GangstaFam said:

given this tracklist, I would say that the project probably
doesn't contain too many lyrics. Probably it will have lots
of vocals on it, but I doubt that there will be any songs on
it as such. Just look at those titles, that seems more like
it will be atmospheric pieces instead of narrative "songs".

IstenSzek said:

I expect it to be essentially the opposite of "Medulla". Mostly instrumental.

IstenSzek said:

however, if her "soundtrack" to 'Dancer in the Dark' will be
anything to go on in this case, I am already jumping for joy
oooh, what I wouldn't give for another "Scatterheart".

"ScatterHeart"

GangstaFam said:

I think you might be right there. It would make sense somehow.
She's taking the whole songstructures apart now, focussing on
making songs with it's different elements.

First it was just the vocals, now it could indeed very well be
just the instruments. I'm sure that will be very cool though,
especially given the instrument she's picked again lol.

IstenSzek said:

She seems to always react against what she just produced. In a way, she's admitted this too.

Debut = naive and simple.

Post = with Debut, it's like her 'Before & After'. Bold, colorful, trying on lots of styles to see how they fit.

Homogenic = she got sick of trying everything and wanted to make something uniform & tight. confrontational, direct, distorted, guttural.

Vespertine = the opposite. introverted, wintery, secretive, micro-organized. her most lush and full sounding work.

Medulla = her most skeletal and deconstructed sounding album. in exact contrast to the dense Vespertine. all vocal.

Drawing Restraint = I expect to be really tripped out instrumentals. Probably more detailed and defined than the primitive Medulla.
[Edited 6/9/05 1:41am]

GangstaFam said:

ooh, that's clever!

it might very well be the case indeed that she'll use this
album as a kind of stepping stone to the next phase. which
will likely be an album with more traditional instruments
and vocals again.

just like "Selmasongs" was a bit of a bridge between Homogenic
and Vespertine, in that the sound became so much more, ehm, eh
how to put it, well, "selmasong-ish"

GangstaFam said:

My life motto!

And btw, kewl descriptions of what you think the album will be like.

Telecaster said:

ahhh...but in bjork's case..wierd *is* predictable...

the woman is a master at creating off-kilter pop....she is a *pop* artist...

she needs to stop kidding herself and stick to what she is good at. i'll forgive this because its a soundtrack to her hot hubbie's work..

but if her official new album is a bunch of noise without structured songs...im gonna give up on her like i gave up on janet...


tis sad when you let your ego take over your work..truly is..

sosgemini said:

But the woman is ALL about ego; it always has been all or nothing with her. I think taht has to do with character though, you make ego sound all bad.

When did you join Björkfan-ranks? To me it was Sugarcubes, but I became addicted because of her Debut-album.

Her older work is all over the place; punk, jazz, pop, dance. To me, her solo work is a scala of the many sides of her personality. I do not enjoy every thing she does as much as the other, but I am always fascinated, stimulated and forced to think things through with her.
It's her music, the way she presents herself, the way she combines her work with other arts. Every part of her music is thought-through. I love that. It is not just made to sell. It is meant to create.

Sugarcubes debut cd.....way way back in my freshman year in highschool...a friend who was dating a college guy hipped me to them....in exchange i hipped her to Toni Childs....

and i dont mind when she expirements and infuses her pop structured songs with other elements..

but its when you take it outside that world (ala medulla) that you've lost focus of your work and have gotten all on us..

sosgemini said:

if bjork were more of an entertainer than an artist, i might be willing to go with this statement just a little.

actually, come to think of it, no i might not. entertaining is art. shame on me.

just because bjork isn't making work that caters to your personal tastes or mine, it doesn't mean she's letting her ego take over her work, per se. she's just following the ideas that come to her. for mariah, that means doing a new album of mid-tempo lite-hip-hop duets with lil' hoodie and ice grill. for prince, it means doing a record and tour in which he professes his love for old skool r'n'b. for bjork, it means doing an album completely a capella. nobody was complaining when she toured with an orchestra, a women's choir from greenland, and matmos. that certainly wasn't the norm. but it was what she wanted to do, and it sounded great. 'medulla' was a risk. i didn't care for it, but i didn't fault her for it.

and actually, come to think of it, when is art NOT about ego?

Anxiety said:

I agree with that. Ego is thinking your crap is so good that others will like it too. If an artist truly had no ego at all, they would keep all their art to themselves.

Anxiety said:

it is..but once you let it cloud your judgement about whats good and whats not (or what your good at creating and not good at creating) all becomes lost...

i guess its a natural progression for all artist...you struggle, you become a success...you start to think your shit doesnt stink and you crap out a Medulla...or an American life...Or a Graffitti Bridge...


i guess i just had hope for bjork..she seems so grounded and level-headed and didnt let success get to her.....and her creative peek was for so long..we are talking what? 88 to 03? that i thought she had found that perfect balance....

and what the hell is up with her site? way way way too busy..i used to visit that place more then i did the org....

sosgemini said:

it sounds like your reservations are more about bjork going somewhere with her work that YOU don't like, moreso than her actually ruining her career. sometimes people get to a point where they can't follow a certain artist anymore. it's not always the fault of the artist, if indeed "fault" is the operative word. so you're not into where she's going. that's valid. she's drifting more and more away from a traditional pop sensibility with each album she does. she's gonna lose fans that way, but she's also doing what she wants to do, and i think she's EXTREMELY professional about how she goes about doing it.

