Bjork
Medulla
(Elektra)

The first announcements for Medúlla certainly were exciting, weren't they? New Björk album! No instruments! All vocals! The first thing I thought was that Mike Patton has already done this (with his Adult Themes for Voice), but if Björk's doing it, that must mean a ton of Björk vocal tracks! Great! I was expecting Björk, in her typical Björky fashion, to totally overdo things and go nuts vocally. Some of her craziest tracks, like the screamo version of "Army of Me" recorded with Skunk Anansie, or the nine-minute mix of "Jóga" by Alec Empire - in which the vocals and the instrumental tracks run at different tempos - are her most engaging. So I figured I could trust her.

Alas, it wasn't Björk I would be hearing. Throughout the 14-track Medúlla, we're "treated" to other vocalists - most not singers - making the same type of kooky noises Björk is known for, in spades. We get the good: Mike Patton, vocalist for a million bands and underused here; Rahzel of the Wu-Tang, providing standard but well-done beatbox; and the lovely Icelandic and London choirs. We get the bad: Shlomo, a skinny white beatboxer from the UK; Tagaq, an "Inuit throat singer" that, quite frankly, sounds like a dry-heaving Lhasa Apso; "human trombone" Gregory Purnhagen, apparently adept at imitating air slowly escaping a balloon; Japanese beatboxer Dokaka, who in his normal capacity has a hard time keeping the beat as he "sings" absolutely unlistenable covers of songs like Metallica's "Creeping Death," (in which he does exactly what you do when you sing along to the riff in your car: "da-da-da-da-da-DAAH/da-da-da-da-da-DAHH-DAAAAH," seriously). These guests make Björk's entire oeuvre, including the screaming and scatting, seem pretty tame.

In some of the tracks, you really do lose a sense of what's going on in the background - usually when the mix is especially dense. The opener, "The Pleasure is All Mine," is a beautiful and delicate ballad, punctuated by Rahzel's subdued beatboxing and mixed-gender choral washes. Tagaq's heavy breathing is a distraction, though. "Where Is the Line" is a true Björk classic, featuring the angelic Icelandic choir, Rahzel beats and incredible Atari sound effects by Patton over the odd time signature, song structure and weird but catchy melody. The processed effects are unrecognizable as human voices, which works to great effect in sounding like most tracks from Homogenic. "Vökuró" and "Öll Birtain" are prettier than most of the Icelandic b-sides from Debut and Post. "Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)" has Björk backed by Rahzel beats and a toned-down Tagaq. It fakes electronics convincingly enough. But that brings us back to the problem with Medúlla.

Björk wanted to make an all-vocal album because, as she's said in interviews, "instruments are so over." Drums are so over, but she hires a beatboxer. How ... innovative. Drums are so over, but fake drums are so totally rad! Trombones are so over, but here we have a "human trombone." Electronics are so over, but there's Dokaka on "Triumph of a Heart," doing R2-D2 impressions. As far as singing, that leaves us with Björk and the choirs - beautiful as usual. As far as non-singing, Tagaq gives us the sounds of an tomcat who is simultaneously mating and hacking up a hairball. Except on "Who Is It," all Tagaq's contributions serve nothing but to distract from Björk and destroy what otherwise could be great songs. Her hacking leaves "Ancestors" utterly unlistenable and even her little contributions to "Mouth's Cradle" ruin the otherwise brilliant effect of looping samples of Björk's voice.

With Medúlla, Björk has recreated the dynamic of her old band, the Sugarcubes, where the all the listener wanted was for everybody else to shut up so Björk could be heard. Medúlla could have been a great album if not marred by severely poor choices in arrangements, songs that go nowhere and Björk's least innovative singing yet. If you're the kind of Björk fan who is OK with two or three good songs on an album, and are fine with hitting the "skip track" button frequently, by all means pick this up. For the rest of you, stay away.

-Mario


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