| Product: |
Bjork in general |
| Date: |
04/09/00 (37 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Bjork takes her music into unfamiliar terrority, with a stunning duet with Thom Yorke of Radiohead.
Disadvantages: Some tracks are just to inaccessible.
BJORK - "Selma Songs"
Release 18 September 2000 (One Little Indian)
"Selma Songs" is the official soundtrack to "Dancer In The Dark", in which Bjork plays the lead role of Selma. The soundtrack is totally different to Bjork's previous work and represents a leap into new terrority.
Things start with the overture, which sweeps in a Jurassic Park kind of a way, with a full orchestra building crescendos in a Spielberg-blockbuster fashion.
"Selma Songs" then leads into "Cvalda", a fusion of industrial beats and enchanting percussion that turns into an explosive chrorus featuring short and sharp bursts of "It's Oh So Quiet" brass.
"I've Seen It All" is a gloriously dark duet with Thom Yorke (Radiohead). More industrial beats lay underneath a rich string arrangement, with the two vocal lines providing sweet harmonies. The two artists compliment each other perfectly and it would be almost impossible to find someone to replace Thom Yorke for this track.
"Scatterheart" is less successful. A minimalist beat carries Bjork's vocals with pain before breaking into an almost eighties-goes-tribal chorus. Her vocals seem to become more random and begin to fade.
On the other hand "In The Musicals" has a little more impact with a similar approach. Yet more industrial-tribal beats carry the track under layers of fluid strings and spontaneous slapstick bursts. Vocals express a range of emotions from pain to pleasure.
The remainder of the soundtrack continues in much the same way, industrial symphony, utilising a whole range of percussion instruments, but after "I've Seen It All" things never really get going. The song is almost certainly the highlight of the soundtrack, with finale "New World" also a plus. The other tracks just never seem to make an impression.
It seems as if some
thing that might make a wonderful musical makes an average soundtrack. The music is rich and layered, but just doesn't work without pictures.
Summary:
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Last comment:
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OtisSlam - 29/09/00 Personally, I don't think that this albul is any less accessable than Homogenic. The music is excellent but a seven track record should be cheaper than £13. |
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