Rocktrospectiva: The Impressive, Intimacy And Cohesive "Vespertine" Turns 25

Released on 18 August 2001 first in Japan and on 27 August in the USA, "Vespertine" was the 4th., studio album by the Icelandic singer and songwrite Björk, according to her, she aspired to create an album with minimal and intricate electronic music to evoke an intimate and domestic feeling, in contrast with the louder styles of her previous studio album Homogenic.  She enlisted producers such as Opiate, Console and the duo Matmos, and also worked with harpist Zeena Parkins. The album spawned the singles "Hidden Place", "Pagan Poetry" & "Cocoon". The music videos of the latter two were banned on MTV for their depictions of sexuality.

Björk composed arrangements with thin-sounding instruments, including the harp, the celesta, clavichord, strings and custom music boxes. Assisted by Matmos, Björk created "microbeats" from various commonplace sounds, such as that of shuffling cards and ice being cracked. Lyrically, the album drew inspiration from Björk's new relationship with Matthew Barney, exploring themes related to sex, intimacy, eroticism, and love. Other lyrical sources include the poetry of E. E. Cummings and British playwright Sarah Kane's Crave. The album has been noted for its erotic, intimate mood and sonic experimentation, Vespertine received universal acclaim from music critics, with some considering it Björk's best album to date.  

Björk had released her previous studio album, Homogenic, in 1997. The album's style differed from her previous two releases, described by her as "very emotionally confrontational and [...] very dramatic". She also described "All Is Full of Love"—Homogenic's closing track—as the first song on Vespertine, as it opposed the rest of the album's "aggressive, macho" aesthetic. Writer and critic Mark Pytlik writes, "Her appetite for thumping techno had been, temporarily at least, subsumed by a desire for stark melodies and minimalist production".

In 2000, she starred in Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, and composed its soundtrack, Selmasongs. While she worked on the film, she also began producing her next album, writing new music, and teaming with new collaborators. She has said "Selmasongs was the day job and Vespertine was the hobby". During this time, she also began to use her new laptop to write music, and Vespertine has been retrospectively referred to as "her laptop album"She initially set about making a record with a domestic mood featuring "everyday moods and everyday noises translating into melodies and beats", hence its working title Domestika.

Her new relationship with artist Matthew Barney, and the stress she experienced while filming Dancer in the Dark, have been referred to as the two major forces that shaped what would become Vespertine. Her relationship with Barney influenced her lyrics, which became more intimate, detailed, and revealing in contrast to her past works. As Björk had to be extroverted during the filming process, the music she wrote for Vespertine also became hushed and tranquil as a way for her to escape. In fine style, Björk had set out to write an album about making sandwiches. She'd ended up with an album about making love". A stylistic antecedent was her poem "Techno Prayer", published in Details magazine in July 1996, which would later be used as part of the lyrics of "All Neon Like". It featured thematic ideas such as cocooning and thread-weaving that she would later explore on Vespertine.

Björk has stated that she wanted the album to sound like "modern chamber music", referring to the times where "the most ideal music situation was in the home, where people would play harps for each other". She also considers Vespertine to be the opposite of her previous studio album Homogenic, the former being an introverted, quiet, winter record; the latter a loud, dramatic, summer record. Björk has also described the album as "more electronic folk music". Critics have classified Vespertine as electronica, art pop, psychedelia, ambient, folktronica, and glitch pop. Björk's performance on Vespertine has been described as that of an "art-rock torch singer".

Stylistically, Vespertine incorporates elements of both art and dance music. For example, the instrumentation of choir, strings, and harp is suggestive of Romantic art music, while the "synthesised keyboard sonorities, filtering effects and complex percussive sounds" are elements characteristic of dance-based pop. Vespertine is also characterised by "the obsession with sonic traces of analog technology – that is, the pervasive use of loops, static and white noise". Unlike her previous albums like Debut and Post, "electronic sounds are the norm, and the acoustic sounds become the interjections." Influenced by the 1999 album New Ancient Strings, a recording of kora duets by Toumani Diabaté with Ballaké Sissoko, Björk's voice was used as a supplement to "the complex electronic textures". Her vocals often appeared to be recorded close to the microphone and with little treatment, and sung in a sometimes "unstable whisper", conveying a sense of close proximity and reduced space suitable for the 

The album opener "Hidden Place", featured a soprano section and strings, "over the top of a warm, intimate melody". Björk sang about "how two people can create a paradise just by uniting", as she intones: "I'm so close to tears/And so close to/Simply calling you up/And simply suggesting/We go to that hidden place". "Cocoon" was based around an exploratory bassline and beats that sound like fingertips on skin". "It's Not Up to You" has been described as a "dizzying ballad" and a song that lifts the album upward. The "caressing lyrics" of "Undo" assure that: "It's not meant to be a strife/It's not meant to be a struggle uphill". "Pagan Poetry" is a "harp-splashed" song that concerns unrequited love. The instrumental interlude "Frosti" has been described as "metallic tundra".

