Bjork: Medulla
Published April 12, 2005
The epic "Oceania", which the singer debuted at the 2004 Olympic opening ceremonies, stands out with its sweeping vocals and dramatic themes. I have been playing this song over and over. I already do a great impression of this song which I spring on my boyfriend randomly, like, just as he emerges from the shower:
Wahn breath ah-way...from Mother Oceeeaaaannniiiiiaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa...!
The other song I really like is Bjork's interpretation of poet e. e. cumming's "it may not always be so;and i say" (Sonnets/Unrealities XI). e. e. cummings is known for his avant-garde approach to poetry, his literary acrobatics and the peculiar way he lays the words on the page. I think they are well suited together. This is not their first 'collaboration.' In Vespertine, she tackles another poem "i will wade out" in the song "Sun in My Mouth." I think if the poet were still alive, he might have worked with her. Or hit her on the head with a stick.
There are many words to describe the album: ethereal, primitive, atmospheric, all of which means that the record is going to sell like, ten copies. Outside of a Bjork CD release party, it will probably be heard only in an upscale gay couple's all-white minimalist home.
Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the album and appreciate the ambition and artistic statement that Bjork is making. She has made an album that appeals to the intellect. I loved the songs when they worked and can see what she was going for in the songs I didn't particularly care for.
On a purely superficial level though, I think that the CD is pretty much really just a bunch of bullshit.
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- Published: April 12, 2005
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Comments
i think it's the best thing she's ever done.
read about it here
and for the record, i'm not gay and live in a 150-yrs old colonial. ;-)
When it came out, I was really intrigued by it and listened to it quite a bit. I then moved on to other things, and when I got my Ipod I loaded it into it. Unfortunately, when those tunes would roll around, I'd quickly skip past them, annoyed. I tried listening to the album as a whole again and just found that I simply could not stand it. Once the initial intrigue of hearing the structure an "all vocals" album wore off, I had no desire to listen to it anymore. Post and Homogenic remain the only albums of hers that I go back to repeatedly - the rest I find just irritating. I've finally come to the conclusion that I just don't like Bjork that much, but I respect her and her music tremendously.
It's a great CD, and I listen to it often. Many is the time in the last few months that I'd be working at the computer and this CD would play through several times. It's a record that only gets better over time. Best cut: "Triumph of a Heart."
I can't fault people who don't like her - she has a voice that grates or bathes you. I like her a lot but I can't just plug her most recent albums in and just listen. Debut was like that.
She is very uch self-indulgent and that's usually hard to get used to whomever is the artist.
The Sugarcubes were mmuch more accesible than her latest two
i can't fault anybody for not liking anything, really.
but...i don't get the idea that something is 'self-indugent'.
in this case, choral music plays a big part in icelandic culture. she had an idea to contruct music surrounding the voice. how is that self-indulgent?
i believe bjork has proven to be one of the most coherent all muscical artists today. in retrospective (and being completely critical and unbiased), she is an example of an artist evolving and pushing the standard as to what is expected from a composer/singer. i think you were expecting something more predictble.
I thinks it's a ground breaking album that takes a few listens to grow. According to Bjork on the Jonathan Ross show a few months ago, Medulla literally means 'marrow', as in the vegetable, and nothing to do with the brain or flesh. She said she likes to keep things simple and it's only the critics that find these deep hidden meanings in her work. I tend to agree, but I often wonder where she gets these ideas from...
I love Medulla, I think it's another step forward in Bjork's bold career. It is beautiful. The simplicity and complexity within it create relatively ground-breaking sonic landscapes. Hopefully the music fiends in America will be able to appreciate it once they go to college. Vote Bjork for Queen of the world...
True Artists are by nature self-indulgent. They follow their muse. I'd rather an artist be self-indulgent than totally a sell-out. It would be great if somehow the artist accomodates her audience, that would be the ideal, but I wouldn't fault them if they didn't.
Wow! All this time I've been a "True Artist" and not even known it! Now all I have to do is persuade millions of people to send me money for being self-indulgent.
"Buy my uniquely and artistically folded toilet paper tubes, people! That's True Art you're lookin' at, right there!"
Yeah, that's it. That's the ticket.
Or... maybe the whole concept of "True Artists" is a fallacy. People create art, and sometimes if they're very lucky, other people like it enough to pay them. Many artists create art as an act of service to others, not merely to indulge their own desires. This all by itself does not reduce the value of their art.
(None of this rant is against Bjork, by the way. I tend to like the majority of her music, depending on my mood.)
I really want to listen to this album because I love her voice and the songs are deep and complex, but every time I do by the time the album is halfway through I feel slightly insane! There is just something dark and twisting about the way it plays out that seems to trigger certain things in my brain. I think what is so different about this album is that it leaves you no handle to hold on to. Just as you feel you know where the melody is going it changes and vears off in a totaly seperate direction. Going to keep on trying with it though because I think I will reap the rewards much like with Alanis' Supposed Former blah blah blah.. an album that takes maybe 20 or 30 listens to fully enjoy but when you do boy is it good!







I agree that the album is hit or miss. When it hits, it's very cool and really deep. When it misses, it kinda sucks.
- Jon