passion makes this place great so i'm all for it bud
― after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Thursday, 19 April 2018 15:46 (six years ago) link
The main problem with "Declare Independence" is that it's not "Pluto." At all.
― Uppercase (Eric H.), Thursday, 19 April 2018 15:47 (six years ago) link
Declare Independence has very corny lyrics but it's easily the standout of Volta anyway.
― ufo, Thursday, 19 April 2018 15:50 (six years ago) link
my response to lyrical approach on volta is, like, “oh, ok, REALLY?” for almost the whole thing
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 19 April 2018 15:50 (six years ago) link
still vividly remember staggering up to a coffeeshop counter in disbelief upon first hearing "Pluto"
"is this.... Bjork??"
― sleeve, Thursday, 19 April 2018 15:50 (six years ago) link
biophilia’s clunky sjon lyrics about cells dividing were a real relief
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 19 April 2018 15:51 (six years ago) link
the song on volta about terrorism is clumsy
― after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Thursday, 19 April 2018 15:55 (six years ago) link
Haven't been paying attention to the lyrics on Volta, just the instrumentation. Declare Independence is perhaps the worst track on there.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, 19 April 2018 15:55 (six years ago) link
the lowest point for me on volta is "innocence" which sounds like a track timbo and danja couldn't even get onto loose
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 19 April 2018 15:58 (six years ago) link
innocence sounds dated on arrival
― after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Thursday, 19 April 2018 15:59 (six years ago) link
this is wonderful
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=viX7tcKXehY
― after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:01 (six years ago) link
I hate "Declare Independence" as much as I hate "My Girls"-- corny individualism masquerading as romance
What really sold me on this song was Lotic dropping the instrumental in his Boiler Room mix, it sounded insane in that context
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:11 (six years ago) link
I love Timbaland's production on "Earth Intruders" and "Innocence" but feel the songs are too weak for me to want to listen to them. I had no songs from "Volta" on my ballot. When it came out I found myself wanting to like it, to defend it, but happily, subsequent albums made me realize that it was a misstep in her latter-day arc and that I can safely forget about it
― nevertheless, he stopped (flamboyant goon tie included), Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:15 (six years ago) link
i feel like one of the ideas on volta (homogenic but horns instead of strings) is really good, but when combined with the other way less good ideas it just makes for a really confused and confusing record
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:17 (six years ago) link
it wasn't a bad idea but none of the tracks that went for that really live up to the idea, like Wanderlust is just tedious.
― ufo, Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:22 (six years ago) link
It was cool to see an all-female brass band in full costume on that tour, and the reworkings of non-Volta tracks was great
In fact, any reworking of a catalog track with "this year's touring lineup" is always a highlight for me, she could really just put together a tour with all new instrumentation and no new album and it'd be prob her best-ever tour
― nevertheless, he stopped (flamboyant goon tie included), Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:27 (six years ago) link
i love Bjork but i'm not voting, more interested in the rollout to dig into the decent chunk of her career that I didn't follow closely.
our son is a fan of Bjork ever since we were in line at the Amoeba buy counter and a woman in front of us who was selling her son's CD collection at his request noticed him staring at the cover of Volta which was on top of the box, and she asked him, "Would you like this CD?" We listened to it in the car and he was amazed. He also really likes this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFTliOnoNSk
― omar little, Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:32 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ao5Sd6BCK4
this is a nice rework - harpischord version of Aurora in Icelandic, according to comments her daughter is in the choir too
― ufo, Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:37 (six years ago) link
Does anyone rep for the Dirty Projectors collab?
(I enjoy it)
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 19 April 2018 16:49 (six years ago) link
ok Vespertine b-sides are amazing
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 19 April 2018 17:21 (six years ago) link
yes they are
― sleeve, Thursday, 19 April 2018 17:24 (six years ago) link
Foot soldier! Mother heroic
― after party for the apocalypse (Ross), Thursday, 19 April 2018 17:44 (six years ago) link
The Bjork/DPs collab features some of my favourite DPs songs ("Beautiful Mother" i.e.) but despite the largeness of Bjork's name on the record I don't think of it as a particularly Bjork-y album
― nevertheless, he stopped (flamboyant goon tie included), Thursday, 19 April 2018 18:13 (six years ago) link
True, I think I remember reading that Longstreth wrote it (with her in mind)
― change display name (Jordan), Thursday, 19 April 2018 18:23 (six years ago) link
vespertine shares a dynamic with radiohead's amnesiac for me, in that 1) both records might be my favorites by their respective artists 2) the songs that didn't make each record are better than many of the songs that did
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 19 April 2018 18:45 (six years ago) link
"Kinetic" and "Worrywort" were the best Radiohead ever did at trying to make a Bjork track. Better than anything on 'Kid A' or 'Amnesiac'.
