Björk "Biophilia" (2011)

Biophilia
release date: Oct. 7, 2011
format: cd (Deluxe)
[album rate: 3 / 5] [2,98]
producer: Björk
label: Polydor Records - nationality: Iceland

Track highlight: 3. "Crystalline" - 4. "Cosmogony"

7th studio album by Björk who is also credited as producer. Only one track is co-produced by the electronic duo 16bit (track #3), and for the first time around Björk is credited for a vast number of (electronic) instruments and as head of arrangements and the mixing process. The album follows more than four years after Volta (2007) and the album was launched as an "iPad-album", which meant that consumers were able to download the album in a 'Biophilia mother app' with all tracks as individual apps including both sound and vision.
With Biophilia, Björk once again takes decisive choices of sonic texture, which in this case takes her into ambient pop territory with several compositions held in a cappella mood and some with a clear presence of chamber pop and glitch pop - ultimately, making it her so far most experimental studio release.
As usual - one might add - the album was met by critical acclaim and several prize nominations. No hit singles was released with the album, although, it spawned four single releases (tracks #3, #4, #7, and #1). Only "Crystalline" and "Cosmogony" entered the Icelandic singles charts as number #12 and #23 respectively, and no other entries are registered around the world. The album peaked at number #4 in Iceland and in France, as number #9 in Switzerland, but apart from these top-10 entries the album was not a commercial success - basically making it her so far poorest selling studio album; however, music critics seemed to love it.
The album is a highly conceptual one, and may be regarded as Björk's take on environmental issues. After her 2007 album, she had fulfilled her contractual obligations and was in a position of artistic freedom, and free to produce whatever she felt like doing, and this together with her engagement with 'mother nature' as well as a deep financial crisis in all of Iceland gave her the idea to work on this project. You will also notice that she doesn't challenge her voice as on former releases - instead she sings steadily and softly on many of the tracks (some have been recorded earlier), presumably the result of having gone through surgery on her vocal cords. Thus, the album touches on progressive ambient. It's an album rich on sensations and it requires fully attention of the listener, as it also contains interesting details and ideas.
I never enjoyed this much, though, and I basically find it among her least favourable albums - with form over matter as a general complaint, although, one could argue that it may be viewed as a near modern classical work of art, and the idea of the project with music, video and a vision of 'biophilia' represented in all we touch and connect to is anything but mere pretentiousness. However, and knowing that it's a media transgressing release, I focus on the music aspect of the album, and I simply consider Biophilia her least interesting studio album. There you have it!
Not recommended.
[ allmusic.com, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, PopMatters 4 / 5, NME 4,5 / 5 stars ]

Björk "Medúlla" (2004)

Medúlla
release date: Aug. 30, 2004
format: cd
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,12]
producer: Björk
label: Elektra - nationality: Iceland

Track highlights: 1. "Pleasure Is All Mine" - 4. "Vökuró" - 6. "Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)" - 8. "Desired Constellation" - 9. "Oceania" - 14. "Triumph of a Heart"

5th studio album by Björk is a primarily self-produced album - Mark Bell is co-producer on tracks #3, #7, and #9. The album was originally released by One Little Indian (by Elektra in North America). Although, a new studio album by Björk always means a new sound texture, this is quite unusual for her as it's almost entirely made up of a cappella compositions and by large choirs - The Icelandic Choir on six tracks and The London Choir on track #9. It also feature several guest artists including Inuit throat singer Tagaq (tracks #1, #6, #11, and #12), vocalist Mike Patton of Faith No More (tracks #1 and #3), and Robert Wyatt (tracks #7 and #9)
The album generally received positive reviews and brought her critical acclaim as well as several prize nominations, however, I have never enjoyed this particular album that much. Yes, it contains a number of fine songs but no really truly memorable ones, and as a whole, I think the more experimental compositions dominate an album, I mostly think of as slightly - I dare say 'boring', simply, by being a mere formative release, which again makes me ponder on the word 'pretentious'. It's like one long voice experiment playing with tribal and throat singing, which in the end becomes less inspiring.
I consider this her first in a series of three consecutive and formative albums without strong appealing traits. So why don't I rate it lower? Well, first of all, it's still clearly above mediocre (2,5 on my scale), and then Björk is an artist who dare experiment and most of the time she actually succeeds in making ground-braking new music because she's an artist who dares taking the big leaps. Here, she may likely satisfy critics and fans by doing the near 'impossible' - she expands the borders of popular music but it also takes a lot of willed attention to digest. She is up front when it comes to rethinking popular music, and this time, she's just off target from my perspective, although, she's still producing new music instead of just replicating formulas, and that takes courage. Björk is in that regard like Zappa - someone who is recognised as a great composer and an important personality when it comes to rethinking modern music.
Not really recommended.
[ allmusic.com, Mojo 4 / 5, Rolling Stone 3,5 / 5, Q Magazine 3 / 5 stars ]

