News about the upcoming Björk album Volta.

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I'm pretty often camped with the M.I.A. hataz... so it chokes me that I wish this sounded more like her, and less like fumbling, horribly produced, less-than-special Björk :-(

― fandango, Sunday, 8 April 2007 10:39 (seventeen years ago) link

There are plenty of harder beats on the album apparently. I hope so, 'cos this is about as fierce as a drained teabag (or a wet sugarcube lol).

― fandango, Sunday, 8 April 2007 10:43 (seventeen years ago) link

The more I listen to "Earth Intruders," the less I like it. Why hire Konono and Timbaland when they didn't really NEED to be in this track? You can barely hear the niceish Konono plinky plink bits. It reminds me of the worst aspects of Post. I don't know, I never expected this kind of cheap, musical ethno-tourism from Björk.

― Turangalila, Sunday, 8 April 2007 21:49 (seventeen years ago) link

I'm...lukewarm on it. I'm sure it will grow on me and it sounds very much like a "single" but I hope that the record will have something a bit more unexpected.

― admrl, Sunday, 8 April 2007 21:54 (seventeen years ago) link

yeah but you might be taking it for granted as cheap, musical ethno-tourism. meaning beneath the aspect of this-has-been-done-before, there will probably be an element of, yeah but she went ahead and did it anyway, and made it sound great. good for her.

also we shouldn't assume anything yet.

― Surmounter, Sunday, 8 April 2007 22:07 (seventeen years ago) link

I wish it had less aimless Bjork-style caterwauling and more of a... tune. There was a time when Bjork was good with a tune.

― ^@^, Sunday, 8 April 2007 23:34 (seventeen years ago) link

I mean, sure, the production is great, but she's kind of just phoning her parts in now, wouldn't you say?

― ^@^, Sunday, 8 April 2007 23:40 (seventeen years ago) link

The people over at britneyspears.org are LOVING it. Me? Meh.. The earth intruders 'theme' is o_0-p

I want PLUTO vocals and heavier beats.

― MRZBW, Sunday, 8 April 2007 23:45 (seventeen years ago) link

this is about as fierce as a drained teabag

Did you miss the part where she was screaming "CARNAGE - FURIOOSITY! - TURMOIL! - THE BOOONES! - BRAAAANCHES!" over rapid African drum beats and freaky, haunting choir singers?
What else do you want? A roaring tiger sample? A Killer Mike guest spot? Alanis Morissette circa Jagged Little Pill?

― Tape Store, Sunday, 8 April 2007 23:50 (seventeen years ago) link

Dalek voices would be nice. A tiger wouldn't go amiss either. Maybe a robot tiger?

― Matt DC, Monday, 9 April 2007 00:06 (seventeen years ago) link

I agree that she's using exactly the same vocal tricks she's used for ages now, especially on the 'CARNAGE! TURMOIL!' swooping bits, but somehow I don't particularly care.

― Matt DC, Monday, 9 April 2007 00:08 (seventeen years ago) link

Robot Tiger FTW!

― funny farm, Monday, 9 April 2007 00:23 (seventeen years ago) link

I think I will probably grow to like "Earth Intruders", but it's kind of sad that we're at a point where Bjork is now the least interesting thing about her own singles.

― ^@^, Monday, 9 April 2007 00:23 (seventeen years ago) link

There was a time when Bjork was good with a tune.
Exactly.

Well, it's just one song, anyway. The other songs could still potentially be awesome. :)

― Turangalila, Monday, 9 April 2007 00:30 (seventeen years ago) link

Hee, I think Earth Intruders would be awesome if it would be a cover of Milhaud's L'Homme et Son Désir.

― Turangalila, Monday, 9 April 2007 00:31 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh, I like this! I don't really hear the Konono contributions either, but I do like this quite a bit. I'm hearing it for the first time as I am typing. It's all spooky and bouncy. Those buzzy synths underneath are quite nice. And since when has Bjork not been about a kind of musical ethno-tourism? This is a woman who uses throat singers and an Inuit women's choir on her records. She's always been all over the map.

