MEDÚLLA

By far this is Bjork's darkest album, without any knowledge of her 2007 release Volta, Medulla is brooding, moody and magical. Plenty of choral influences, minimalist samples and loops. Erstwhile fellow prog artist Robert Wyatt lending a hand too. There are not too many artists that can create so much atmosphere within the confines of self restricted spatial landscapes but interestingly enough Medulla is where Bjork really hits home base. Reminiscent of early Popol Vuh and her self proclaimed influencers, Tangerine Dream, it is hard to mistake the progressive electronic tendencies that oozes all over this 2004 release.

Bjorks vocals as usual adding that vital ingredient to her more mature sounds, helping mesh the whole album together wonderfully. The album needs to be listened to in it's entirety to fully appreciate the backdrop of the themes and again her skills at making repetitive sound and noise at times, reminds me of Mike Oldfields skills come Incantations. The highlights on Medulla have to be the beautiful and haunting " Desired Constellation", the pensive " Ancestors" and the spine chilling " Where Is The Line". Seriously cannot recommend this progressive electronic/crossover album enough. Four solid stars.