SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

for shame!

GangstaFam said:

that tells you how busy I am!

I just got it. Not crazy about the packaging. What did you all do with the sticker?

superspaceboy said:

put mine on the left fold of the front cover.

sosgemini said:

I started to do that but put it back because the thing doesn't close, but am retinking that as I sit here and watch her feet curling.

superspaceboy said:

funniest thing i read all week

superspaceboy said:

i put mine on the inside red flap right above the CD tray. it looks dumb there, but it was a dumb packaging idea, so oh well.

OK my first...very first impressions...to be taken very lightly.

As a whole, I like it better than Medulla, but that was expected. It's very dense in many places, almost jarring like in Innocense. It's also very tribal...even the slower sparse songs. Very tribal. The album is very very Bjork. Well very 2007 Bjork. If that makes sense. I always felt the first 2, while wonderful in their own ways were really her taking familiar genres and squeezing them into her own. Debut more so than Post. When Homogenic came out...THAT was the begining of her sound. It sorta makes me think if Medulla had more of a "pop" sound to it, this is what we'd get.

I find Volta to be taking the ecclecticness of the first 2 and fusing it with her sound creating a variation that wasn't present on Homegenic nor Vespertine. It certainly isn't an insta like for me. I like it but on first listen have not fallen in love with it. It certianly isn't the "Up" record I was expecting, but I was sort of only half thinking it would be that after hearing Innocence and Earth Intruders.

I can't really say if this is going to be better or as good as her prior efforts. There is a lot going on, and I have had to listen to the songs on Homogenic and Vespertine for a while until I liked them. So, it might be a couple of weeks before I will have more to say.

I can certanly see the Bjork hardcore wetting themselves over this. It's a good Bjork album, as they all are.

I've avoided this thread for awhile because Volta was delayed in Australia. I just picked it up and can't wait to get into it! The packaging sucks major ass, though.

Moonbeam said:

Moonbeam said:

And a quick FYI: last night's Chicago show was OUTSTANDING.

I'll let GangstaFam fill in the details since he (quelle surprise) snagged the setlist, but a euphoric time was had by all and our girl was in fine form from beginning to end. In a nutshell, I'd say the high points for me were the AMAZING sounds of the percussion and Bjork's outstanding vocal control throughout the show. She sounds every bit as great on stage as she does on album...it's refreshing to hear someone who can still deliver the goods in concert.

The 10-piece brass section was pretty great, too. I thought all the horns were a little overbearing on Volta until I heard them at last night's show and was able to enjoy new arrangements of older Bjork stuff. Now I'm a fan. These ladies totally blow - but in the best possible way.

The less said about her opening act Ghostdigital the better.

Anxiety said:

Einar Orn's band, right? Um.... God, I hate him. I will never, ever be a Sugarcubes fan because of him. Which is unfortunate, because I like most of their songs. Can someone go back and edit him for their entire catalog completely?


Anyway, glad you guys had a great time. I got to hear Unison!

RZR said:

yeah, it's einar orn's latest attempt at...well, i don't know what he was attempting, to be honest. it was just BAD. it almost kinda sounded like PiL, only miserable. i've tried to find the bright side to einer orn over the years..."maybe he was the creative center of the sugarcubes"..."well, he's the icelandic fred schneider"..."he's just so avant garde that it's over my head"...but no. i just think he's vile.

Anxiety said:

I so badly wanted to be there but just am not healthy enough yet. But, I got a little sneak surprise thanks to Nathan ~ All Is Full Of Love ~ I am a happy girl!

OK, I really do not care what form of instrumentation this woman touches, whether it is organic or electronic or even simply voices. She is one of the most amazing vibrant other dimensional artists to come along in like ever. I am so absolutely proud to be a fan of hers and that I have been on her ride from the beginning. This album is fucking amazing.

One thing I have simply always adored about her is the fact that she is a poet, probably one of the most amazing poets in all of music history. Certainly the most amazing in todays standard. Reading the lyrics to The Dull Flame of Desire just had me literally grabbing my head in heartaching agony at just how beautiful those words are.

Like Spaceboy, I expected more of an "up" album. Quite frankly, I really wish she would do a straight out industrial album. Anx mentions the horns are kind of overbearing but I love the effect of them on the album. They signal departures from one song to the next, giving a feeling of Wanderlust just like she described. Moving from one feeling to a completely different feeling, just like Iceland is different from the Amazon is different from the Chinese countryside is different from the Alaskan wilderness. All unique and beautiful in their own way.

And let's not even go there about fucking Declare Independence X 1,000,000,000!!!!! I think this is one of the most effective use of those departing horns as the horns in their chatter lead into that beat Pluto has always been one of my most favorite of her songs. I love when she gets scary I was obsessed with Pluto when Homogenic came out and my friend could not handle it She was always telling me to turn it off because it scared her and I just think that song is amazing. As if that is what it sounds like to be made brand new Unlike Pluto, this song is an anthem. LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT!.

I have been cannibalizing this album all weekend.

yeah, i did say the horns were overbearing at first, but after hearing them in concert last weekend, i kinda got more perspective on where bjork was coming from and it doesn't sound so forced to me anymore.

now i wanna hear a remixed greatest hits CD with brass band arrangements!

Anxiety said:

They sound like cargo ships to me. Carrying goods or great ships taking passengers to new destinations. That is how they hit me on first listen so they becamse symbolic to me and therefore I never even noticed that they could be distracting

And Jealousy isn't even the word to describe how much I wish I could have been there with you guys I still have never seen her live and I got to make this happen on this tour

The concept of "Necessary Voodoo" is getting major airplay in my brain right now

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

"Stately" is the best word I've read in reference to the brass section. I agree with that. And the ship horn sound of the brass section reminds me of being in Iceland, which I guess is a pretty obvious connection all around but in the right songs it still gets me all nostalgic.

You will see her on this tour if you really want to. I've been missing out on seeing her live for over a decade...I finally just decided it's not an option for me to miss her this time. So I went!

Anxiety said:

I've never seen her live.....and it might just happen this weekend!

RZR said:

I truly think he's the reason they never made it bigger than they were. His voice was attrocious!

superspaceboy said:

i'm still waiting for someone to hit me with some redeeming factoid about him that will make me appreciate him or at least feel bad about harshing on him while it's clear that bjorkie thinks he's the bee's knees.

"didn't you know...EINER ORN DISCOVERED ICELAND!"

you know. something like that.

Anxiety said:

OK, I never actually did the sugarcubes. I have been on the train since debut

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Ironically, she didn't write the words to that song. They're a poem by some Russian guy.

RZR said:

STILL. I did know someone else wrote that but I'm sayin, her music is full of the most amazing poetry. I love the way she interprets that poem. Amazing

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Yeah, it's a good one. I just wish Antony had dropped the lisp for this one. I like his voice a lot, but the lisp really holds me back from loving it. And he doesn't always sing with it, so I don't know what makes him decide to use it.

Anxiety said:

What's interesting is other than forming the Sugarcubes with Siggi (bjork gets some credit for their formation) he hasn't done that much.

RZR said:

Yeah, I'm iffy on the choice of the male vocalist but the poem itself and just thinking about actually having someone in my life that I could actually muse like that over makes everything all better

superspaceboy said:

Um... is he the one that runs that record store? And the label? I'm not sure

Surely, there's something....