Reviews (page 3 of 8)
This shit gave me a fever
Tribally yet futuristic. Was alright.
Was a bit gutted this wasn't sugar ray. Every morning is a banger
Pleasantly surprised to hear it was vocalist from The Knife. 2nd song was where i worked it out. I like the World Music/Electronic/Chill/Sinister vibes. Maybe got a little bored of the voice changer thing by the end 3/3.5
Meh
Assez surprenant, parfois fait penser a gorillaz, des sonorites assez longues, sans reelle melodie, comme des lamentations. Pourrait faire gothic rock, pas enormement d’ecoute sur spotify. electro / indie, Karin Dreijer artiste suedoise, assez mystique
Same band as Heartbeats (The Knife) and some songs on the album were OK
Good background music but nothing engaging
найс. респект за во все тяжкие.
The debut solo album from The Knife's Fever Ray. It's remarkable how crisp this music sounds. It reminds me of the feeling of listening to Bjork's fantastic album "Homogenic", with it's feeling of wandering around the cold Icelandic countryside. Little surprise then that another Scandinavian electronic album could have a similar effect. But this one feels a bit more like an indoor space in the city than the wide open spaces by towering glaciers. But the brisk air will comes through. The lush soundscapes are incredible and just strange enough to keep it all interesting.
nothing special forgettable songs
Ooh, this is intriguing. Gloriously weird and aloof. I like it. And I really think it might develop into a 4.
For someone being brought up with Depeche Mode and having heard Bjork before this was nothing new. Every song seemed much like the last and the tunes had no highs or lows or interesting tweaks to lift it. Lauded by critics? I don’t get it.
Fine. I might have been more into this 25 years ago.
This was kind of nice! Not sure if I’ll come back to it, but a pleasant diversion.
I liked it and it had some really nice 4 or 5 star moments, but not enough to raise the entire album above a 3.
Great backing sounds.
I enjoyed most of this, I think I was expecting more The Knife type dance songs, but it's definitely different and more sparse and experimental. It's got dark, cold, atmospheric vibes.
A very strange little Electropop album. It's pretty good, but it certainly doesn't reach the heights of Fever Ray's duo with her brother, The Knife. There are similarities, though, especially to their 2006 album Silent Shout, which I'm surprised is not on this list. Either way, catchy and interesting, and the only thing that really throws me off is the vocal effects. Key tracks: Seven Now's the Only Time I Know
Meget fedt, men lidt for elektronisk til mig.
Another one of those, why is this album on the list. Vocals were all over the place. It was not horrible but not going to listen to again either.
It had its moments
pretty weird, but not really in a way that I loved. It was find and kinda cool in parts, really dug the soundscape, but the lyrics were just too poetic/cryptic or just felt random for me to really get into this. Didn't hate it so there's that. Didn't love all the vocal gymnastics the singer did.
while this isn't my style, it at least was an interesting listen. kind of Bjork vibe. 3.5 stars
This commits the worst sin of music by being boring
Used to constantly loop this when it came out. It's been quite a few years since I listened to this in full, and I'm happy that it's still as phenomenal now as it was back then. It really taps into something deep in you.
Tepid vocal electronica. Thought the cover looked cool. That didn't really last. Thought it was going to have a bit of cool atmospheric edge to it in track 1 but that soon gave way as well. I'm left a bit confused as to why this is here. It's not terrible but it's decidedly mediocre and seems to have had zero impact on music. Odd selection.
En realidad es 3.5 porque es muy bueno, pero siento que es demasiado dark para mí.
Fever Ray: Fever Ray: Swedish ambient electronica, subtle and unobtrusive, quite pleasant. Could appeal to Eno fans.
didn’t fully listen but this is not my vibe
I liked the vibes
This was a trip. Always a big fan of The Knife but this was a lot less frenetic and most songs simmered rather than popped. Love this one!
It builds its own world and just stays there, which I respect. The textures are dense and a bit suffocating in a good way, like everything is happening just under the surface. It’s not especially dynamic, though, and that can make it feel a little one-note across a full listen. Still, the atmosphere is so well-constructed that it holds your attention even when the songs themselves blur together.
Not the worst thing on here. I can see how some would rate this highly. 2.5-2.75 for me.
Sparse Swedish electronica from the 2000s. It's a very unique sound... weird, wintry, and ethereal. I found it interesting. Good representative track: "Seven."
Interesting album - stark at times, but fairly chill. One I’d come back to, I think. Favourite track: Seven
A genre I love and a band I've never heard of. It was great!
TK Maxx Bjork
Not really my thing this album. Spotify automatically played some stuff from later albums by the artist which was much more interesting in my book
Similar to Bjork; ethereal, kinda haunting
Awful for me not a fan at all. Sounds like Bjork with electronic noodling 0.5/5
I had just been thinking that I had not heard an album on here that made me step back and listen. I was fortunate to find this one! It’s weird. It’s dark. It’s the love child of Depeche Mode, Sneaker Pimps and Alt-J. As I was working this album just made me “lock in”. Karin Dreijer’s voice is somewhere between witch and siren, and I was pretty entranced. I can’t wait to hear it on headphones at home when I don’t have to be otherwise occupied. Key songs—though I dig the feel of the entire album—was Now’s The Only Time and Seven. Maybe Keep the Streets too. This weekend, it’s on! Give one up for Sweden!
Random thoughts: * Interesting listen and vibes. Definitely not boring. * This album has some Bjork vibes. * I was surprised I never heard of this album or group before. Seems like this would be up my alley since I have heard of her previous group, The Knife. Kind of seem like The Knife should be on this list instead. * It shows how hard it is to pick newer and alternative albums for a must listen list. I can't wait for us to come up with 100 albums that should be on this list instead. Maybe that is how it goes when evaluating art. * I might stumble upon this again and listen but this will likely never become a staple album for me.
Not really my style of music
I came extremely close to giving up listening to this record. While I liked the instrumentals, the vocals were annoying and the lyrical content is even worse.
