Album of the Week Club.

[Newfoundfreedom]

Just had a first listen through of the Bjork album so here's my thoughts. 

 

Firstly. I had no idea that it was an acapella album. 

 

Second. I always thought I liked acapella music. Turns out I like acapella tracks, singular. The odd track here and there is very clever and a nice change. A whole album of it becomes tedious very quickly. 

 

Thirdly. I do really like Bjorks voice and quirky vocal style. So although this album isn't really for me. It does inspire me to seek out more of her stuff. Maybe some of her earlier stuff where I know one or two tracks on the album to dip my toe in. 

 

However. In the spirit of the thread. I will listen to the album again and see if I can pull some more positives from it. 

[Leonard Smalls]

17 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

seek out more of her stuff

This is my favourite! 

 

 

[Woodinblack]

I love army of me and her earlier stuff, I am guessing it is the acapella element, I couldn’t get through it, I was waiting for the tracks to start, it seemed very self indulgent even for bjork 

[ead]

On 04/11/2023 at 15:32, Newfoundfreedom said:

Firstly. I had no idea that it was an acapella album.

 

This is why I thought I'd keep quiet for a bit

[toneknob]

Bjork's got an amazing voice but as with most of her material I find it a bit tuneless and meandering at times. Speaking of which, some of this reminded me of the vocal jam at the end of You Enjoy Myself by Phish, which is different any time but here's the first one from youtube

 

[Mykesbass]

Only ever listened to Post as an album in its entirety and a few bits of the Sugarcubes, but always liked what I've heard of Bjork on the radio. This album was fabulous. So many styles, such clever production, and of course her wonderful voice. I really must get some more CDs. 

Enjoying your random selector @Newfoundfreedom!

[nekomatic]

So I got the good headphones on for Medúlla and turned the volume up and I think that's how it needs to be listened to - it isn't furniture music, it's meant to be immersive. Of course it turns out I do know some of the tracks, and could hum Who Is It, but this is still an album I'm not very familiar with despite having owned it for I assume the (gulp) 19 years since it was released.

 

I do get that not everyone likes unaccompanied choral music, and I guess I do, but I didn't find myself thinking at any point ‘oh this is unaccompanied choral music’ - it makes a complete sound world that I was very happy to spend three quarters of an hour in, and the variety of what she does with it only really struck me afterwards - Vökuró for example is pretty much a straight classical choir piece, Oceania is drum'n'bass, and there's plenty in between. And of course not everyone likes her voice, and the way she sings each syllable as if it's the first time she's ever tried to pronounce it, but for me it all works - taking some time to really listen properly to something so complex and engaging was an experience I really enjoyed. And I have to say, I struggle to think of anyone else around at the moment who has had such commercial success with such bold and experimental music (suggestions?)

 

My takeaway from this week then is that not only should I listen to Medúlla more, I should listen to Björk more, because she's done so much more since then that I also don't know properly (well it has been 19 years). 

 

Bring on next week!

[Barking Spiders]

Tried the Bjork album. Listened to the first two tracks and then 30-60 second bits of the remaining ones. I really didn't like it, not one bit. Then again I don't like Bjork's solo stuff or the the Sugarcubes other than the Play Dead track done with David Arnold. For some reason her odd voice works really well there.

Edited November 8, 2023 by Barking Spiders

[LowB_FTW]

I liked this, though perhaps not quite enough to buy it, which isn't really the point here, but that's my take-away from it.
I like a lot of Björk's stuff that I've previously heard, both her well known and more obscure stuff (I've a mate that's a fan of hers), and I don't really have anything bad to say about this album, but I also don't have anything great to say either.

I think it just seemed a little rushed and under thought, if that makes sense?

I really liked the concept, but the tracks just didn't seem to be finished, almost like they were demos.

I found it interesting without finding it good.

If nothing else, I've finally got around to listening to the album in full, which I've always intended to do but never actually got to do, so thanks for that.

 

Mark

[upside downer]

Medúlla is very cleverly crafted. The sparse instrumentation and use of throat singing and (I'm guessing) treated vocals leads to an altogether different type of album than you'd usually be expecting. Björk is one of those artists who isn't afraid to bend and shape her music into myriad directions. Unfortunately, I didn't much care for it, though! Couldn't find myself humming along to anything here, I'm afraid. I don't mind bits and bobs of her other stuff (early Sugacubes and Army of Me is a belter) but I wouldn't be digging this one out again any time soon. 3/10.

[Newfoundfreedom]

Well it's that time of the week again. 

 

🥁

 

Lageos - Actress London Contemporary Orchestra

 

Definitely out of my comfort zone on this one. 😅

 

Bandcamp

https://actress.bandcamp.com/album/lageos

 

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/album/45jLFyHIZIXWB8cKlXUTn9

 

 

Tidal

https://tidal.com/album/87045772

 

YouTube

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_naghAfGqxieztsyAM8MM9t_oIEhKPbN0o&si=ccvwywzWhLsScPZr

 

 

[Leonard Smalls]

2 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Definitely out of my comfort zone on this one

I suspect many will agree!

My first thought was it was just random noises, but I actually ended up listening to the whole thing and found it rather haunting and hypnotic...

I'm not normally one for ambient backgroundy stuff but liked this!

[ead]

I tried really hard to find something that appealed to me and generally failed to do so apart from the occasional section of the odd track.  Just not my cup of tea I guess.

[LowB_FTW]

7 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Well it's that time of the week again. 

 

🥁

 

Lageos - Actress London Contemporary Orchestra

Right, well, I listened to the whole thing, and once was certainly enough.

