idk why but this is giving me flashbacks to Volta, which sounded like a dream on paper and I even loved it at the time, gave it a glowing review in the local alt-weekly etc but has not aged well at all
― Murgatroid, Friday, 19 August 2022 11:33 (one year ago) link
'bjork gabber album' sounds incredible on paper but i'm expecting it will be fairly dense & impenetrable like most of her post-vespertine output & i have no idea how any of the ideas are going to fit together
― ufo, Friday, 19 August 2022 11:35 (one year ago) link
Can't wait to be challenged yet again
― Bait Kush (Eric H.), Friday, 19 August 2022 13:02 (one year ago) link
She gives me a visual description of Fossora. If Utopia was a magical retreat from the black lake of misery she plunged into on Vulnicura (“pull all the teeth out, no violence – like a pacifist, idealistic album with flutes and synths and birds”), then Fossora shows life in this dreamland. “Let’s see what it’s like when you walk into this fantasy and, you know, have a lunch and farrrrt” – another gleefully rolled R – “and do normal things, like meet your friends.”
― petey v, Friday, 19 August 2022 13:21 (one year ago) link
'Bjork Gabber album' sounds great but we know from experience that means 2 - 3 tracks at most.
― change display name (Jordan), Friday, 19 August 2022 13:31 (one year ago) link
I'll be disappointed if there are only 2 or 3 fart songs on this.
― Bait Kush (Eric H.), Friday, 19 August 2022 13:38 (one year ago) link
She also described it as her "mushroom album" and indicated it will feature "flutes and synths and birds" so it could sound like anything since Vulnicura really (also sextet of bass clarinets boxing like Public Enemy, she certainly has a way with words and marketing).I haven't returned to Utopia at all, so it must the occasion to catch up on Björk.
― Nabozo, Friday, 19 August 2022 14:19 (one year ago) link
^ The "flutes and synths and birds" part actually referred to the sound of Utopia. This one is apparently all earthy, grounded, organic clarinets.
I'm moderately excited -- unlike some commenters online I have no delusions that it will be more of a pop/dance record than anything she released in the past decade (the gabber-influenced elements are apparently mostly outros of a bunch of songs -- so I guess think "Crystalline" and the d&b outro? -- and the Guardian piece even stresses the "resistance to easy melody" lol) but I find her latter-day albums fascinating to explore, even if I rarely return to them after that initial heavy immersion.
Also sad to read about her mom.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Friday, 19 August 2022 21:01 (one year ago) link
Sounds like a dark sound palette and maybe sparse arrangements. Dare I hope for tight songwriting? No.
― death generator (lukas), Friday, 19 August 2022 22:13 (one year ago) link
lunch and a fart album... lol i can't wait
― maf you one two (maffew12), Saturday, 20 August 2022 12:40 (one year ago) link
At her manager’s suggestion, she has been digging into the archives to make a podcast series about her discography; it is due in autumn.
looking forward to this
― scanner darkly, Saturday, 20 August 2022 20:03 (one year ago) link
expect I'll like the podcast more than the new album but excited to hear both
― Indexed, Tuesday, 23 August 2022 16:40 (one year ago) link
knowing Bjork and her penchant for.... enterprise, the podcast will be a paid subscription thing
― Murgatroid, Tuesday, 23 August 2022 16:41 (one year ago) link
First single "Atopos" out soon, she did not disappoint and went full drag for the cover:
https://i.imgur.com/lD46ezl.jpg
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Wednesday, 24 August 2022 16:48 (one year ago) link
there were listings giving the release date as september 30 but they've since been updated to november 25
one of the members of gabber modus operandi has recently been accused of sexual misconduct though & is currently undergoing some legal mediation process in relation to that, so who knows what that will mean for this though
― ufo, Friday, 26 August 2022 11:11 (one year ago) link
podcast: https://www.talkhouse.com/announcing-bjork-sonic-symbolism/
― Murgatroid, Friday, 26 August 2022 11:41 (one year ago) link
Is she juggling garlic and onion on that picture ? That's a little over atopos (sorry, couldn't do better).
― Nabozo, Friday, 26 August 2022 11:49 (one year ago) link
Graffe growing vpon the dress of a bjork
― StanM, Friday, 26 August 2022 12:21 (one year ago) link
dreff - dammit
― StanM, Friday, 26 August 2022 12:26 (one year ago) link
El Guincho on the new album, that’s gonna be interesting I suppose
― Murgatroid, Wednesday, 31 August 2022 13:01 (one year ago) link
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch60RcftcDD/
it's out 30 september
tracklist:AtoposOvuleMyceliaSorrowful SoilAncestressFagurt Er i FjördumVictimhoodAllowFungal CityTrölla-GabbaFreefallFossoraHer mothers house
― ufo, Wednesday, 31 August 2022 13:09 (one year ago) link
i guess the previous artwork is going to be the single cover?
― ufo, Wednesday, 31 August 2022 13:10 (one year ago) link
Tracklist very much in the vein of the latest with maybe a hint of Medulla and a Kate Bush closer, I'd like to see the track lengths. Curious about what troll gabber sounds like.
