Week Commencing: 16/8/04
By: Toby L
Greetings,
Bjork. I'm mad about the girl. She's f**king ridiculous, pant-drenchingly sexy, sonically subversive, heart-breakingly talented, waywardly influential, and completely of her own, all in one. And Icelandic.
Her new album 'Medulla' must be the weirdest thing I've ever heard (and coming from a Matmos fan, a regular collaborating act of the lady's, as it happens, that's saying something).
It's just come through and under the rockfeedback radar, and already I'm in love. Almost solely just vocals throughout, it's devoid of any such conventional 'instrumental' arrangements, and instead laden with the siren-like yells and wails of our northern hemisphere munchkin, backing-accompaniment from this year's Mercury-nominated/UK legend Robert Wyatt, as well as - naturally - The Icelandic Choir. If you so much as even sneeze the word 'guitar', you'll be banished from her sight, we presume.
Actually, did anyone here see her at the opening ceremony of this year's Olympics in Sydney (chances are you did - four billion of us tuned in, apparently) last week? It was typically fantastic, our ice-maiden miming to lush new track 'Oceania' amidst a reverberating floor of long, flowing 'sea-like' fabric. So marvellous was it, that no-one in the stadium, out of thousands, cheered after the performance ended. Music: bearer of the power to divide and reign, while even still not please the mass-vote. Fruitier than an orchard, her new record's out at the end of August; get it, get fulfilled.
The current rockfeedback playlist: 22-20s' snarling, debut eponymous LP; a sampler of Tom Waits' impending return; Radio 4's 'Stealing Of A Nation'; The Fiery Furnaces' September-due 'Blueberry Boat'; and The Prodigy's very loud 'Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned'.
Gigs this week, London: weird rockaz Deerhoof are at the ICA (Weds 18th; £8:00); Dogs Die In Hot Cars and The Subways are at the Barfly/ Monarch (Tues 17th; sold out); over the road, the same night, Ed Harcourt and Feist are rocking the Lock 17 (sold out); Athlete are gracing the Shepherd's Bush Empire for a one-off (Fri 20th; £14:00), as a pre-V Festival warm-up; The Dirtbombs, Detroit garage-rockers, are at the Highbury Garage (Weds 18th; £8:00); Everlast uses the same night to hit the Mean Fiddler (£15:00); Lou Reed is at the Hammersmith Apollo (Tues 17th; sold out); Primal Scream play a low-key-ish gig at the Shepherd's Bush Empire (Thurs 19th; £20:00); Pixies (amply) fill the stage of Kentish Town Forum (Fri 20th; sold out); Radio 4 try out the Islington Academy (Tues 17th; £10:00); and The 5,6,7,8's visit the Metro tonight (Mon 16th; sold out).
Alt-UK Chart action, this week: The Libertines deservedly scale a chart-position that matches the publicity surrounding them, with 'Can't Stand Me Now' securing 'classic single' status by entering at number two; Kasabian go top-ten with 'LSF'; Biffy Clyro enter at 21 with the fantastic 'Glitter & Trauma'; Soulwax manage 34 with 'Any Minute Now'; Air bubble under with 'Alpha Beta Gaga' at 44; and Agent Blue enter at 59 with 'Something Else'. Albums-wise... no major new entries, sadly.
Speak to y'all after the V Festival at the weekend; continue enjoying the summer and its fluctuating quality of weather.