Music - Björk #2: Coincidence Makes Sense Only With Her

josebajm · 12-29-2008, 04:43 AM

Björk

Björk means birch in Icelandic.
Björk was born in Iceland.

Björk makes electronic music.
Restless relentlessly.

001. Bio

Björk first came to prominence as one of the lead vocalists of the avant-pop Icelandic sextet the

Sugarcubes, but when she launched a solo career after the group's 1992 demise, she quickly eclipsed her old band's popularity. Instead of following in the Sugarcubes' arty guitar rock pretensions, Björk immersed herself in dance and club culture, working with many of the biggest names in the genre, including Nellee Hooper, Underworld, and Tricky. Debut, her first solo effort (except for an Icelandic-only smash released when she was just 11 years old), not only established her new artistic direction, but it became an international hit, making her one of the '90s most unlikely stars.

Though the title of Debut implied that it was Björk's first-ever solo project, she had actually been a professional vocalist since she was a child. When she was in elementary school in Reykjavik, she studied classical piano and, eventually, her teachers submitted a tape of her singing Tina Charles' "I Love to Love" to Iceland's Radio One. After "I Love to Love" was aired, a record label called Falkkin offered Björk a record contract. At the age of 11, her eponymous first album was released; the record contained covers of several pop songs, including the Beatles' "Fool on the Hill," and boasted artwork from her mother and guitar work from her stepfather. Björk became a hit within Iceland and was not released in any other country.

Björk's musical tastes were changed by the punk revolution of the late '70s; in 1979, she formed a post-punk group called Exodus and, in the following year, she sang in Jam 80. In 1981, Björk and Exodus bassist Jakob Magnusson formed Tappi Tikarrass, which released an EP, Bitid Fast I Vitid, on Spor later that year; it was followed by the full-length Miranda in 1983. Following Tappi Tikarrass, she formed the goth-tinged post-punk group KUKL with Einar Orn Benediktsson. KUKL released two albums, The Eye (1984) and Holidays in Europe (1986), on Crass Records before the band metamorphosed into the Sugarcubes in the summer of 1986.

The Sugarcubes became one of the rare Icelandic bands to break out of their native country when their debut album, Life's Too Good, became a British and American hit in 1988. For the next four years, the group maintained a successful cult following in the U.K. and the U.S. while they were stars within Iceland. During 1990, Björk recorded a set of jazz standards and originals with an Icelandic bebop group called Trio Gudmundar Ingolfssonar. The album, Gling-Gló, was released only in Iceland. By 1992, tensions between Björk and Einar had grown substantially, which resulted in the band splitting apart.

Following the breakup of the group, Björk moved to London, where she began pursuing a dance-oriented solo career. The previous year, she had sung on 808 State's "Ooops," which sparked her interest in club and house music. Björk struck up a working relationship with Nellee Hooper, a producer who had formerly worked with Soul II Soul and Massive Attack. The first result of their partnership was "Human Behaviour," which was released in June of 1993. "Human Behaviour" became a Top 40 hit in the U.K., setting the stage for the surprising number three debut of the full-length album, Debut. Throughout 1993, Björk had hit U.K. singles -- including "Venus as a Boy," "Big Time Sensuality," and the non-LP "Play Dead," a collaboration with David Arnold taken from the film Young Americans -- as well as modern rock radio hits in the U.S., and in both countries she earned rave reviews. At the end of the year, NME magazine named Debut the album of the year, while she won International Female Solo Artist and Newcomer at the BRIT Awards; Debut went gold in the U.S. and platinum in the U.K.

During 1994, Björk was relatively quiet as she recorded her second album with Nellee Hooper, Tricky, 808 State's Graham Massey, and Howie B of Mo' Wax Records; she also released a remix EP, co-wrote the title track for Madonna's Bedtime Stories, and performed on MTV Unplugged that same year. "Army of Me," the first single from Björk's forthcoming album, was released as a teaser single in the spring of 1995; it debuted at number ten in the U.K. and became a moderate alternative rock hit in the U.S. Post, her second album, was released in June of 1995 to positive reviews; it peaked at number two in the U.K. and number 32 in the U.S. Post matched its predecessor in terms of sales and praise, going gold in the U.S. and helping her earn her second BRIT Award for Best International Female Artist. Post yielded the British hit singles "Isobel" (number 23), "It's Oh So Quiet" (number four), and "Hyperballad" (number eight), yet her singles failed to make much headway on American radio or MTV. Late in 1996, Björk released Telegram, an album comprised of radical remixes of the entire Post album, in the U.K.; Telegram was released in America in January 1997.

Homogenic, her most experimental studio effort to date, followed later that same year and spawned many remix releases in the next few years to follow. In the spring of 2000, she was named Best Actress by jurors at the Cannes Film Festival for her work in Lars von Trier's Palme d'Or-winning Dancer in the Dark. Selmasongs, her score for the film, reunited Björk with her Homogenic collaborator Mark Bell and arrived in the fall of 2000, just in time for Dancer in the Dark's U.S. release. The full-length follow-up, Vespertine, was released one year later. She released a Greatest Hits collection and the Family Tree box set late in 2002. After performing a few dates in 2003, Björk geared up for a busy 2004, which included the release of her all-vocals and vocal samples-based album Medúlla and a performance of one of its songs, "Oceania," at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The soundtrack to Drawing Restraint 9, a film by multimedia artist Matthew Barney, arrived in 2005 and also featured contributions from Will Oldham. 2007's Volta returned to the more playful, percussive side of Björk's music and included collaborations with Timbaland, Toumani Diabaté, Antony Hegarty, and an all-female Icelandic choir.

