Bjork's new program "Vespertine" Total Victory or Total Failure?

She consistently makes it so easy to produce a stock soundbite about the record before release - "... Matmos, Matthew Herbert, Napster, Korine..." - that noone actually bothers to listen to it?

The likelihood of her coming anywhere topping 'Selmasongs' is, frankly, very low.

No, I'll go to Morpheus for it.

"How much did she even do" you ask. Good Lord, what a stupid question. Bjork composed and produced the bulk of this album herself, on her laptop computer. She then arranged to have brilliant musicians, such as the great Zeena, and Matmos to add there talents to the album. Make no mistake: 'Vespertine' sounds exactly the way she wanted it to sound. She's is the driver seat the whole time.

Vespertine is undoubtedly Bjork's most exquisite work to date. From start to finish, there exists nothing more creative, more original, more awe-inspiring, more unique.

She teaches us that passion and spirit can be derived as easily from a 60-piece orchestra as from almost nothing whispers. With every listening, feel free to soar higher and higher. For there is nothing better.

A "Lovers midnight sleigh-ride across a pristine Narnia snowscape" ur sumthin'.

And face it, we all secretly love children's choirs.

I think this album, moreso than the others, requires a particular set of moods. I adore the album to death, but the last time I played it I was vaugely annoyed and coming home from a night club with my wife, one of her best friends (who'd just turned 30), and the 19-year-old boy he'd gotten thrown out of the bar for. The album was bizarre and jarring for me, while the two "lovebirds" in the back were making moon-eyes at each other and drowning in each others' souls.

It's very context-specific music.

me, i think this is her best work yet. even if you hate or love bjork, you have to admit one thing.... it is her, and it is totally unique. its so personal... i dont know how the hell you people can say its just the other people doing her work for her, you really need to get a clue. Look at any other pop artist and you can find maybe 2 or 3 songs actually written by them (most of the time just cowritten) nevertheless produced. and i really dont care what anyone says, but her lyrics and her melodies are very original and interesting (not to mention they suit each other perfectly).

So i dont know... we are all entitled to our own opinions, but keep the facts straight -Rex

Strangely, apart from the "no songs" accusation, most of what you say about Vespertine is true. But misses the point. I can't really explain it, but all the yardsticks by which one previously judged a Björk record just don't seem to be of any use with this album. AND it sounds gorgeous into the bargain.

Record of the year so far, then.

I was wondering about that too, until I saw a promotional shot of Bjork wearing the same dress as on the cover. If you look at it very closely, you'll notice it's the head of the swan.

Why is Vespertine un-Bjork-y? Why do you think she has ceased to be herself? Sounds like she's writing exactly the songs she wants to and doing it exactly the way she wants to to me, so I think Vespertine is Bjorky, but even moreso than normal.

Why is it OK for Radiohead to put out albums that don't sound like Radiohead but it's not OK for Bjork? (Okay, don't answer that one, that was a low blow, but I'm still curious about the first question.)

a) The strings are actually wonderful. No, the arrangements and compositions are all wonderful The opening few seconds of "Harm Of Will" are a triumph and maybe the best 5 seconds of pop this year. But I can't argue your point here so we'll have to agree to disagree.

b) Okay, I take exception to this. You seem to be boxing Bjork into what you think she should be here. Why does Bjork have to be the things you've said? I reckon if you're distilling and reducing the essence of Bjork's charm to "alien and passionate" then maybe you don't like the other albums so much. Surely she has more going for her than that? I find lots of things I love about Bjork on Vespertine in greater quantity than on, say, "Post".

c) The reason I bought up Radiohead is because this exact same criticism (which I imagined you might use) surely applies to half of Kid A and some of Amnesiac too. But it doesn't apply to Vespertine. "Heirloom", "It's Not Up To You" and "Unison" even have hooks for heaven's sake! HOOKS! Or are those verboten? Please further qualify "energy" - really how energetic is "Headphones"? Or "All Neon Like"? Not very energetic AT ALL but still great songs. The same applies to "Coccoon" and "Undo" or whatever other songs you think aren't energetic.

d) As for (B). You're boxing Bjork into your narrow pre-conceived perceptions of what she should be doing. Oh heaven forbid she should say, NAY EXCLAIM "I love him!". Of course, if it were "I just need to explode this body!" that'd be OK, I'm sure.