There's only one track (9 - Voodoo Posse, Chronic Illusion) that I came close to liking, and it took a long slog to get to that, all the rest, nah, not so much.

Ambient, background music I can generally put up with, but this just did absolutely nothing for me for the most part.

 

Mark

[Newfoundfreedom]

I haven't had a chance to listen to it yet, but given the comments so far, I'm not looking forward to it. 😂

 

Oh well. 

 

That's the luck of the draw. 

[BillyBass]

Interesting this.

 

Actress, according to Wikipedia, is Darren J Cunningham, who used to play for West Brom.   Many of us here will remember Laurie Cunningham, who used to play for West Brom in the 70s & 80s.  I suspect Darren would be Laurie Cunningham's son but I can't find any confirmation on the internet.

 

Thom Yorke has worked with the London Contemporary Orchestra too, which is a good sign.  I love Radiohead.

 

I liked this.  Cunningham's electronic stuff over the London Contemporary Orchestra's haunting avant garde soundtrack; I'm not sure if that is the right way to put it.  I think it can be risky mixing genres and the last track, Hubble, sounds a bit like a track of techno music superimposed over a Shostakovich or Bartok string quartet.  Apart from that track, I believe this works well.

 

I'm a fan.  Like all avant garde stuff, I have to be in the mood to listen to it but I would listen to this again.  

 

7/10

 

 

[toneknob]

On 10/11/2023 at 07:31, Newfoundfreedom said:

Well it's that time of the week again. 

 

🥁

 

Lageos - Actress London Contemporary Orchestra

 

 

Quite liked it! Doubt it's one I'll come back often to but nice to have on in the background with Monday morning work. Probably my favourite AotW so far.

 

[nekomatic]

I put this on on Sunday afternoon while the family were all out (!) and I was making them dinner. The first track reminded me of what it used to sound like when you fast forwarded a CD, which I guess is a retro reference these days. I was a little surprised when it stopped and changed to something else, because I could have let it carry on doing that a bit longer, and I got the same feeling for several of the other tracks. Some of the later ones sounded a lot like the sort of game soundtracks they play on Radio 3 on a Saturday afternoon. 
 

I was never quite sure if there was an emotional heart to it or if it was all surface. But I was disappointed when it finished and there wasn’t any more, which can’t be bad. 

[sprocketflup]

Normally fairly enjoy stuff like this, but couldn't warm to the first half of the album, found it got easier as it went on though, so maybe a second spin will yield different results .

Must confess to not having found time to play last weeks AOTW yet, will also get round to that

[upside downer]

Didn't really get on with this one. A couple of the tracks were OK-ish and gave off vague Third Ear Band vibes but many of the pieces outstayed their welcome. For the most part there was a lot of what sounded like an inconsequential, repetitive mix of xylophones and bing-bonging backed by vacuum cleaners and detuned radios which, in the right hands, might sound better than this forgettable effort.

 

 

 

[sprocketflup]

4 hours ago, sprocketflup said:

Normally fairly enjoy stuff like this, but couldn't warm to the first half of the album, found it got easier as it went on though, so maybe a second spin will yield different results .

Must confess to not having found time to play last weeks AOTW yet, will also get round to that

Listened to Bjorks Medulla at last (a week late) - masterpiece. Why I didn't already have this in my collection I don't know. 

[Newfoundfreedom]

23 minutes ago, sprocketflup said:

Listened to Bjorks Medulla at last (a week late) - masterpiece. Why I didn't already have this in my collection I don't know. 

 

Excellent. That's what this thread's all about. 

 

I've yet to listen to anything that would inspire me to buy it, but it's still early days. 😁

[BassTractor]

First week:
Not for me.


Second week:
Medulla was already in my CD collection. Whilst it never had the impact on me that her previous albums had, it is highly appreciated each time I listen to it.


This week:
I think above comments by BillyBass (link works not), @nekomatic and @upside downer probably reflect some of my own responses to this Actress offering. I kinda like it, and when it was finished I kinda longed back to it, BUT ...
I honestly hope I'm wrong, but I can't hear aim, drive, coherence or the like. Being a bit mean here, I hear a youngster pressing Record before having come to grips with his new-bought synth. Flippant, but still. (I'm aware he's done this for 19 years already, and I also respect that he does have an audience.)
It also irks me that his scope seems to be firmly based in I-IV-V-I, which then is belied by a seemingly random gathering of noises: "It's avant-garde, you know! So I must be good!", he shouted into my ear - at least in my experience of the music.

BTW, this comment is coming from someone who loves ambient music, loves and studied minimal music and loves and taught electronic music, so this is not about me not liking the style or the sounds. It's about me not finding whatever it is that Actress has to offer.

 

[Newfoundfreedom]

Another interesting one this week. 

 

Latin pop/post punk/rock.

 

Not exactly a go to genre for me but I'm give it a go. 

 

Bandcamp

https://lavidaboheme.bandcamp.com/album/ser

 

Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/album/3pmsaPjaLVhM7In7eZKEre

 

Tidal

https://tidal.com/album/129682964

 

YouTube

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 17, 2023 by Newfoundfreedom

[LowB_FTW]

2 hours ago, Newfoundfreedom said:

Another interesting one this week. 

 

Latin pop/post punk/rock.

 

Not exactly a go to genre for me but I'm give it a go. 

I like this.

I'm about half way through it at the moment and won't be able to finish it until later, but immediate impressions are very favourable.

There's some funky bass going on in it to.

It gives me vibes from a couple of other bands that I listen to, but I'll reserve name ing until I've heard the full album, but at this point I'm actually looking forward to getting back to this.

 

Mark