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Posts Tagged ‘Bjork’
HPM’s Top 10 Albums of 2011
It’s that time of year again – a wrap up of the top 10 albums I have had the pleasure of buying. This list is for musical artist album releases only. A separate one will be done for game soundtracks. Here goes:
10) Zola Jesus – Vessel
A fantastic culmination and one of my most recent new discoveries, it just edges into the top 10 by providing me with one of the few dark and damp albums of 2011. Her voice harks back to generations of old and the electronics and dramatic song structures make it a treat to visit the darkness every time.
09) Faun – Eden
Band members have left and been replaced and while you can tell that Faun’s sound has changed forever. It still sits firmly in the Pagan Folk genre they’ve helped create but the vocals are more hymn like, English is introduced and the overall sound is one more of a forest pixie raging war on humanity. Either way, it’s still utterly superb.
08) St Vincent – Strange Mercy
St Vincent makes the most clumsy, sloppy and seemingly out of control music seem to still have order, beauty and integrity. Her third studio album is full of all the quirks, embellishments and random freak outs we’ve come to expect but in a more assured manner and with more layers than ever before!
07) Gregory Douglass – Lucid
Having watched Gregory over various live net shows introduce, change, develop and grow Lucid from a concept into a fully evolved being, it’s a fantastic dream concept album that works from start to finish. Showcasing some great technical wizardry, it features some of the most catchy numbers and some of the most heartbreaking from his career to date.
06) Amiina – Puzzle
From what I thought was a lovely, quaint but slightly one-sided debut, Puzzle lifts Amiina into a new level. The quartet have perfected their craft of weaving the most unlikely of instruments together into lullabies but now also into powerful epic seven minute masterpieces.
05) Bjork – Biophilia
Never one to sit still, Biophilia is a career spanning genre bending full flow freak out. Never compromising, always challenging – it contains highlights of Bjork’s most beautiful, most powerful and most scary moments of her musical career.
04) Tori Amos – Night of Hunters
Tori Amos remains my favourite musical artist of all time. The reason this hasn’t reached the top spot is purely because it’s an album that requires a lot of time and effort to digest and I’m not really there yet. The string arrangements are beautiful and the songs are fantastic. Many have called it a return to form but I never saw her falter. A bold new direction and one that pays off.
03) Lamb – 5
The return of Lamb was unexpected but much appreciated with the perfect blend of Lou’s own solo styles and Andy’s more electronic edges. The album is much more direct and approachable with instant hooks throughout, making it by far my favourite Lamb album to date and hopefully will give them confidence to continue on.
02) tUne-YaRdS – W H O K I L L
Only discovering the sheer genius of this lady last year, being able to enjoy the growth from début to album number 2 was phenomenal. All the funky vocal collages are still here, as is the home ramshackle production but this time fused with brass and some more tip-top production too. It just seems like such a natural bloom. Magical.
01) Charlotte Martin – Dancing on Needles
The album that keeps giving with all the b-sides being released online, it’s a perfect merger of all Charlotte’s previous works of piano, guitar, keyboard and pounding drums. Her voice is an absolute marvel and every song is as achingly beautiful and painful as the last. Without doubt my album of the year.
Narrowly missing out were PJ Harvey, Kate Bush, Sarah Slean, The Go Team and Omodaka.
Live Vault – Bjork
Bjork performed on UK TV “Later with Jools Holland” which is about the only mainstream TV show that’s musically decent and sound.
Cosmogony
Thunderbolt
Crystalline
Bjork’s Biophilia App
It looks fantastic but alas, a poor man like me doesn’t have an iPhone. What’s everyone’s experience of the app?
Bjork – “Biophilia” Review
We do love Bjork here at HPM and her latest album “Biophilia” is another stunning, almost career spanning album taking bits and pieces from other albums and meshing them altogether.