HOWEVER, I reserve the right to completely change my mind about this, as "Post" took weeks and "Homogenic" possibly *months* to worm their way into my favour. I thought they were mostly rubbish at first (and I've only had the new one a fortnight or so).

OK, so Melissa doesn't like "Vespertine". So what. I think it's amazing. So do lots of other Bjork fans. That's enough for me.

And Sean, I'm fine with people not agreeing that Vespertine is a triumph, but I just can't understand Melissa's reasons for disliking it so. I'm genuinely curious.

I just wanted to say to all those who didn't like Vespertine : you don't have a heart!! This album is one of the most original and creative albums I have ever heard. To say that bjork is a genious is un understatement, because no other contemporary artist has been or is as innovative as she is especially since Homogenic, another great album. Sometimes I wonder if this lady is human, because I'm not sure that humans are capable of writing such amazing, touching, annoying but still incredibly human words, so if she's human then I'd say that she's surely unique and one of a kind. enough said about bjork, let me go back to Vespertine.

To begin with Hidden Place is an incredibly well done song, and I agree with her choosing it as the first single. This is my second favorite song on the album.

Cocoon : I found it disturbing in the beginning but after hearing it 4 or six times I started loving it and its explicit erotic lyrics.

It's not up to you : a beatiful song, one of the rare sing along songs of the album and the choir is just awsome.

Pegan Poetry : the hightlight of the album and my favorite one. It's a haunting, touching and powerful love song. I have never heard a woman singing about love in this way, it's deeply original. Even when she bursts out at the end saying I love him I love him.

well I can't go on reviewing the rest of the songs because I haven't heard them enough.

PLease don't hate bjork and be grateful that artists like her exist in a world full with purely commercial music and singers like britney spears and jlo

http://home.earthlink.net/~patfranz/Jackrevenge.jpg

I have high hopes for Lake Experience, perhaps masochistically.

But I really want one of those cookies. Could I get one for hayt0rizing something else? What if i went outside and drop-kicked a kitten into my neighbours yard?

...yes...yes...it is warm in the cavern of the Bjork-hayt0rz...and we have many delicious cookies besides...

Ha! I felt exactly the same.

But then, there's also good songs like "Pleasure is all Mine," "Mouth's Cradle," "Triumph of a Heart," "Sonnets / Unrealities" & the Robert Wyatt duet "Submarine."

I'll pretend "Desired Constellation" never existed, though.

i think it's bold to put some of those vocal noises on a "pop" record - it reminds me of some of kate bush's stuff on The Dreaming, but even more bizarre. also, those bloopy noises on that one track - where is the line with you? - are very reminiscent of some bloopy noises on The Dreaming.

and i just really like that bjork always leaves room for flaws in her music.

room for like total vocal failure. bjork has talked about how she has come to accept the fact that sometimes her voice "sounds beautiful, sometimes not so beautiful," or something like that. i feel like that sort of margin for error is apparent in pretty much all her stuff, in the looseness of some of the arrangements, but mainly in the cadence of her voice. it's not always perfect, and that's kind of the point. with that part of Medulla, i feel like she's driving the point home: total failure is its own artform. i love that.

total failure is its own artform

erm i don't think this is true, nor do i think it's anything that bjork has aimed for/'left room for' - most of her solo work has totally had a perfectionist streak about it! i don't think much she's done is any different to exactly what she wanted it to be.

granted, i do think perfectionism is very different from making it what she wants it to be. i don't know she wants her voice to sound perfect - i've definitely heard her say something to this effect.

I have! It's also awesome (and points out that the song itself is really really strong in addition to the renditions).

xp

I have! It's also awesome (and points out that the song itself is really really strong in addition to the renditions).

yes it definitely made me go back to the original and hear it with new ears - i'd previously thought 'oceania' was one of the more impenetrable tracks (compared with 'where is the line?' or 'who is it?') but it really isn't.

haha i've just remembered about 'ancestors'!!!

but it's always a compromise: what you want, and what your limitations are. i think bjork treds the line beautifully - in a sense, she is a perfectionist because her visions, whatever they may be in her own world, translate so well on record. on the other hand, to me, it seems like bjork has perfected a world of sound that isn't always perfect. that's how i hear it anyway.

