Björk's Volta - initial thoughts

It usually takes me a while to digest Björk's works. This is the certainly going to be the case w/ Volta as well. What I can say is that "Wanderlust" is very good. Also, this album juxtaposes a vast array of organic sounds (brass, Guqin (maybe)pipa, and acoustic guitars) w/ extremely distorted and dissonant synths. It's partially b/c of such a juxtaposition that I like "Wanderlust" so much.

I am, however, disappointed w/ Antony Hegarty's vox on 2 tracks ("Dull Flame of Desire" and "My Juvenile"). She should have used Mike Patton or Thom Yorke again.

Songs like "Innocence" and "Hope" remind me a lot of Post. This, while "Declare Independence" vies w/ NIN's "The Great Destroyer" or other songs from Year Zero for most noisy song of the year. I sincerely doubt that I'll end up thinking Volta surpasses Year Zero as the best album of the year so far. I'm still waiting to hear the new albums from Smashing Pumpkins, 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Radiohead, and Metallica. It would really be nice if I could find some new and good artists, but I'm not about to get my hopes up.

Year Zero

So, while I am a NIN fan, I was rather unhappy with With Teeth. Luckily, however, Year Zero is a pleasant surprise. Year Zero is a concept album intended to reflect the views of various individuals in the dystopian US of the near future. While I am a fan of dystopian works in general, this album far surpasses the efforts of other artists in their attempts to create dystopian concept albums (e.g. Fear Factory's Obsolete - but I wonder if Pink Floyd's The Wall could be considered a dystopian concept album).

While ign failed to realize the ingenuity and worth of Reznor's latest work, I attribute this to complacency on the part of the media in general. It is difficult for the media to accept anything that doesn't sound generic without a substantial payment (luckily, however, Elliot Spitzer got the ball rolling to eliminate payola). Regardless of what the media in general thinks, at least "The Great Destroyer" is worth a listen before dismissing the album.