bjork vs radiohead

At this point I'd rather investigate DMB than listen to anything by either artist

"Post" is a really great record and "Pablo Honey" too

I listened to Kid A for the first time last year. I don't know what made it any better than say, Dave Matthews Band or something. I made a remark about it at the time, but I can't find it in search, so my exact impressions are lost to me. Why, oh, why did I change usernames so many times? Never again.

Anyway, is fake plastic trees really a mournful elegy to breast implants? Does Bjork have any songs about breast implants?

I just discovered that I have OK Computer in my itunes library. No idea how or when that got in there. Maybe I'll listen to it before voting! Does anyone think it's better than Debut, Post, or Homogenic?

It has two really good songs iirc and they are the first two so that's convenient

I've listened to it much more than Post or Homogenic (and have never heard all of Debut). Not sure if it's 'better' though.

I haven't managed to get into a Bjork album since Vespertine.

― I wish to incorporate disco into my small business (chap), Saturday, October 13, 2012 8:47 AM (3 hours ago) Bookmark

man I still rep for Kid A; National Anthem, How to Disappear, In Limbo = still my shit

still

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

ok, just listened to half of Medulla for the first time. enough to know that I'll be listeninv to it again. Where Is The Line is fucking massive!

Now going to see how much of Ok Computer I can cram in on the rest of my ride down to DC. So far (Airbag) it reminds me of a better U2 or something.

Now onto Paranoid Android, which may have been the whole reason I never got this album in the 90s despite all the hype. Wasn't interested in any songs about my least4 favorite character from a book I read when I was 10.

Whoa, at about 2:00, it shifts to some go-go sixties sounding shit. Not looking good for you, Radiohead.

@ about 4:00. I've heard THIS part before. Was it in a movie or something? Not bad. A little bleaty.

Kinda liked SHA in a NPR rock kinda way until it got all U2 again with the "Uptight!" bit. Like, that could have been done like the Beatles or U2. They made an artistic decision. Fine.

Really feeling like I would have had to have been there in 1997 for this album. Like, watching some xfiles with some frineds. then we all smoke a bowl and someone puts this on.

White-knuckled it through Exit Music for a Film. Stop mumbling and look at me when you're speaking or I won't understand you.

I liked all the bleeps that emerged at about 3:45 or so in Let Down.

wow

Far too brief though.

Oh, I've heard this next one somewhere before too.

OK Computer hasn't aged particularly well, but I still think of it as one of the most important records in my career as a music fan. The Bjork album I've enjoyed and listened to the most is, strangely, Telegram.

I liked Karma Police. "Fitter Happier" is fine. Reminds me of that Leonard Cohen song.

Whoever said upthread Bjork for 90s and Radiohead for 00s is OTM.

Amazed that you've never heard OKC before. Seeing it liveblogged in 2012 is just wtf.

Yeah, I'm a weirdo. Electioneering was pretty exciting.

Amazed that you've never heard OKC before. Seeing it liveblogged in 2012 is just wtf.

yeah totally. the context of OK Computer coming out in the wake of so much cheeky/cheery 3-minute Britpop stuff made it a pretty mindblowing album for 17 y/o me at the time. It really felt next-level in a way that is impossible to parse in 2012, mostly because OKC had such a huge impact on what it came to inform in terms of arty/indie-type rock over the years. Love it or hate it, there's no denying that it shaped a whole universe of stuff that followed it, particularly Pitchfork-type stuff (Animal Collective, Dungen, In The Aeroplane Over The Sea) - not that these are taking direct cue from OKC, rather that it reopened the doors for this kind of art-school rock/pop with avant-garde and electronic undertones, as opposed to Britpop, grunge etc...

Was Karma Police on side 2 or side 1? I'm liking the second half of 4the album a lot better. Climbing the Walls was great.

The two songs I never enjoyed were Let Down and Electioneering. Although the Easy Star Allstars interpretation of Let Down with Toots singing on it is the highlight of Radiodread.

Ok, I have 1 song left. I liked most of the second side. That's more than I was able to say about Kid A.

When this came out, I was mostly listing to Phish, some jazz, some funk, a lot of reggae, Steely Dan, still listening to a lot of hardcore punk from the 80s, mostly not listening to ska by this point. I wasn't really involved in the musical zeitgeist, despite working at Sam Goody at the time lol.

Oh and hip-hop too! this was Wu Tang Forever era rght?

yes hip hop existed in 1997.