"Frosti" faded into "Aurora", while "a warm, faintly crunchy sound" is heard. These are samples of footsteps in the snow—the work of Matmos—re-appropriated as the song's "subtly shifting beat". "Aurora" has been described as "something that appeals to a child-like imagination", and having a "magical and airy quality". "An Echo, a Stain" is underpinned by a creeping choir line and nibbling clicks, and featured an "unresolved, ominous tension" that is atypical of her writing style. "Sun in My Mouth" was an adaptation of E. E. Cummings' poem "I will wade out/Till my thighs are steeped in burning flowers", with an emphasis on the vocal and accompaniment provided by a string orchestra, a harp, and soft electronica. "Heirloom" altered "between what sounds like a samba preset on a vintage Wurlitzer organ and skittering breakbeats, and is decorated with inverted synthtones and analog keyboards". Film director Harmony Korine wrote "Harm of Will"'s lyrics. The Slate album review noted the minimalist nature of the track, pointing out a lack of hook, beat and melody. It was a slow song, as it was the closing track, "Unison". The latter contained a refrain directly inspired by Björk's experience in Dancer in the Dark and a healthy dollop of self-effacing humor evoked to counter the balance"

The cover art, shot by Inez van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin in Los Angeles, California, was a black and white photograph of Björk lying down on the patterned ground next to a swimming pool, covering her eyes from the sun and wearing the Marjan Pejoski swan dress that she wore at the 73rd Academy Awards in 2001,

Vespertine received universal acclaim from music critics. The album received some praise for its themes of intimacy and introversion, considered one of the most impressive and cohesive albums of that year 2001, for its nuance and delicacy, describing its sonic palette as a breath of fresh air.

 

Vespertine Track List: 

 

1. Hidden Place

2. Cocoon

3. It's Not Up To You

4. Undo

5. Pagan Poetry

6. Frosti

7. Aurora

8. An Echo. a Stain

9. Sun In My Mouth

10. Heirloom

11. Harm Of Will

12. Unison

Rocktrospectiva: The Eclectic And Influential "Post" Turns 30

Released on 12 June 1995 "Post" was the second studio album by Icelandic singer Björk, the album continued the style developed on her first alvum "Debut" but in the case of "Post" this is a volder and more extroverted set of songs than its predecessor. The records featured an eclectic mixture of electronic and dance styles such as techno, trip hop, IDM, and house, alongside that of ambient, jazz, industrial, and experimental music. Björk produced Post herself with co-producers including Nellee Hooper, 808 State's Graham Massey, and former Massive Attack member Tricky. She wrote most of the songs after moving to London and intended the album to reflect her new life in the city.

The album peaked number one in Iceland, number three in the United Kingdom and number 32 in the United States and spawned six singles: "Army of Me", "Isobel", "It's Oh So Quiet", "Hyperballad", "Possibly Maybe", and "I Miss You". Their accompanying music videos were noted for their surrealism, themes of nature and technology, and artistic development of the medium. 

Björk commenced work on the album in late 1994 at the Compass Point Studios in Nassau. The picturesque locale inspired Björk to meld the recording process with the exotic natural environment. For example, Björk waded into the ocean and recorded vocals while the sun set, captured by a digital recorder powered by a generator on the beach. The first version of "Cover Me" was recorded entirely from a cave. Björk incorporated songs she had written in Manchester with 808 State's Graham Massey before the recording of Debut.  These included "Army of Me" and "The Modern Things", which she had performed live and did not need to be extensively changed. Björk said she left "Army of Me" off Debut as she felt Debut "was a more gentle energy and Post was more raw, more brutal". 

Although the album was supposed to be delivered the day after she returned from the Bahamas, Björk felt it was not yet complete and continued its production in London. She enlisted a new team of engineers and programmers, and spent the next months "tweaking, rearranging, and sometimes completely rerecording her pre-existing tracks". Björk continued to compose songs such as "Isobel", which was created while she was visiting Reykjavík for Christmas, before bringing it back to Hooper's studio. The song's lyrics were written in collaboration with Icelandic poet Sjón, which was his first songwriting experience. Sjón would become a frequent collaborator throughout Björk's career. She also enlisted trip hop artist Tricky to assist in producing the album, on the condition that he would work on two tracks on her album and she would contribute two vocals for his album. Their collaboration resulted in the Post songs "Enjoy" and "Headphones"—in addition to "Keep Your Mouth Shut" and "Yoga", which appeared on Tricky's 1996 studio album, Nearly God.

