Björk - Vulnicura

http://i.imgur.com/pQFo5KY.jpg

"Mouth Mantra"

"warmthness, bjerk"

6 songs written by björk, 2 songs co-written with arca, 1 with john flynn
string arrangements by björk
6 songs produced by björk & arca, 1 by björk & arca & the haxan cloak, 2 by björk
mixed by the haxan cloak except 2 songs mixed by the haxan cloak and chris elms
mastered by mandy parnell

Worm + trees, gerk

I like arca & hc, I will listen to this

So, Haxan cloak and Arca. I'm sure this will be lighthearted and friendly.

I'm so happy she's finally giving us Post pt. 2, I was getting annoyed at all the weird artsy nonsense of the past albums.

some of the titles are a bit 'bjork parody' but i suppose thats inevitable at this point

fine with the album being dark though hope it isnt in a silly way

idk i feel like a lot of grinding industrial music along the haxan cloak lines is dark in a silly way

i would just like this album not to be as sterile as her last couple, arca's involvement doesn't enthuse me along those lines

i feel the same way about haxan and demdike stare, so yeah, im hoping bjork manages to make them avoid that.

more enthused to see what arca does with her. his album has gotten better for me.

arca "fits" with björk in what seems a pretty obvious way to me, and i find his stuff sterile as well, so...never say never but i'm not excited

whereas dark grinding industrial stuff, silly or not, seems like it might lead to something surprising at least - she's nodded to it a few times in her solo career but only as anomalies

sure, that could be true, and i do love dark music, just not when its so self consciously, incredulously, dark. its a kind of boring aesthetic aim to me at this point.

i'm expecting the arca stuff to sound something like the twigs album. The haxan cloak's involvement is a bit more intriguing to me.

im hoping the arca stuff will sound like the harold budd-ish bits on his album, and the more abstract moments on there, that sort of highly controlled semblance of abrasion that he seems to do a lot. cant imagine it will sound like twigs, ie i dont see bjork doing art-R&B.

TBH the choice of producers is neither here nor there for as long as her songwriting continues to be as poor as it was on Biophilia and Volta.

:( no Total Freedom collab after all?

As much as I love Haxan and Arca to infinity I feel like I know what that record will sound like, but would have no idea what sort of record she'd have made with TF

Matt DC otm

The announcement only listed producers and writers. Maybe Total Freedom did just some additional programming? Or maybe he just hung out with them.

I maintain that Bjork's songwriting has always been medium-good-to-great and that any perceived "drop-off" in quality is people unwilling to follow her into her indulgent non-pop phase.

I mean, I'm kind of part of that camp too, listening to Volta and Biophilia felt and feels more like a chore than an act of pleasure, and they're both highly non-functional records (there is nothing that can be accomplished while they are playing aside from listening to them), but considering that as an artist she's expressed a desire to move away from the genre-conventions of her first couple records and devise her own language, and that she's been super-successful at doing so, I can't help but feel as a human more supportive and appreciative of her latter-day records, even if they appeal to me less as a consumer

Volta doesn't really feel like 'indulgent non-pop' to me, a lot of it is very accessible but kind of flimsy at the same time. Biophilia is about as close to Bjork-by-numbers as it's possible to get though.

Both records feel like a drag though and this is from someone who rates Homogenic-through-Medulla much more highly than the first couple of albums.

agree with mdc on all counts there. volta felt like a back-to-pop move at the time - her most ~eclectic, outward-looking album since post with the greatest variety of mainstream-ish collaborators, i think? def not its own strange world like homogenic thru medúlla. it's just that the songs don't hold up. volta and biophilia feel like björk spinning her wheels, songwriting-wise, albeit in different ways (accessible vs conceptual).

I can't imagine Biophilia as being "Bjork-by-numbers" with the app and film and invented instruments and entirely new production team, but I mean, I think of "Moon" and "Cosmogeny" as being as strong ~songs~, in the chords-melody-lyrics sense, if not stronger, than older favourites like "Joga" or "Human Behaviour".

It's the more "avant" songs like "Hollow" and "Dark Matter" that to me sound like Bjork at her most vital, songs and production coming together.

But I do agree that both records do feel more like a drag when I listen to them with a consumer's ears instead of, like, an appreciator's ear. I don't really know how to say it any better? Something about her working hands-on with a bunch of crazy instruments seems kind of more perfect-for-her-as-an-artist-with-intent than singing along to backing tracks

volta and biophilia feel like björk spinning her wheels, songwriting-wise, albeit in different ways (accessible vs conceptual).

Don't feel the same way but totally get where you're coming from

http://i.imgur.com/JSV7g0J.jpg

A string of NYC dates announced to coincide with the MoMA career retrospective. Arca is joining her touring band.

