 | |
List Price: $21.98 | | Label: Elektra / Wea
Salesrank: 127546
Released: August 31, 2004 |
| Our Price: $0.86 |
| Used Price: $0.01 |
|
| Media: Audio CD |
|
Medulla Track Listing:
1. Pleasure is All Mine
2. Show Me Forgiveness
3. Where is the Line?
4. Vokuro
5. Oll Birtan
6. Who is it (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)
7. Submarine
8. Sonnets/Unrealities XI
9. Desired Contellation
10. Piano II
11. Mouths Cradle
12. Wednesday (Midvikudags)
13. Triumph Of A Heart
14. Oceania
Editorial Review:
Bjork is one of the most recognized stars in the world. She has sold millions of copies of her groundbreaking albums, she is an icon of cutting edge style, and she has received worldwide acclaim as an actress. Medulla, Bjork's first new studio album in three years, finds her delving deeper than ever before into her haunting and exhilarating sound and vision. Innovative as always, Bjork has this time built the songs on Medulla entirely from vocal tracks, with no insturments appearnig on the album, creating a soundscape unlike anything you've ever heard before. Special guests include Rahzel from The Roots, Mike Patton of Faith No More and Mr. Bungle, an Inuit throat singer, an Icelandic choir, the world's greatest human beatboxes and more. The limited edition will feature a slipcase, a four-panel gatefold digipak, and a 32-panel four color poster.
Description of Medulla:
Normally, an artist such as Bjork with a mass audience across the globe steadily eases off as the back-catalog starts to grow. However, Medulla, the fifth proper studio album from Bjork is without a doubt the most challenging collection of music she has ever released.
For the most part, the album is made up of layers upon layers of processed vocal parts arranged in either harmony or dissonance such as "Vokuro" and "Oll Birtan," respectively. Some, such as "Show Me Forgiveness" are simple acapella, the aforementioned sounding like a vocal cut from Debut minus the music. Another echo of Bjork days gone by is "Desired Constellation," a slow trancy pulse underpinning her distinct vocals. "Where Is the Line," "Who Is It," and "Triumph of a Heart" are a bit grimier with a semi-urban twist, the latter a fantastically funky beatbox number with an outstanding introduction, the closest moment to a pop song appearing on Medulla. Although traditional instruments and breaks have been removed from this album, Medulla is no great departure for Bjork but in a sense it is radically different from any of her previous work. Some will love it, some hate it, and some just won't be sure what to think. --David Trueman
Amazon.com Special Content
An Interview with Björk
Björk shared her thoughts about the directions she is taking with Medulla in our Amazon.com interview.
Medulla Reviews:
Bjork's best album yet 
2007-01-26 - When I first listened to clips of songs from this album, I wasn't too interested... probably because it is so unlike anything that has been done before. Now I consider it Bjork's best album. I love that she took such a risk with this album and it's fascinating that she created so much music from human sounds (throat-singing, percussive sounds, even breathing). There is a raw, human element that makes this album profound, and there is a lot of variety among the songs. It's less pop and more genre-defying -- a step in the right direction, I think.
courageous, gorgeous, ravishing!
2005-05-08 - Not only do I adore Bjork's music, but also her entire overall approach to it, so I suppose I'm a little biased toward loving anything she does irregardless... However, after multiple listenings in various environments to "Medulla", I'm feeling confident enough to recommend it to *some* people, not all; only the ones I find most experienced and sophisticated in their listening choices, or open to art forms that don't fit into tidy little boxes.
I think that the folks who are saying that this is not the "old Bjork" are correct; this is not the "old Bjork" - any artist worth their salt explores, pushes boundaries, takes risks, evolves, and sometimes leaves their former fans/supporters behind. Beethoven, Schoenberg, Stravinsky, the Beatles, and Bob Dylan among many others faced huge criticism, even rioting, when they made the choice to put different sounds out into the world's ear than the current audience was comfortable with. That's how great works of art are produced. There must be transitional periods where no one, not even the artist, knows quite what's going on - later we look back and say, "A-Ha! that's what s/he was doing..." It's important to go on the journey...
I suppose that everything on "Medulla" doesn't deserve a 5-star rating (some of it seems a bit self-indulgent and obscure, tho' I hesitate to blame that on the artist and more on my need to listen more deeply), but parts are some of the best beautiful music I've ever heard, and certainly all of it is fearless, seductive and authentically Bjorkish.
I'm basing my rating on the fact that, while it may not be the very best album Bjork has in her to create for all time, it certainly is representative of her passion for exploration, and an indication of what's to come. I think it's an important addition to any music lover's collection.
I'm not dissapointed.
