Most of Björk's music videos elevate her songs, but that is especially the case for this album in particular. Do yourself a favor and watch them when you get a chance. Oceania, Where is the Line, Who Is It, Desired Constellation, Triumph of a Heart - all great vids
the Desired constellation instrumental is vocal! it's a beat entirely made of the line "i'm not sure what to do with it" from Hidden Place! just insane stuff. also if you ever have a chance, bjork did a remix of Oceania with Kelis (the singer of Milkshake lol!) it's immaculate. just not available on streaming sadly!
What i really enjoy and about Björk is she doesn’t really sit and think “right what’s going to be a huge success and make everyone happy” she seems to more think “what will i enjoy?” We can come along for the ride with each album if we want. I prefer an evolving, excited artist who reflects where they are in their life into what they do rather than one who repeats. Medulla wasn’t an easy album for me, a long term fan, to get to grips with straight away. It wasn’t instant appreciation but then it clicked eventually. This concept was pretty different. For me I need to be in a certain mood for this one but I have much love for it. Pleasure is All Mine is my favourite ❤ Great reaction. Your face during Ancestors 😂 There are some great other versions of the album tracks including Who Is It (both Bell version and Choir mix) and Oceania. Look forward to the next reaction
"Medúlla" was my first Björk album. I was 14 when I watched her on TV performing "Oceania" at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens and I was fascinated. I can't wait for "Volta", which is the opposite of this one. By the way, your face in "Ancestors" is priceless. 😂
Oceania is perfect. It's my favorite Bjork song. The lyrics are amazing. She wrote it from the point-of-view of the ocean. The ocean is observing humans and is glad they're doing well. "Your skin is salty - I am why." Absolutely love it.
what a funny Ancestors reaction 😂 haha Medulla is one of my favorite Björk albums because it feels so close and it's a totally particular experience! Triumph of a heart video is even more funny than the song, you should see it! and Oceania and Who is It are totally masterpieces for me 🖤
Finally !!! I hope you really like it ! My personal favorites : sonnets XI unrealities , Where is the line , Oceania, Vokuro , who is it ?, mouths cradle , the triumph of the heart , This Album will be remembered in the future as one of a kind !! @lugga
I love the actual songs, but think there are one too many non-songs that do not propel the album. Without those, the idea is still present and the presentation is still amazing.
This album, overall,grew on me slowly. Several tracks I instantly connected with and others I didn't. Time has that funny way of changing your perspective thru experiences (common/persona)l. As another person commented, Oceania was performed at the 2004 Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The Olympic Committee specifically chose Bjork to write a song for this Occasion. She and her writing partner ended up with this Phenomenal Masterpiece.
This one is not what a newbie to Bjork should listen to, I still find parts of it challenging to this day, I felt Bjork was so fed up with traditional music that she transmutated sounds into a form of metamusic that is hard for people who just wants music, but some atmospheric tracks are among my favorites, oceania, mouths cradle, where is the line, triumph of a heart they move me to another dimension
This is my fav album oat! And It was my Bjork awekening. I Will Always be grateful to bjork for making this masterpiece. Thank u so much for doing another great reaction
Your face throughout Ancestors is the best! Even though I don't listen to that song as much as others (Where is the Line, Mouth's Cradle, Triumph), that's definitely my favorite song on the album because it feels so unsettling--and the piano is perfect on it. I've never been able to get into the next two albums, Volta and Biophilia, but I'm looking forward to your reviews of those! Great reaction.
Medulla's twin sister is Drawing Restraint 9 ! please do a reaction vid of that if youre interested in Soundtrack/industrial ambient by Bjork. It also has a song featuring Tanya Taqak and has one of the best Bjork tracks called Storm. much love
Where Is The Line, Who Is It, Oceania, Mouth's Cradle, and Triumph Of A Heart are my favorite tracks and arguably the most accessible from the album. Triumph is such a bop reminiscent of her fun-time grooves from Debut and Post while Oceania is grand and produces similar effects to the epic, string heavy tracks from Homogenic, Selmasongs, and Vespertine. Excited for Volta!