Anxiety said:

i could care less about career or how many albums she sells...your right about that..but im just not a fan of the "allow an artist to create whatever it is they want"..

great artist need boundries to work within....

let me ask you this, is it okay for a great chief to make crappy tasting food just because thats where his craft has taken him?

sosgemini said:

depends on if the food is meant to be sold at mcdonald's or if it's just something the chef wanted to present as an experiment. that, and i would venture to say that judging the value of food might be substantially less subjective than judging the value of music.

Anxiety said:

you know.....you!!

sosgemini said:

Nice discussion folks.

And I'm with Anxiety on this. I personally happen to love Medulla, although I can understand why many do not.

But I think it's silly to threaten to give up on her after one bum album. And to compare her to Janet? Janet's completely put together, has a team for everything she does, has run out of ideas and seems completely bored by her own career and image.

With Bjork, everything seems to develop very organically and come directly from her. She's anything but bored. In fact, I get the sense that she's more stimulated and excited about what she's doing every time out. She's always talking about 'trying to capture the music in my head'. She seems hellbent on getting there and you've gotta admire an artist for constantly pushing themselves and their audience.

Give Medulla another chance. You may never end up loving or even liking it, but it's definitely worth the effort. Many who have stuck with it ended up having a breakthrough with the album, i.e. endo. And whether you like the all vocal structure of the album, I think it gets painted into a corner by a lot of folks as not having any "songs"...

Pleasure is All Mine
Where is the Line?
Vokuro
Who Is It?
Submarine
Desired Constellation
Oceania
Sonnets/Unrealities
Mouth's Cradle
Triumph of a Heart

...in my opinion are fully formed "songs". They have a beginning, middle and end, in many cases a verse/chorus/verse structure and the layout of what would make up a traditional song - beat, bass, melodic lead, vocal lead, etc. It's really only 4 songs - Show Me Forgiveness, Oll Birtan, Ancestors and Midvikudags that seem like interludes or mini-songs. Try burning a disc without those 4 and you might see how tight of a concept it really is. You could even throw in some of the more "complete" sounding remixes like the "Bell Choir" Who Is It or the "Brazillian drums" Mouth's Cradle.

I'm sticking with her. She's possibly the 1 artist that I can think of that hasn't let me down yet.

GangstaFam said:

Actually, that came out weird. I know Anx doens't much care for this album, but I agree with his previous statements above.

GangstaFam said:

eleven said:

Co-siggy.

GangstaFam said:

cha know..the last time you told me to give it another go i looked for the cd but it wasnt in its case..


i'll have to look again today...

sosgemini said:

You've been robbed! At least somebody wanted it.

GangstaFam said:

i didn't care for it, but i'd rather she do something that's too obtuse for my tastes than to release something that's way too overcalculated and overproduced.

Anxiety said:

you're cool.

sosgemini said:

great artist need boundries to work within....

I always thought that the great artists as those who break out of the boundaries. Think of all the painters, poets, musicians, architects etc. you admire most.
Those who push the edge, experiment and present unique works or approaches are much more interesting than those who work within the confines of a prescribed recipie. And, who gets to define what the boundary is? I believe it is the artist, each time they enter the realm of their craft. They are the only one who can say ~ "okay, this is the limit for this work of art" ~~~ then, they get to move it anywhere they want the next time out. To me, the thought process and the space Bjork had to be in to produce Medulla is as exciting as the album itself (don't forget the beautiful Komid that was left off the US release). I see, Gemini, that one of your favourite artists is MeShell. Her new release "Dance Of The Infidel" is a perfect example of pushing the limits. Not what people expected from her and many are having a difficult time with it but others recognize the genius behind it. Great thread!!!!!

bratchildsfriend said:

thats not what i meant....boundries as far as working within either a timeframe or a concept that energizes their creative energies....when you are free of those boundries, and your ego starts to think you can do no wrong then it is my belief that the art starts to be compromised..

a perfect example of this is Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List..the man had budject constraints, time limits (due to him working on Jurrasic Park at the same time)..he said it was one of the most creative moments in his career..versus something like Amistad that failed despite him having no restraints..

i encourage and support pushing limits..and meshell's a perfect example of an artist that artistically was able to take her music into a different level...

i commend bjork for her efforts...but in my personal opinion, she failed...and im not going to appreciate an album simply because of the artist intent...after all, im just a consumer of the product...and if the product sucks..the product sucks..

this isnt saying im not going to buy bjorks music anymore..im just waxing on this one album.

now, since im in the minority here im going to give claps and nods to my own post..



(popularity contest be damned.. )

what says "boundaries" more than recording an album where you're not allowed to use musical instruments?

Anxiety said:

agreed..she just went too far out of her rhelm/element....it was a failed attempt. IMHO