Always thought Kid A and Vespertine were interesting companion albums. Both icy and glitchy. The former for me meant tripping balls at 3 a.m.; the latter a mid-January bedroom record.

sorry guys, Vespertine was released in 2001 and beats all Radiohead material from that decade, so she wins the award for highest peak in 2000s

Amnesiac still better than Kid A

just have to get this stuff off my chest

no fucking way is Amnesiac better than Kid A

an inferior version of "Morning Bell", the terrible "Hunting Bears", the overly swampy, murky mix of "I May Be Wrong", the ponderously dull "You And Whose Army?"... There are some career highlights on that album but the lowlights torpedo the whole package.

I like Hunting Bears

Hunting Bears is the only one I don't really remember well off of Amnesiac. I like I May Be Wrong and YAWA though.

tbf Hunting Bears is kind of a random intro for Like Spinning Plates in album order

also speaks to the understated sexual preferences of unknown band member

best songs on the album are the one-two punch of "Pyramid Song"/"Pulk/Pull Revolving Doors"

we like opposite songs on this album, DJP

Pyramid Song and Dollars and Cents are the only songs I really listen to from Amnesiac.

Vespertine is better than Amnesiac, about the same as Hail to the Thief and worse than Kid A and In Rainbows.

I don't even dislike Amnesiac; it's just there are four other Radiohead albums alone I like more (HTTT, Kid A, OK Computer, The Bends)

I've been listening to those live Bjork discs she used to release on One Little Indian after each tour. Specifically the Homogenic and Vespertine ones. I kind of like them better than the studio versions? There's something very tingling about hearing those crazy studio fantasia arrangements being executed onstage that really sells them for me. On the albums they never quite move me.

I've been avoiding this thread but

tbf Hunting Bears is kind of a random intro for Like Spinning Plates in album order

― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Thursday, October 18, 2012 2:52 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

also speaks to the understated sexual preferences of unknown band member

― ɥɯ ︵ (°□°) (mh), Thursday, October 18, 2012 2:52 PM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Made me actually spit tea on my monitor with laughter.

Hunting bears was written by Ed. I never considered that interpretation before, but now I shall. At great length.

(I voted Bjork but I don't think that surprises anyone.)

((I also far prefer Amnesiac to Kid A but it's a personal preference for B-sides when it comes to Rh))

I need to revisit Vespertine; I played the hell out of it for a year and then never listened to it again

Bjork one of those classic 'off the bus' artists.

I did get that nice 'family tree' box, but hey I like 3" CD collections with a 5" CD also, and seeing as that's the only one...

I think Vespertine and (maybe?) Kid A were the two albums I first listened to pre-release due to lol internet

I've had times in my life where I've loved both these but now I feel like I really never need to hear any of their albums again. With OK Computer, I think the above quote "a better U2" is spot on. But I don't really like regular U2. So it's just, "yeah it's good, but not really my alley". I like Kid A quite a bit but I'm never in the mood to listen to it; the mood they go for is done so much better on other (older) albums. I thought Hail was pretty good and maybe my go-to when I just wanna hear some Radiohead (never happens). Bjork is one where I really like the anthemic stuff she does like "Big Time Sensuality" and "Isobel" and "Alarm Call" but am kind of left cold when she does like serious mood music where you can tell she worked overtime perfecting every last note, I dunno it just sounds overworked to me. Plus I don't really like the "stick the mic down your throat" technique either. Like recently I've gotten into Jun Togawa, she's really everything I hoped Bjork would be; equally eccentric, but she plays into her own silliness a bit. Her lyrics are all in Japanese which means I only understand them slightly less than Bjork's.

Just dug Vespertine out for the first time in ages (thanks, thread) and it's even more awesome than I remember it.

I had never actually listened to Medulla all the way through before, and it's as strange and weird and awesome as everyone says it was.

So although I was feeling all eyerolly and "this is just the poor man's Aphex Twin vs Madonna thread" it's been good for me.

I saw Kid A in my coll the other say, went "aww" but didn't dig it out. Guess I'd still ove it.

I saw "OK Comp" for £2 in Morrissons, went "oh" but continued not to own it.

Which is odd, as I bought a "OK Comp tribute" CD recently, still haven't actually played it...

yeah 'enjoy' is good, i apologise to 'enjoy'. agree with Brad on why Post is a great album

There’s only two fun songs on HTTT and they’re the best ones: Myxomatosis and Backdrifts

flamenco drop (BradNelson) at 6:47 15 Mar 23

it's even called post ffs, totally exploded shards of modernism sitting in tension and dissonance with each other

The opening 1-2 punch is my idea of fun, but 'Backdrifts' is my favorite song on the record so yeah.