03-07 Carnegie Hall
03-14 Carnegie Hall
03-25 City Center
03-28 City Center
04-01 City Center
04-04 City Center
06-06 Governor's Ball

I wonder if she's going to take the show on the road and do a 'proper' tour as well, or is it going to be limited only to residencies in major cities.

I feel like if that's the album cover, that's the best album cover. I'm excited for this on that basis alone and I never even checked out her last album.

if what's the album cover? if you mean the photo of what seems like tour rehearsals, I think that's unlikely? there's this though http://instagram.com/p/x7m_-JpKZR/ which I don't think is likely to be the album cover either but whatever it is it has a different vibe to what I would have imagined considering the collaborators

After Earth Intruders, the rest of Volta was a slog.

Reposted from Instagram:

https://41.media.tumblr.com/4ed98a8f0b133a8b4cebcb88f6abfe38/tumblr_niakezhrno1qgfhb8o1_1280.png

This logo thingy is NOT the cover (just a part of the album's visual identity), albeit it probably uses similar colour palette. I also expected something darker but now that I think of it, dark colour scheme would probably be too obvious.

It actually reminds me a bit of the Me Company design she used to use back in the 90s. But it's till done by M/M Paris who did all her album artwork since Vespertine.

Arca seems like a right twat. The kind of thing the Fader would get excited about for 5 minutes then forget all about.

Why is he tied to that chair?

That is the way Fader works, yes. Arca is great tho and you are nuts

I maintain that Bjork's songwriting has always been medium-good-to-great and that any perceived "drop-off" in quality is people unwilling to follow her into her indulgent non-pop phase.

Probably true, because she is so singular. Bjork is the best Bjork we will ever get. That said, I think both her albums and her live shows have been a chore for me lately. I last saw her at the Pitchfork fest, and I was with some friends who I could tell liked the idea of Bjork better than the actual Bjork. That is, they claimed to be big fans, but I could see them struggling to pretend to prefer what she was up to to her more fun earlier stuff.

Anyway, I'm not sure what would get me back on the Bjork train, but you go, Bjork. Keep on bjorking.

damnit, I so don't want to see Bjork in a seated venue but I so SO don't want to not buy tickets and then find out she's not playing any other Philly/NY/DC dates

fyi all 4 of the Saturday shows are 12pm matinees and two Wednesday shows are at 8pm like a regular concert

can any NYC insyderz recommend one venue over another?

string arrangements

Well I'm in.

Bjork has been "a chore" for me since Post, but there is a deeper respect her as an artist, she is attempting the impossible. afaic there are no other 50-year old women functioning at a pop level with her level of artistic ambition. I too am into her "fun earlier stuff", even on her Vespertine tour I got bored, slipped out early, took the early ferry home. But I'm increasingly inclined to chalk that up to the preference my consumer's ear has for what is new and exciting (or in this case, the memory of new and exciting product). It's tough to really compare her to other fourth-decade-of-her-career big tent artists because... I can't think of any others.

I find Vespertine her least chore-like album. Medulla was the about-face, tho even that had songs that I felt I inherently understood in their Scandinavianciocity (e.g. "Mouth's Cradle").

Everybody has a favourite
I'm just trying to express that I've been tracking my own Bjork-fandom for decades and finding that ultimately I find there's more to say about the changing nature of long-term artist-fan relationships than there is any ups or downs in her work, which is pretty consistently notsobad! and so ambitious!

feel like medulla is in some ways secretly her poppiest album

no wait I'm just thinking of the singles

if what's the album cover? if you mean the photo of what seems like tour rehearsals, I think that's unlikely? there's this though http://instagram.com/p/x7m_-JpKZR/ which I don't think is likely to be the album cover either but whatever it is it has a different vibe to what I would have imagined considering the collaborators

― ufo, Saturday, January 17, 2015 3:23 AM Bookmark

I meant the image in the OP.

man i forgot how much i liked vespertine. "unison"!

Vespertine was the first one I didn't like upon release, except Cocoon obv and the weirder songs ("An Echo, A Stain") but as her latter-day songwriting style has developed (and I've gotten used to the xtremely bright and sibilant vocal production) I'm come 180 on it and love it love it

Vespertine still remains my favourite Björk album, and I've never been able to bypass cliches to explain why, which annoys me to some bit. It's snug, sexy, erotic, honest, disarming and so succinct in conveying a unified sound and feel. It still blows me away every single time.

honestly wondering if i should blow the requisite c-note plus to get a pair of tickets; would love to if i were sure of what the material was

i'm listening to this album right now

I wonder how much the setlist will change from show to show

My only disappointment is that there's nothing from Homogenic there, but I'm sure I'll cope.

