Classic Rock Album vs. Some Electronic Music (or Token feminist songwriter)

Part of the reason this has taken me so long is because I've been busy, but I think the bigger reason is that I've been listening to these two albums a lot (The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle vs. Bjork Homogenic, in case it's not clear from Jeff's labels) and thinking about them. The song from Springsteen's TWTIATESS (I just can't write that title over and over) with which I was most familiar is Wild Billy's Circus Story because it was on a mix tape a while ago. I've probably heard the rest of the songs several times before, but just registered them in my mind as "Springsteen from the 70s." I was very familiar with Bjork's Homogenic, though I've listened more to her most recent work lately and put Vespertine on my list.

The production on Homogenic is something that can't help but jump out at you. Maybe it's the cluttered music I tend to listen to these days, but the production on TWTIATESS really jumps out at me, too. Everything is it's own instrument or voice and, while there are quite a few layers throughout, it mostly remains distinct. I really like the sound of the drums here. I'm no drummer, but here are my impressions: The bass drum has a nice flat punch to it that sounds really round and has enough low end to cut through, but not so much that it sounds boomy and the snare sounds really hairy, if that makes any sense. The playing is tight and just enough behind the beat to feel "we're just hanging out and playing" laid back.
The horns are well-deployed, especially the baritone sax. You really have to love the baritone. Springsteen's voice is, well, Springsteen, though I like him better later on when he has more gravel.
Some thoughts on some of the songs:
The E Street shuffle exhibits all the production characteristics I love, but it sounds a bit too much of its time. I think Chips might have looked to the end of this song for chase music.
4th of July, Asbury Park - has a nice summer's almost over sound, but he does this annoying thing with his voice that sounds like the line is so emotionally difficult to say that it's causing him heartburn. And the line, "You know that tilt-a-whirl down on the South beach drag, I got on it last night and my shirt got caught," and others like it don't quite take me there like I want them to. I've been to Asbury Park, which is relatively run down these days, and it is kind of interesting to picture it now and then paste these images on top.
Kitty's Back - This starts out as a kind of boring slow blues, but then goes into this shuffle thing that seems to have been popular at the time (Ice Cream Man by Tom Waits, for instance). I would like to propose that this has its roots in what I call the "hippie shuffle," as heard in songs such as Truckin' by the Grateful Dead, which found its greatest expression in "Suite: Judy Blue Eyes," by Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young. Yes, Andrew, I've just associated one of your picks with hippies. Friends, please call the police if you don't hear from me in the next few days.
Rosalita (Come Out Tonight) - This is a damn fine Springsteen epic complete with evocative lyrics and some wonderful organ and horns. The only thing missing is glockenspiel. Seriously, I love the glockenspiel all over Born to Run. This guy agrees with me. He likes Springsteen glockenspiel so much he composed additional glockenspiel parts for the songs that don't have glockenspiel.
Overall, this is an enjoyable album and I would say this is in the category of music I'm glad I've been introduced to that Andrew was asking about before. I think September might be the best month for listening to this album and thinking back on the awesome stuff you did over the past summer.

This is one of the freakier album covers I've seen. Volta's cover makes Bjork look like a kid's toy, and Medulla has some bondage-ish weirdness to it, but Homogenic is uncanny and thus, spookiest of all.
As I said before, I've liked this album for a while, but I hadn't listened to it in a bit, so I was curious how I'd feel about it. Answer: I still really like it. Homogenic is a really consistent-sounding album that I generally want to listen to all of. It does dial back a bit for me after track 5 - "All Neon Like," sounding a little more like her earlier albums from "5 Years" through "Alarm Call." I've sometimes wondered if those songs had less participation from one of the producers, Howie B, who I associate with the full, round, electronic sounds of the first five songs and "All is Full of Love."
The production on this album is, on many songs, similar to TWTIATESS in the space it gives to each sound. Some songs, like "Pluto," are fuzzier and more muddled, and others, like "Bachelorette," have tons of strings filling every possible hole. It's hard to explain exactly why, but I just love the place this album takes me in its sound and often ambiguous, but image-laden lyrics.
Thoughts on a few of the songs:
Hunter - This song gets me excited to listen to the album. It's mysterious and a bit menacing and says, "you're about to experience something unique, here."
Joga - This album sounds really cold compared with TWTIATESS, but songs like this have always stirred me emotionally. It's like hot chocolate after a day of downhill skiing. No, wait, it's like some wacky herbal tea after a day of cross-country skiing. Granted, this song uses the word emotional right at the beginning of the song, so maybe I'm just following orders.
All Neon Like - Conjures images of fantasy adventures like "The Never Ending Story." And it's weirdly comforting:
With a razorblade, I'll cut a slit open
And the luminous beam
Feeds you honey, heals you
Pluto - Sometimes I just skip this song, but sometimes it makes me want to dance around madly shaking my fists making animal noises. Then I lie on the floor and watch the ceiling fan as I listen to:
All is Full of Love - This just makes me feel mellow and good. By the way, you really have to love this song not to have it ruined by the music video.
I've gone back and forth on these two albums over the past week+ and I think it comes down to this: I can explain why I like Bruce Springsteen's The Wild, The Innocent, and the E Street Shuffle better than I can explain why I like Bjork's Homogenic and the less-explainable is just more interesting and enduring to me. Homogenic wins.