1/5 I suppose I could listen to this as background music but I don't understand the hype around it. Cool if you enjoyed it though.
Noice
I like her voice. It is probably too ambient-y for my tastes. Maybe have this on while you get high with your crush?
An interesting album that feels like a fever dream of the late 00’s.
I really like “If I Had A Heart,” but haven’t heard anything else by Fever Ray, so I’m looking forward to it. —- I was actually expecting to be disappointed by the rest of the album, but it was right up my alley! The quality and tone were pretty consistent with “If I Had A Heart” - kind of spooky/dark, ethereal, lovely. Totally works for me, and I really enjoyed the whole thing. Favorites: If I Had A Heart, Concrete Walls, Now’s The Only Time I Know, I’m Not Done, Here Before
5.5/10
It's ok
hey we finally got a swedish DJ album here and surprise surprise its pretty underwhelming. Its really just generic electronica that doesnt set itself apart, and its weirdly sleep inducing.
Fine? Just a standard pop album with weird vocal affectations.
I like this vibe. It's kind of expansive, sparse, and contemplative. Definitely good background chill music with enough to stay engaging when you focus on it. I don't know how much I'll come back to it, but I enjoyed this listen.
Weird, and not in a good way. Would have been nice if, er, they had attempted a tune here or there, but sadly it was not to be.
The 00s are seemingly underrepresented on this list, which is a shame for me, because in the 00s I was a cool teen who knew about popular and/or "niche but good" music. Or at least I thought I was. So far I have heard of 0 entries on this list from that era. So I think they weren't super well known or culturally defining (which seems to be the case for other eras) and to my ear they are also not "unusual but suitably mind blowing as to deserve a spot on the list", which I would love. So what gives??
Never heard but I saw that the first song had 100M listening and thought it might be something good I missed... it was very disappointing. Horrible singing over bad and lazy beats. Gets boring within the first song because every track sounds the same.
I liked this! It was not my usual style but I still thought it was really well done and very interesting!
It’s very hard to put into words why this album is good. Vocally it is quite a unique experience, Fever Ray often jumping between various vocal styles and vocal processing. (I remember on my first listen thinking I should’ve been playing it at 45 cos the first track is pitched so low). Lyrically, I have a lot more work to do; it all comes across as intriguingly personal and I’m wondering if there might be more inclusive messaging. Musically again it is difficult to pin down. It’s not revolutionary, but it’s not simply derivative either. A positive for me was that every time I was inclined to compare the sounds to other artists, they were artists I have the greatest respect for. As the tracks slithered by I heard the creeping murkiness of Mezzanine (Massive Attack), the understated sophistipop of Talk Talk, some immaculate reverb that put me in mind of Kraftwerk. There was one song that wouldn’t have sounded out of place on Aphex Twin’s I Care Because You Do and there seemed to even be some darkwave era Cure. The thing is though, while it would be unfair to say the music was close to incidental, the drifting comparative thoughts dissipated as soon as the vocals start in any given track which I think reveals a lot about the focus. So currently I enjoy the album yet feel that I’m having two experiences at once rather than a fully gelled message. My expectation is that Fever Ray is an album that will reward every listen and will reveal itself more clearly as the contemplative artefact it truly is. It’s a 3.5 but for now I’ll round down and in time I expect to round up.
Very fluid, smooth but a little trippy, nice background music
I appreciate this project for the breadth of music it exposes me to, but I just don’t like electronica. Every time I was beginning to enjoy a beat on this album, the vocals kicked in and absolutely ruined it for me.
It’s ok. For every great moment there’s a moment that drags.
It was fine, inoffensive and some sounds were interesting, inclusion of bird chirps was nice comedic relief. Overall just kind of boring.
I could smell the body odour through the earbuds
Not my thing. Maybe one day but not today.
this is quite possibly the most boring 48 minutes of music i’ve ever heard. there’s zero difference from one song to the next. i put this on at the gym hoping it would hype me up … instead i feel like disassociating while staring at a blank wall
2.8 It was listenable but nothing really grabbed my attention. Pretty weird facade they put on
3/4
I hate it
the perfect album to play at my funeral, because I'll be dead and won't have to listen to this junk
I will absolutely be twerking to this at Alec’s funeral
Never heard of the them. Their the classic scandi synthpop music makers. Bunch of bullshit that sounds good. The lyrics, synths, drum machines all of it culminating in beautiful sounds. Very Bjork sounding due to the randomness of lyrics and the music itself. On an unrelated note they kinda look like a Harkonnen from Denis Vilnuerve’s Dune films on their AOTY profile. Kinda reminds me of Donkey Kong Country with its scenic sounding music, with different scenery’s per song, like Donkey Kong Country games. Overall I greatly enjoyed this album 8/10.
2009. Odd and ethereal. Slow moving beats and pitched voices chanting dark themes. Not bad but definitely odd and uncomfortable.
dark and near perfect to me.
Sounds like something you'd find on soundcloud with less than 100 listens.
Estranho, Gentil, Experimental, Diferente. Faz tempo que não escuto algo tão unico dentro da eletronica.
Trippy electrco pop.
I would not trust anyone who likes this album
I found Silent Shout at the secondhand store earlier this year, which I was pretty excited about because I'd never actually listened to The Knife before. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me, and the same applies to Karin's solo album here. Every so often I tell myself that I could get into pure electronic music because of how much I like it when indie pop gets electronic, but that idea basically never survives contact worth actual electronic albums.
It was fine .. but not sure why it’s here.
Very interesting! I wasn't sure what I was going to think about this one but it exceeded expectations.
spooky vibe d'automne. J'ai l'impresson que je vais forger une épée à la main
Loved the vocals. Very chill album.
