Bjork scares me
I recently aquired Bjork's latest album on the recommendation of IGN Music. Let me tell you, Bjork is Out There.

Before I go on about that, I want to mention another album that's rather Out There: Blueberry Boat, by the Fiery Furnaces. If music were food, I would make the crap you hear on the radio something like potato chips or, well, pop. Tasty, but not very filling, and in the long run, not good for you or most other people, especially when consumed en masse. Better music, like the kind that wins awards and still gets bought and listened to thirty years after it was made would be something like chicken or beef. Some people may not like it, but it has some substance and is a reliable standby that can be used over and over again, and has some versatility to it. The stuff that's Out There, like Blueberry Boat is an aquired taste, like oysters or even beer. The ones that like it, like it a lot, but on first taste everyone just kind of says "Um, okay..." Blueberry Boat is kind of like that; Within each track there are little nuggets of awesome-ness that just stick in your head, like Straight Street or Birdie Brain. All of them fit together like a tricky jigsaw puzzle, though, and it takes a bit of adjustment to get everything into place.

Back to Bjork's Medulla. This record is Out There past oysters, steak tartar, and might be classified more like haggis or snails. Medulla is like one of those experimental things that get made on Iron Chef; the ingredients are unfamiliar, it looks as much like something you would put in a gallery as eat, and initial reactions resemble less "Um, okay..." and more along "That's food?" I'm finding it really hard to get a handle on this one, but I think it's starting to click. The tracks on this one are very sparsely accompanied, with no percussion or instrumental melodies of any kind. Everything is driven by Bjork's voice, and backed in places by some bass, or various vocal noises that sound as much like someone singing as something my cat does after she licks herself a lot. Somehow, though, it works, at least for a time. I haven't been able to listen to the whole album yet, but I digest more and more at a time. Who knows? Maybe I'll say this was one of the best albums of 2004...  ¶ 5:50 p.m.