The second half doesn't even do this anyway

one of the last three songs is "i miss you"!

^

Bjork is the real deal, Radiohead are trend chasing fuckwads.

I don't find I Miss You to be jarring at all, both in its placement on the LP and as a track.

As long as we're talking about Radiohead, Phil Selway's new solo album is actually very lovely and has a lot going for it (mostly in the arrangements, production, and drumming by Valentina Magaletti rather than his singing, but still).

Agree with nabozo, jimbeaux. I like Radiohead a lot but Björk is on a different level. With Radiohead every artistic influence and/or sound seems very conscious and deliberate on making the “cool” choice. With Björk it seems to come naturally… she’s preternaturally cool and her artistic choices sometimes fail because they aren’t as carefully planned but she’s on that very small plateau of truly original artists.

Wow, I don't get that sense at all. To me Radiohead have become more and more themselves in a quietly confident way, and you could just as easily accuse Bjork of cool-hunting by hiring hot young producers to keep updating her sound.

I'd counterargue she merely hires the producers who can keep up with her, but YMMV

I thought Moka's point was about freedom VS constraint (not producers). Which isn't a bad way to compare them. Björk is constantly breaking through the electronic envelope, the music she uses can take any form or shape because she constantly experiments with it. Radiohead writes songs within the electronic casing / design, and it's often the same one that gives them their identity, and it's more about finding a perfect balance between songwriting and textures.

Also the number of songs that are truly based on electronic elements are way outnumbered by the number that aren't, I think those elements have just gotten a disproportionate amount of attention. But yeah I agree that Bjork fits her production to her songs in an almost sculptural way, and Radiohead doesn't experiment with form in as obvious or dramatic ways.

I'm not sure if it's a good or a bad thing that such a meaningless question prompted such an enjoyable discussion

i don't really care for post's relative lack of cohesion but there's plenty to love about it anyway. only thing that's truly out of place is "it's oh so quiet" though

Radiohead doesn't experiment with form in as obvious or dramatic ways.

they certainly did on kid a & amnesiac

Do modern-day Bjork fans consider the Sugarcubes irrelevant?

― Halfway there but for you, Wednesday, March 15, 2023 6:37 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Maybe you had to be there (Iceland)

― change display name (Jordan), Wednesday, March 15, 2023 6:42 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

...or maybe you had to be then (1988)

Radiohead only wish that they'd gotten a member of Gentle Giant to produce their record, though.

Just realized my first three non-Queen CD purchases were Bjork's Post, Radiohead's The Bends and NIN's Broken.

Okay I'll bite. My Bjork + Radiohead top 10:

Homogenic
OK Computer
Post
Kid A
The Bends
Hail to the Thief
Vulnicura
Vespertine
Debut
The Smile

I guess this is my somewhat disagreeable top 5 for each:

Vespertine
Post
Homogenic
Debut
Medulla

Kid A
OKC
TKOL
AMSP
IR

Yes I’m sorry for loving Medulla and TKOL above other albums and for thinking Post is slightly better than Homogenic and for thinking TKOL is better than even AMSP or IR.

Small caveat: I’m considering Supercollider and Staircase as part of TKOL which cements it as my third favorite RH album.

it's even called post ffs, totally exploded shards of modernism sitting in tension and dissonance with each other

― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Wednesday, 15 March 2023 18:47 (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

despite falling in love with this album when I was 13, I too always thought that is what the album title meant and was vaguely disappointed to learn some years later that it's "post" as in "postcards sent home".

I think the album flows very well FWIW.

i thought it was intended as both meanings mentioned

at reading festival back in the day, iirc, I heard her do a drum & bass version of army of me that was way more thrilling than the one on the record which I've always thought somewhat plodding & lumpen.

there's that whole locrian mode theory about Army of Me too

There is a flattened fifth in the verse bass line but the normal fifth in the chorus vocal melody makes it more Phrygian than Locrian

I feel like I’d need an x-y graph to rank Bjork and Radiohead albums. I love Biophilia and TKOL but they’re on a different spectrum. It’d be more of a map than a list

Not what you’re looking for but there’s this analysis of Radiohead albums and songs by sadness:

https://www.vox.com/culture/2017/3/2/14726996/radiohead-sadness-data-analysis

more of an emotional landscape