― Emily Bjurnhjam, Tuesday, 10 April 2007 21:27 (seventeen years ago) link

But I agree, to hear it in the album context would probably be even better.

― Emily Bjurnhjam, Tuesday, 10 April 2007 21:30 (seventeen years ago) link

I think Earth Intruders in pretty damn good. Best thing Timbo's done for years as well.

― chap, Tuesday, 10 April 2007 21:41 (seventeen years ago) link

Did you miss the part where she was screaming "CARNAGE - FURIOOSITY! - TURMOIL! - THE BOOONES! - BRAAAANCHES!" over rapid African drum beats and freaky, haunting choir singers?
What else do you want? A roaring tiger sample? A Killer Mike guest spot? Alanis Morissette circa Jagged Little Pill?

-- Tape Store

No I caught all that but I'm not convinced. The words just sound like words like she couldn't be bothered to write any depth into them and hoped the dream logic & vividness they might have originally posessed would just carry over, it doesn't (though that line about "the beast with many heads and arms rolling" is good, unsettling). Beats are soft & lame, synths absolutely horrid, choir predictable and none of it feels like a delicious "fusion" just a crap smoothie, the production, the 'eh'-ness of the tune in general reminds me of fuckin' Goldfrapp believe me that's not a compliment.

"Fierce", "Awesome"? Meh. It's ok. I'll probably enjoy it a bunch live, and I certainly won't skip it as the first track on Volta. But by her standards (by a few other peoples too) it's pretty average :/

― fandango, Tuesday, 10 April 2007 22:30 (seventeen years ago) link

reminds me of fuckin' Goldfrapp believe me that's not a compliment.

Heh, my friend Nick said the exact same thing to me last night.

― Turangalila, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 01:25 (seventeen years ago) link

[i]And since when has Bjork not been about a kind of musical ethno-tourism?[i]
Well, yes. But I meant a cheap, frosted-on kind of musical ethno-tourism. I meant the Damon Albarn sort of musical ethno-tourism.

Anyway, yeah, fandango OTM. I wanted burning distorto mbira funk with phat drums, man. This just sounds like a very average pop song with "cool"& "ethnic" stuff attached to it peripherically.

― Turangalila, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 01:31 (seventeen years ago) link

I nominate "Innocence" as singularly most revolting vocal melody by Björk ever. :(

― Turangalila, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 17:18 (seventeen years ago) link

I'm not listening those tracks yet (live, youtube perchance?). I can wait. I still have good hopes for the album. Though I did listen to a tiny bit of one of the Anthony duets, and liked it! After seeing a few photos of them together, and live on stage I'm starting to think they actually make a great couple (musically speaking) weirdly. I couldn't have imagined it before.

― fandango, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 17:27 (seventeen years ago) link

the amazing amazing chorus of 'earth intruders' >>>>> the pretty fierce beat of 'earth intruders' >>>>>>>>>>> (&c &c) >>>>>> the verses of 'earth intruders'

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 21:41 (seventeen years ago) link

if you can call phoning in completely random 'poetic' words verses in the first place

i am harsh, i do love 'earth intruders', the chorus brooks no argument

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 21:45 (seventeen years ago) link

haha, Lex I'd either reverse that, or put the beat last of all.

The chorus is just there, it hardly exactly inspires! Not compared to the turrrmoil! etc parts

I don't think the lyrics are random at all, they're just underworked and underwhelming. I'm being harsh too, but from Björk I've come to expect so much more, even at it's best, this is amongst her worst work.

― fandango, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 22:09 (seventeen years ago) link

the chorus is quite banging!

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 22:18 (seventeen years ago) link

that synth annoys the shit out of me... even more than that bloody gremlin in "Ancestors"

I dunno, I guess there's nothing fundamentally or unforgiveably wrong with Earth Intruders that can't be accomodated except for the entire thing just sounding like ass?

