Medulla (1 Viewer)

the above is the title of Bjork's new album

The title of the new album has been revealed on bjork.com and it's Medulla.

1 the inner region of certain organs or tissues usu. when it is
distinguishable from the outer region or cortex, as in hair or a kidney.
2 the myelin layer of certain nerve fibres.
3 the soft internal tissue of plants.

From reuters.co.uk : "Medulla" will be the follow-up to 2001's "Vespertine," which debuted at No. 19 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 368,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

And a new title has surfaced on Rollingstone.com : Rahzel of the Roots -- known as "the Human Beatbox" -- supplies the percussive bass line for a majority of the songs, and the album also features collaborations with Inuit throat-singer Tanya Tagaq and former Faith No More frontman Mike Patton. The sound is primitive, full of brooding menace on "Where Is the Line" and soaring, breathy romance on "The Pleasure Is All Mine."

The album is due to be released in August and a double japanese release is rumoured. Björk asked her previous collaborators on Vespertine, MM Paris & Inez/Vinoodh, for the artwork of the album.

The title of the new album has been revealed on bjork.com and it's Medulla.

1 the inner region of certain organs or tissues usu. when it is
distinguishable from the outer region or cortex, as in hair or a kidney.
2 the myelin layer of certain nerve fibres.
3 the soft internal tissue of plants.

From reuters.co.uk : "Medulla" will be the follow-up to 2001's "Vespertine," which debuted at No. 19 on The Billboard 200 and has sold 368,000 copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

And a new title has surfaced on Rollingstone.com : Rahzel of the Roots -- known as "the Human Beatbox" -- supplies the percussive bass line for a majority of the songs, and the album also features collaborations with Inuit throat-singer Tanya Tagaq and former Faith No More frontman Mike Patton. The sound is primitive, full of brooding menace on "Where Is the Line" and soaring, breathy romance on "The Pleasure Is All Mine."

The album is due to be released in August and a double japanese release is rumoured. Björk asked her previous collaborators on Vespertine, MM Paris & Inez/Vinoodh, for the artwork of the album.

According to their last news item, Les Inrockuptibles announced that Björk collabored with Robert Wyatt on her new album Medulla.

Un nom pour le nouvel album de Björk
L’album de Bjork s’est trouvé un titre et un horizon, apparemment certain. C’est donc courant août que sortira Medulla, album vocal sur lequel elle a notamment collaboré avec le duo électronique Matmos, le japonais Dokaka, Robert Wyatt et Mark Bell (LFO). (21 juin 2004)

Previously, they also said that Björk will sing at the Olympic Games in Athens and moreover she's going to visit New York, London & Paris for a couple of concerts.

According to their last news item, Les Inrockuptibles announced that Björk collabored with Robert Wyatt on her new album Medulla.

Un nom pour le nouvel album de Björk
L’album de Bjork s’est trouvé un titre et un horizon, apparemment certain. C’est donc courant août que sortira Medulla, album vocal sur lequel elle a notamment collaboré avec le duo électronique Matmos, le japonais Dokaka, Robert Wyatt et Mark Bell (LFO). (21 juin 2004)

Previously, they also said that Björk will sing at the Olympic Games in Athens and moreover she's going to visit New York, London & Paris for a couple of concerts.

[c] [/c]

+tracklisting
01____________Pleasure Is All Mine
02____________Show Me Forgiveness
03____________Where Is The Line
04____________Vökuró
05____________Öll Birtan
06____________Who Is It
07____________Oceania
08____________Submarine
09____________Sonnets / Unrealities XI
10____________Desired Constellation
11____________Ancestors
12____________Mouth's Cradle
13____________Miðvikudags
14____________Triumph Of A Heart

collaborators
+ Rahzel + Matmos + Shlomo + Tagaq + Dokaka + Icelandic Choir + Mark Bell
+ Valgeir + Jórunn Viðar + Mike Patton + Olivier Alary + Jake Davies

release dates
30.08.2004 (international release)
31.08.2004 (us release)

[c] [/c]

. the Japanese release will feature a bonus track.
. Öll Birtan means 'All the light', Vökuró means 'Vigil'.
. Sonnets / Unrealities XI is based on a poem by E.E. Cummings.