Bobby McFerrin "Simple Pleasures" (1988)

Simple Pleasures
release date: Aug. 5, 1988
format: vinyl / digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,36]
producer: Linda Goldstein
label: EMI Manhattan Records - nationality: USA

4th studio album by vocal artist Bobby McFerrin and his commercial breakthrough thanks to the hit single "Don't Worry, Be Happy", also included in the American comedy film "Cocktail" by Roger Donaldson featuring Tom Cruise and Bryan Brown.
The album was my first experience with a studio release by McFerrin, and as I admit to have purchased it after listening to the aforementioned hit, I didn't find it as good as I had hoped for, but upon listening to his second album The Voice, I immediately became a fan.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Chumbawamba "The Boy Bands Have Won" (2008)

The Boy Bands Have Won
release date: Mar. 3, 2008
format: digital
[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,62]
producer: Chumbawamba
label: No Masters - nationality: England, UK

Track highlights: 2. "Add Me" (live) - 4. "Hull or Hell" - 5. "El fusilado" (live) - 7. "I Wish That They'd Sack Me" - 11. "Lord Bateman's Motorbike" - 14. "(Words Flew) Right Around the World" - 18. "Compliments of Your Waitress" - 24. "Waiting for the Bus"

13th studio album by Chumbawamba following A Singsong and a Scrap (2005) is like most of the band's recent albums played in a style of a cappella, English folk music, i.e. folk with focus on vocal harmonies. The album contains 25 listed tracks of which approx. half are just around one minute long, which in that respect follows the same formula as WYSIWYG from 2000. The full title of the album is actually: The Boy Bands Have Won, and All the Copyists and the Tribute Bands and the TV Talent Show Producers Have Won, If We Allow Our Culture to Be Shaped by Mimicry, Whether from Lack of Ideas or from Exaggerated Respect. You Should Never Try to Freeze Culture. What You Can Do Is Recycle That Culture. Take Your Older Brother's Hand-Me-Down Jacket and Re-Style It, Re-Fashion It to the Point Where It Becomes Your Own. But Don't Just Regurgitate Creative History, or Hold Art and Music and Literature as Fixed, Untouchable and Kept Under Glass. The People Who Try to 'Guard' Any Particular Form of Music Are, Like the Copyists and Manufactured Bands, Doing It the Worst Disservice, Because the Only Thing That You Can Do to Music That Will Damage It Is Not Change It, Not Make It Your Own. Because Then It Dies, Then It's Over, Then It's Done, and the Boy Bands Have Won. - needless say the title is commonly abbreviated.
Thematically, Chumbawamba hasn't changed its lyrics much over two decades. The change one will notice here is a stronger (local) social awareness in the bands' topics to direct its criticism on English politics that involve the ordinary Brit, and in that way this may be seen as a nice return to form.
At first, I found it a peculiar step away from the band's more musically pop- and dance-minded albums of the '90s, which brought the band fame, good reviews and some fine sales. I must admit, though, that this is no such thing as a lesser album. It's just very different. I think, they may have realised that all their good intentions about reaching more people with their messages through popular music was something they couldn't win. If the songs were popular, well, they were that, but the message drowned in a pool of commercialism, and where WYSIWYG was neither fish nor flesh, this presents a welcomed return of Chumbawamba as the world has come to know of it.
This album is smooth and beautiful - a truly fine accomplishment.
Recommendable.
[ allmusic.com 4 / 5 stars ]

Chumbawamba "English Rebel Songs 1381-1914" (1988)

English Rebel Songs 1381-1914
release date: 1988
format: cd (1994 reissue)
[album rate: 2 / 5] [2,18]
producer: Chumbawamba
label: One Little Indian - nationality: England, UK

3rd studio album by Chumbawamba originally released on Agit Prop is really something else. It's the band's traditional folk music ('folklore') and a cappella interpretations of traditional British workers' folk songs. Apparently, the band re-recorded the songs in 2003 and released the album as English Rebel Songs 1381-1984, an album containing the addition of two songs.
Allmusic.com hasn't reviewed the original release but the site has handed the new 2003 version 4 / 5 stars, although, claiming "Fifteen years on, they've learned a lot more about their voices, about music, and about the world." But still, I cannot grant it more than half the amount of stars. It must have been a huge turning point for any fan of this band, who up until this nearly only played anarcho punk rock and here they suddenly play traditional folk music without other instrumentation than their singing voices. The predecessor Never Mind the Ballots (1987) introduced a different approach to music with narrating style, but still it was presented with strong satire and social awareness. This has only the social awareness, and no satire, and no strong criticism.
I think, you have to be (more than) just a bit interested in ancient music to embrace this collection of songs.
Not recommendable.

