Every week, we round up the all-important, all-summarizing last sentences of the biggest new-music reviews. Today’s entry is Björk’s just-released Volta, and as you can expect, these excerpts are wordier than usual.
- “The disc’s problems, unfortunately, are more than a matter of poor percussion. ‘The Dull Flame of Desire,’ for instance, featuring warbling guest vocalist Antony Hegarty of New York-based avant-pop faves Antony and the Johnsons, begins strong, with the album’s prettiest horn melody. But the song’s title becomes all too appropriate as the duo tease and mangle the same refrain — ‘I love your eyes, my dear’ — over and over with increasing theatricality. The sappy vamping is so excessive that even Björk’s beautiful voice grows tiresome. At that point, not even the hottest beat would help. B-” [Entertainment Weekly]
- “In the end, though, those golden moments are too few and far between, and the slow, unfurling, lingering moments too long. If the critical and fan response to this album reflects that of the fascinatingly eccentric (but largely maligned) Medúlla, I’ll be curious to see how she responds. Until then, Volta is mostly proof that Björk is as fallible as the messy, unpredictable humanity she celebrates, and that even her definition of “pop” is avant-garde. [Rating: 5.8]” [Pitchfork]
- “Björk’s collaborators on “Volta” are eclectic to a fault: the Congolese group Konono No. 1, which plays amplified kalimbas; the frantic drummer Brian Chippendale, of the American duo Lightning Bolt; a ten-piece all-female Icelandic brass band; and a Chinese pipa player, among others. This musical solicitude is a testament to Björk’s fearless curiosity, but her restlessness can be wearying. When disparate teams of musicians attempt to realize one musician’s ideas, every song becomes yet another stone turned over rather than one put in place. On Volta, melodic motifs rarely repeat the way they do in most songs, and many of Björk’s vocal performances feel like improvisations.” [The New Yorker]
- Speaking of Volta, remember when that music blog ran an incorrect picture of its cover? That was mad stupid.” [Idolator]
I liked the non-cover better than the actual cover. What is that thing, a Walking Apple Woman?
Cue angry Bjork defenders in three…two…one….
I’m picking up a copy later today, having waited to sit patiently to soak in the album in toto, but things don’t seem positive. (I still can’t get into “Alien Behaviour,” I mean, “Earth Intruders.”) I’ve been resolutely by Björk’s side, thinking her practically infallible and almost musically divine. Since around the Vespertine/”Dead Swan Dress” days, Björk seems to be spending much more time on her booklet designs and wacky outfits than her songwriting.
Take this as a lesson, all you musicians out there: This is what happens when you dive into the hypertrendy New York scene and hook up with charlatan “artists” like Matthew Barney. Somebody ship Björk back to Iceland. Fast.
@Xenu: Funny thing is, after listening to the disc a few times, the only track that still really holds my interest is Earth Intruders. Don’t get me started on Antony Heagarty – his voice is like nails on a chalkboard to me.
I am getting some pretty awesome hate mail today.
@cerulgalactus: Bummer. That is not what I was wanting to read. Insert frowny-face emoticon with tear here.
I liked it when I went to the listening party in Vegas, but man…..I wish she’d experiment with maybe Trent, or The Rapture…..and just rock out…..or like above said, maybe ship back to Iceland, soak-up some hot springs and make something endearing….call up Mu’m.
I actually quite like the album, but everyone seems terribly disappointed that it’s not a “pop” album. Well, duh.
That terrorism lyric is unforgiveable, though.
I can’t believe Axl Rose gets more supportive responses than Björk in the comments sections.
WTF
The Bjork Problem: just high-enough of a media profile to get called out for not releasing a Gwen Stefani album.
@Babydangler:
Axl’s been off the radar long enough for everybody to forget how awful Guns N’ Roses were in the first place. For me this is in the top ten of the year, definitely.
I don’t forgive Axl for anything…I enjoy my fair share of old GNR hits but ever since he got his face pulled back Terry Gilliam style he’s pretty much stopped entertaining me, even in a pathetic way.
That being said, Volta is just bad. It’s Bjork being frustrating for the sake of being frustrating. Sure, she’s done that for years now but this time she forgot to include anything remotely enjoyable.
I was excited when I saw an interview with the ol’ Bj telling us she had become disillusioned and bored with making pretentious art fag music, and the one upmanship her repy was inspiring amongst beat makers and whathaveyou, because I thought that meant that this Album, Volta, would be straight up good music. Hearing early leaks of Earth Intruders kept me hopeful that some of traits that had made me love Bjork’s music in the first place would be back on this album. Then I downloaded it and thought to myself, what a liar. Some of the songs have fun or have interesting beats, the instrumentation, though a little cheddar for my tastes is still o.k. But the real problem, and it’s the same one since she wrote Selmasongs (which I’m beginning to believe ruined her as a song writer) is that her lyrics suck. They’re corny, pretentious and make no attempt to rhyme or fit in the song. She’s taken a turn for the literal and asks bum questions that lack insight… do we really need to listen to a song that actually uses the term suicide bomber???? (unless it’s a hilarious rap song, which at this point may be Bjorks only potential salvation.) The lukewarm duet with Antony is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the self indulgence on this album, only new mothers want to hear songs about how in love some broad is with her damn baby, or how passionate her fire soul is. Like Medulla there are songs that I enjoy, and that’s the reason I still have hope. But right now I think she’s gonna have to spend some time in the cinema this summer watching popcorn movies and learning to take herself a little less seriously otherwise she might as well call up Lauryn Hill and retire with her in Jersey.
