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48 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wake up to the sound of Iceland. Wake up: It's BJork's time, August 28, 2001
It's always been challenging to classify the work of Icelandic super-star BJork, as she's always come up with something that escapes any previously conceived category tags: if you think of her as a techno artist, maybe you're right for a few songs; but then she morphs altogether, and comes back reborn playing songs such as 'It's oh, so quiet' or 'All neon like.' At that point you stop trying to find a tag for her music, and just take it at face value: as one of the greatest samples of music (and even visual) art that can be found these days. With "Vespertine," her newest album, the former lead voice of The Sugarcubes, Bjork takes her music to a new level. With five very successful, and progressively more experimental -yet more mature- albums under her belt, and an immersion into the acting terrain with her outstanding performance in 2000 as Selma, in Lars Von Trier's film "Dancer In The Dark" (the film for which her own album "Selmasongs" served as soundtrack), she comes back with a production that is far more peaceful, adult and introspective than her any of her past work. This time the seat of producer has been taken by long-time BJork collaborator (with Keyboards and Programming) Marius DeVries, and a most eclectic selection of artists have been summoned by BJork making of this album a larger-than-life experience: California based electronica duo Matmos, jazz composer/arranger Vince Mendoza (same from 'Dancer In the Dark'), and harp virtuosa Zeena Parkins, just to name a few. It's very much like those albums from the seventies, such as the first solo efforts of Peter Gabriel, where the lead artist counted on the talents of several session musicians, but still retained the true essence of the creative genius. Heavenly choirs like the voices of children or mermaids ('Hidden Places,' 'An echo and a stain,' 'Unison'), whispering lyrics (closing section of 'Pagan Poetry'), the sound of harps and strings, and an instrumental track ('Frost') serve as the musical framework to a set of very mature lyrics, to complete the musical spell of "Vespertine." The entire album is a musical masterpiece, worth listening a thousand times, but my favorite tracks by far are: 'It's not up to you' (an instant hit), 'Pagan Poetry' (reminded me a lot of "Joga", from Homogenic), the groovy 'Heirloom' ("I have a recurrent dream, every time I lose my voice I swallow little glowing lights my mother and son baked for me..."), and the two closing tracks, 'Harm of Will' (with lyrics written by independent film director Harmony Korine) and 'Unison' -two of the most beautiful BJork songs I have ever heard.
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28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best album I've heard in years...., August 28, 2001
I find it hard to even begin to describe how wonderful this album is, but let me just say that I have never heard anything quite like this, even from Bjork herself. This is not techno, or dance, or big band, or industrial, or anything definable. There are a few hints here and there: Aphex Twin, Radiohead circa Kid A, Brian Eno, but where Radiohead came at the minimalist-techno from a rock-based direction, complete with drums and guitars, Bjork has come to a similar point but from a totally different tradition, that of classical music. The only really helpful benchmarks I can think of are two of her own songs from previous albums: "Possibly Maybe", and "All Is Full of Love", but even those can't begin to express Vespertine. My favourite songs on the album are "It's Not Up to You", possibly the first anthem of the new millenium, "Pagan Poetry", which has a stunning bassline and a chilly, immense power to it, the gorgeous "Aurora", which literally make me break down and cry (which hasn't happened from music for me in years), and "Heirloom", a new kind of pop song, and the closest thing the album has for dance music. This album is the most beautiful thing you will hear all year, and I am tempted to say that it the holy grail of electronic music: the first album to fully merge transcendence and radiance with avant-garde music.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simple Pleasures, August 30, 2001
What would we do if there weren't people out there like Bjork making the effort to stretch barriers, and set musical goals that reflect who they are and how they've grown as musicians? Well, we'd probably all rot in the stale void that is pop music today. This album is simply beautiful, and beautifully complex. A person is transformed into sound waves. How many people are willing to open themselves up for everyone else to see (everyone else being the entire marketable world)? That is exactly what "Vespertine" does. I'd call it courage, but I'm sure for Bjork, it's just what comes naturally. "Vespertine" is focused on very specific internal ideas (musically and lyrically). As she has said, it's "introverted". It might seem the songs aren't very different from each other considering the similar instrumentation, and consistent theme of love. I think these things are the scenery and setting for the album, and allow for a more in-depth glance inside the individual songs than most albums would allow for. You fall into the songs, get wrapped up in them. There are moments when I listen to this album, and if I'm doing something else while listening, I absolutely have to stop because it's so overwhelming. And while some writers use sparse instrumentation and slow rhythms to create a more sensitive environment, Bjork manages to create simplicity out of complex textures and subtle counterpoint, maintaining interest, and always giving the listener someplace to wander. It is hard to be bored with this album. It's a tight album, it's an effective album. It's just plain great.
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