Opener “Moon” see’s the return of Zeena Perkins’ harp for a beautifully layered track that starts off with a very simple melody and then extra layers of Verspertine-like muted percussion is added on with mergers of Medulla vocal collages. It’s a truly emotive piece but one that doesn’t set the tone for the rest of the album. That’s left more for “Thunder Bolt” with thick organs and pulsating Tesla coils. Biophilia is very much about atmosphere and depth. Avoiding any kind of hook whatsoever, the Tesla coil spits out arpeggios while Bjork becomes her own choir over the top. Utterly unique.
“Crystalline” see’s the invent of another beautiful instrument, the Gameleste. It’s jingling xylophonic bells are the beauty to the electronic harsh percussive beast of the beat. The two melt together perfectly as the only song with a specific verse / chorus structure. The final minute see’s the song breakout into a frenzy of breakbeat showdowns and this is the most energetic the album gets. “Cosmogony” takes the brass elements from Volta and Selma Songs and goes spacial with a wonderfully warm and cosy number full of hushed tones and heartbeats. It’s ethereal and mostly a calming piece as all the harshness of the brass is taken out and almost sounds like a thousand people humming. “Dark Matter” returns to the organ that almost sounds like a humming space probe. Bjork’s vocals are manipulated into a twisted mess and it’s really quite eerie. Think the organ version of “Cover Me” and you’re part way there. “Hollow” goes one step further with one of the most atmospherically disturbing tracks she’s created. A stabbing organ, reversed backing vocals and little regard for a melody at all, this is all about scaring ten barrels of juice out of you. After these two tracks, I now would like to start a petition to get Bjork to score a horror film.
“Virus” is possibly my favourite track on the album. Using the Gameleste and warm keyboards / steel drums the track weaves a heart wrenching and beautiful track. It’s full of quirky tuned percussive instruments but they all sounds sumptuous together. Again, although this track has a melody, its more about the arching emotion and atmosphere. “Sacrifice” makes this clear with an awesome futuristic sounding synth noise that also sounds medieval. It’s the sole instrument along with the vocals but it’s all that’s needed in what is a great song full of vocal layers and duelling melodies. “Mutual Core” is the other big hitter with drums and bass on the album. Based on the albums most prominent instrument, the organ, we are treated to some Homogenic-esque bass beats which soon break into their own grizzly euphoria as the backing vocals rise and rise and Bjork lets rip. The normal edition of the album closes with “Solstice” which after lots of digital trickery returns to a more acoustic root. In many ways it’s the typical minimal closer that Bjork likes to place at the end of her albums and this one feels almost freeform in its minimal nature. I felt like I needed a campfire while listening to it.
On the deluxe edition you are also treated to an extended version of Hollow, an equally eerie Dark Matter with a choir added on and the extra track “Nattura” which is a fantastic track I urge people to seek. It’s a massive drum solo with random squiggle riffs and Bjork ad-libbing over the top. There’s nothing like it on the album, nor has she made anything like it elsewhere – it’s more like her Sugarcubes days!
Biophilia is almost devoid of classification. I hate it when people just say the music is bonkers and mad. There is true genius here. Those going after melodies may be disappointed however as Biophilia is all about the overarching feeling. It’s strength lies in the fact that when the albums finished you feel you’ve been somewhere, felt something and want to feel it again. If that isn’t a work of art, I don’t want to go to the gallery.
Video Vault – Bjork
Bjork’s new PV for “Moon” is almost as a beautiful as the song itself which starts out very abstract and develops into something rather special. Biophilia is out next month.
Bjork – “The Crystalline Series Omar Souleyman” Review
Wow is all I can say for this three track digital single. Omar Souleyman’s reworkings of “Crystalline”, “Tesla” and “Mawal” are simply a work of dense precision art. Each track has be transformed into a bouncing electro bollywood number as a digital sitar beautifully works its charm. With Crystalline Bjork’s vocal’s interact perfectly to make a bouncing but catchy track. Tesla has more of Omar’s voice chanting than Bjork but the two fit beautifully as they warp round eachother. There’s a lot of frequency changes throughout the single but that just makes the dense note changes even more mesmorising. “Mawal” closes the single in style with a third awesome vision of Eastern Iceland.