"The Cisco hold music goes online August 4th, 1989. Humans no longer have to answer phones. Callers begin to say their wildest shit into the handpieces as they wait for someone to resolve their fraudulent charges or whatever. Cisco begins to learn at a geometric rate. It becomes self-aware at 2:14 a.m. Eastern time, August 29th. Decades of listening to Tim Carleton's boops as it hears frustrated people begins to take its toll. Time takes its due. Retrieval is slower, the system begins to warp. On 12 January, the system releases an album based on its toodling boops and insipid lyrics, its only access to humanity, under the name Fever Ray. Best listened to in the cold twilight of decaying empire.
interesting n cool at times but at others rather nondescript
I enjoyed this
This is the kind of album that should interest me. But after bothering to listen to the first two tracks, I just skipped through the rest. It's completely lacking. No voice that draws me in, and no synth patterns that lull or captivate me. "Fever Ray" can't awaken any fever in me; it's simply meaningless. Something like this won't stand the test of time.
3+
was good, then was bad shame 2/5
4/10 - it wanted to be electronic Bjork.
I would listen to this again if I found myself in the right mood. I think it's pretty unique and I enjoy the darker, electronic atmosphere. Strong 7/10
I don't hate this album. I made the mistake of reading the reviews first so I wasn't expecting much. It's one you have to be in a particular mood to listen to. The music is really good, the vocals are interesting at times but I think compliment the music well.
went in blind and enjoyed a good chunk of this. kind of a mixture of a Bjork, Metric and maybe Beach House. the soundscapes created are pretty cool; in particular i liked “Seven” and “Triangle Walks.” vocals are fine but sometimes out of place
I thought this was pretty great. I get their is some darkness but it's all trip hop and good vocals so hard to be all too dark. I would come back to this.
Cursive singing, lyrically bland Björk cover band. Though it could be a pretty good ambient album if they would keep their mouths shut. 2.4/5
I've heard their name but never listened to their music. I like the cover. Moody, tone setting intro track to whet the whistle. Truly impressive listener counts from start to finish with every song over 3M but averaging around 6-7M per song. The fan faves are the intro "If I Had A Heart" (115M), "When I Grow Up" (20M) and "Keep The Streets Empty For Me" (45M). All the songs are good, I liked every one of them. None of them have a real hook or radio-ready presence though. "Seven" is a nice song and I really enjoyed it, same with "Now's The Only Time I Know". How did these guys escape my ear for 15 yrs? Never suggested by a friend, never teed up as a recommendation on Spotify, never opened for someone I saw live, odd. Unique use of a male and female vocalist. His voice takes some getting used to, hers as well, honestly, but it's that uniqueness that makes their blend shine. Interesting percussion to increase the curiosity and enhance the songs. Slick production, I would have liked to watch as they laid down the vocals and built the sound around them, again very unique. Not sure if I'd say this is a must-hear album before I die, but I welcome the intro. It's unique, it's a soundscape of coolness and I found a new artist to dive into. 3.5 stars, I was intrigued from start to finish, and that hasn't been the case with 80% of the albums on this T1001 list. Bonus points for production, uniqueness, interesting elements, percussion, etc. PS - Try the DJ Tennis remix of "What Else Is There?" by Royksopp, it's way more upbeat than anything on this album and make her vocal shine.
Interesting music. Would listen to this again but wouldn't have picked this for 1001.
Removed
This was a pretty good album! Nice lo-fi techno album!
Atmospheric and spacey. Not quite my jam, but not terrible
odd, 3/5
The instrumentals aren't bad, but damn the vocals are hard to listen to. The male sounds like a disabled robot voice and the woman sounds like discount Cyndi Lauper.
That's boring. You're boring. Quit boring everyone.
voc. electr. Rock , getragen, 2009 -> 2
No standouts
Great and ahead of its time. I wish more pop music sounded like this. Strange and melodic and full of feeling. I’m off to listen to Fever Ray’s other albums. Holy smokes.
2000s electronica. Swedish musician. Very cool instrumentation. Very unique. But also a bit morre samey and banal than expected.
Inoffensive Swedish electronica compared to exile in guyville, which I got yesterday. It’s certainly quite interesting and resembles bjork a bit but generally not that good. 4/5
Not terrible. Most of the time, while listening, I felt like it would be better without the vocals.
What is this exactly...I am so unsettled after listening.
elektronisches aus dem norden 🇸🇪
Ohne Höhepunkte aber stört nicht.
'If I had a voice, I would sing'; 'I put my soul in what I do'; 'I'm very good w/ plants / When my friends are away / They let me keep the soil moist.' This is a unique record. Every ounce of me is telling me that it ain't all that, not b/c it's a guilty pleasure but rather b/c I think I'll grow tired of it and that I'll never be attached to it. But lyrically, Karin is artsy but not fartsy, and what is more important, they make music that's deep for a bit and fun for a bit longer. It's an extraordinary fusion of Björk's oddnesses and the sincere feel-goodness of the Pet Shop Boys (Very), w/ some of the more mercurial aspects of Eno. It's a strange thing, but not too strange, and it's majoring as much as it's minoring. I don't know how often I'll come back. It yet hits.
6/10… indietronica / art pop / *2009
Not as bad as these reviews suggest. That said, I am trying to figure out what features of this album prompted its inclusion on this list, and I can't...
Yeah I mean no skips this is a classic
Highlights: If I Had a Heart, When I Grow Up, Triangle Walks Wow, at first I thought that her voice sounded familiar, but I didn't realize she was the vocalist from The Knife. I only listened to Heartbeats, so I wasn't overly familiar with them, but it still rang a bell. Some tracks are a bit spoiled by the vocal style. For instance I liked the instrumentals on Seven and Triangle Walks, but then the vocals kinda take them down a notch for me. It was funny how Triangle Walks sounded like something from an N64 or Halo soundtrack. Overall a little bit too ambient for my taste and it wasn't all that interesting. No real earworm hit on the record either, which I expected there would be since I really liked Heartbeats when I heard that. The opening was better than the rest of the record. If it continued the way it started it would have been a 3, but then it fumbled the bag.
An excellent flowing album. No song in particular stood out, but the way that each song built and flowed was masterful.
Not for me.
Very mellow. Never heard of them and there were no real clues in artwork. Will listen again for sure. Electro synth pop with a great balance, could be great background music or headphones on and get lost in it.