Fun reaction again :D. This is again such a wild album by B! I get what your Dad was telling you, after Volta she abandons the Pop format completely. I feel that period is more about experimentation then making a "song" if that makes any sense. But Bjork will be Bjork and never give you what you expect and much respect for that.
Haha, that was fun!! Great reaction :) medulla really grew on me over time. Volta is - like for many fans - my least favourite Björk album. It's not bad at all and really fun, just not my favourite... Can't wait to see you react to it. (I also strongly recommend Björk's podcast, Sonic Symbolism!)
YAYYYY VOLTA NEXT!! It’s probably her most controversial record but in my opinion it’s one of her best. It takes a different approach that is much brighter and more optimistic then her past work, focusing more on creating fun pop sounding tracks that make you want to get up and dance. It’s intense, audacious, rebellious and full of memorable lyrics and moments that all add up to being one of björk’s best album eras in the second half of her discography.
@@luggareviews "Volta", though it does have some good tracks, is my least of Bjork's work, beginning with that God-awful cover. #Meh I suppose you must get to it, though. Hurry up, so you can get to "Vulnicura".
Yes! Next is VOLTA, which contains electronic parts and brass sections, which might sound off but it works. It’s my second favorite Björk album. There are transitions that flow throughout the entire album so make sure to watch out for those!
Yes, this album is produced perfectly, is very original but is the one which disconnected me from Bjork. From her later album I like only Vulnicura and Fossora.
Kinda funny Vespertine received lukewarm reception initially yet is now her masterpiece to most Björk fans. Also I know I already rec'd Joanna Newsom, Sade and Kate Bush but Joni Mitchell is also a worthwhile discography deep dive as you can trace her influences and developments over her life. Back to Björk, the podcast series she did last month talking about each of her albums is great too. Also one last artist but if you are open to non-english singers Ichiko Aoba is a guitar genius
No need to be passive aggressive. The album sold less than Homogenic and certainly much less than Debut and Post. Critically though, yes I'll admit it was well received I didn't realize that because most people point to the simultaneous commercial and critical success of the first 3 albums
@@germ1943 Bjork's classic period of critical and commercial success is generally regarded as 1993-2001, that is Debut to Vespertine. As for album sales, there are various factors at play, so it is better to not conflate one variable with another. In contrast to the growth of the 80 and 90s, album sales began to see a decline in the 00s with the advent of Napster and later, iTunes. This industry-wide decline has continued with the popularity of streaming. Much like a show's tv viewership across time, it is not unusual for music artists to have overall sales trend downward over time, save for a few peak outliers. Vespertine's sales are commensurate with the industry conditions in which it was released and the level of fame Bjork attained.
@@got2bjosh thanks for the explanation. I actually did not realize there was such a steep decline in sales from 99 and 00 to 01 in general given 99/00 were some of the biggest years for physical media, I assumed it was a bit more gradual. I wonder how digital sales were counted then or if they were at all. I do agree that is her commercial and critical peak though, but given the b2b of Homogenic/Vespertine I do feel the average listener probably tuned off as the music skewed conventions more and more and they realized with Vespertine she would not be returning to conventional sounds and further led to commercial decline. Either way critics responded well, so I was wrong there. Still I do feel overtime the general idea that Homogenic was her best shifted to Vespertine I feel like I have seen that opinion shift throughout the 2010s in music discussion forums even among more casual Björk listeners
It might be surprising coming from a vocalist, but I have to confess, this is the album where she lost me, and I’ve never quite returned. I still need to listen to Fossora.
ahh yes i love medulla, one of my favorites, experimental but at the same time not as self-absorbed in its weirdness as some of her later albums (biophilia... utopia... fossora... 👀) one little question: have you listened to any of the single mixes of her songs? for example, "who is it" has quite a different sound than the album version, same with "oceania" (which is a duo with the r&b singer kelis). also, there's "all is full of love" from homogenic, whose single mix is one of my fav bjork songs ever - and the music video is absolutely iconic too!
