_Ash

Play is not a perfect album, but it is *the* album that introduced me to gospel, blues, and jazz as a younger man. It's an album that I still find incredibly sincere, even in light of its unexpected success and subsequent commercialisation. And this is mostly due to the heavy use of samples taken from Alan Lomax's, "Sounds of the South", which features precious field recordings of blues and folk musicians from the early 20th Century.

And rather than cheapen these incredible tracks, ... read more

Bruh, I seriously listened to this shit after Vespertine. Actual cracked behaviour. Anyway, I used to have this album on my crappy MP3 player when I was younger - I don't even remember how it got there. Upon reflection, I remember it being fine, but I also couldn't really remember that many of the songs - why did I always skip them to get to the Interpol album that came after? I can see why that is now, and I'm surprised that it has such a decent rating.

Admittedly, most of my problems with ... read more

I mean it with 100% sincerity when I say: Vespertine feels like a project that the listener shouldn't be witnessing. It feels like walking in on a private moment between lovers, and Bjork's voice fills this project cover to cover with vulnerability and beauty. So many of us struggle to communicate directly to the people we care about the most, yet Bjork effortlessly captures those sensations, those desires, and those feelings with pure honesty. Genuinely, one of the most delicate, intimate ... read more

Mysterious and hypnotic, one can't help but see the blueprint for later ambient projects laid out here. Personally, I couldn't help but draw a connection between this project and Boards of Canada, who would combine religious imagery, eclectic sampling, and chaotic rhythms perhaps a little more cohesively on their own project, "Geogaddi". But much of that groundwork can be found here, and it remains a compelling listen: some tracks are surprisingly funky, and others are delightfully ... read more