What's that supposed to be mean?

I love Vespertine. I love the harp sound, I love the music boxes. I agree that the record emphasizes sound over songwriting, and it does wear a bit towards the end. Still, it has a lovely shimmering aura not unlike primo Cocteau Twins.

oh and that headphones song on post? now to me, there's an example of the beauty of the imperfect.

Again, art = what you want + what you can do.

I think it's fun deconstructing her voice - we should all be deconstructing anything of interest that seems too difficult to deconstruct. that's like what we do!

From the same Pulse! article:

"...I know I just can't sing like anyone else, and I still haven't found a singer who I can say is my hero or who has influenced me. I...admire a lot of singers and how larger than life, how big they are, but I haven't got anything in common with them. Just the sound of my voice, to begin with, or what I've experienced, just my life in general - there's no way I could compare myself to someone like Edith Piaf, or Maria Callas or Ella Fitzgerald, because they're just too distant from me, and I can't really learn from them either."

So easily the best Bjork record.

"program"

this and Homogenic tie for my fav

i know, ha.

really, this just gets better every year.

(ha about "program")

wow mel w is so OffTM up there....yes, I think this is Bjork's best album; volta really pales in comparison.

Surely Post and Debut are more "saccharine" than Vespertine?

No way is this Bjork's best album; both Post and Homogenic are light-years better.

no

yes

Post is a little too broad in its sound and Homogenic has quite a few duds in it. Vespertine is like one long beautifully produced track, but maybe others would prefer more variety and scope. I just like how intimate it is.

What are the duds on Homogenic???

Can't remember. Somewhere near the middle, maybe? It gets a little choppy whereas Vespertine only tires near the end. I still really like it, though!

Vespertine is perhaps two tracks too long. otherwise, perfect.

Medulla aside, she's basically spent her entire career trying to recreate those two albums; I think a solid case can be made for them being the cornerstones of her musical foundation.

Maybe, but in that case Vespertine is the album Homogenic could have been. =)

It's really good, you should listen to it again. I just did.

Medulla aside, she's basically spent her entire career trying to recreate those two albums; I think a solid case can be made for them being the cornerstones of her musical foundation.

-- HI DERE, Tuesday, May 20, 2008 9:41 PM (1 minute ago) Bookmark Link

what albums are in imitation of Homogenic/Post?

maybe Vespertine/Volta? Just a guess. I'm not sure I agree though.

It's all to do with the colouring of the artwork

i would say definitely no for both of those.

ok

Volta maybe borrowed from some of Post's more sparse tracks, but that's all i can see.

All of them since Post and Homogenic except for Medulla, as I said in my post. She is constantly reusing the same compositional ideas, in terms of melody, harmony and arrangement; Medulla broke out of that because she was playing around with a capella and, as a result, she made something very different-sounding from the rest of her catalogue.

It's not a case of "album x is the new Post/Homogenic", it's that everything she's done since then has recycled those two albums.

That's sort of a depressing way to look at Bjork's career. I really hope it isn't true!

Keep in mind I like all of these albums!

But also I can't really listen to either of those albums all the way through without wanting to skip a track here and there, while I just listened to Vespertine twice all the way through.

i respectfully disagree! the only 2 studio albums after Post/Homogenic, excluding Medulla, were Vespertine and Volta, right?. and i have to say, notwithstanding melody/harmony/compositional analysis, i think they sound very different, and stand alone.

The amount of respect being shown here is heartwarming.

I mean the upshot of all of this is that I just spent a nice afternoon listening to Vespertine and wanted to tell someone about it.

i mean, maybe in terms of song structure -- she has a very consistent voice in that sense -- but in terms of overall style and textures, i think each album is quite unique.

hehe :) respect rules!!

i think medulla is an interesting companion to vespertine. they seem like two intentionally diverse approaches to her music; vespertine is a fragile, glittering crystal music box, and medulla is a heavy, club-swinging, somewhat hairy sounding thing. it's almost a female/male split, or heaven forbid, the yin and yang of her creative process. I think Volta attempts to merge these two approaches and doesn't do it exceedingly well; I think Homogenic was the (duh) homogenous beast these two albums grew out of. I just like Vespertine more.

but actually i can now see some similarities between volta and post... hmm

Medulla is hairy, but hairy like a woman

also the album artwork on vespertine is lovely. so is the artwork on medulla, i just never listen to it.

i love the vespertine artwork

and the artwork on Volta is horrible.

