Von Spar "Von Spar"

Artist: Von Spar
Album: Von Spar
Label: Tomlab
Release date: 3 May 2007
Genre: Rock
Style: Krautrock/Doom Metal/Tribal/Experimental

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Tracklisting:
01. Xaxapoya
02. Dead Voices In The Temple Of Error
Total running time: 40' 04"

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[Von Spar - Promo Video]

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[Von Spar - Recording Sessions]

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[Von Spar - Xaxapoya [excerpt] - Live @ Berlin]

"Question: If your opening gambit was a crash course in gritty electro punk that managed to rip the proverbial out of eighties fashionista bands while still managing to sound effortlessly cool, would you a) continue to plough the same furrow especially now that the guitars and synthesisers combo is the sound du jour. Or would you b) start making twenty minute long experimental compositions in thrall to Godspeed You! Black Emporer and Can? Guess what those wacky German’s chose. Curveballs aside, the album yields treasures if you give it room to breathe. Opener Xaxapoya is a multi-layered affair with tribal drums, dissonant chords and an erratic guitar jostling for position. When the swampy crescendo relaxes at about half way, it exposes Kraftwerkian keyboard stabs leading, eventually, to a punk funk workout that sounds like The Rapture on LSD. The second song is of a darker hue, with swampy, disembodied vocals weaving in and out of a mix like an aural rendering of a Goya piece. But there’s laughter ringing in amidst the darkness, as the atmospherics mutate almost imperceptibly into doom metal. It appears the newfound experimental direction hasn’t dulled Von Spar’s ear for the ridiculous. Who says Germans don’t have a sense of humour?" [source]

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Björk "Volta"

Artist: Björk
Album: Volta
Label: One Little Indian
Release date: 7 May 2007
Genre: Electronic
Style: Tribal/Electro Pop

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Tracklisting:
01. Earth Intruders
02. Wanderlust
03. The Dull Flame Of Desire
04. Innocence
05. I See Who You Are
06. Vertebrae By Vertebrae
07. Pneumonia
08. Hope
09. Declare Independence
10. My Juvenile
11. I See Who You Are [Mark Bell Mix]
Total running time: 55' 14"

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[Björk - Earth Intruders - Video Clip]

"Once again finding harmony and creating alchemy between seeming opposites, on Volta Björk is bold but thoughtful, delicate yet strong, accessible and avant. The intricacy and complexity of projects like Medúlla and Drawing Restraint 9 suggested that she might have left the more direct side of her work behind, but Volta's opening track and lead single, "Earth Intruders," puts that notion to rest: the song literally marches in, riding a bubbling, ritualistic beat courtesy of Timbaland and Konono No. 1's electric thumb-pianos. Björk howls "Turmoil! Carnage!" like incantations over the din, and after several albums' worth of beautiful whispers, it's a joy to hear her raise her voice and volume like this. "Wanderlust" follows and provides the yin to "Earth Intruders"' yang, its horns and brooding melody giving it the feel of a moodier, more contemplative version of "The Anchor Song." These two songs set the tone for the rest of Volta's pendulum-like swings between sounds and moods, all of which are tied together by found-sound and brass-driven interludes that give the impression that the album was recorded in a harbor -- an apt metaphor for how ideas and collaborators come and go on this album. Timbaland's beats resurface on "Innocence," another of Volta's most potent moments; a sample of what sounds like a man getting punched in the gut underscores Björk's viewpoint that purity is something powerful, not gentle. Antony and the Johnsons' Antony Hegarty lends his velvety voice to two outstanding but very different love songs: "The Dull Flame of Desire" captures swooning romance by pairing Björk and Hegarty's voices with a slowly building tattoo courtesy of Lightning Bolt drummer Brian Chippendale; "My Juvenile," which is dedicated to Björk's son Sindri, closes Volta with a much gentler duet. Considering how much sonic and emotional territory the album spans -- from the brash, anthemic "Delare Independence," which sounds a bit like Homogenic's "Pluto," to "Pneumonia" and "Vertebrae by Vertebrae," which are as elliptical and gentle as anything on Vespertine or Drawing Restraint 9 -- Volta could very easily sound scattered, but this isn't the case. Instead, it finds the perfect balance between the vibrancy of her poppier work in the '90s and her experiments in the 2000s." [source]

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