+ collaborators
. beats - Rahzel, Shlomo and Dokaka
. vocals - Björk, Mike Patton, Robert Wyatt, Gregory Purnhagen, Tagaq, Icelandic + London choirs
. songwriters - Björk, Sjón, Olivier Alary, Tagaq, Jórunn Vidar & Jakobína Sigurdardóttir, E.E. Cummings
. programming - Valgeir Sigursson, Mark Bell, Little Miss Specta, Matmos, Jake Davies, Olivier Alary, Björk

Bjork Info The fear of piracy, which attacked her last CD 3 months before it's release, has made the Medúlla producers to act with caution to avoid the new Björk album comes out before time. A group of journalists were invited to an audition of the CD. These are some of the tracks:

OCEANIA. The single of the CD takes the musical thread of Björk through her carreer. With the London choir and Nico Muhly on piano, Björk shows a mystic chant to nature.

MOUTH'S CRADLE. In the most political song in the album, Björk creates a metaphor to criticise the world leaders who acquire power due to the following of citizenship. “I need a shelter to build an altar away from all osamas and bushes”

SONNETS/UNREALITIES XI. The fourteen verses of E.E. Cummings presents the most poetic side of the album."take his hands saying/accept all happiness from me/Then shall I turn my face, and hear one bird/ sing terribly afar in the lost lands”

VÖKURÓ. Written by the clasic music composer Jorunn Vidar, is, with öll birtan, one of the 2 songs in icelandic of the album. The excelent harmony of the choir gives an esoteric sense to a relevant ballad in this album.

ANCESTOR. It's one of the most risk-taking songs of the icelandic singer. Without any decipherable word, and with a soft piano arrangement, Ancestors joins sighs, screams and pantings in the most innovative song in Medúlla.

TRIUMPH OF A HEART. Hip hop rythm merges with jazz in the closing track. Collaborators in this song are the Japanese singer Dokaka, Gregory Purnhagen and Rahzel.

Has anyone here listened to this album yet? I was going to buy it, but the reviews have said it's a very "challenging" album, so I'm not sure anymore.

Bjork is tearing up Amazon UK sales chart...I wonder how much of this is because of exporting.

the regular CD is their 10th best seller
the deluxe CD/SACD package with the booklet and the poster is 18th
the released DVD-A with the 45-minute doc is 38th

the vinyl is 59th
the unreleased, more expensive (?) stand-alone DVD-A is 6,141

They aren't carrying the 'stand alone SACD' or the bare documentary (yes, six music formats and one documentary-only format for one album).

Is the fact that it's challenging a negative thing? That quote just spurred me to go buy it. There is so little challenging music out there, that this sounds extremely exciting. I'll probably pick it up tonight.

Picked up the limited edition digi-pak here in the States. It isn't a SACD. Is the Hybrid edition only available in the UK or something?

I do have the dvd audio. It took about 4 days to get here from her record label (One Little Indian). 96k/24b stereo & 5.1 + DD & DTS 5.1 & 48/16 LPCM groups. A 45 minute 'making of' video is included and the album clocks in just over 45 minutes (all on one disk). On the video she calls it a vocal album, I'll call it an 'experimental vocal album' because it's like nothing I ever heard before (there is some piano & a drum machine - but not very much). The sonic quality is much better than the 'Vespertine' dvd audio which came out in 48k/24b. It's a very aggressive 5.1 mix. 'Challenging' is a good way to describe this, but once the shock started to wear off I started to appreciate this album. Hope this helps - tony m

Anthony,

Is the documentary PAL or NTSC?