― Soundslike, Thursday, 19 April 2018 19:53 (six years ago) link
I'm so here for Björk singing "Aurora" in her living room backed by bored schoolchildren while reading the lyrics from a piece of paper, and then curtsying at the end.
No, seriously, I love it. I wish she sung in Icelandic more often on her albums. BTW that's Jónas Sen on harpsichord and Ólöf Arnalds on koto.
― ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ, Thursday, 19 April 2018 21:13 (six years ago) link
so much bjork that I love but all these opinions are exhausting
― ogmor, Thursday, 19 April 2018 21:55 (six years ago) link
lol
― Dan S, Thursday, 19 April 2018 22:15 (six years ago) link
well opinion THIS: a bjork supercut with all the different times and ways she has sung "e-mo-tion-al"
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 19 April 2018 22:18 (six years ago) link
Vulnicura really is a bookend to Vespertine, isn’t it? A kind of negative refraction. Listening to them in close proximity makes that clearer to me
Utopia feels like the most shrouded of all of her albums, with the middle section almost completely submerged, but it is also maybe the most compelling for me, the one I most want to revisit
I think the relative inaccessibility of those two albums has made them underrated, but they are both really beautiful
― Dan S, Thursday, 19 April 2018 22:33 (six years ago) link
It definitely is. Both are about the same lover (Barney), and I'm in awe at how she managed to make Vulnicura the 'anti-Vespertine', yet sonically and thematically staying as close to the spring of ecstacy that Vespertine was as possible. It is a refraction, yet also something entirely new, something of its own. Vulnicura feels gravely underrated, but I guess we'll soon see if that is indeed so. I for one rate it far higher than Volta and Medulla (Biophilia is another story all together tbh)
― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Thursday, 19 April 2018 22:48 (six years ago) link
i'm... largely baffled by utopia, i assume a second listen will help?
i do like that the front cover looks like amphibian bjork is handing me a weird flute, i assume for some kind of journey
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 19 April 2018 22:52 (six years ago) link
for a place to start, the last couple of songs of Utopia kind of emerge from the mist. Future Forever I think is one of the best ever Bjork tracks
― Dan S, Thursday, 19 April 2018 23:13 (six years ago) link
i think i'm gonna vote for "black lake" it's pretty abyssal
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Thursday, 19 April 2018 23:31 (six years ago) link
i was listening to some of my contenders on random, and "black lake" sounded so full and wide
― Karl Malone, Thursday, 19 April 2018 23:38 (six years ago) link
god vulnicura is really good
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 20 April 2018 00:19 (six years ago) link
the empty space on that record is so consuming, which makes the instrumentation and especially her voice perpetually feel like they're willfully exerting themselves
― lowercase (eric), Friday, 20 April 2018 00:28 (six years ago) link
also i love the anohni feature
― lowercase (eric), Friday, 20 April 2018 00:29 (six years ago) link
Utopia is still totally impenetrable to me, the first two and last two tracks are the only ones I can get remotely into but they still feel very meandering
― ufo, Friday, 20 April 2018 01:21 (six years ago) link
oh wait but “arisen my senses” is amazing. it’s like björk’s sade song
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 20 April 2018 02:37 (six years ago) link
I know it's a new fan fave, and I keep waiting for it to open up for me, but it just hasn't.
― Uppercase (Eric H.), Friday, 20 April 2018 02:38 (six years ago) link
Ballot sent! Was definitely in danger of overthinking it if I took any longer...
― Gavin, Leeds, Friday, 20 April 2018 09:48 (six years ago) link
I really love the consistency and the progression of her album covers. All with her face and all without words.
https://i.imgur.com/T52DavH.jpg
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Friday, 20 April 2018 11:24 (six years ago) link
Medulla does have the title on it actually - the necklace. I think Post, Vespertine and Biophilia have my favourite covers
― ufo, Friday, 20 April 2018 11:34 (six years ago) link
Ha weird
I never knew what the Biophilia cover looked like until this moment
― nevertheless, he stopped (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 20 April 2018 11:52 (six years ago) link
How many ballots so far, you ask? Eight, the answer.
Don't make me wait 5 years!
― Uppercase (Eric H.), Friday, 20 April 2018 14:20 (six years ago) link
hey I got a whole week, I haven't even started listening!
― sleeve, Friday, 20 April 2018 14:21 (six years ago) link
Same as Sleeve! You'll probably get mine a minute before (or after) the deadline, as per usual.
― lbi's life of limitless european glamour (Le Bateau Ivre), Friday, 20 April 2018 14:22 (six years ago) link
i'll send mine now! i was gonna try to do remixes but there's just too much!
― challops trap house (Will M.), Friday, 20 April 2018 14:41 (six years ago) link