POLL Neon Like -- ILM artist poll #88 -- BJÖRK (voting open until April 27, 2018)

There are some real hidden gems among those three Sugarcubes albums.

and the B-sides, and the 10" remix of "Deus"

As her songwriting has grown less structured, the distinction between song and curlicue has grown murkier

this is true, but it also made me think about how much i enjoy the moments in the later albums where you can separate out these aspects of her songwriting into distinct sections (for instance "mutual core" = curlicues in the verses assemble into the song in the chorus)

there's also a pronounced tendency in her later work to circle around a single melody for five minutes ("blissing me") and i don't know if i'd classify it as either song or curlicue (so, murky as you said)

Yes, and those are two of her best later songs in large part for those reasons.

“Blissing Me” reminds me of Vashti Bunyan both vocally and musically.

God, "Blissing Me" is an oasis on that album.

it's such a lovely song

I think there's a definite analogous path to Bjork's career as there was to Joni Mitchell's, and right now we're at 'Mingus'. Which maybe means soon Bjork's going to do interesting song-form music again soon that will be following trends rather than laying foundations--but it'll still be interesting. And then in a few years we'll get "back to basics" Bjork (or maybe that was 'Vulnicura'). FWIW, I've come to love almost all of Mitchell's ouevre even though none of it ever matched the heights of 'Blue', so I'm hoping I'll dig 'Utopia' one day...

Which maybe means soon Bjork's going to do interesting song-form music again soon that will be following trends rather than laying foundations

great description of volta

not sure which if any Volta tracks I'm going to vote for, but the video for Wanderlust is all-time great I think

agreed, i couldn't fit it into my top five but it's a gorgeous video

It's my 2nd place vote for vids.

finishing up my ballot, will send tomorrow

^^^ me too

really enjoying the lyrics on Utopia today, googling love in this fucking mist, etc.

lol i nearly stopped the record when i got to that one

love the lyrics to Features Creatures. it's also a track on Utopia that stands out to me musically

I'd generally rather not hear the word "googling" on an album but I make an exception for Bjork.

I should be able to get my ballot in tonight (Australia time).

Going through the albums this past fortnight, I think Utopia is my favourite after Vespertine.

In an odd way, for reasons that make it sound like the opposite to how it is described by most people. With the exception of a few cases (stuff like “Body Memory”) it feels like a very composed and thoughtfully pretty record to me, and the key stretches - the first three tracks, the middle double-hit of “Courtship” (almost a pop song) and “Losss”, parts of the final lap - are actually really accessible and focused.

I know that people were down on “The Gate” as a first single but I love it, it sounds so hushed and reverent, like it’s being transmitted from an ancient, sacred grotto.

Also woodwinds are such a good look for her, and their continual presence kind of connects the album with the sound of early tracks like “Atlantic”, it feels like coming full circle.

Mine is coming later tonight. I was hoping to discover some later period stuff that i might include, but nope. Get ready for a ballot that’s 90% 90s.

Also woodwinds are such a good look for her, and their continual presence kind of connects the album with the sound of early tracks like “Atlantic”, it feels like coming full circle.

― Tim F, Thursday, April 26, 2018 2:59 PM (seventeen minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

otm

also every stretch you mention kinda acted as a different portal into the record every time i listened to it. like at first i was spellbound by "arisen my senses" and "blissing me" and then progressively got confused, then on second listen "courtship" seemed to snap everything into focus, third listen "saint" and "future forever" really got to me, etc.

thoughtfully pretty

also i'm gonna use this as a justification for my sade comparison

Will send my ballot tomorrow night, I am spending way too much time on it.

You guys are so right about the woodwinds; also, the flute was her first instrument, so this album is basically her coming full circle.

And in a way "Arisen My Senses", "Losss" and "Future Forever" were for me the first three entrypoints into the album so I very much agree with the 'portals' idea! I think she even mentioned the album being a triad in some interview.

ugh every bjork record is amazing except for volta

i did not expect to feel this way

(I meant "triptych", not "triad", forgive my tired, non-English brain.)

just sent my ballot

i surprised myself with my number one, to be honest

sent

Voted!

Hope soundslike is right about a back to basics Bjork album. At this point it would be more Avant garde if she did a stylistic shift towards pop form

Perhaps what is most poignant about Volta is hat you can hear in it the seeds of a great album she could have made, but most of those seeds (“Vertebrae By Vertebrae”, “Pneumonia”) are archetypal album tracks. So “Wanderlust” is basically all by itself as this widescreen emotional alternative reality horns + mechanical beats Bjork album.

I don’t know that a return to pop form could be considered “avant garde”, unless we redefine the phrase to mean a deviation from recent past practice.

I do think Bjork could concentrate on exploring simpler and more repetitive arrangement structures quite effectively, especially if using percusso-melodic instrument sounds. “Moon” on Biophilia comes to mind as a good example. I suspect that there’s not much more possibility to wring out of Arca’s messy beats.

It occurred to me the other day that she would sound amazing over the kind of simple piano and keyboard patterns you get on Nils Frahm’s Spaces - I suppose the result might be a bit like The Cocteau Twins’ “Alice”.

(I prob mistook the date? Am voting today)

Think it's end of tonight?

Yes, end of tonight, but if some ballots show up overnight, I won't reject them.

Or overnight Saturday into Sunday.

tim i definitely mean it as a deviation from past practice -

it's predictable at this point that bjork will release uncompromising experimental works, would be a nice surprise if she flipped the script

Duets album with Celine Dion.

I'm here for that.

22 ballots in. But you won't notice, til after 5 years.

i will be shocked if this poll ends up getting less ballots than the SP one

I won't be. It's ILM.

Also, a lot of radio silence from so many of the gays I'd counted on.

Would have figured ILM to be more about Björk than SP (I voted in both).

Wish I had the ability to tag, say, Stevie D or lex, et al.

Not having too many pangs of regret about my ballot but that will almost definitely change when the results roll out...

Just voted. I imagine all the gays are agonizing over their ballots til the last minute like I did?

I certainly hope so.

have you sent confirmation emails at all? just want to be sure mine went through

I haven't yet, unless I had a question about the ballot.

Here's who I've received ballots from, outside of myself...

flamboyant goon tie included
Jordan
Ross
ˈʌglɪɪst preɪ
technopolis
LeRooLeRoo
Gavin, Leeds
Will M.	Vinnie
BradNelson
Ismael Klata
octobeard
Karl Malone
sbahnhof
kitchen person
Marty 8501
Nag! Nag! Nag!
Voodoo Chili
sleeve
cryptosicko
Soundslike
geoffreyess