YAY, finally "Medulla"! "Sonnets/Unrealities" is my go-to from "Medulla", and you ought to be ashamed of yourself for disliking it 😂 Bjork does make a left turn, but it's a left turn that is expected of such an artist, more of an evolution. There are fans who are stagnant on the Debut-Homogenic/ Vespertine Bjork and there are the fans of my kind: those who want the pure art and care not about whether it's danceable. I became a Bjork fan through "Homogenic", so her previous albums don't really appeal me; funny how that works. Many fans don't like or understand the current Bjork that, I suppose, began with "Medulla". It's interesting when an artist gets praised and discarded for the very same thing that made them so attractive in the first place: Bjork started "weird", has continued that thread and still is that, just perhaps is now on a different frequency of that same weirdness; perhaps those who thought they were in are actually now out. I suppose she's now too weird for former fans like your dad. Oh well, more Bjork for me.
Try to find Bjork's Medulla Documentary : The inner or deep part of an animal or plant . it shows you how was produced and inspired from.. also Minúscule ( vespertine documentary) ..its a must watch. Keep the good. work ;)
I love this album, but the thing is that most of the tracks feel like filler, without a lot of rhythms or danceable beats, and are extremely stripped down due to the limitations of the human voice. When I imagine 'Medulla' and I think of the great experimental sounds and the reaches of the human voice, I see these tracks. 1. Pleasure Is All Mine 3. Where Is the Line 6. Who Is It 7. Submarine 8. Desired Constellation 9. Oceania 12. Mouth's Cradle 14. Triumph of a Heart On the other hand, these tracks fall a little flat for me. 2. Show Me Forgiveness 4. Vökuró 5. Öll Birtan 10. Sonnets / Unrealities XI 11. Ancestors 13. Miðvikudags I would've loved to hear some subtle beatboxing on some of the bare vocal tracks like show me forgiveness. Even in Vokuro there is an audible thump at 1:36 right before the chorus comes back in; If she added more (vocal) beats towards the latter half of the song it would've been amazing! Additionally an easier sense of rhythm/structure in (My opinion) Bjork's worst track out of all of her 10 albums, Ancestors. Although the tracks above are a little boring to me, she still kills it with the vocals in SMF, Vok., Oil Birtan, and s/u XI.
I love voice-as-instrument music. If you want another brilliant choral a capella album, check out A Roomful of Teeth. It's composed by Caroline Shaw, and performed by her and a group of other musicians. It's more experimental than medúlla, taking after composer Meredith Monk's work. A piece that comprises the latter half of the album, "Partita for 8 Voices", won the Pulitzer Prize for music, a very prestigious award.
The album that completely disconnected me from Björk, which coincided with my discovery of the finest lyricist and best singer songwriter ever existed, namely Joni Mitchell. A very nice compensation. I was never able to reconnect to Björk again until Vulnicura, but with Fossora I lost her again. I guess Björk for me will only be Debut through Vespertine, the albums of my teenage years. Probably I don't have the sensitivity or the musical maturity to understand her anymore.
![Natanael Cano - Amor Eterno [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EO4prCs6WpM/mqdefault.jpg)
This album is so underrated. Love it so much
Most of Björk's music videos elevate her songs, but that is especially the case for this album in particular. Do yourself a favor and watch them when you get a chance. Oceania, Where is the Line, Who Is It, Desired Constellation, Triumph of a Heart - all great vids
the Desired constellation instrumental is vocal! it's a beat entirely made of the line "i'm not sure what to do with it" from Hidden Place! just insane stuff. also if you ever have a chance, bjork did a remix of Oceania with Kelis (the singer of Milkshake lol!) it's immaculate. just not available on streaming sadly!
it is available on Spotify!
I heard she recorded the line on a cd, scratched it intentionally and played it and recorded samples of it and that's what created the background.