Everyone's excited and riffing on the musical collisons here but I can't think of another single (except Army Of Me) that ever sounded this bad, bland, and slightly dull? I feel like I'm missing something here.

― fandango, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 22:22 (seventeen years ago) link

i like 'army of me' loads!

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 22:23 (seventeen years ago) link

"army of me" is epic, son!

― rps, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 22:25 (seventeen years ago) link

'army of me' and 'earth intruders' are both...bjork at her most propulsively pop, i guess.

― lex pretend, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 22:25 (seventeen years ago) link

god I've posted far too much on this now. Hurry up and leak (the rest)!

― fandango, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 22:27 (seventeen years ago) link

I think Army of Me accomplished exactly what it set out to accomplish. Earth Intruders doesn't seem to have had a game plan at all. It's like an ersatz imitation of Post-era Björk.

― Melissa W, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 22:47 (seventeen years ago) link

aw that youtube link is down

― river wolf, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 23:35 (seventeen years ago) link

while it lasts there's a interview pertaining to this album (it's from a podcast, but don't have that link) up here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdD3VMouqKs

― fandango, Wednesday, 11 April 2007 23:42 (seventeen years ago) link

army of me gets better and better with age.

― Surmounter, Thursday, 12 April 2007 04:46 (seventeen years ago) link

army of me was immdeiately ace, and indeed was the song that converted me to bjork. (possibly because the riff it was essentially early soundgarden on synths)

earth intruders...not so much. it's kind of flat and predictable. but I also think it's difficult to judge, as it suffers mightily from being crappily streamed via youtube.

― m the g, Thursday, 12 April 2007 07:22 (seventeen years ago) link

yeah even the mp3 i have of the extended version is suboptimal, and i can't listen to the shonky youtube mess. dunno how people can put up with such bad quality...i think the production will def come into its own once i hear it properly.

― lex pretend, Thursday, 12 April 2007 08:14 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah I think people dismissing it for sounding muddy when the MP3 is this poor are being a little unfair.

― Matt DC, Thursday, 12 April 2007 09:00 (seventeen years ago) link

Why is the lex all of a sudden ranting everywhere about mp3 sound quality. I personally prefer low quality mp3's as they fit on my mp3 player more. I don't really hear any difference, does your whole opinion of an album hinge entirely on imperceptable to most people issues sound quality. Essentially, you know what it sounds like, the difference a high quality mp3 will make is so miniscule I can't begin to possible think about imagining how to fathom hearing the difference.

I only say this because when I read this thread the Lex's opinion is the one I really listen to and this seems a bit weird. But not that weird when you really think about it.

On the topic of Bjork though, I really think I like this remix I have of Earth intruders (I think its the official one from the single) a little bit more, but then I haven't heard the extended version.

― I know, right?, Thursday, 12 April 2007 09:41 (seventeen years ago) link

the Lex's opinion is the one I really listen to and this seems a bit weird.

yes. yes it does.

― m the g, Thursday, 12 April 2007 09:49 (seventeen years ago) link

afaik, what I have is an aac straight from iTunes, converted to mp3.

I heard about 5 or 6 different versions of that initial rip and they were ALL shocking. Honestly, I'm as fussy about audio quality as anyone but I think there is something amiss in the way it sounds (arrangements, production, mix) here that goes WAY beyond mere fidelity. I'd like to be wrong though.

― fandango, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:31 (seventeen years ago) link

We are the earth intruders
We are the earth intruders
Muddy with twigs and branches

Turmoil!
Carnage!

Here come the earth intruders
We are the paratroopers
The beat of sharpshooters
Comes straight from voodoo

With our feet thumbing
With our feet marching
Grinding the skeptics into the soil

Shower of goodness coming to end the doubt—pouring over
Shower of goodness coming to end

We are the earth intruders
We are the sharpshooters
Flock of parachuters
Necessary voodoo

I have guided my bones through some voltage
And love them still
And love them too

Metallic
Carnage
Furiousity
Feel the speed!