Funny how when Taylor Swift went on her anti-Spotify tirade I was rolling my eyes, but when Bjork made her statement, I'm like, "ok, sounds reasonable"

― That shit right there is precedented. (cryptosicko), Monday, March 9, 2015 1:44 PM (46 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

despite them saying pretty much the same thing

TS removed alll her albums, Bjork is only saying she'll like to release the new one after the non-stream release without removing the old ones that are available in there

no ripping corners off paintings in Bjork's statement

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWHpoJT3qK4

Whoa that video weirded me out

this album is v v good btw

bjork's rapper hands >>>>>

So awesome. So weird. Bjork keep Bjorking.

Any ILXors at the Brooklyn show tonight?

I'm gonna be at the one next Wednesday. Flipping out excited.

You should be, it's fucking great. at the intermission now

Dying.

Eric I am gonna miss you by two days :(

If only we had something sad to listen to to mark the bitter missed connection...

How long are you in NY?

Only two days. Plus I'm with my sisters. Hoping to get to Philly soon tho.

Album is really good. Pretty awesome coming after two less than great albums (Volta and Biophilia).

Three really, tho I've been coming around a lot on Biophilia.

Yeah, Biophilia is definitely worth trying again if it initially turned you away a few years ago.

Medulla is my favorite of her albums.

Some new stuff:

- the "Stonemilker" video shot in 360° (best viewed on a mobile device but you can rotate it in your browser as well)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQEyezu7G20

- the "Black Lake" video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGn1pJIpZw8

- the first part of Vulnicura remixes is here:

"Notget" remixed by Lotic (https://soundcloud.com/bjork/notget-lotic-keptsafe-version-1/s-Mg2nc)
"Family" remixed by Katie Gately (https://soundcloud.com/bjork/family-remix-by-katie-gately-1/s-Mg2nc)
"Lionsong" remixed by Mica Levi (https://soundcloud.com/bjork/lionsong-kareokieijd-remix-by-mica-levi/s-Mg2nc)
"History of Touches" remixed by Krampfhaft (https://soundcloud.com/bjork/history-of-touches-krampfhaft-remix/s-Mg2nc)

those videos were at the heart of the moma show methinks
kinda into the mica levi remix

The "Black Lake" video is pretty good, but it was really all about the 360-degree sound mix in that little black room.

I was going to go to the MoMA show this past weekend but then didn't. I did, however, get to see the "Stonemilker" video w/ an Oculus Rift headset and I think my friend and I both cried. It was powerful beyond words tbh.

I am liking these much, much more than Part 1

http://www.dazeddigital.com/music/article/25144/1/bjork-s-vulnicura-remixed-part-2

I think the MoMA show finished a few weeks ago.

http://pitchfork.com/news/61500-bjork-to-release-all-strings-version-of-vulnicura-shares-new-take-on-lionsong/

Oh wow.

I have zero interest in hearing this album w/o its cold, fractured Homogenicy beats.

Like judging by "Lionson", this sounds pretty close to how the album already sounds except with a few of the crucial counterbalances removed. Why bother?

At least partly curious to hear what "Quicksand" and "Atom Dance" sound like with string only.

(Looks like she didn't bother with "History Of Touches.)

I have zero interest in hearing this album w/o its cold, fractured Homogenicy beats.

― Ina-Garten-Da-Vida (Stevie D(eux)), Tuesday, October 6, 2015 12:29 PM (2 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah this doesn't sound so much like radical new versions as slightly incomplete versions

at least that first track does; i had a hard time telling what had changed.

Shame, the strings really need to be doing more if this is going to work.

Alternate versions of albums are what Bjork does, no? Do you want the studio album, the live version of the album, the 5.1 surround sound version, the remix album, the DVD, or the box set with alternate versions?

I naively thought this album might be the one where she'd quit with that crap.

Alternate versions of albums arerinsing her fans for every last penny is what Bjork does, no?

*clutches live box set*

xps of course live/alternate/remix versions of an album are what she does; I actually don't really mind this because they're usually reworked or rearranged enough to warrant the release but as lex said these just sound incomplete. It just doesn't make sense.

Now the live album I might consider buying, if only for the "All Neon Like" cover (not confirmed if it's part of the set or not; no tracklist available):

http://www.roughtrade.com/albums/98638

You're very unlikely to be able to hear those songs live in general I'd suspect, given she basically canned the 2015 tour because she couldn't cope with performing them.

There's that too, although tbth her live renditions hewed very close to the recorded versions.

that was my experience

yeah it's true. It was like that w/ Biophilia Live as well, no? The older tracks got some reworkings, though ("All Neon Like" was wonderful)

"All Neon Like" and "Come To Me" were the two huge highlights at my show.

just decided to listen to this for the first time, this is really excellent!

I was kind of indifferent/not paying attention to this up until it hit "Notget", which I'm finding to be amazing.

Forest Sword's extended mix of Stonemilker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz0wtOIqSU4