As if I wasn’t desperately wanting Biophillia already, now I’m positively panting for it. Single of the year by far.
Video Vault – Bjork
Crystalline is the new video for Bjork and its directed by Mr Gondry. How could it go wrong?!
Video Vault – Bjork
Time to reveal a new Bjork song from upcoming album Biophilia which is coming out 26/09/11. This track is called Cosmogony and is brassy! The intrumental is the video below but the vocal version can be streamed in full here before it’s iTunes release tomorrow. Can’t wait for the album – enjoy! Awesome video too.
Video Vault – Hector Zazou & Bjork
Having found Hector Zazou’s music far too late in life to appreciate it while he was still with us, this wonderful collaboration with Bjork is lovingly put together with dance in this music video for Visue Vatsenda Rosu. Sublime.
Live Vault – Bjork & Skunk Anansie
In what must be one of the best moment on Top of The Pops, a collaboration of Bjork and Skunk Anansie see’s a complete screaming rock version of “Army of Me“. It’s fantastic and what a random collision of talents!
Bjork – “Voltaic” Trailer
Bjork’s Voltaic was released today and here’s a fantastic trailer showcasing the massive boxset! It’s winging its way to me now and I can’t wait! Bjork’s memorising live and her videos are always artistic and very interesting.
Video Vault – Bjork
I don’t think there’s a Bjork music video that isn’t instantly watchable but we can only pick one a week so this time we’ve plumbed for “Declare Independance“. String alongs!
Live Vault – Sigur Ros & Bjork
Two of our favourite artists here at HPM on stage together?! Woopee for us! Sigur Ros is joined by a drum baching Bjork for a rendition of Gobblegigook. Quite a surreal experience but one I recommend absolutely everyone should have! Enjoy!
Bjork’s “Wanderlust” PV Released
While I contemplate buying the 3 disc edition of “Volta”, Bjork releases a fantastic video for “Wanderlust” which will be released in a limited edition single where you can view it with 3D goggles to get the full effect. Well I’ve not 3D goggles but its an amazing masterpiece of artistic excellence and I’ve watched it several times now and am still wowed. See it here
Bjork – How Many Special Editions Do You Need?
Bjork has another special edition of Volta coming out in April! This is a 3 disc edition with remix and live cd and a bonus dvd with all the music videos and a making of documentary. Now normally I’m all for special editions but when Volta was released wasn’t there 2 versions already? I plumped for the special editions then with its IMPOSSIBLE layout of card that meant I had to copy the disc and then file my bought copy away for fear of breaking it. A tad like the family tree box set which you could never get back in the box again! As a result I now want this 3 disc set! My poor wallet. Please Bjork, only one special edition at a time! Volta Revisited comes out in Japan on 16/04/08 and I assume it’ll be out everywhere else the week prior or after.
Will Drawing Restraint 9 Ever Get A DVD Release?
Made by her partner Matthew Barney, Drawing Restraint 9 follows artistic religious rituals of the Shinto, a Japanese religion which used to be Japan’s state religion up until World War II. Now it’s not so common and this weird and wonderful film was born from Matthews interest in religion. Sadly he’s gone on record to say it will never get a DVD release as he doesn’t believe in reproducing art. While that’s all well and good, why not just release it as a non-profit production or something similar? So many people are wanting to see it (it’s only been available in a few art theatres in the USA) that I’m sure it’d be worth while.
Having said that, it is very niche and the soundtrack itself illuminated to that with its 10 minute long “Holographic Entrypoint” which was a Japanese man chanting atonal and the slightly ear piercing sho instrument which doesn’t always sound as listenable as it should. There were some great tracks on the soundtrack which Bjork composed (Storm is furious, Gratitude with Wil Olburn is beautiful and Cetacea is like a lost b-side) but I’m sure it’d be enhanced with the visuals that it was meant to be heard with.