We are the earth intruders
We are the sharpshooters,
Flock of parachuters
Necessary voodoo

There is turmoil out there
Carnage! Rambling!
What is to do but dig
Dig bones out of earth

Mud graves
Timber
Morbid trenches

Here come the earth intruders
There’ll be no resistance
We are the cannoneerers
Necessary voodoo

And the beast with many heads and arms rolling
Steamroller!

We are the earth intruders
We are the earth intruders
Muddy with twigs and branches

Forgive this tribe!

We are the earth intruders
We are the earth intruders
Muddy with twigs and branches

We are the earth intruders
Muddy with twigs and branches

We are the earth intruders

We are the earth intruders
Muddy with twigs and branches
Marching!

We are the earth intruders
Muddy with twigs and branches
Marching!

March

March

March

We are the earth intruders
Muddy with twigs and branches
Marching voodoo!

the bizarre thing about this is how UP it sounds... and yet it's really not the most positive of songs, I don't think it's explicit enough (I guess she doesn't want to come over all Bono but still) it just doesn't feel properly thought through to me.

― fandango, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:40 (seventeen years ago) link

something amiss in the way it sounds

OTM. It's either like a shoddily downmixed surround track or else it's done on purpose and Our Mere Human Ears Have No Reference Point (i.e. like that attention whoring left/right mix on the last Low album (which is a great album, but come on, that mix is pointless) ).

― StanM, Thursday, 12 April 2007 10:44 (seventeen years ago) link

i have to say, i'm listening to this again, and i think i sounds great. i think it's a really fun, playing-around take on like Post, Debut and Homogenic.

i really don't know re: the lyrics to EI, but they're growing on me. and the density of the noise on all the tracks is really great. i love the beats.

― Surmounter, Thursday, 12 April 2007 14:10 (seventeen years ago) link

and btw mp3 quality or whatever, it does make a difference! i can't imagine listening to some albums' crappy leaks, it would ruin em

― Surmounter, Thursday, 12 April 2007 14:11 (seventeen years ago) link

I dunno, I don't mind it in total... but I can easily wait for the CD single over the extra 00.3% fidelity I might enjoy getting a sodding .aac (ack?) to tide me over the next month :p

― fandango, Thursday, 12 April 2007 14:21 (seventeen years ago) link

I want PLUTO vocals and heavier beats

I think the EI lyrics stand up pretty well against Pluto. But Pluto is pretty fucking fantastic.
It sounds exactly how I was hoping it all would! Now that she is back playing festivals it makes alot of sense. Opera houses couldn't really contain it.

― o-ess, Thursday, 12 April 2007 16:23 (seventeen years ago) link

Yeah, I think o-ess is right, Vespertine live was really beautiful (at least it is on the DVD, sigh.) but it seems like Bjork is really going back to something, I don't know what. I remember on the Medulla DVD she says something about going back to a certain time when she was listening to a lot of metal especially Swans and wanting to recreate a certain feeling etc. It just feels like there's a new type of energy that wasn't there before, less glacial, more fiery.

I remember now, she was talking about becoming a mother, that's when she got all hardcore, when she was pregnant. And being pregnant againd...

But there's something earthier about this one, I think. Something about the way she can sing so beautifully, but her voice is aging a bit now, I listened to Birthday the other day and you can just hear how her voice could just do anything, not exactly disciplined, just kindof expanding or, I don't know. But now, her voice can't do everything. I just think its the first album since she realised she had to start trying harder, that it wasn't all as natural, that it just has this burst

I can't wait to see it outdoors, I hope it lifts off.

― I know, right?, Friday, 13 April 2007 22:11 (seventeen years ago) link

is it nu rave?

HOW DO I SHOT GUARDIAN?

― fandango, Friday, 13 April 2007 23:56 (seventeen years ago) link

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