2005-02-15 - I heard the leaks of Medúlla before its release: I was afraid I wouldn't really like the cd. It's really weird to see someone say "I'm bored with instruments" and want to do an entirely vocal album. I feared it wouldn't be as good as the other Björk albums, but after listening to the songs, I realised it was a pretty good album. Many people hated this album, and even regreted buying the album... which I think it's no use. I think they expected too much for a new album, and were desperate and thirsty for new material. The result was, in my opinion: a very cozy album, almost relaxing to listen to, even though it has some strong beats sung by Razhel from The Roots. It's not a boring album. There's use of a lot of effects on voices, a great deal of textures. I extremely fell in love with "Who Is It", which is now a single with a pretty bell choir mix. Lyrically is splendorous. "Pleasure is all mine" is surprisingly nice and it's one of my favourites. There are two tracks supposed to be improvs, like "Midvikudags" and "Öll Birtan", and are very short and sorta fun. "Desired Constellation" is wonderful, dark and slow (in a good way). The lyrics are at times kinda heartbreaking yet a real beauty. "Oceania", "Triumph of a heart" and "Mouth's Cradle" are the upbeat tracks of the record. I really suggest you buy Medúlla if you like buying every release by Björk. This Limited Edition consists of a special packaging, a "digipack", and a poster of the cover with some doodles around. The lyrics are in the back, and although they're black like the paper itself, they can be seen anyway. It's a cute digipack, and a nice album. I think it might be a sorta transition album, since Björk wanted to release two albums in a row (Medúlla & Next Album?).
Mouth music
2005-02-08 - Ever heard of mouth music? It's a traditional technique for producing music with nothing except rhythmic vocals -- literally, just music from the mouth. Quirky Icelandic Bjork isn't a Celt, but she takes the term "mouth music" to new heights in the enchantingly challenging "Medulla," an album whose music is based on the voice.
Bjork embarks on her strangest and most experimental musical journey here. Not just one kind of song, but many -- majestic medieval-flavored music to pop to hymns to an eerie vocal ballad backed by throat singing. Bjork even beatboxes with a choir behind her, giving a sort of classical hip-hop sound to the music. Can't get that just anywhere.
"Medulla" isn't entirely devoid of instrumentation... the non-vocal variety, that is. There's a pretty piano solo to "Ancestors," and the deep bassline of "Submarine." Keyboards pop up occasionally But those are the exception -- most of the time it's Bjork's soft vocals, singing, grunting, whistles, and various gutteral sounds -- sort of a dolphin-on-acid noise. It's wonderfully weird.
After the pretty but vaguely monotonous "Vespertine," Bjork just bursts out with her new sound. What's strangest is the effect it has when one is listening to it -- it's powerful and visceral, lulling you one moment and making you shiver the next. At times it's unnerving -- the grunts range from sexy to ghastly, and are enough to make you squirm -- but it never fails to provoke a response.
"Medulla" isn't a full departure from her past material. The opening number has echoes of "Vespertine," while "Where is the Line" hints at "Homogenic." But the heart and soul of "Medulla" rests in an entirely new zone, far away from the icy grandeur of her past trip-hop. This is a darker, thicker sound, backed by Robert Wyatt's odd vocals and a choir.
Bjork proves again that she is an artist in every sense of the word -- she doesn't just make wonderful music, but she explores into new and thrilling musical arenas. Revolutionary, sultry, and a jolt to the system.
A Little Too Far Into Her Head This Time Maybe 
2005-01-24 - Well, it sure is interesting. Certainly it's not intimate in the wonderful way Vespertine was, though it is intimate. And it's not as lush and amazingly produced as Homogenic or Post. It's funny, because I assumed after It's In Our Hands and Nature is Ancient (from Volumen and the Greatest Hits stuff) that she was heading back into Homogenic and Post terratory. She did exactly the opposite. It's very very weird. I can't say it's particularly enjoyable to listen to on speakers. In fact, it's a bit embarrasing. But the high res disks (DVD-Audio and SACD editions) through very good headphones is quite a surreal experience. Like I've said in other reviews, SACD tends to impart a true-ness to the human voice and percussives. I'm assuming they recorded this in Pro Tools, so the SACD edition I have is essentially what the studio PCM DACs sounded like to the mastering engineer. It's startling to listen to. If Vespertine was intimate by letting us in on secret emotions, Medulla is like having a vulcan mind meld with Bjork herself. Unfortunately, once tried it's not something you're going to want do all the time. Only a couple of the tracks are worthy of regular play, like Oceania and Triumph of the Heart. But I'm oddly still glad I bought it.
2.5 Stars for the CD on Speakers. 4.5 Stars for the Hi Res disks on headphones. I still haven't listened to the Surround Hi Res mix, so that might boost it more. Wonder why they don't just make a binaural mix for one of the stereo tracks... Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if the voices were recorded around one of those dummy heads. Sure sounds like it with headphones on.
Darn it, the thing's growing on me. The current tracks I can't get enough of: The Pleasure is all Mine, Who is It, Oceana, Submarine (in spite of the Umpalumpa-like male chorus, her solo is phenomenal), and Triumph of the Heart. However, most of the other tracks only grab me with headphones in SACD or they are nice for a while then dip into the same tired lines, words, and phrases Bjork's used in every other album...embarassingly derivative lyrics in places. Previous comments still apply otherwise.
