Why is this album getting so much high praise?I have seen only a few reviews.But,evryone cites how the beatboxing and the all voices thing is so inovative and original...and how some of the tracks that are beat boxed sound like they are programmed and such.These must be some dolt reviewers...itis very easy to take abeat box and sample it and layer it and eq it....whatever.

I dont think this album touches homogenic.

I guess i will wait to see what a few more people say about this...but feel free to rip me or just talk abiut this album?

I mean i could name a half dozen other artists that have used beat boxing for all the instrumentation on an album?

I also dont thinki bjork is some musical genius...her voice is unique...and her brain must run backwards but her sound is not so far out...and is not the future of....??...whatever.

Since this is genre-specific, Imprezu21, I'm going to move this on over to Alternative from General Music Discussion.

I've only heard one single from the new album, but I'm going to be in the office all day and look forward to checking it out in full today.

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Certainly not as good as Homogenic.

I'll admit that at this point for me, Bjork could rest on her laurels. If she turns in something that can be described as beautiful and challenging, then I will keep it on my computer and give it, and her other albums, a listen every time I'm in a Bjork mood.

Oceania makes me tingly with the feminine choir swooping up and down dramatically.


The whole thing makes me think of Tiger Thrush by Ami Yoshida. The whole album is her screaming, screeching, and straining her voice. Left raw, it was quite boring, but I thought "somebody's going to take these sounds and shape them into compositions, and it will probably kick ass." I originally thought "hey, bjork is going to be the person that turns this idea into something really good" unfortunately, Medulla doesn't really push the vocality that much, relying mostly on regular choir and beatbox sounds. it's arranged well and whatnot, and I do like this album, but what I was really hoping for was bjork trying to find every texture she could with voice. instead it seems like she's taking songs that could've gotten a more typical Bjork treatment, and fitting vocal sounds into those songs.

I've only listened to this 1 3/4 times, so it's not really a "review" of the album, but based on the discussion so far, I wanted to make some comments.

I'm not sure how Bjork, or anybody, could top "homogenic". When I heard that, I was sure that almost every song was a true original, yet they were all so different, except for Bjork's voice. I can honestly say my mind was blown and continues to be so whenever I hear it. Now, I understand that Imprezu, Sweetie and Vykromond, among others, have been exposed to more electronic/dance than I have, but I'll stand by my comments based on what little I know.

As far as somebody using only voices to compose songs which are beautiful and mind-expanding, I believe the South African group Ladysmith Black Mambazo has been doing that for nigh on 30 years.

What I can say about this new album, as of yet, is that it's very good. My favorites are the opener "pleasure is all mine", "vokuro" (which sounds distinctly from The Middle Ages), " mouth's cradle" and the closer "triumph of the heart." "ancestors" sounds like it was inspired by "The Exorcist", while some others sound similar to the soundtrack of "2001 A Space Odyssey." What do y'all think?

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i guess alot of people like it...judging by the score here on metacritic.

I still think it is so-so...i have listened to it a handfull of times.I think the mulitple listen factor is very low...i dont see myself pulling it out excited in 6 months.

But we shall see...i do think it is a decent album.But its definantely not all that...like it is described in some reviews.But i guess that is expected with an artist like bjork...with her reputation and all.

Actually, Imprezu, you'll notice that while 'Medulla' only ranks 1 point below 'Vespertine' in MC score at this stage, the general tone of the reviews is very different: a lot reviewers thought 'Vespertine' was her best work (WHATEVER WHATEVER WHATEVER), whereas with this album most have turned in a "it's great, it's Bjork, but I'm not overenthused about it."

It's not 'Homogenic', no, but I really like 'Medulla.' I'm probably going to be blogging about it pretty soon, so I don't want to go off on a long discussion of it right now (I'll repost in this thread later), but I think it's fantastic. It's true that she doesn't big-leap advance the medium that she's working in: this isn't a revolutionary beatboxing or a cappella record, and it sometimes sounds like she's just taking tentative steps here, which makes sense for someone new to the form. But the songs- ohmigosh, the songs. "Who Is It" is inescapably Bjork-like, almost 'Post'-ish, and a ton of fun. "Desired Constellation" is delicate and gorgeous. "Triumph of the Heart" is just IMMENSE amounts of fun. The rest of the songs are wide-ranging, and all pretty beautiful. I like the one (I'm not sure which it is) dominated by male voices, for the stark contrast that it gives to the rest of the (as all Bjork albums are) dominantly female album.

I, like Sweetie, also sort of wish that this were more REVOLUTIONARY, that it was just completely out of left field, but if you look at her pre-album interviews, that wasn't really the point. To her, this wasn't even a huge departure from previous sound; it's just what she wanted to do for an album. So that's why 'Medulla' is "just" a great Bjork album. It's hard not to shake the feeling that if she really had dedicated herself to making a masterpiece, she could totally have pulled it off and made another 'Homogenic,' but still- I've barely been listening to anything other than 'Medulla' in the last week.

I am enjoying this album quite a lot so far. For my personal tastes, this is the best album she has done yet. I think it's another very Bjork album, and fits perfectly within the boundaries of what she has done in her career. I don't need her to try and do something crazy and out there compared to her previous work, as there is no one who makes music even similar to what she does. The contributions from Rahzel, Patton and Tagaq are wonderful, and the programming is flawless. I won't compare it to Homogenic because it is a completely different album and I personally don't want to hear her try to recreate her old music, I appreciate the fact that she is moving forward and exploring new things for her. I thought that was why everyone went ape-shit over Vespertine! Anyways, I think Medulla kicks ass and it will definately be seeing a lot of rotation in my cd player.

It's impossible for Bjork to make another album as good as Homogenic, Post or Debut. The new one is pretty uninteresting, though. Vespertine is lots better.

I disagree. She gets better with each new recording. Agreed: Homogenic in my top 5 of the 90's, and my favorite. But Vespertine, and Medulla reaches out to seek new borders. They are amazing albums and not a step back, but forward. Medulla, amazingly, is the CD I've most listened to in 2004(yes, more than Wilco...barely) and it gets better with every listen.

TFIF-I agree with you, it gets better on every listen for me. A Triumph of the Heart was just kicking my ass this morning!

Bjork is a true gem.

She can go from the sublime to the Gor-blimey quicker than anyone.

Dylan can take three albums to shift style.

Bjork can do it in the space of one word.

I love making mixed CD's and usually open and close the CD with Bjork. Last two CD's opened with Frosti/Venus As A Boy(live) and closed with Triumph Of A Heart...the other, opened Show Me Forgiveness(awesome opener blending with perkission/Wagon Christ) and closing with I've Seen It All.

The thing is, Bjork couldn't give a crap what anyone thinks of her. I like her for it. She will continue pushing the boundaries on her own art, regardless of critical opinion or commercial success.

I personally like Medulla. It has a distinctive sound. Mike Patton and Rahzel also contribute - what did you expect? It isn't going to make the emo kids jump up and down in ecstacy now is it?

Good on her I say.