Bjork

[aggroculture]

Seems like we don't have a Bjork thread.
I am currently on a huge Bjork trip. Post is my all-time fave; I like Debut also.
Currently working my way through Medulla and Gling-Glo, with a bit of Sugarcubes on the side.
For some reason I stopped listening to Bjork after Post. It's been great to rediscover her awesomeness.

Classic:

I wish she had a whole album of heavy stuff like this.

No surprise Helmet did a cover version:


Carcass also did a version of Isobel:


Original:

[thevoid99]

I miss Bjork. I like her stuff though her last album was alright but didn't stick with me like her previous albums. Post is my favorite w/ Homogenic as my 2nd.

[Mantra]

She's the fucking best.

Vespertines was a pretty formative album for me, probably my most favorite album of hers. It's something I still return to, usually in the winter. It fits that season so perfectly. Everything about the album, the whole idea/concept of it really speaks to me. I remeber this old interview when it came out where she talked about how she almost called it "Domestica" (or something similar), and that it was about two people living together and shutting out the rest of the world and creating their own little paradise together. That idea has always stayed with to this day. Kinda breaks my heart a little too, since I feel like I've never really had that with anyone.

Medulla is pretty weird, and I honestly hated it when it first came out, but it's gradually grown on me over the years. It's definitely flawed in spots, but certain tracks are incredible. I also think that Volta is excellent and doesn't get nearly the level praise that it deserves. To me that's such a perfect summer album, with all the water sound effects and the bright horn sections. I have a lot of nostalgia for that album.

I only listened to her last album once, because it seemed unbearably boring and I just wasn't in the right mental frame of mind for it to click with me.

[eversonpoe]

the first björk thing i ever bought was the Family Tree box set (because i'm insane and i love box sets).

i think that vespertine / homogenic / post are a perfect triumvirate of albums, and they're especially fantastic in surround (i have the surrounded box set and the live box set, too).

[hologram parade]

my very tiny bjork collection:

[theburningreptile]

I love Bjork. She's my favorite singer. My favorite album of hers is Homogenic. Favorite song is Pluto. I love her live albums too. Favorite is Live at Cambridge. I'm also a big fan of Voltaic. I love how experimental she is as well. I haven't really gotten into her last album though, not because I didn't like it but because I just haven't listened to it much.

Here's one of my favorite song of hers.

[ambergris]

New album coming soon:

http://www.theguardian.com/music/201...arca-new-album

Her co-producer is going to be Arca, who was previously involved with FKA Twigs' EP2 and Kanye West's Yeezus. While I have resigned myself to the fact that Björk is leaving 'music' behind and moves towards 'art', I am actually really looking forward to this.

[The Doctor]

I will always give every new Bjork album a chance because she's one of my all-time favorites, but if I'm being honest the last time anything of hers really hit me on a visceral, can't stop listening level is Vespertine.

I enjoyed both Volta and Biophilia, but each one only had 2-3 songs that really made me sit up and notice, whereas prior to that all of her albums were incredible, beginning to end. Even the soundtrack album Selmasongs is incredible as a whole.

[thefragile_jake]

I I enjoyed both Volta and Biophilia, but each one only had 2-3 songs that really made me sit up and notice, whereas prior to that all of her albums were incredible, beginning to end.

This is basically how I feel as well. I'll always check out anything new she puts out cause I lover her so much, but I do hope her new album is something I find myself wanting to revisit all the way through over and over again.

She was great live last year in Chicago though.

[ambergris]

I will always give every new Bjork album a chance because she's one of my all-time favorites, but if I'm being honest the last time anything of hers really hit me on a visceral, can't stop listening level is Vespertine.

I enjoyed both Volta and Biophilia, but each one only had 2-3 songs that really made me sit up and notice, whereas prior to that all of her albums were incredible, beginning to end. Even the soundtrack album Selmasongs is incredible as a whole.

Yep, I thought Björk was incredibly good between Post and Vespertine. Basically every single song, even the b-sides and rarities were excellent. I guess after Vespertine she got bored with the pop world, so she made Medulla. Then came the Drawing Restraint 9 soundtrack, very arty... (There's a song called ambergris march, I liked the sound of the word, so....) Volta then was a return to pop and for me, it's basically half-great, half-average. And Biophilia was then another high-concept art project. The songs on there almost seemed like by-products. Her collaboration with the Dirty Projectors however was better.

