start to finish and that album is Homogenic. People tend to be put off by the harsher tracks like 5 Years or Pluto but I find those effin' brilliant. Any beat that feels fresh after almost 20 years is a miracle, especially when it comes from the d'n'b / trip hop infested nineties.

[Henk]

I find Bjork's music a bit neat.. Not becoming a real fan I think.

[Madiel]

I've finished listening to all the albums from Debut to Biophilia (not in chronological order) and it really has become clear that one of the biggest factors in my like or dislike of a song is her treatment of beats.

It's not simply that I dislike heavy beats, the problem is when I can't see any musical reason for them and/or they just become too repetitive. On a single listen, I think I actually like some of the noisy parts of Volta because it feels intentional and justifiable - although 'Declare Independence' is one of the worst things she's done.

Yesterday I listened to Homogenic, which I own, for the first time in a number of years. I continue to be stunned by 'Joga', which is one of the best single things she's ever done, and 'Unravel' isn't far behind, and really the first 4 tracks are all pretty good. But then it starts falling apart as the strings fade and the beats take over. 'All Neon Like' has some good elements but the beat is intrusive. The first section of '5 Years' is just utterly lousy.

And then today I listened to Vespertine... and not once did I end up thinking anything was terrible. Not everything immediately grabbed me to the same degree, but none of it was off-putting, and I'm inclined to go buy a copy for further exploration. And what do you know, this is the album where the beats are always light and subtle and integrated into the music instead of shouting over the top of it.

[Rinaldo]

...although 'Declare Independence' is one of the worst things she's done...

...The first section of '5 Years' is just utterly lousy...

*grumbles under his breath*

Love both of 'em. DI is hysteric (in a good way) when done live.

https://www.youtube.com/v/l1-5uOAPLv8