April 10, 2007
Björk: Still Nuts
It’s been about ten years since Björk put out an album I really cared about, but Post and Homogenic were enough to make her one of my favorite artists for many, many years. I was never able to get into the glitchier, more experimental later albums–Vespertine had no hook for me, and Medulla was, for the most part, just too weird. And I like weird.
It looks like her new record, Volta, is going to be out in early May (just under a month from now). There’s a pretty extensive interview with her over at P4k, wherein she discusses the more rhythmic basis of this album, the process that went into recording it, and how she sees it fitting into her worldview. (Surprise surprise, she’s still pretty crazy.) The collaborators list provided in it is pretty extensive and eye-opening–”Timbaland, Antony, Lightning Bolt’s Brian Chippendale, percussionist Chris Corsano, African collective Konono N°1, kora virtuoso Toumani Diabaté, Chinese pipa player Min Xiao-Fen, and a ten-piece Icelandic brass section” (!!). Seems this thing could go in any direction.
The record’s first single, “Earth Intruders,” actually reminds me quite a bit of Post-era songs like “Army of Me,” albeit with something of a lighter touch. No crushing heavy synths here, just crazy drumming (or drum programming), a chanted chorus of some sort of human/earth harmony manifesto, Björk’s usual vocal theatrics. I like it a lot, so fingers crossed.
Tracklist:
01. “Earth Intruders”
02. “Wanderlust”
03. “Dull Flame of Desire”
04. “Innocence”
05. “I See Who You Are”
06. “Vertebrae by Vertebrae”
07. “Pnuemonia”
08. “Hope”
09. “Declare Independence”
10. “My Juvenile”
Get the single:
“Earth Intruders”
…then pre-order it.
And check out this awesome video of a drunken Björk singing along to 2 Unlimited’s “No Limits.”
Filed under: Music, mp3, Video
April 10th, 2007 at 1:56 pm
Oh I looooooove it! Thanks for that.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:14 pm
OH come on…
Crazy is innovative and amazing. Medulla was excellent. She’s moving further and further out there and that’s a good thing. I’d be so over her if she was doing that Debut/Post/Homogenic stuff still. And besides “crazy” as you call it is much better than the “been there/done that” cynicism that seems to come from everywhere in this era we’re living in.
April 24th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
But, at least you did post about this and were somewhat positive about her work.
April 25th, 2007 at 12:21 pm
Missing the tone of the post as usual, eh Autumn? ;]
April 26th, 2007 at 9:57 pm
As usual? I don’t read your pants too often Ben.