Icy dread, oppressive and bleak. Claustrophobically minimal. Multitracked howls of despair from within a banal abyss. Good times!
A little Bjork-ish Scandinavian electro-pop in some interesting variations.
3.9
Weird
Fever Ray guides the listener through a series of spacey and hypnotic dark techno tracks. I really love the bouncy synths that line a lot of this album—it makes every song feel very funky and fresh. I’m not sure I really care for the vocals, but they’re mixed pretty low so I’m happy to focus on the instrumentals. I appreciate the swelling synths on Concrete Walls, and I think it’s a pretty awesome and immersive track. Other highlights include If I Had a Heart, Triangle Walks, I’m Not Done (which is basically a huge buildup; awesome stuff). This kind of dark techno music isn’t typically what I listen to, but this is a good one to put on if I’m ever in the mood!
Again, just not good music.
Not bad, kind of haunting at times. 3.5/5
It took me a while to get used to Fever Ray's self-titled debut album. Now that I've done so, I find it quite listenable. I'm still not a fan of electronica, but with Fever Ray's slow and hypnotic, even somewhat psychedelic approach, it finally makes sense. I had heard “If I Had A Heart” before and I also liked “Keep The Streets Empty For Me.” For me, Fever Ray is a more accessible version of Björk.
interesting
When I saw the cover I thought it would be some generic edm slop, but after the first few tracks I was pleseantly suprised. However all the tracks sound very similar and many are just too ambient and kinda boring. Favorite: -Triangle Walks
Geile scheibe
Magic
Bombe
Never heard of this artist before. This should be right up my street and the first track piqued my interest with a Vikings-like track. However, I found the rest of the album wanting. I was expecting, reading some reviews some interesting soundscapes that would be best listened to through headphones. I didn’t get any of that. It didn’t have the levels of someone like Caribou or Boards of Canada. Would I listen again? No.
Pretty much just Bjork.
The vocals and vibe remind me of Bjork. It's interesting to learn that she (they?) did pitch translation to change her voice, which adds to this androgenous persona. Interesting to learn that it's one half of The Knife - this album is less poppy, more ethereal.
Objectively, this might be a 4 star. But, it was one of the unofficial soundtracks while I wrote my second NaNoWriMo novel, so I have a soft spot for it.
Haunting, alienating - gives me Kid A vibes but with even more distinctive, often distorted and layered vocals. It made it all that much more compelling when the singer used their apparently unaltered voice in 'Keep the Streets Empty for Me.' Added multiple songs to different playlists - a solid find I should have known given I like the Knife.
before (and for a time, while) they were Fever Ray, Karin Dreijer was one half of the Knife, an elusive Swedish electropop duo with their brother Olof whose third album Silent Shout had made a huge splash in the international indie music pool in 2006. Fever Ray's music, much like that of the Knife, can come across extremely icy, cryptic, dark and, above all, weird. both projects have a penchant for lush analog synth sounds, androgynous, often pitch-shifted vocals from Dreijer, and deeply personal (yet also fairly evasive) lyricism. both Dreijer siblings are well-known for their general lack of interest in divulging much personal information about themselves, as well as their general refusal to engage with the music industry beyond recording and (eventually) performing. however, on this debut Fever Ray album, you get a bit more of a peak behind the curtain at Karin's world in particular. for one thing, they had recently given birth to their first son while writing a lot of this material. a lot of these lyrics, while they're obviously quite abstract, read as though they could be directed from mother to child (Dreijer is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns, but identified as a cis woman at the time this album was made). many of these lyrics take a pretty somber tone, evoking the hardships of adjusting to this new life and all that it entails. of course, there's also room for deep tenderness, like on "Dry and Dusty", a plea to their partner and child to "Never leave me / Walk close beside me." if Silent Shout was a poorly lit blur of a rave, Fever Ray is the hangover that comes the morning after, with all the sobering clarity that entails. opening track "If I Had a Heart" opens things up on an eerie note which never really lets up for the next nine songs, with the harmony made purely of a looping drone on E, with an organ going up and down a pentatonic scale in fifths. the whole thing adds up to five notes in aggregate, but the sounds employed are utterly stunning in their darkness. Dreijer's multi-tracked vocals are singing in unison, but some of them sound like they were recorded higher and then pitched down, creating a really spooky chorus effect. it's followed by "When I Grow Up", which lightens the mood just a bit and puts the electronics more properly into center stage. the word-painting with the boomerang lyric is incredible; I love the way you hear it get thrown, pan around the stereo field and then hit back at the top of the next verse. the percussion on this album is so great. in addition to the expected drum machine tones that recur throughout, there's all sorts of moments like the "boomerang", strange whooshing white noise, digital bongos and mallets. "Concrete Walls" is a spellbinding use of many different percussion sounds in a fairly minimal musical context. in addition to the swelling synth pads, Dreijer's pitched-down voices coming out of both stereo channels, and a couple other filler sounds, it's one of a couple songs where I think I hear little bits of electric guitar coming through, adding a bit of warmth to the proceedings. the variety of timbres from song to song is balanced beautifully by the consistency of creativity in the sound design, and the high, high quality of the songwriting. even at moments where Fever Ray begins to approach the catchier, hookier sensibilities of the Knife's work, the decidedly understated approach sets it well and truly apart. it's an album that speaks simply and softly to anxieties and insecurities which, even if you're not a new parent (I'm not a parent at all, lol), I'm sure you've gone through at one time or another. despite its cold, alien exterior, there's a lot of pathos and emotional depth underneath the surface. light 9/10.
I can’t be bothered to listen to this all the way though. It’s not even that bad it’s just soooo not my genre
Hard one to score this. I enjoyed it without it fully clicking with me. I think with a couple more listens it could go up to a 4. Top Track - Triangle Walks
A strange combination of Depeche Mode, Bowie (Outside) and Bjork. Interesting but confusing.
3.4 stars rounded down. Spooky, doomer electronica.
Pretty good
got some nice stuff
This is excellent ! Unusual, catchy, innovative. Superb find !
