Damn!

Taken from another thread; CREATE YOUR OWN MEDULLA!

http://svt.se/hogafflahag...tekor.html
[Edited 8/29/04 19:53pm]

That is a beautiful shot of Bjork.

BlaqueKnight said:

Yeah, cause she looks dead.

Novabreaker said:

sweet...

Novabreaker said:

that wasn't very nice.

HelloKittyIsMyFriend said:

Just couldn't resist.

I like the picture a lot to be honest. It's a beautiful photo. I bet Anxiety would love to have a similiar one taken of himself.

Stunning and exciting. It is completely Bjork. I've listend twice through and agree with Gooey that it is like a fairy tale ~ a transcendant universal vision that unravels with total core emotion. I just couldn't love her more.

bratchildsfriend said:

Did you get the dvd as well? I'm going to get both and watch the dvd first. Have to wait til I get off work though, 7 hours to go!

bratchildsfriend said:

I could if she came to my house and sing for me in my cement garden.

BTW, the word I was trying to come up with while writing my review was it reminds me of being in a monastery.

I spent some time in a monastery as a teenager and this album has the same calming effect on me.

Damnit I can't wait to experience this when I get home tonight.

I'm indifferent so far.

Cloudbuster said:

Did you hear about Katie Bush, mr?

gooeythehamster said:

I have said this before and it still rings true to me, I think that Bjork is the most important artist to grace the end of the the 20th century. Her growth is amazing. It's unreal and would be unbelievable had we not bore witness to it. There certainly aren't very many artists that approach music as if it were the blood of life. It is.

I'm really amazed by this album. I had no idea that it was going to be a largely accapella venture and that is brilliant! That is an idea I have often thought about and wondered why nobody's ever tried it. It's stellar the soundscape that has been created largely using the human voice. It's certainly the most amazing musical instrument in creation.

I'm just glowing from this album. I feel blessed to have been a fan of hers from the beginning, even before her solo career. A little girl from the ice decended on the planet with the might of a Goddess. I have never been let down by her and this is the most extreme illustration of how much this woman lifts me up.

And I did manage the impossible task of not hearing a single sound from this album (except Oceana from the Olympics) and also managed not to click on a single Bjork thread. I feel happy I didn't ruin my listening experience

Wow! If you liked "Dancer in the Dark", you'll love Medulla
[Edited 8/31/04 16:59pm]

Submarine is fuckin awsme

I raced down to my favorite Detroit record store Monday morning to pick it up. They always get my shit early.

I listened to it 5 times yesterday and cannot even believe it. I was expecting disaster when I heard there would be no total instruments, but I don't know why I had any doubts. It's fucking Bjork! And I'm not saying that as a blind fan. It seems as if she can do no wrong and she's the only artist I can think of whose work seems to have no low points. She's just expanding and expanding and hasn't made one misstep yet. Once my thoughts are more together, I'll write a proper review. Love it.

A fantastic review from AMG. Very thoughtful.

Review by Heather Phares
It would be difficult to accuse Björk of making music shaped by commercial or critical expectations at any point in her career, but her post-Homogenic work has been even more focused on following her bliss, whether that means acting and singing in Lars Von Trier's grim musical Dancer in the Dark; crafting tiptoeing laptop lullabies on Vespertine; or, in the case of Medulla, sculpting an album out of almost nothing but singing and vocal samples. Before Medulla's release, she declared that "instruments are so over," and considering what a distinctive voice and vision she has, it's almost a reasonable claim. The album's title and concept refer to the truest, most undiluted essence of something, and Medulla explores both the ritual power of the human voice and some of the most essential themes of Björk's music in a way that's both primal and elaborate. In some ways, the album feels like an extension of the concept behind Family Tree: it traces and unites the elements that make Björk's music what it is. Several songs are sung in Icelandic, which works especially well, not only because it ties in with Medulla's concept, but also because of the language's sonic qualities: the rolling Rs, unexpected (to non-Icelandic ears, anyway) guttural stops, and elongated vowels reflect the alternately chopped and soaring arrangements behind them. Neopaganism and unfettered sensuality also wind through the album, particularly on "Mouth's Cradle," along with meditative, Vespertine-like pieces such as "Desired Constellation." It took a large cast of characters to make the album's seemingly organic sound, including vocalists ranging from Icelandic and British choirs to Inuit singers to Mike Patton and Robert Wyatt; programmers like Matmos, Mark Bell, and Mark "Spike" Stent; and beatboxers such as Rahzel and the onomatopoeically named Japanese artist Dokaka. The results are, in their own way, Björk's most intimate-sounding music. Throughout Medulla, her voice is miked very closely, and with the dense layers of vocals surrounding her, it often sounds as if you're listening to the album from inside her larynx. Even the album artwork's black-on-black song titles and lyrics require you to get physically close to decipher them. But this intimacy can often be intimidating, and even unnerving: despite being reconfigured, the vocals that make up the arrangements still retain their ingrained emotions. Toward the end of "The Pleasure Is All Mine," a contented sigh repeats in the left channel, juxtaposed against an almost weeping sound on the right, giving the song an unusual depth and ambivalence. Some of the heavy breathing, grunts, and ululating woven into the album come close to provoking physical reactions: the massed vocals, eerie sighs, and throat singing on "Ancestors" make the chest ache and border on the animalistic, suggesting a particularly melodic pack of wolves. Meanwhile, there's something simian about Dokaka's cheerful babbling and beats on "Triumph of a Heart." Despite gently whimsical moments like the Robert Wyatt duet "Submarine" (which bears an uncanny resemblance to TV on the Radio's postmodern take on doo wop), on the whole its mix of raw, heavy rhythms and rarefied choral washes make Medulla the most challenging work of Björk's career. "Where Is the Line" is one of Björk's tough, no-nonsense songs, and Rahzel's hard-hitting beats and the accusatory choir behind her make the track even starker than anything on Homogenic. Even the album's most accessible songs, such as the gone-native loveliness of "Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)" and "Oceania," which Björk wrote for the 2004 Athens Olympics, have an alien quality that is all the stranger considering that nearly all of the songs' source material is human (except for the odd keyboard or two). Aside from a few simple, a cappella, or nearly a cappella songs like "Show Me Forgiveness," this is also Björk's most process-oriented album, as reflected by layered, experimental tracks such as "Öll Birtan." In fact, fans of world, contemporary classical, or avant-garde music might find more to appreciate in Medulla than anyone looking for a "Human Behaviour" or "It's Oh So Quiet." It's not a poppy or immediate album, but it is a fascinating one, not to mention a rewarding one for anyone interested in the world's oldest instrument being used in unexpected ways.

GangstaFam said:

Told ya.

I'm not sure I agree with one aspect of Heather's AMG review. I own both Debut and Post -- in fact, they're the only Bjork projects I currently own (outside of the "Venus as a Boy" CD maxi-single) -- and I just listened to some snippets from Medulla.

If those snippets are any indication, Bjork's new CD is absolutely brilliant -- the first release by her that has made me seriously contemplate a purchase in almost ten years. Her use of the human voice is stunning throughout this project -- a true demonstration of the versatility of the instrument.

I feel that the "Human Behaviour" and "It's Oh So Quiet" crowd might actually find Bjork's new album simultaneously adventurous, accessible and thrilling. I know I was pleasantly surprised.

My first impressions? It's just too damn weird, and I'm not one to shy away from weird entertainment. But this album will definitely need further listens. Not the same as "Vespertine" which I liked instantly.