@nonce:
Hey, they both worked with Timbaland…does that count?
Maybe she should have made an album with the Mars Volta. And called it Björka.
@Jupiter8:
Not close enough, I guess. That’s what Shants seems to have been expecting, at least. I’m looking forward to Gwen’s duet with Antony.
Seriously, though: c’mon. In a year where all of the expected “hot” “indie” releases have all been duds (Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Feist, Modest Mouse, you name it) it’s refreshing that someone’s actually taking risks, even if they don’t always succeed. And the fact that people are alarmed by suicide-bomber references in 2007 says more about the arch-conservatism of contemporary pop culture than it does about Bjork.
The terrorism lyric isn’t unforgiveable for being un-conservative; its unforgiveable for being terrifically unsubtle and pointless and indefensible. I’ll answer Bjork: yes, it is better that a suicide bomber doesn’t succeed because violence against innocent people is not justified, no matter your cause. QED.
And I’m also sure the inhabitants of Baghdad really appreciate the morally relativistic ponderings of a millionaire.
Other than that, I still like the album.
“And I’m also sure the inhabitants of Baghdad really appreciate the morally relativistic ponderings of a millionaire.”
Aw, that’s just a cheap shot. So, because she has money she’s not allowed to sing about stuff going on in the real world as she wishes? Unlike SOME artists, at least she puts out albums regularly, attempts to do something different and adventurous every time (even if it doesn’t always succeed), and actually sings/plays/composes her own work. She’s just doing her thing & making her fans happy. What’s wrong with that? Sorry, but I hate that whole “celebs can’t have political opinions” meme, a la Sean Hannity and his ilk.
Also, didn’t a crazed fan attempt to send a bomb to Björk’s home in the 90s, then kill himself? I’d imagine she might have a little more empathy for suicide bombing victims than most.
Oh my. Did someone just say that the following albums [Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, and Modest Mouse] are duds? You have got to be kidding me. Look I love Bjork as much as the next man, but many times I found myself looking up to see when a song was coming to an end, only to find that the beat was set to vamp and play out for another two to three minutes. It’s not bad, but after getting through it once I only went back to Earth Intruders and Innocence. I also popped in Medulla just for old times sake. Guess I just need more time with this. I am sure I will come around.
Volta is pretty bad.
It’s not Medúlla bad. It doesn’t sound like a bunch of people belching and groaning for the vast length of it. (I bought Medúlla while at work one day, and it got passed around from office to office as a joke, with my coworkers just collapsing with laughter at the Yoko Ono-esque collection of random howls and grunts from which the album is made.)
I think Volta is Björk’s attempt at a “return to form,” her answer to Madonna’s Confessions on a Dance Floor, if you will. She is attempting to reconnect with the sound that brought her to prominence without completely retrenching and starting over, and both albums are segued. There are sonic references to Debut‘s “Aeroplane” and “Human Behaviour” (both on “Earth Intruders”), “The Anchor Song” (“Pneumonia”), and Post‘s “Headphones” (“My Juvenile”), Homogenic‘s “Pluto” (“Declare Independence”), among other quotations. But Björk, unlike Madonna, is not a recycler, and the act of regurgitating herself feels false, especially without Nellee Hooper and Marius DeVries, her original collaborators on her two most cohesive and powerful albums – and the two albums she quotes most often on Volta – Debut and Post.
It’s really sad when I hear something like “I See Who You Are” and think, This sounds like something I’d hear in a Pottery Barn. I should never think that about Björk. Björk should never play in a Pottery Barn. Björk should never be the perfect compliment for purchasing practical furnishing for upwardly mobile suburban professionals, but there she is, the perfect accompaniment for your seafoam green linen throw pillows and sisal floor mats.
Volta is pretty bad.
@nonce:
I’m confused…LCD & Feist have no business being anywhere near the duds list. In fact, I’d say Sounds of Silver works much better as a cohesive album than the S/T (admittedly because so much of the S/T had already been around and was simply repackaged as an album). Arcade Fire was a bit disappointing, I’ll grant you that but Modest Marr is pretty damn catchy, even if the old school MM fans can’t handle the amount of pop Brock seems willing to embrace.
Wow, I had no idea so many people want Bjork to make boring pop records. A lot of these opinions seem to boil down to “I don’t get it, this sucks.”
I can think of no greater burden than a reputation as a forward-thinking artist. You’re expected to not just reinvent the wheel, but dream up entirely new modes of transportation with every artistic statement.