002. Disco

one) Gling-Gló
two) Debut
three) Post
four) Homogenic
five) Vespertine
six) Medúlla
seven) Volta

003. Video

This is a link

The riddle gets solved and you push me up to this...
...state of emergency...

goodnightboy · 12-29-2008, 05:17 AM

Sure, good luck for your exams

Yeah Volta is kind of repeated but to be honest a lot of other bands repeat their sound all the time, right? And do they get criticised for it? Like Coldplay for example. Or is it like because she's been so groundbreaking all the time, to have an album that doesn't break new ground allow other people to criticise her? That might explain the backlash against HTTT too...

And I know! A new thread! I can't believe we actually got here.

To add to the OP:

Björk #1: Her Music, It Saved Our Lives (I thought it'd be good to put the old thread in

)

josebajm · 12-29-2008, 10:12 AM

Thanks.

Okay, so I changed the OP a little bit and added some kind of header. BTW, have you seen that set of pics? She looks absolutely adorable.

Scroll down and click on the pictures. I especially love the fact that she's dressed in a dress that might as well be done by her grandmother having a picnic by herself.

But seriously, she's really cute. It's almost unbelievable she's 42 years old.

Quote:

Yeah Volta is kind of repeated but to be honest a lot of other bands repeat their sound all the time, right?

Yeah, but like you said, Björk is supposed to be innovative. I can imagine the pressure she is bound to hold by being one of the most inspirational artists nowadays.

goodnightboy · 12-30-2008, 07:29 PM

Ooh the OP looks great!

No I haven't. She really does look young though, not 42 at all - I think it's the way she's always styled? And she does have a very child-like face..

Hee hee at the pictures. What's with the face paint though? I don't recall face paint on the cover of Volta. And the dress. Errrr

True. I wonder what her next sound will be. The only clue we have is 'Nattura' but you can't have an entirely industrial sound, can you?

josebajm · 01-01-2009, 08:50 AM

She really has a child-like face. I think it's also the fact that she has a really child-like voice in the interviews and tends to stumble over her own words.

I saw a video of her at YT taking about her TV (yes, that's right.

) and she's really really cute on that one.

They made 2 photoshoots for Volta. One was the one in the pics and then the other one which was made in the desert and is featured on the cd sleeve.

But she has face paint in both.

goodnightboy · 01-01-2009, 10:30 AM

I don't think she has a child-like voice, necessarily. Her voice can be quite dramatic and deep. OK well not deep as in like a guy's, but it's not as high as a child's voice would be like. Does that make sense? Although her speaking voice is higher. Is the stumbling due to English being her second language? Sometimes it's hard to remember it's her second language, she seems pretty good in it (in her lyrics anyway).

josebajm · 01-02-2009, 02:12 PM

No, I didn't meant her voice when she's singing, but her voice when she's giving interviews, when she's speaking.

Or are you talking about that too?

It could be, and her accent also changes. Sometimes she has a perfect English accent and other time her accent is just horrible. She's known to frequently go to Iceland to visit her family so I guess that she loses a little bit of the accent when she goes to her country.

goodnightboy · 01-02-2009, 08:37 PM

I meant when she's speaking, too. Although her voice is higher as compared to her singing voice. Is that so? I haven't watched enough videos of her speaking to really know, but I remember she had a very strong accent. Yeah I'm not surprised though. From what I've seen people tend to pick up on the accents around them. It's a natural thing - it's kind of a subconscious way people try to fit in.

Anyway. Should we do a song, like we do on the Radiohead thread?

Uh Blah · 01-23-2009, 02:17 PM

Possibly Maybe is my favorite song.

goodnightboy · 01-23-2009, 08:33 PM

Aww, 'Possibly Maybe' is so good! I was obsessed with it once, soon after I listened to Post, and then for a while I was listening to her other albums so I forgot about Post and 'Possibly Maybe'. But recently I heard 'Possibly Maybe' again and it really is a great song. I love the way she sings the chorus.

infinite sadness · 02-11-2009, 11:18 PM

So, I was debating which album to buy and then I, as I was standing in line at the bookstore (having bought MacBeth, Atlas Shrugged, and Watchmen) there was Post. I looked at the CD and seeing as it was only $8 and had a few songs I knew I liked already, I bought it. I haven't had a chance to listen to all of it yet, but so far, I like it.

I couldn't remember if you guys suggested Homogenic or Vespertine, but this was the cheapest, so, it won.

goodnightboy · 02-11-2009, 11:27 PM

I think we told you to get Post, actually

I think that Homogenic and Vespertine are better, but Post is easier than those two (well Debut is easy too but Post is better). Which songs have you heard? Yeah I listened to Post recently as well and I realised - hey, it's pretty good! (It's kind of like The Bends for me. I like it, but I talk about the other albums - and listen to other albums - more). Well, I'm glad you own (and like) Post. It's selling for $13 here and now I'm tempted to get it!

josebajm · 02-13-2009, 03:38 AM

It makes me so happy you bought post. I love the artwork. It's so colorful and pink and orange that it's happy and uplifting.

The only thing I don't like is that the acknowledgments are written in icelandic. I want to know who she is thankful for.

And I agree with Gwen. I think Vespertine and Homogenic are better, but Post is kind of an easy album, while both Vespertine and Homogenic are 'growers', if you get what I mean.

Post has difficult songs mixed with songs that are maybe more commercial like Hyperballad or Isobel.

LooBitteTundiLoo · 03-09-2009, 08:05 PM

Oops.

infinite sadness · 03-09-2009, 08:06 PM

I got Homogenic a couple days ago and I absolutely LOVE it. Just thought I'd share.

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