Volta Debut and More

Kaffibarinn hosted an exclusive party last night when members of the media were invited to enjoy the worldwide debut of Björk's new album, Volta, sceduled for release on May 7. Naturally, your Grapevine representitive was in attendance, and here is what you can expect from the upcoming album. It is a quintessential Björk album, full of quirckyness, certain to be devoured by Björk fans worldwide. Featuring ten songs and clocking in at 50 minutes, the album contains a long list of distingushed guest artist, such as: Timbaland, Mark Bell from LFO, Konono n°1, Antony Hegarty from Antony and the Johnsons, Toumani Diabate, Min Xiao-Fen, Chris Corsano and Brian Chippendale from Lightning Bolt. Björk will embark on a worldwide tour in support of Volta, her sixth studio album, with stops at various big music festivals such as Coachella and Roskilde. The tour will kick off in Iceland on April 9, with tickets available from midi.is. Speaking of new releases. I've had a chance to listen the master tapes from the new Mínus album, called The Great Northern Whalekill. The first single, Futurust, is available from the band's myspace site, so check it out. The album continues to take Mínus in the same direction as the last album, that is further away from their -core roots. It is a great album, although it doesn't hit you in gut the first time you listen to it, which is just what the last album did. On the second listen, you will start to feel the effects on your ribcage though. The Icelandic team lost the Euro qualifier against Spain yesterday. David Villa put the Spaniards ahead in the 81st minute, after a relentless Spanish attack during most of the second half. Icelandic goalkeeper Árni Gautur Arason was the man of the match, denying the Spanish attack repeatedly. Iceland is among the worlds most network ready economies, according to a new report by the World Economic Forum. Despite finishing in 8th place, we still managed to drop 4 places from last year's list.