Biophillia

Gotta say ... Björk's new album is beautifully complex. Dark Matter put my ear's into a state of exquisite bliss. Thunderbolt confused me at first ... but I listened to it another two times ... then I got it, BAM - instant classic to my ears.

I also, just COULD not understand Sacrifice at first ... it has these intensely dense drums that come in over the top of the sluggish movement of the underlying structure, after a few more listens I began to become dimly aware that it works in a way that I had never heard before.

I have thoroughly enjoyed the last few album's use of brass horns, this is strangely augmented somehow on Biophillia by the use of organs and choir which provide this surreal drive to tracks such Hollow and Dark Matter, the best advice I can give is that you listen to this on the best quality equipment that you can find ... beg, borrow or steal ... but don't riot. You will richly rewarded aurally.

Björk's combination of sluggishness and intensity also gets a guernsey on Mutual Core which is also quite a humdinger of music. The final track of the album is a far more subdued and beautiful piece that focuses more on voice, which gives the entire collection a sense of focus that is quite sensual somehow, but in quite a different mode to the rest of Björk's work.

She mixes up programming and the quality of more organic sounds such as choral work with more confidence than ever ... perhaps her collaborator Leila Arab's work has improved dramatically, though Björk's choice in colleagues is always second-to-none and this time around includes awesome "studio as instrument" producer Damian Taylor and again uses the skills of experimental harpist Zeena Parkins.

I note that Björk also did the mixing and producing this time around, Spike Stent, her usual collaborator ain't around and the level of detail in the sound is extraordinary despite having poor quality headphones to delve into this with.

And I cannot believe the font that M&M have created. I know amazing fonts get made all the time and the truth of the matter is that I probably just can't pay attention to all of them because of the media "white noise" ... but the fact remains that it is endlessly fascinating to stare at.

I got the digi pack with the extra tracks on it too ... so I finally scored Nattura ... which is a CRACKING track!! Though it probably doesn't quite fit on the same CD.