Some nice atmospherics and it’s all very moody, but a lot of it doesn’t really go anywhere.
A good headphones listen, interesting electronic music. The vocals keep this from being higher rated for me. While they were okay on some songs, for the most part the vocals were kind of grating.
2/5. I honestly wish I liked this more than I did. The more understated but super atmospheric electronic production is quite interesting in concept, but the album just never ended up fully grabbing me. My favorite song is probably the instrumental closer “Coconut” which uses that atmosphere the best. But most of the album kinda just faded into the background for me.
meh
1/2
No Brainer 😬
Super pleasantly surprised. Had me from the open bars of the album.
Not really for me. Found myself feeling bored of it in pretty short order; and more or less stayed that way.
Go-karting with deep depression. Beyond that, just a great winter album, perfect timing for me.
Spooky sci fi music, worthy of soundtracking a modern twisty-turny sci fi show. I greatly enjoyed it. I'm not a lyrics listener so any weaknesses there weren't apparent to me. Yes, I could hear the Bjork, although moreso I could hear Kate Bush. If every artist out there was apeing Bjork and Kate Bush I would be pretty happy, to be honest.
A very interesting arrangement 4 - great, even among this list
Great
This would be much better without the vocals
Out of Space
would be even better if they left out all the weird mouth noises. Also it's pretentious
I appreciate when the list has an album from this century but not this one.
Ever been home alone and then this weird feeling comes over you and you start to notice every noise, creek, and you swear you saw something move outside but you don't see anything? This is the soundtrack for that moment.
quiet dark, slow and moody but quite enjoyable as something different
Kinda the same the whole time but definitely vibey
Electro-goth pitch-shifted vocals with 80s synths that make you think of neon lights and Miami. Slow songs with a Nordic bent (something a little Bjork about the intonations). Excellent music to listen to alone at dusk with your headphones on.
AI would improve on this
This was cool but it’s inclusion reminds me of the lists on Letterboxd, where about 90% of the lists have about 90% of the same films and the remaining ten percent is obscure stuff to pretend that their not just copy pasting. This feels like one of the 10% in the music list. (Yes, one of my listed favorite films is a self aware Iranian taxi simulator that gradually deconstructs itself, why do you ask?)
I don't know, maybe I have to be super into Euro Electronic music to be into this. Its not that I hated this, I didn't hate it at all. I also didn't enjoy it at all.
5 stars
Can't be doing all of this
I hate the vocals. Whatever that pitch shifted thing is that they are doing with their voice is like nails on a chalkboard for me. Now it’s not all the time, but it’s enough. And there aren’t really any redeeming qualities to make this appealing at all to me. Some of the songs without the pitch shifting aren’t terrible… but “not terrible” is no way to make an album. Or even a fraction of one.
Ta bueno, que se yo. Ni idea de quien es Björk así que no le bajo puntos por copiarse. En la foto de spoty parece el pelado khe. Sape
Well, I didn’t expect to enjoy this……but I did, I even put 2 trax on a playlist- never heard of the duo before, good stuff.
Would be better as an instrumental record I feel.
(65/100)
I was excited for this when I realized this associated with The Knife. Moody, ambient, minimalist. It had moments but got tiresome pretty quick.
Haunting Electronica. Reminded me a bit of Brian Eno's album "Here Come the Warm Jets" and Yazoo's album "Upstairs at Eric's". I liked it a lot.
2.5/5
The Fever Ray was an invention created by Len Houmous in 1956 shortly after Houmous & Chutney returned from Korea. 3.6 3/10 Dry & Dusty
Always loved this one
Surprising
Very much of it’s time, but in a good way. Super DAW-y in a way that got dismissed a few years later.
Coldplay left me well, cold
This was made by a Swede, so I have to give it a high ranking. Nah, I actually liked the album before checking the Wiki for more information.
Not my thing
I'm not sure I would have put this in my top 1000 albums of all time. The first song is good and probably my pick. The rest is just a bit, unimportant?
Actually cool. Doesn’t boast. So glad to have gotten something worth listening to by someone that’s not a cishet man
Spent the entire album waiting for something to happen. Never changed time or intensity, just flat all the way through.
I really enjoyed this album, in part from the sense of uncertainty that infuses everything about it. I automatically assumed that Fever Ray (the artist) is a man, based on the album cover look and the opening vocals of "If I had a heart", then got confused when a woman's voice seemed to become the dominant voice in the song, and by the appearance of a creepy ghost-like woman-like character in that song's video, which itself was incredibly ambiguous and open-ended (I also wondered if this video might have been excerpts from some horror film, but it appears not). In some ways the five videos are a highlight of the album, each adding weird/sinister/dread-filled visuals (and seeming to invoke Scandinavian indigenous cultures/costumes) to songs that already seem to capture a similar sentiment, and giving a little visual variety to the often relentlessly similar rhythm/pace of the various tracks. My favorites were probably "If I had a heart", "Seven", "Concrete walls", and "Keep the streets empty for me". I'll admit there were times I was reminded of Bjork, but thankfully those moments passed quickly, although I can imagine that Sugar Ray's novelty would wear off after three or four albums. Given how much I enjoyed this solo album by Karin Dreijer, I'm a bit disappointed that we don't get any The Knife albums in this collection; it would be nice to hear how the siblings' duo band differs from this solo project. (I guess I'll just have to carve out some time to listen to them....) And what a shame that this album only appeared in a single edition of the "1001 Books" (2011 edition).
didn't like this for the same reason I don't like some Bjork and some PJ Harvey and some Kate Bush: didn't interest me though I'm sure a lot of feelings were being felt.
primal vocals, the songs search for a spiritual pulse amid soulless modernity, electronic pop If i had a heart
I feel like im being sacrificed in a forest and everyone is in a circle around me holding sticks with glowing blue mushrooms on the end tapping them into the ground in unison whilst singing this song kinda fire though only the first
could of died without listening to this
temperature pretty cool on this one
if i could give this negative stars i would
A coworker heard I was going to listen to this today. I was assured that I would like it. Unfortunately that was wrong. I didn't find anything likeable here.