I thought they were cicadas and crickets 😅
What i really enjoy and about Björk is she doesn’t really sit and think “right what’s going to be a huge success and make everyone happy” she seems to more think “what will i enjoy?” We can come along for the ride with each album if we want. I prefer an evolving, excited artist who reflects where they are in their life into what they do rather than one who repeats.
Medulla wasn’t an easy album for me, a long term fan, to get to grips with straight away. It wasn’t instant appreciation but then it clicked eventually. This concept was pretty different. For me I need to be in a certain mood for this one but I have much love for it. Pleasure is All Mine is my favourite ❤
Great reaction. Your face during Ancestors 😂 There are some great other versions of the album tracks including Who Is It (both Bell version and Choir mix) and Oceania. Look forward to the next reaction
"Medúlla" was my first Björk album. I was 14 when I watched her on TV performing "Oceania" at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games in Athens and I was fascinated.
I can't wait for "Volta", which is the opposite of this one.
By the way, your face in "Ancestors" is priceless. 😂
Medulla was also my first, and I was also 14. I fell in love almost immediately
Oceania is perfect. It's my favorite Bjork song. The lyrics are amazing. She wrote it from the point-of-view of the ocean. The ocean is observing humans and is glad they're doing well. "Your skin is salty - I am why." Absolutely love it.
what a funny Ancestors reaction 😂 haha Medulla is one of my favorite Björk albums because it feels so close and it's a totally particular experience! Triumph of a heart video is even more funny than the song, you should see it! and Oceania and Who is It are totally masterpieces for me 🖤
Finally !!! I hope you really like it ! My personal favorites : sonnets XI unrealities , Where is the line , Oceania, Vokuro , who is it ?, mouths cradle , the triumph of the heart , This Album will be remembered in the future as one of a kind !! @lugga
I love the actual songs, but think there are one too many non-songs that do not propel the album. Without those, the idea is still present and the presentation is still amazing.
@@valentinomiller6251 i think so to, if one or two of those songs were to be cut it would help alot
This album, overall,grew on me slowly. Several tracks I instantly connected with and others I didn't. Time has that funny way of changing your perspective thru experiences (common/persona)l.
As another person commented, Oceania was performed at the 2004 Opening Ceremonies of the Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. The Olympic Committee specifically chose Bjork to write a song for this Occasion. She and her writing partner ended up with this Phenomenal Masterpiece.
I ADORE Medúlla. There's no skips.
This one is not what a newbie to Bjork should listen to, I still find parts of it challenging to this day, I felt Bjork was so fed up with traditional music that she transmutated sounds into a form of metamusic that is hard for people who just wants music, but some atmospheric tracks are among my favorites, oceania, mouths cradle, where is the line, triumph of a heart they move me to another dimension
he's no longer a newbie tho. he had already reacted to 5 other albums and this is the 6th...
This is my fav album oat! And It was my Bjork awekening. I Will Always be grateful to bjork for making this masterpiece. Thank u so much for doing another great reaction
Your face throughout Ancestors is the best! Even though I don't listen to that song as much as others (Where is the Line, Mouth's Cradle, Triumph), that's definitely my favorite song on the album because it feels so unsettling--and the piano is perfect on it. I've never been able to get into the next two albums, Volta and Biophilia, but I'm looking forward to your reviews of those! Great reaction.
Medulla's twin sister is Drawing Restraint 9 ! please do a reaction vid of that if youre interested in Soundtrack/industrial ambient by Bjork. It also has a song featuring Tanya Taqak and has one of the best Bjork tracks called Storm. much love
Where Is The Line, Who Is It, Oceania, Mouth's Cradle, and Triumph Of A Heart are my favorite tracks and arguably the most accessible from the album. Triumph is such a bop reminiscent of her fun-time grooves from Debut and Post while Oceania is grand and produces similar effects to the epic, string heavy tracks from Homogenic, Selmasongs, and Vespertine. Excited for Volta!
Fun reaction again :D. This is again such a wild album by B! I get what your Dad was telling you, after Volta she abandons the Pop format completely. I feel that period is more about experimentation then making a "song" if that makes any sense. But Bjork will be Bjork and never give you what you expect and much respect for that.
