Chosen By: Ben
Comments:
Stu: I knew I was in trouble the moment I saw the sleeve artwork! I hated this record from start to finish, it did nothing but irritate me and the final nail in the coffin was of course the indecent lyric’il f*** you til you love me’. This is the worst record I’ve heard in a longtime. I’m afraid I can’t add anything constructive. As for foreign lyrics I love the French words and accent but this really did grind my teeth. Please bear in mind where my head is currently! THIS LP IS AWFUL 😢
Ben: Well I did find the album a little challenging but there were a few positives - her voice is amazing, some of the classical pieces, swooping and crescendoes were pleasant to listen to and the Bjork colab is a good track despite the rap. At least I know now a bit about what Rosalia is like. She does sound very dramatic but she’s an artist so…. Overall though I doubt I’ll be listening again.
Paul: This is going to be a review in three parts. First, the album. It demands to be listened to. Not in an 'everyone must hear it' way but you need to pay it attention as it shifts from operatic to Eurovision contender and back again. As Ben says, her voice is fantastic and the orchestrations top notch (I especially enjoy the quiet piano parts.) It's been a very interesting experience listening to a 'classical/pop' album in (14 different) foreign languages. Even if I probably won't be returning to it I'm not put off listening to more of her work should it come my way.
Secondly, we clearly need to talk about Berghain. I think it's great. The first ninety per cent is one of the best things I've heard this year, it gives me Sparks vibes, and then the rap kicks in. It shocks and I'm sure it's meant to shock. (Naturally, it shocks less on repeated listening.) The album is too considered for it to be a shock for shock's sake, so why is it there? Is this an experience of Rosalia's, of a friend of hers, a general point about women in abusive relationships? Or is she a fan of the chaotic press conference ahead of the 2002 Lennox Lewis/Mike Tyson World Heavyweight title fight where Tyson used that phrase? Whichever it is we should respect her decision.
Which brings me onto the third, more general, point - why should we hate art? We might not understand it, it might not be to our taste but to hate art is to hate human creative process. To hate the experiences and decisions which have brought the artist to the point where they feel they can express themselves, be that in music, art, dance, spoken word or writing. Surely something to be celebrated not hated. Whether we like it or not.
Dean: It appears to astride opera and musical. A genre that evades my sympathy because I don't give it my attention and so I am poorer. In fact it is a language that is to some extent rejected and often ignored.
Powerful and emotional like a foreign agent crying for their deceased in an emotional documentary. Sublime and clichéd?
I'm trying to understand my irreverence. Ultimately I think our own cultural predictions eclipse what we possibly could grow to enjoy if given an appetite to indulge ourselves. There are some beautiful and provocative musical offerings here which might well impress a less prejudiced ear. For my part, I think I'll try harder to acquire that ability to listen without preconception to sounds and experiences of that which is already acceptable and in doing so I'll hopefully manage to extend my musical embrace.
I'm gonna give a 🌟 because of it's ambition, beauty and Bjork - And, of course, for that misogynistic 'f*** you till you love me' line which hits me cold as a windy winter night ( hope I'm not mistaken)
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