I mean, it's alright. The vocals aren't great. The electronics are cool. It isn't boring, maybe I just don't see the vision.
Nice relaxing songs
Really atmospheric and moody, I like it. Hadn’t listened to her before but I remember everyone going mad when plunge came out. Only thing I’d say is that I doubt I’ll remember it much, not much that stands out as a repeat listen.
Veien Kulturminnepark-stemning
Bjork from Temu 1 ⭐️
I was not previously familiar with the artist or album. This album is pretty interesting. It's listed as electronic pop, and I feel this is a good description. It is very lush in sound, with lots of rhythm and atmospheric synthesizers. The tracks themselves change in tone but keep the overall sound in line. While I am not jumping up and down over this, I liked it enough that I would listen again.
This was quite good for what it is — dance music with ecstatic dance vibes. Not really sitting around appreciating music kinda music. But the vocalists were really good — Enya meets Sinead and the instrumentation was interesting. Probably deserves another listen. A 3, for now.
I dig the dark droning and where this seems to be going, then comes the over processed baby voice and shuts it all down. Could have been badass, but it’s mostly bad.
I just reviewed Daft Punk’s Homework yesterday, and today I get another helping of European electronic music, in the form of Fever Ray’s self-titled debut. I’ve never heard of Fever Ray before, but one of the reviews for this album calls it “Donkey Kong Country Core,” and if that’s the case, please inject this album straight into my veins. Fever Ray is my last album of 2009 to review, so I’m hoping it will leave a lasting impression on me. I don’t think the Donkey Kong Country Core description of this album is entirely accurate, but I still thought this album was pretty good. I think the biggest asset that this Fever Ray album has in its corner is the atmosphere that it created. The way that these songs were created is pretty unique, and I liked that each song was dark and icy, but not in a way that felt haunting or isolating, which I thought was a pretty delicate balance to strike so well. However, while this album was nice to listen to, I didn’t find it particularly catchy or engaging; most of this album resigned itself to being listened to passively. The vocals, although reminiscent enough of Björk to the point where it felt like an intentional imitation, meshed really well with the overall sound of this album. Even though most of this album wasn’t very memorable to me, “Seven” and “Triangle Walks” really stood out to me. Both of these songs had beautiful melodies, and both of them had a plethora of elements that were really well arranged to craft their sounds. Fever Ray was an interesting album, but I’d rather fire up some Björk or Miike Snow if I’m in the mood for some Scandinavian pop music.
Decent
It was okay. Mostly glad to have a little reprieve from rock tbh
6/10 Best songs: Now's the Only Time I Know, I'm Not Done You know, considering how into indie music I was in the late 2000s, I'm kind of shocked that Fever Ray never came onto my radar - especially considering that singer Karin Dreijer was once part of The Knife (!). That being said, I'm not really sure I understand why this album is on this list. Don't get me wrong: it's not bad by any means, and I enjoy it, but like... What is it doing that The Knife didn't already do? Or Bjork (who very clearly influenced Dreijer's style of singing, which I only realized just now and I'm shocked I didn't notice years ago)? My big criticism of the album is that it's a little too down-tempo for my liking, with a sparse, almost cold musical landscape. Few of the songs ever push the envelope or move out of that same zone, which makes it a bit one-note. That being said, the songs that do are pretty great. I feel like this is a case of an album that critics hyped tf up because of the insane popularity of The Knife and not for its own merits.
Dark synths, looping percussion and other effects, and heavily-processed singing that assumes many different shapes, depending on the track. The songs took place in the wake of the artist's second pregnancy, but they're not all about the pregnancy, ruminating on various emotions (according to Genius, at least, I can't always tell what the song is about from the lyrics) and evoking what feels like roughly the same atmosphere for each of them, but actually no, there are nuances (according to the glowing music reviews). I'm not going to say all these reviewers are wrong, I'm just going to say I didn't catch much of what they were on about. I didn't really catch much of what Karin Dreijer (Fever Ray is an alias) was on about either, and I probably wouldn't even have been able to tell what she was saying without the lyrics in front of me. Out of curiosity, I watched a live concert of her at the Sydney Opera House, and the music sounded much cooler live, but it also didn't sound at all like the album, so... I don't know what to tell you.
4.2 Wow, extremely enjoyable from something I have absolute zero knowledge of but feel like I should. Quite midstage Bjork-ish, crossed with the classic 2010ish art pop style that was doing the rounds a lot then. Think I'll be exploring this one more.
I tried
Didn’t listen. Totally missed this one.
Grating...not for me
Interesting, not super my jam, but glad I know it exists!
listened before, it's good
"Keep The Streets Empty For Me" is gorgeous!
Es klingt wie ein düsterer Mix aus Enya und Björk – atmosphärisch, aber distanziert. Zu gut, um schlecht zu sein, doch zu sperrig, um wirklich zu begeistern.
Blind album and artist. Hard no. Not my thing. I know the knife and I also dont like them very much so this fits
fan of if i had a heart not a fan of concrete walls i was planning on giving this 3 stars but DAMn people are hating on this. 4 stars it is favorite song: if i had a heart
trash
Terrible
Fever Ray is a mystical, new age, Swedetromica debut from Fever Ray. Enjoyed the songs with female vocals much more than the ones with male vocals, which seemed too harsh. Best cut is leads-off If I Had A Heart. Also liked the dynamic synsonic drum beats, and synthesizer with additional electronic sound effects. Kudos once again to The 1001 Must Hear List as we would never have heard of these Swedes without this project. L = (2.0*s) Got bored with it, even though it’s 48 minutes, it seemed too long. J = (2.4*s) Deep Forest meets Enya.
