Buzzer
Languidly Clinical
- Oct 1, 2006
- 26,121
I went on an album buying spree recently and am working my way slowly through them but so far:
Bjork - 'Vulnicura'. I was emailing Hans Kraay Fan Club about this album after a review that I tweeted and I said it was quite experimental but this morning I'm going to take all that back. As background music it doesn't really do the music justice, get yourself some headphones and listen to it properly and it becomes one of her most accessible albums for years. The production is top-notch and so many wonderful surprises that you instantly want to go back and listen again to hear the bits you missed the first time round. And it's incredibly sad, even for Bjork. Listen to this in the wrong mood and you'll be blubbing like a baby. There is a back story to many songs on the album so quite understandable but Bjork has that knack that very few performers: Sinead O'Connor, Nina Simone, Daniel Johnston, Mark Everitt are others that come to mind where you feel they are revealing their biggest darkest secrets with their songs.I reckon this album will probably go down as one of her greatest, it's certainly turning into one of my favourites already.
Diagrams - 'Chromatics' Not so much a band as a singer/songwriter from Streatham, there's a darkness to the album that I like a lot. It's very much in Belle and Sebastian territory with the delivery of the tunes (especially with tracks such as Gentle Morning Song and The Light And The Noise) and the female harmonies behind the guitar ballads. I have listened to the album about 4 or 5 times now and I tried and failed to find any fillers - every single tune stands out on its own as potential for a singles release. It's not just twee though, because there's other heavier and edgier influences too. Listen to the track 'Brain' and there's a big love of Ian Brown coming through too.
Marks out of 10? I'm nervous of scoring these too highly but if pushed I'd say Vulnicura is a 9/10 and Chromatics is a very solid 8/10. It's been a very good year so far for music and I've yet to listen to Viet Cong or Sleater Kinney.
Bjork - 'Vulnicura'. I was emailing Hans Kraay Fan Club about this album after a review that I tweeted and I said it was quite experimental but this morning I'm going to take all that back. As background music it doesn't really do the music justice, get yourself some headphones and listen to it properly and it becomes one of her most accessible albums for years. The production is top-notch and so many wonderful surprises that you instantly want to go back and listen again to hear the bits you missed the first time round. And it's incredibly sad, even for Bjork. Listen to this in the wrong mood and you'll be blubbing like a baby. There is a back story to many songs on the album so quite understandable but Bjork has that knack that very few performers: Sinead O'Connor, Nina Simone, Daniel Johnston, Mark Everitt are others that come to mind where you feel they are revealing their biggest darkest secrets with their songs.I reckon this album will probably go down as one of her greatest, it's certainly turning into one of my favourites already.
Diagrams - 'Chromatics' Not so much a band as a singer/songwriter from Streatham, there's a darkness to the album that I like a lot. It's very much in Belle and Sebastian territory with the delivery of the tunes (especially with tracks such as Gentle Morning Song and The Light And The Noise) and the female harmonies behind the guitar ballads. I have listened to the album about 4 or 5 times now and I tried and failed to find any fillers - every single tune stands out on its own as potential for a singles release. It's not just twee though, because there's other heavier and edgier influences too. Listen to the track 'Brain' and there's a big love of Ian Brown coming through too.
Marks out of 10? I'm nervous of scoring these too highly but if pushed I'd say Vulnicura is a 9/10 and Chromatics is a very solid 8/10. It's been a very good year so far for music and I've yet to listen to Viet Cong or Sleater Kinney.