The Volta videos are outstanding, though.

ok i LOVE the cover of volta! i think it's totally amazing

everyone should own the surrounded box. it's one of my favorite things ever. i just wish it came with seperate dvd's instead of the godawful dualdiscs.

wtf are you supposed to do with the sticker on the cover of volta? and those foldover flaps get everywhere. and the booklet falls out and vanishes behind the stereo. HATE.

The amount of respect being shown here is heartwarming.

-- admrl, Tuesday, May 20, 2008 4:53 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Link

"Let's unite tonight/We shouldn't fight..."

Vespertine is my favorite Bjork album, too. It's just so God damn pretty.

yeah, it's my favorite too. and like Dan said, I like all of them!

haven't heard Volta except for 'Earth Intruders", which I liked and which sounded very different than anything on Vespertine. The vinyl is like $53 at my store!

earth intruders is the worst track off it. which doesn't mean the album is awesome or something. haha. cryptic... you should listen. it's interesting.

There is no way "Earth Intruders" could ever possibly be worse than "The Dull Flame Of Desire".

ha!

Both those songs are awesome (except the latter has Too Much Antony). Cut the mentalism! That being said, there is some dull-ass shit toward the end of that record.

Oh and btw, Verspertine rox, whoever said it sounds like a crystal music box otm.

"There is no way "Earth Intruders" could ever possibly be worse than "The Dull Flame Of Desire"."

We are not going to agree on the subject of the Bjork. This song is the only reason to listen to Volta!

respectfully.

yes true, that is in fact the only song on the album i remember, it is quite lovely

I think I've listened to the entirety of "The Dull Flame Of Desire" exactly once, mostly because I kept thinking "Is this ever actually going to end??????????"

it's a toughie. i just like how it goes into Innocence (it does right?)

that's awesome

TOTAL VICTORY

after obsessing high school and taking a nearly decade-long break starting with vespertine (i didn't dig it at the time at all), i've been on a big bjork kick lately. but while going back to debut and post and homogenic is like going back home in a sense after a long musical journey (boring story but i didn't listen to music for the first half of my life and bjork was one of the very first artists i ever got heavily into), vespertine is like this whole other house i didn't realize i had. "Unison" is so so awesome.

yeah, funny that a lot of longtime fans at the top of this thread seemed to really dislike it when it came out. it's probably my fave bjork album, really gorgeous from start to finish.

holy moly, it's been 9 years since Vespertine? I wonder if i'll like it more now. Will try today.

this is suddenly all I want to listen to. the tension between the intimate & the epic is in most bjork, the way she puts herself into songs/the world, there's a similarly paradoical magical domesticity about this record, something relaxed and enchanted, otherworldly and everyday. I'm increasingly appreciating music which is comforting, nourishing, centreing, and this is v clearly that, a sort of withdrawal.

No love lost if all of the very first batch of posters on this thread are DEAD. Vespertine is a stone cold classic, I seek it out a couple of times per year and it always gets to me. Not sure if I'd call it relaxing, but enchanted, withdrawn, nourishing: absolutely. Also magical.

Yeah, it's a great record and there's so much shit being talked at the beginning of this thread.

(xpost)

it's not relaxing but I think bjork seems perhaps at her most relaxed, less of that blank-eyed imperious wizard biz. like a lot of melissa's complaints, I more or less agree but think they are positive: delicate sweet bells and strings, less drama, shapeless. it's not up to you is my favourite, there's something overwhelmingly humane about it, forgiving and warm. despite all the frosty icelandic cliches I think it's a very warm album.

has Melissa changer her mind?

"Undo" is my favourite. I like that Bjork is healing through this record, it seems a long ways off from Homogenic which is insular, caustic and full of distress.

Vespertine and Homogenic are her two masterpieces. Two of my favourite albums of all time.