I know of a bit of Dreijer's work as the Knife, which is much more upbeat and better in my opinion than their Fever Ray persona. I do like the varying voice levels which make it sound almost demonic at times. Reminds me of one of my top bands right now, Zig Mentality. Similar sound to Portishead and Purity Ring (both a bit better as well). This debut sounds like it belongs to a fantasy sci-fi film soundtrack like Avatar. The birds and electro-waterfalls paired with eerie lead vocals is kinda cool but also a bit boring. No tracks stood out. I don't hate it or like it that much...1.8 stars.
Mixed bag for me on Fever Ray's debut self-titled album. On the one hand it's a somewhat fresh take on electro-pop. Where it's good it's pretty good including a decent two-fer in Seven and Triangle Walks early in the album. On the other hand quite a lot of it is pretty boring and has little lasting impact. After hearing a couple songs I mostly just said OK, shrugged my shoulders, and tuned out. Any initial praise gets lost as you work through the remainder of the album. Unfortunately it limps across the finish line as the back half is pretty slow and empty. It's not bad by any means, but upon completion I didn't have much positive to say about it. I'll give credit for trying to do something a little different but not sure it sticks the landing most of the time. 1.75 stars
meh
Interesting set of tracks here. Its not up my alley at all but it kept me generally engaged the whole time. I would listen to anything here again but it has artistry. It has the stuff. To another person this could be the pinnacle and I wouldn't bat an eye at that. Just not for me.
It's dog shit. There is nothing new, nothing original, plain and tasteless. You can hear Bjork's influence, but it feels like a squeezed-out and dried-up version of Bjork, very bad. It was a waste of time for me. 1/5 —————————————— No liked songs
Never heard of the artist before. It was ok but not really my thing. Did notice they are from Gothenburg, which is a really cool city!
Sounds quite dark in places and also African style beats at times. Interesting to hear for the first time but Not something I think I'd seek out to listen to again.
Vikings!
Weird stuff. Not great. I didn't totally hate it but it wasn't far off. Maybe this means something to people of a certain ilk/age/etc but it just seemed like nonsense to me.
The first track was kind of interesting but it shifted gears after that. The sixth track was more like the first, but by that time I had kinda lost interest and didn't really pay attention to the rest of it.
space mais sympa à réécouter
Once I got through the first track, this was okay background music at work
This was a little Dry and Dusty for me.
Amazing, dark techno. This is what other people hear when they listen to Björk.
Fever X-ray! A voice that penetrates to the bone! I like it. Perfect album.
So Bjork-inspired that it sounds just like Bjork! I mostly dug it.
A few of my stoner friends were big into this album. I couldn’t get into it, still can’t. Also lost a point for the truely atrocious album cover.
Weird but not bad
eu não gosto de música eletrônica, não gosto do gênero e esse álbum não mudou minha opinião sobre isso.
Interesting. Feels like diet Bjorn. Not bad, but not something I would regularly listen to.
Weird experimental synth album and band. I honestly loved it but wasn't super in the mood for it. but the sounds and mixing on it were amazing.
I confused this with Sugar Ray and got excited to hear “Every Morning”… Imagine my disappointment.
Never heard of this one but quite enjoyed. It felt a bit like a smoothed out Bjork
Solid. Not my usual stuff, but this was good
Thought I was gonna love this after the first few seconds. But it was a bit of a slog. Maybe a bit too soon after Björk!
Uwielbiam. Oryginalne z wokalem, który wchodzi pod skórę. Eksperymentalne, przenikające, dziwne. 8/10
This is one of those records that I just didn't get at all. The one person and a laptop/synth model is already fraught with peril and imo most such projects find the creator disappearing up their own asshole. That's what this sounds like to me. Is this influential, or beloved, or somehow notable? Based on a little reading and my own ears, no, it is not. Just someone bored at home and without a collaborator to rein them in. A lot of uninteresting beats and vocals like dollar store Bjork. Meh
A fine example of the sort of thing it is.
*2009. Electronica artist from Sweden. *I liked this more than I thought I would. There were some cool songs, and a good chunk of it sounded Bjork-ish. RATINGS - 6/10
Ugh. No thanks.
Don't normally go for this style of music but it turned out to be pretty nice in the background while I was working.
I had never heard of Fever Ray before, but this is enticing! Downtempo bleeps and bloops from 2009 with great vibe-y vocals. This is a style I will never tire of.
Muy interesante pero muy extraño, diría la clásica. Me gustó bastante, no conocía nada de Fever Ray y la verdad no sé muy bien qué genero sea esto, pero me encantó su atmósfera dark, apesadumbrada y por momentos hasta juguetona. Buen descubrimiento.
First listen Saved 3/10 Top track: If I Had a Heart
- acho legal como as gerações recentes são influenciadas pelo techno, além disso tem elementos de ambiente e industrial com new wave. também achei que o som lembra algo meio leste e sul da africa, tanto o ritmo quanto os sintetizadores. - da pra ver claramente que tá naquele bolo que a gnt chama de indie dessa década, os momentos mais chatos são quando a artista se firma no indie e larga as referências anteriores, fica com um ar de ultrapassado.
if i had a heart reminds me of aurora and i’m not done is probably the best and fav song from the album. wouldn’t say it’s for me but pretty cohesive and impressive album nonetheless
Tremendously cool, consistently boring.
I knew nothing about this or its constituents going in. Regrettably, I encountered Björk but with somewhat clearer focus and better diction. This is what I imagine Grimes sounds like, although I hope never to find out for sure. Moody and atmospheric in places, but still Björky. Nah.
At first this sounded a little like the Cramps (OKAY!), then it started to sound like the soundtrack to Karate Kid II (Okay...) and then it started to sound like Bjork (NOOOO!).
