Drawing Restraint #9

As much as I hated this album at first, it has slowly grown on me. This album requires extreme patience to enjoy and in a way it serves as the link between Medulla and Volta.

Just NO. The movie is a snooze fest. And the soundtrack is also knifes to my ears. And I love bjork with all my soul.

The review below is actually pretty inaccurate -- it hinges on the notion that Bjork created "Drawing Restraint 9." She didn't. Matthew Barney wrote and directed the film, and Bjork composed the soundtrack and acted in the film. As for the music itself: "Drawing Restraint 9" is a beautiful album. Bjork utilizes traditional Japanese music and throat singing -- throat singing! -- alongside her usual Icelandic weirdness, and this creates a magical album that is at once immediately identifiable as Bjork, yet so strange and experimental (even for her) that it's a unique listening experience. I came into this album with a little bit of knowledge of the film, and although I haven't seen the whole thing (and what I saw was not the cinematic equivalent of watching your child die of cancer, strangely enough) I felt confident enough to assume what the soundtrack would sound like. I was amazed at how strange the soundtrack was, and how beautiful -- if you like experimental music, that is. If you prefer Bjork's poppier stuff, you should probably stick with her earlier albums; if you prefer her stranger sound experiments, or if you like traditional Japanese music, check this album out.

A nightmare unleashed and unraveled, disected, and consumed. I have no idea how else to describe this. Its not an easy first listen, but eventually it will become a part of your everyday life. Its overall sturcture and frightfulness rises above and beyond expectation. The throat singing track by Tanya Tagaq was performed extremely well, and no Bjork collection is complete without Ambergris March! Drawing Restraint is a showcase of how disturbing the world truely is. A challenging listen, and is powerful and complete. It is probably one of the most misunderstood and cofusing albums of all time.

This could perhaps be the most unpleasant experience both cinematically and musically. Seeing the film Drawing Restraint 9 to begin with is an "experience" to say the least. As a dying fan of Bjork, mainly because her music grows ever more boring and disenfranchising with each new album, I have to say that the film Drawing Restraint 9 is the cinematic equivalent of watching your child die of cancer. The most slow paced, uneventful, monotonous, uninteresting, and towards the end, the most offensive and disgusting film it has ever been my displeasure to have been desensitized to see. I can't comprehend how Bjork actually conceived of that film, confidently showed it to others, and could walk away with her dignity in tact. To top that off, we have the soundtrack to this film with which I can't understand even the most eager Bjork fan managing to listen to all the way through without losing the majority of their IQ. It's hard to know sometimes if this album is even taking itself seriously. If this album is art, then so is farting the star spangled banner.