Richard Hawley "False Lights From the Land" (2010) (ep)

False Lights From the Land, ep
release date: Jun. 8, 2010
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,07]
producer: Richard Hawley and Colin Elliot
label: Mute Records - nationality: England, UK

Tracklist: 1. "Remorse Code" (4,5 / 5) - 2. "Shallow Brown" (feat. the Smoke Fairies) - 3. "The Ellan Vannin Tragedy" (feat. the Smoke Fairies) - 4. "There's a Storm a Comin' "

An ep in between album releases. The first track is the epic track from Truelove's Gutter (2009), which means beautiful chamber pop, but the remaining tracks are very different, but the collecting theme here is sailors' songs, which also is implied in the title. "Shallow Brown" is an a capella, or more correct: a sea shantie song, or: sailors' song (here) without music. "The Ellan Vannin Tragedy" is likewise a track with a clear sailor motif with scarce music accompanying, and the last track "There's a Storm a Comin' " is more in style with his normal production. The two shanties drag in the negative way, I think, and overall it's a bit too varied style-wise.

Bobby McFerrin "The Voice" (1984) (live)

The Voice (live)
release date: 1984
format: cd (2013 remaster)
[album rate: 4 / 5]
producer: Linda Goldstein
label: Elektra Musician / Rhino - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Blackbird" (5 / 5) (other recording) - 2. "The Jump" - 4. "I Feel Good" (5 / 5) (other recording) - 6. "Music Box" - 7. "Medley: Donna Lee / Big Top / We're in the Money" - 9. "T.J." (5 / 5) - 10. "A-train"

Live album by Bobby McFerrin performing solo at four different locations in Germany in Mar. '84: The Bahnhof, Köln (17th), Rosengarten, Mannheim (19th), Musikhalle, Hamburg (21st), Liederhalle, Stuttgart (26th).
This album is an absolute gem showcasing McFerrin's talent as vocal artist / performer.
Highly recommendable.

[ allmusic.com 5 / 5, Rolling Stone Jazz Record Guide 4 / 4 stars ]

Four Jacks "Waterloo" (1959) (single)

Waterloo, 7'' single

release date: 1959

format: vinyl (45-DK 1496)

[single rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]

producer:

label: Odeon - nationality: Denmark

Tracklist: A) "Waterloo" - - B) "Personality"

Single release by Danish standards / vocal group Four Jacks, here consisting of John Mogensen, Poul Rudi, Bent Werther, and James Rasmussen. Both tracks here are covers. The A-side is an American song by John Loudermilk and Marijohn Wilkin, and the B-side is a Logan & Price song (Harold Logan & Lloyd Price) - both translated by Robert Arnold Nielsen and arranged by John Mogensen and Jørgen Ingmann.

The group has its origin in a duo founded in 1956 by Rudi and Otto Brandenburg. Shortly after, Mogensen was included and the three for a short time went under the name 'De 3 Båthorn' before Werther was included and they became Four Jacks. Mogensen took over as musical arranger of the group, and when Brandenburg in '58 left to pursue a solo career, Rasmussen became stable new member. In '63, the group changed line-up when Erik Aae Jensen replaced Werther, and in '64, songwriter and musical arranger Mogensen left to initiate a lasting and nationally legendary solo career, and the remainders went under changing names: Three Jacks, Scandinavian Four whenever Mogensen found the time to perform, and / or as 'De Nye Four Jacks' [The New Four Jacks']. Their heydays as a highly popular quartet, however, was in the days with Mogensen, Rudi, Werther, and Rasmussen from 1958 to 1963 - a period which includes this single.

This single was part of my parents' record collection, and I recall playing this quite quite often at the age of 6-7 on a portable turntable, and I also recall that I liked the B-side the most.

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This post is part of MyMusicJourney, which enlists key releases that have shaped my musical taste when growing up and until age 14. Most of these releases come from my parents' and / or my older brother's collection.