Monday, July 19, 2004
Björk Speaks
You have to be a member of Björk.com/unity to read her replies so I am taking the liberty of posting the Q&A here:
Q: "I just got really bored with instruments. I started doing everything with my voice" Do you not see a person's voice as an instrument?
Björk: i absolutely do , especially now after having heard all those incredible noises from people i thought was not possible to make. [2004-07-16]
Q: What roles did Mark Bell and Matmos play on the new album?
Björk: matmos were with me in the beginnig and sort of saw it coming with me being obsessed with spike jones and bodenstandig 2000 , choirs and vocal only stuff . they were very graceful and then drew kept introducing me to more vocal stuff i had never heard . they did create fruit machine noises for "who is it " which i later imitated with my voice . mark bell came later into it he´s funny . i e-mailed him "where is the line " and like a year later he e-mailed me a little idea for it . then when i was mixing in london , i hadn´t been in england for ages then , he would turn up at the studio a lot and ended up rescuing "triumph of the heart" for me . that was the last song and had been the hardest one to get right. he was around when rahzel sang his beat in "where is the line " so he helped us editing it . so overall i did most myself but got like 5 percent a little help from friends. [2004-07-16]
Q: How did you come up with the name Medulla for your album?
Björk: i was having problems with finding a title and the furthest i got was ink . i wanted it to be like the core of us visceral pagan stile , like the blood in us but even deeper and darker . then my friend gabríela came up with medúlla which seemed perfect. [2004-07-16]
Q: Since you decided to limit yourself to voices-only on Medúlla, did you find yourself getting tons and tons of ideas for songs that would have instruments? Is this what makes you want to do two albums in a row?
Björk: not really, it sort of was the other way round. i was trying to write with instruments and didn´t really like it. i was struggling. then when i muted all the instruments the songs starting blossoming for me. [2004-07-18]
Q: Has "Where is the line" experienced some sort of resurrection while making a studio version of it? Did that song have to go though some drastic changes in production to become a suitable chapter in the Medulla character?
Björk: it did actually, i alway knew i wanted to arrange a sort of "brennið þið vitar" ( an icelandic choir piece ) arrangement for it, and after i did and it was recorded over last christmas it started to scream for a vocal only version. we tried very hard very long and when finally rahzel came and sang a beat that we had programmed, gave us some noises we edited into it, it finally fell into place in end of april i think it was and i was so happy when i heard the first playthrough of the only vocal version that i silently cried. it felt great, hard tough work but really really worth it. [2004-07-18]
Q: If you could describe the styles encompassing this album, what would they be?
Björk: primitive and silly. [2004-07-18]
Q: How do YOU pronounce Medúlla? similar to the way you say "abdullah" or "nebula" or...
Björk: i think so?!? [2004-07-18]
I can just hear her little elfin voice answering these questions (so it really sounds like "i tink so"). I believe that she is still accepting questions from fans so there may be more answers from her in the future. I highly suggest that interested readers register at her website and keep an eye out for new responses from fans' questions. I decided to pose a question in the hopes that she might answer. Here is my question:
What inspires you to create music? Do you look up at the clouds and hear a harmony? Do you step in a puddle and hear a melody? Do you bite into an apple and hear beats? Do you look at a tree and hear a song?
I am very excited about the new album and can't wait to hear it. It is due for U.S. release on August 31.
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Fair And Balanced
If you would like to keep up-to-date with what Fox News reports without having to subject yourself to actually watching their bullshit, then check out News Hounds. [They] watch FOX so you don't have to.
It's just so sad to me that there is a market for this kind of "news". It's utter horseshit and people swallow it willingly. Wake up America! Pay attention to what is going on. Pay attention to what is being offered as "fair and balanced" news. MoveOn.org has set up a petition site asking the FTC to prevent Fox News from using the deceptive and misleading trademark "Fair and Balanced". Whether or not tactics like this will work is not the point. The point is that people need to pay attention to how the news is being portrayed.
There is a documentary called Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism that has been made to provide an in-depth look at the biased operating practices of this "news" corporation. You can see the trailer HERE. I actually ordered a copy to own (for $9.95 it seems well worth it). The filmmaker has even set up a website to counter Fox News and their propaganda -- unlike the MoveOn.org's petition tactic, this seems a more feasible way to do something.
The final report from the 9/11 Commission is due out this week and the findings state that Iran had more of a connection with Osama Bin Laden's terrorists than Iraq did (in fact, there has be NO evidence that Iraq or Saddam Hussein offered any aid to Al Qaeda at all). I can't wait to hear how the fuckwads at Fox News spin these findings.
Pay attention people; I plan to.
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Pink ROOS Are The Shizz!
I have been extremely jealous of the cool colors that KangaROOS come in for women. Finally, the guys get to wear cool colors too (rather than the boring red, black, blue, brown primary colors that have been offered). I saw these shoes in the Journeys catalog and ordered them straightaway.
How you like me now?!?
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I Should Be So Lucky
Late last night/early this morning I found out that the guys at Say Hey! have been wishing me a Happy Birthday since last monday! I think that this birthday has probably been the most love-filled ever! It never seems to end! In other news:
- Tori Amos is in Cornwall recording her new album, according to Matt Chamberlain. Apparently, the album is due in the first quarter of 2005. You may get excited now.
- Courtney Love gets a little more time; her LA judge postpones her sentencing until she is released from her NY hospital. If she's smart [sic] then she'll stay sequestered in her private hospital for a long-ass time.
- Get to know Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters in this quaint little article in Butt magazine. And, for those interested (::cough:: Michael T. ::cough::), you can see the "racy" (not-for-work) outtake photo HERE.
- Save the date -- Resident Evil: Apocalypse is released on September 10, 2004. Visit the site to see the awesome-looking trailer.
- You can read another article on kickball, this time from the Detroit News, with lots of cool pictures. Unfortunately, the article isn't about our team. Boo!
- Björk (and, more specifically, her video for All Is Full Of Love) is being blatantly ripped off in the new movie I, Robot. The robot design in the movie is almost exactly identical to the robot design in Björk's video. I hear the movie is horrid and I doubt that Björk would want to be associated with a Will Smith stinker. I smell a lawsuit.
- Bryan Singer, the man responsible for the most excellent X-Men movies has been hired to direct the new Superman movie! I have to say that this is the best news I've heard since it was announced that Christian Bale would play the new Batman. Hellz yeah, these are going to be kickass movies.
And, just as I suspected, Apple did release the new iPod for sale today.
It sure is purdy. But I will hold off (as difficult as it may be for me to wait) until the larger capacity iPod is released.
And finally, Erik and I were talking about our upcoming commitments (Steve and Stephanie get married in 3 short weeks!) and I think I might have to tell Mikey that I can't make it down for his wedding. I really want to be there; I really want to stand up with him but his wedding is at a really bad time for me. It will be our third wedding in a row, it's out of state (which means plane tickets) and it is just a few weeks after I go back to work. I'm teaching a new class this first semester and I just don't think I can swing the money and the time. I'm still thinking about it but I will have to come to a decision this week in order to give Mikey the time he will need to find a replacement in the wedding party. I want to go so bad but it is looking less feasible the more I think about planning.
Boo! I don't want to think about upsetting Mikey so I'm gonna wrap this up and get some things done. More soon ...
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