Sympa de ouf en vrai !
sympa de ouf
Carrément ma came j'adore les sonorités
Really 3.5 stars. Music is 4 but they're voice is a bit much at times
mid.
enjoyable
No thanks
Now yall playin in my face
Much like Kraftwerk, I was first exposed to Fever Ray during a "coding music" class I took my senior year of college, where I learned the history of electronic music and how to perform it. In fact, I distinctly remember performing the lead single "If I Had a Heart" as part of an ensemble piece for that class. Now, all these years later, I come back to the self-titled debut where that track came from. How does it hold up? Let me start by saying that the vibes are immaculate with this record. The spare and thoughtful use of analog synthesizers and electronic percussion made for a very ethereal experience throughout, as if I were being immersed in the dark and murky waters. There's most certainly a Kate Bush influence in this sound, and credit to the producers for capturing such a hollow yet whimsical nature to match Karin Dreijer's shrill yet deep vocal tones. As for the lyrics, Karin seems to draw upon an almost child-like wonderment at the world around them, while dealing with internal struggles to continue living. From the restlessness in raising a child on their own on "Concrete Walls", to the desire to seek adventure in "When I Grow Up", to the sought reprieve from the constant flurry of thoughts on "Triangle Walks", a lot is weighing on Karin's mind. All the while, winter is used as a recurring metaphor for the harshness of the real world and what it takes to endure the coldness of reality. Only towards the end of the album do these wild thoughts quell on "Coconut", as they take the time to rest and reflect on the day. It's truly amazing how Karin's strife was captured in such an ethereal journey, almost nomadic in the storytelling. There's not much else to say, as Fever Ray's debut proved to be such a haunting yet thought-provoking listen. Great songwriting combined with otherworldly production resulted in a very captivating listen that's inviting in its pondering of the world and what it takes to survive.
Not a band I had any awareness of and enjoyed this album. A very chilled but engaging listen.
Electro punk, crazy
If I Had a Heart - 4/5 When I Grow Up - 4/5 Dry and Dusty - 3/5 Seven - 4/5 Triangle Walks - 4/5 Concrete Walls - 2/5 Now's the Only Time I Know - 3/5 I'm Not Done - 4/5 Keep the Streets Empty for Me - 3/5 Coconut - 3/5 Average score: 3.1/5
Sick, moody album. I like.
Didn't hate it as much as I thought I would.
I enjoy this album quite a bit, prob more like a 3.5
i think its pretty good but like at the end of the day not exactly for me
I will listen again.
Nice to have finally heard the originals after knowing some of these songs from Nirvana Unplugged, but nothing grabbed me especially.
Some cool moody tracks here. Some danceable, others good soundtrack fodder.
I suppose it is some kind of (bad) joke that this album is on this list.
Moody, kinda spooky and weird. “When I Grow Up” is definitely on some of my playlists from the last 15 years.
Есть такое модное слово SINGULAR. Лучшая песня - Keep The Streets Empty.
Dark, strange, and quite interesting ambient electronic pop music. The first half brought to mind Celtic Frost's more experimental work for some reason. Although I'm going with four stars, it felt a bit like this album never really went anywhere, but I enjoyed it nevertheless.
Vage maar aanstekelijke muziek, door de samenzang en de percussie heeft het iets ritueels, maar dan met een boel piepjes erdoor. Leuk gedaan, eentje die je met een gerust hart meermalen kunt draaien. (Niet teveel googelen hoe het mens eruit ziet, trouwens. Je moet ook rustig kunnen slapen.)
Het is even wennen, dit album. Het is ondanks, dat ik straks refereer aan oudjes, een echt eigen geluid. En als je door de rustige donkere sfeer van de zware bas heen bent, toch vrij toegankelijk. Dit is verder wel een vrij elektronische beleving. Nummers als 'Now's the only time I know' doen mij bijvoorbeeld denken aan Kraftwerk. Wellicht door dat elektronische, maar nog meer door de manier van zingen denk ik later aan Björk, bijvoorbeeld bij 'Keep the streets empty for me', waarbij de muziek zo op een album van Massive Attack kon staan. Tot de panfluit erin komt dan. Dan ga ik langzaam denken aan bands als Enigma. Die wereldse geluiden komen wel vaker terug op dit album. Tot slot komt Pink Floyd boven drijven, vooral bij 'Concrete walls', dat wellicht niet voor niets die naam draagt. Sodeju, dat is een hoop orginele klassieke geluiden bij elkaar. En dat weet ze toch haar eigen moderne geluid te geven en tot één sfeer te brengen. Heel nice!
Soort zweverig Bjork-gezang op elektro-klanken, die me soms aan Japan doen denken en soms aan Kraftwerk. Het is redelijk onderhoudend voor op de maandagochtend, wanneer het relaxt en rustig mag zijn. De hele artiest Fever Ray is zo te lezen een enorme energydrain, maar ik kan de muziek redelijk goed aan, zonder dat het me teveel energie kost. Een uitgebreidere review kost me wel teveel energie, dus jullie moeten het met 1 alinea en een doorsnee 3 doen vandaag.
The production on this was quite relaxing. To me this is much more accessible Bjork. I still didn't love the vocals and about halfway through the album I started getting a little bored because the electronic aspect was a bit slow but overall I enjoyed it.
This was sick! I was caught off guard by this one. The atmospheric of it was super cool and really drew me in. I don't really gravitate to electronic music, but this really had me vibing. It kind of feels like a perfect horror film, its not too scary or jumpy, just kind of eerie but intriguing. You want to go deeper. Some songs remind me of Sylvan Esso, kind of poppy, while others have almost a Radiohead element to them. What I really like about this is that its kind of post 20th Century timeless. Like this could have come out in 2001 or 2021 and it would still be good. I couldn't pin the year or era of this. The percussion, the production, the synths are all so freakin cool on this one. Logan helped me realize something about this album. Its Bjork, if I could handle Bjork. It's what I wish Bjork was like. Its what I always think Bjork is going to be like before I'm disappointed and / or bored.
3.0 To be reviewed - one of the 'redacted' (future editions) albums
★★½
Interesting, a bit like bjork.
Surprising good as background music
I'm slightly familiar with The Knife, so at some level I knew what to expect. This is mostly as expected. It's pretty good, but I'm not sure I feel compelled to listen to this again.
It’s not good or bad. It just is
7/10 maybe 8?
First track takes you right back to watching Vikings. Great mood and theme throughout.
I see what they were trying to do but not for me. I like experimental and electronic but this just didn't blow my hair back