Haha, that was fun!! Great reaction :) medulla really grew on me over time. Volta is - like for many fans - my least favourite Björk album. It's not bad at all and really fun, just not my favourite... Can't wait to see you react to it. (I also strongly recommend Björk's podcast, Sonic Symbolism!)
I've listened to this album so much. I really like that you react to Bjork. Reminds me to get back to her records and listen more.
YAYYYY VOLTA NEXT!! It’s probably her most controversial record but in my opinion it’s one of her best. It takes a different approach that is much brighter and more optimistic then her past work, focusing more on creating fun pop sounding tracks that make you want to get up and dance. It’s intense, audacious, rebellious and full of memorable lyrics and moments that all add up to being one of björk’s best album eras in the second half of her discography.
Sounds good!
@@luggareviews "Volta", though it does have some good tracks, is my least of Bjork's work, beginning with that God-awful cover. #Meh I suppose you must get to it, though. Hurry up, so you can get to "Vulnicura".
@@valentinomiller6251 the cover is camp af ...
Yes! Next is VOLTA, which contains electronic parts and brass sections, which might sound off but it works. It’s my second favorite Björk album. There are transitions that flow throughout the entire album so make sure to watch out for those!
Kimono is the word you were looking for describing Bjork's look from Homogenic. 😁
Yes, this album is produced perfectly, is very original but is the one which disconnected me from Bjork. From her later album I like only Vulnicura and Fossora.
Desired constellation ❤️⭐🌌💖 one of my favs
this album is one of my favs. where is the line 10/10 track
Kinda funny Vespertine received lukewarm reception initially yet is now her masterpiece to most Björk fans. Also I know I already rec'd Joanna Newsom, Sade and Kate Bush but Joni Mitchell is also a worthwhile discography deep dive as you can trace her influences and developments over her life. Back to Björk, the podcast series she did last month talking about each of her albums is great too. Also one last artist but if you are open to non-english singers Ichiko Aoba is a guitar genius
Typical internet misinformation... Vespertine was critically acclaimed upon its release and sold over a million copies. Lukewarm response, no.
No need to be passive aggressive. The album sold less than Homogenic and certainly much less than Debut and Post. Critically though, yes I'll admit it was well received I didn't realize that because most people point to the simultaneous commercial and critical success of the first 3 albums
@@germ1943 Bjork's classic period of critical and commercial success is generally regarded as 1993-2001, that is Debut to Vespertine. As for album sales, there are various factors at play, so it is better to not conflate one variable with another. In contrast to the growth of the 80 and 90s, album sales began to see a decline in the 00s with the advent of Napster and later, iTunes. This industry-wide decline has continued with the popularity of streaming. Much like a show's tv viewership across time, it is not unusual for music artists to have overall sales trend downward over time, save for a few peak outliers. Vespertine's sales are commensurate with the industry conditions in which it was released and the level of fame Bjork attained.
@@got2bjosh thanks for the explanation. I actually did not realize there was such a steep decline in sales from 99 and 00 to 01 in general given 99/00 were some of the biggest years for physical media, I assumed it was a bit more gradual. I wonder how digital sales were counted then or if they were at all. I do agree that is her commercial and critical peak though, but given the b2b of Homogenic/Vespertine I do feel the average listener probably tuned off as the music skewed conventions more and more and they realized with Vespertine she would not be returning to conventional sounds and further led to commercial decline. Either way critics responded well, so I was wrong there. Still I do feel overtime the general idea that Homogenic was her best shifted to Vespertine I feel like I have seen that opinion shift throughout the 2010s in music discussion forums even among more casual Björk listeners
We have the same music taste omg. Is there anyone you’d recommend that you haven’t mentioned?