Homogenic will always be my favourite album of hers, but Vespertine is very close.

has Melissa changer her mind?

― dance cum rituals (Moka), Sunday, July 16, 2017 3:53 PM (forty minutes ago)

Not really! But I was just thinking that I probably haven't heard this album in full in over 15 years. I'm glad/embarrassed that all my initial thoughts on the album when I was 17 are preserved in amber on this thread. I don't really disagree with my past self, but I probably wouldn't phrase my thoughts as dramatically now.

Homogenic is my fav too. 5 Years and Unravel rule

Funny to see I posted to this thread in '01 with a positive opinion. As I recall, I initially thought Vespertine was disappointing compared to the amazing Homogenic, but I guess I liked it from the get go! Maybe I confused my actual opinion with the ILM hivemind opinion. In any case, I'd put this right up there with Homogenic nowadays. Best comment upthread: "this sounds like ice"

Also, hey there Melissa, miss seeing your posts on this site

I love him
I love him
I love him

I love him

I love him
I love him
I love him
I love him

I

she loves him
she loves him
she loves him
she loves him

best bjork thing ever period, dont @ me

as an amateur bedroom electronic music person, this is one of the most influential records for me

upon further, still total victory

cosign the love, probably my favorite overall record of hers. Although the insane peaks of Homogenic top any individual moment here, the record flows so well and is so integrated. Plus, Zeena Parkins.

Really, that Björk has basically the top 2 greatest albums ever recorded, is there any real need to decide which of the two is greater?

this is the only Bjork album I've ever really listened to, it sounded wonderful on a snowy day.

it's also interesting to hear this record at the peaks of valleys of love in your life. the mood is completely changed depending on how you're feeling. it's natural to hear things through the filter of your own emotional state, and some albums can take on a more powerful meaning if the listener is in a certain life state (like yo la tengo's atntiio and depression+divorce).

i don't know wtf i'm talking about but eventually i was trying to argue that vespertine has at least several different distinct emotional/life/sound ties like that, at least for me, and it seems otherworldly and always refreshingly current and relevant for that reason

great post Karl

I hate to say this is the last I really was invested in Bjork. The Royal Opera performance of Vespertine is essential as well.

Vulnicura revived my love in her though

This is probably her best album.

it's also interesting to hear this record at the peaks of valleys of love in your life. the mood is completely changed depending on how you're feeling. it's natural to hear things through the filter of your own emotional state, and some albums can take on a more powerful meaning if the listener is in a certain life state (like yo la tengo's atntiio and depression+divorce).

― Karl Malone, Monday, July 17, 2017 4:09 AM (twelve hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Goddamn right and expressed so eloquently. The album can hit you in a myriad of ways, soundtracking both the peaks and the valleys of love. Thinking about this further I have a hard time coming up with an album, or even a single song, that does this. Take 'Pagan Poetry'. The whole gut-wrenching 'I love him, I love him' sequence is equally applicable to both the euphoria of love as the utter destruction of it all falling to bits. Embracing love with such force and swallowing it whole, opposite the lamenting and hysteria of love that died/is dying. That song alone has accompanied me in both sides of the spectrum.

(fp'd you for saying 'I don't know wtf I'm talking about' bcz, clearly, you do)

Went to re-listen to this. Receipt for my first pack of condoms sitting under the CD tray. Oof.

I think she would be happy about that.

final track on this record is my favorite bjork song of all time. i can remember thinking i didn't like this as much as homogenic at the time but now i v much feel the contemporary consensus. imo homogenic feels like it's always trying to explode where vespertine seems like it's always trying to be quiet. her best record along with medulla (which i like more than most)

Medulla's when her quailty control started slipping - all her records since have been patchy.

I like this album a lot but I never listen to it, whereas I go back to Post and Homogenic (and selected songs from Medulla and Volta) a lot.

I think the original title for Vespertine gives us a nod to why it's so quiet - Domestica

Anyone heard the Vespertine opera, any good? It's now released on CD:

https://www.galileomusic.de/cover/400/oc978.jpg

Funny to see the intital lukewarm reaction to this now ILX certified classic.

that is weird. IMO it's clearly her best album and also the last album of hers I really loved.

I'd agree, except maybe with the 'clearly'.