― Nabozo, Wednesday, 31 August 2022 15:00 (one year ago) link
El Guincho on the new album, that’s gonna be interesting I suppose― Murgatroid, środa, 31 sierpnia 2022 15:01 (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
― Murgatroid, środa, 31 sierpnia 2022 15:01 (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink
He was on Biophilia too, but his contribution was just a few sub-bass beats here and there and I wouldn't recognise them as his if I didn't read about it, TBH.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Wednesday, 31 August 2022 16:00 (one year ago) link
The podcast is worth listening to! First three episodes are out, and it's nice to have her talk about each of her albums in depth from the present.
― with hidden noise, Saturday, 3 September 2022 02:14 (one year ago) link
First single out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FD2mUonh5s
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 10:16 (one year ago) link
this sounds pretty much like i expected based on her descriptions but not in a good way, oh well
― ufo, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 10:34 (one year ago) link
if you ignore the lyrics completely and imagine there's no clumsy percussion track, it's salvageable maybe
― imago, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 10:38 (one year ago) link
I just get angry when I hear something new by her now. the... random melodylessness of it all. meh.
― StanM, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 10:54 (one year ago) link
seems like she's intent on continuing utopia's impenetrable tunelessness, very much not for me
― ufo, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 11:14 (one year ago) link
What imago said, maybe. Totally into Bjork with reeds and brass and stuff myself, but that rhythm track is less than brilliant.
I still think that Utopia is at least 2/3 great, so slippery melodies are not necessarily a turnoff here. Just getting to end of a third listen as I type and it's sounding vaguely hooky anyway!
― Nag! Nag! Nag!, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 12:27 (one year ago) link
I haven’t heard a single note of Bjork since Medulla so I’m missing a lot of context but this new song absolutely rules in my opinion and will probably send me back to check out all of the in between
― zacata, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 12:53 (one year ago) link
I actually don’t mind the rhythm track, it’s the Jon Brion Eternal Sunshine soundtrack-ass clarinet melody that’s taking me out
ugh
― Murgatroid, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 12:57 (one year ago) link
prob not a clarinet but my point remains
― Murgatroid, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 13:00 (one year ago) link
I kind of like it. Don't get the tunelessness criticisim, I've had the melody stuck in my head after just two listens. Excited to hear the rest of the album.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 14:49 (one year ago) link
Yeah I'm into it, the thing I have mixed feelings about is the lyrics.
― death generator (lukas), Tuesday, 6 September 2022 15:18 (one year ago) link
I'm liking it, but I'm hoping the album is nowhere near as long as Utopia.
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 15:28 (one year ago) link
xpost yeah I don’t mind the track at all but I hate the lyrics, I just have no patience with that “why can’t we all just get along?” messaging
― Roz, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 15:31 (one year ago) link
Reminds me of Aksak Maboul in a strange way, which can be no bad thing.Lyrics are best ignored on the whole so didn't listen to them.
― born on the bayeux (Matt #2), Tuesday, 6 September 2022 15:34 (one year ago) link
unfortunately the lyrics are right there in the video, a bit hard to ignore on my first listen :/
― Roz, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 15:36 (one year ago) link
agreed about the lyrics, sounds like a "we forced an AI to listen to 10,000 hours of Bjork" kinda thing
― frogbs, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 15:49 (one year ago) link
Third listen I'm really loving those reeds
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 15:52 (one year ago) link
listened to it off my phone this morning (i know) and now listening to it at work on headphones, somehow even worse on 2nd listen
― Murgatroid, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 16:10 (one year ago) link
I like the textures, and I like how easily Bjork moves through the terrain the arrangement creates. We just take it for granted because she's been singing over crazy shit for decades now.
― death generator (lukas), Tuesday, 6 September 2022 16:14 (one year ago) link
I guess the last minute or so exemplifies the album's apparent gabber angle
― you can see me from westbury white horse, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 16:15 (one year ago) link
I like all of the musical elements, and hard distorted beats + low woodwinds sound like a good idea (like hard distorted beats + strings on Homogenic), but this is probably going to be another Bjork album that I only listen to once. :(
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 6 September 2022 17:56 (one year ago) link
annoying that I like this musically more than expected and then the lyrics are offensively dim
― rob, Tuesday, 6 September 2022 21:18 (one year ago) link
With video off, lyrics off, and amp in the red, it’s a beast. Visceral, and more tuneful than expected. (“expected” meaning Utopia.)The combination of big drums and bass woodwinds is great, but it’s also very These New Puritans Hidden. Do I mind? Not at all!
― Xgau Murder Spa (nikola), Tuesday, 6 September 2022 21:51 (one year ago) link
I'm glad I listened to it first without the video.
New music aside, the podcast has definitely sent me into my annual Bjork phase. Finally I know who did which beats on Homogenic (answer: Markus Dravs did all the distorted "volcanic" beats, Mark Bell did all the 909 and dancier beats)!
― change display name (Jordan), Tuesday, 6 September 2022 22:00 (one year ago) link
feel like the Bjork alignment ever shifts and we’ve got more pronouncement-voiced yet churning european bits this time
― mh, Wednesday, 7 September 2022 04:58 (one year ago) link