It might be surprising coming from a vocalist, but I have to confess, this is the album where she lost me, and I’ve never quite returned. I still need to listen to Fossora.
ahh yes i love medulla, one of my favorites, experimental but at the same time not as self-absorbed in its weirdness as some of her later albums (biophilia... utopia... fossora... 👀)
one little question: have you listened to any of the single mixes of her songs? for example, "who is it" has quite a different sound than the album version, same with "oceania" (which is a duo with the r&b singer kelis). also, there's "all is full of love" from homogenic, whose single mix is one of my fav bjork songs ever - and the music video is absolutely iconic too!
I have listened to the all is full of love music vid and mix it‘s great! But nothing besides that
Your channel is awesome! :)
Medulla is her masterpiece
YAY, finally "Medulla"! "Sonnets/Unrealities" is my go-to from "Medulla", and you ought to be ashamed of yourself for disliking it 😂 Bjork does make a left turn, but it's a left turn that is expected of such an artist, more of an evolution. There are fans who are stagnant on the Debut-Homogenic/ Vespertine Bjork and there are the fans of my kind: those who want the pure art and care not about whether it's danceable.
I became a Bjork fan through "Homogenic", so her previous albums don't really appeal me; funny how that works. Many fans don't like or understand the current Bjork that, I suppose, began with "Medulla". It's interesting when an artist gets praised and discarded for the very same thing that made them so attractive in the first place: Bjork started "weird", has continued that thread and still is that, just perhaps is now on a different frequency of that same weirdness; perhaps those who thought they were in are actually now out. I suppose she's now too weird for former fans like your dad. Oh well, more Bjork for me.
I love Ancestors
Try to find Bjork's Medulla Documentary : The inner or deep part of an animal or plant . it shows you how was produced and inspired from.. also Minúscule ( vespertine documentary) ..its a must watch. Keep the good. work ;)
reacting to some of her videos would be cool video, You could be very confiused on some... 😄😄😄
One of my favourite albums
I loved your reaction to Ancestors hahahahahaha 😂
I love this album, but the thing is that most of the tracks feel like filler, without a lot of rhythms or danceable beats, and are extremely stripped down due to the limitations of the human voice.
When I imagine 'Medulla' and I think of the great experimental sounds and the reaches of the human voice, I see these tracks.
1. Pleasure Is All Mine
3. Where Is the Line
6. Who Is It
7. Submarine
8. Desired Constellation
9. Oceania
12. Mouth's Cradle
14. Triumph of a Heart
On the other hand, these tracks fall a little flat for me.
2. Show Me Forgiveness
4. Vökuró
5. Öll Birtan
10. Sonnets / Unrealities XI
11. Ancestors
13. Miðvikudags
I would've loved to hear some subtle beatboxing on some of the bare vocal tracks like show me forgiveness. Even in Vokuro there is an audible thump at 1:36 right before the chorus comes back in; If she added more (vocal) beats towards the latter half of the song it would've been amazing! Additionally an easier sense of rhythm/structure in (My opinion) Bjork's worst track out of all of her 10 albums, Ancestors. Although the tracks above are a little boring to me, she still kills it with the vocals in SMF, Vok., Oil Birtan, and s/u XI.
Great reaction!!
Thank you! c:
I loveee who is it
I twerk to Ancestors every once in a while
I love voice-as-instrument music. If you want another brilliant choral a capella album, check out A Roomful of Teeth. It's composed by Caroline Shaw, and performed by her and a group of other musicians. It's more experimental than medúlla, taking after composer Meredith Monk's work. A piece that comprises the latter half of the album, "Partita for 8 Voices", won the Pulitzer Prize for music, a very prestigious award.
sonnets being ur least fav tho 💔
I‘m sorry 🥺
The album that completely disconnected me from Björk, which coincided with my discovery of the finest lyricist and best singer songwriter ever existed, namely Joni Mitchell. A very nice compensation.
I was never able to reconnect to Björk again until Vulnicura, but with Fossora I lost her again.
I guess Björk for me will only be Debut through Vespertine, the albums of my teenage years. Probably I don't have the sensitivity or the musical maturity to understand her anymore.
pls react to the court of the crimson king by king crimson!!
*"Ancestors" is my twerking tune. Periodt.*