[Camille]

I love Bjork, caught her live years ago, one of the best shows I attended. She is a total artist both musically and visually.

[ambergris]

So her new album will be called "Vulnicura" and will be released in March.

http://www.theguardian.com/music/201...he-haxan-cloak

[binaryhermit]

And it allegedly leaked already.

EDIT: I can confirm the leak. Was a pain in the ass to track down, though. Also, 128 kbps mp3.

[Lerxto]

256kpbs mp3 is circulating, too. Not sure it's a transcode or not, but still.

[binaryhermit]

Meh... honestly, 128 kbps doesn't bother me as much as it should.
And I'd bet that the 256 kbps version is a transcode.

[Charmingly Miserable]

I'm not the biggest Björk fan but the Haxan Cloak worked on the album and I'm curious as to what his contributions sound like.

[Frozen Beach]

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/vulnicura/id959973080

[Magtig]

I've only listened once, but this album is incredibly frustrating. Just when you think she's going to get into a groove the beat drops out and an incongruous singing interlude that sounds like it was badly edited in after-the-fact cuts off what would otherwise be enjoyable. It's like listening to a great playlist in the car with a friend who has a severe case of ADD. Just when you start enjoying a song the motherfucker changes it. It's a shame too because there are (micro) moments of instrumental awesomeness, but they're so fleeting that you're never satisfied with anything.

[Frozen Beach]

note about the leaked version: some people suspect it's an unfinished version

[Magtig]

note about the leaked version: some people suspect it's an unfinished version

Got anything other than the lack of quality to back that notion up? Does it differ from today's release?

[Frozen Beach]

Got anything other than the lack of quality to back that notion up? Does it differ from today's release?

I haven't yet listened to the album myself, but I was reading on the net people talking about the track times being different on the final release compared to the leaked version. I just figured I'd mention it here in case there actually was a difference.

[Camille]

Well well well, it seems it's out officially!
http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/ar...ulnicura-album

[Lerxto]

I don't think the leaked version is different from the official version, if you don't count 'Quicksand' being louder, as it should be.
And after listening to this album a few more times with the lyrics, I'd say this album is great. Much better than Biophilia for me!

[fillow]

I've only listened once, but this album is incredibly frustrating. Just when you think she's going to get into a groove the beat drops out and an incongruous singing interlude that sounds like it was badly edited in after-the-fact cuts off what would otherwise be enjoyable. It's like listening to a great playlist in the car with a friend who has a severe case of ADD. Just when you start enjoying a song the motherfucker changes it. It's a shame too because there are (micro) moments of instrumental awesomeness, but they're so fleeting that you're never satisfied with anything.

Actually, I would describe Biophilia in pretty much the same way.
Nattura was miles better than anything off that album.

[ambergris]

I didn't know that Björk and Matthew Barney had split and that this album was a "break-up" album. Homogenic was also somewhat of a break-up album, but Vulnicura sounds actually much sadder. A break-up in your early 30s is much easier to take than one in your late 40s, I guess. I think Arca has a lot of potential, but his contributions to this album were not as I expected. The album is not what I expected. Today's article and interview on Pitchfork find similarities that I also recognize, for example, Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush. In fact, the fewer but longer songs, and the way the electronics are only for ambience, remind me very much of Kate Bush's last album. However, I never really liked Joni Mitchell's music, where the lyrics are more important than instrumentation and even melody. It's also not what I would like Björk to do.

[blackholesun]

Whoa. This album is definitely not what I expected. I liked Biophilia, but this hits so much harder. Beautiful, raw album.

[Indefinite_Cure]

What the fuck, Black Lake made me cry on the first listen. It musically perfectly represents the emotion of a break-up. IO've never been reminded this much of how I felt that night with anything else. Stellar work!

[Jinsai]

This is a pretty great album. I was not expecting this. It's haunting and beautiful in a way that really reminds me of the best moments from Vespertine and Homogenic.

[ambergris]

Now that I've overcome the shock of experiencing this grieving side of Björk, I also have to say that it's a very good album. As a piece of art it's masterful. There are some spots that are not easy to listen to and that are not supposed to be enjoyed, like the work of Scott Walker, and songs 7 and 8 are a bit too fragmented for my taste, but it's the best album since Vespertine, in my opinion. Beautiful, sad, and an artistic progression.

[nobies]

This album is better than Vespertine.

Yeah, I said it. 'Family' had me tearing up. Shit got too real....