The track that underwent the most extensive change was "I Miss You", an old song from the Debut era. Howie Bernstein gave the song its "Latin-tinged [rhythm]". Back in London, Björk contacted "old standby" Talvin Singh to record additional percussion parts for it. Fellow former Sugarcubes member Einar Örn Benediktsson was also contacted to play the trumpet on "Enjoy". English sessionist Gary Barnacle was enlisted to play the saxophone. Although he had not been involved in music for a long time, Brazilian composer Eumir Deodato immediately agreed to participate on the album at Björk's request. Björk decided to contact him after being impressed by his arrangements of a rare Milton Nascimento song called "Travessia". Deodato's presence as composer and conductor "immediately bolstered" "Hyperballad", "You've Been Flirting Again" and "Isobel". This addition of strings, brass and percussion elements gave Post the balance Björk felt her original recordings had lacked. "It's Oh So Quiet" was the last track to be recorded. By the time the album was finished in April 1995, the list of co-producers included Björk, Hooper, Bernstein, Massey, and Tricky.

Post showed a bit of a bolder side of  Björk, who now had ventured all the way from Iceland to England, and was exploring the faster pace and big city life that this new country brought. This album became influenced of that and became more adventurous and club-friendly as a contrast to the shy first album, Debut. Post tapped into the vortex of multicultural energy that was mid-90s London where she had relocated, and where strange hybrids such as jungle and trip-hop were bubbling". Björk described Post as "musically promiscuous" and "spastic". 

The album touches on various musical styles, including industrial music, big-band jazz, trip hop, chillout, and experimental music. The album is considered Post to be a "connecting point between industrial-disco, ambient-trance, and catchy synth pop". The balance between synthetic and organic elements in the album—generated through the combination of electronic and "real" instruments—is a recurring characteristic of Björk's output.

The album opens with "Army of Me", an aggressive song with industrial rock, and trip hop influences. It incorporates a looped drum sample of Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks". Dedicated to Björk's younger brother, the song's lyrics are, according to Björk herself, "about telling someone who is full of self-pity and doesn't have anything together to get a life and stand up". "Hyperballad", which incorporates a spectrum of electronic and orchestral styles, has been described as "a love song penned by Aphex Twin". The track is followed by "The Modern Things", a song that, in a magical realist tone, "playfully posits the theory that technology has always existed, waiting in mountains for humans to catch up". "It's Oh So Quiet" covers a German composition made famous by Betty Hutton. It has been described as "a palate-cleanser during the course of the record".^[

The following track, "Enjoy", a song concerning the links between sex and fear, has been considered "decidedly trippy", and "Post's most abrasive track", like the previous track "Enjoy", features "mysterious or open-ended lyrics". "Isobel" is a string-laden, orchestral trip hop song, conceived by Björk as "part autobiography part storytelling", its lyrics concern Isobel, a woman magically born in a forest who finds people in the city "a bit too clever for her", eventually retreating back to nature and sending them a message of instinct through trained moths. Inspired by South American literature—particularly Gabriel García Márquez—the track's lyrics discuss "the duality between reason and emotions, between intuition and intellect"; in Björk's words, "asking how 20th century civilisation clashes with nature and, in places like Iceland and Thailand, people really believe they can have a TV remote control in one hand and a ghost sitting beside them". 

"Possibly Maybe" is an ambient dub track that fuses trip-hop and chill-out music. Its lyrics document the various stages of Björk's ill-fated relationship with Stéphane Sednaoui. With the track, De Vries "create[d] a vinyl-crackling ambience, full of glissando strings and leaden, muted bass. "I Miss You" was described in 1997 as an "amalgam of styles, with electronic drums melding into African bongos mixed with jazzy horn playing". A house music number, its "horn-infused Afro-Cuban strains [...] reflect the romantic whimsy of [its] lyrics". Björk wrote "Cover Me", one of the quieter moments on the album, to her co-producer Nellee Hooper after he agreed to participate in the making of Post. She has said: "I guess I was trying to make fun of myself, how dangerous I manage sometimes to make album making. And trying to lure him into it. But it is also a admiration thing from me to him". The album ends with the experimental "Headphones", an ambient track.

^{Post received universal acclaim from music critics, praising the album for differentiating from the alternative rock offerings of the early 1990s, and for successfully merging disparate styles. Despite Post's "bizarre" combination of diverse genres, the conviction of Björk's delivery and assuring hooks and made her most surreal passages as relatable as moon-June standard. After years of grunge domination, it's heartening that Björk and producer-co-songwriter Nellee Hooper stayed true to themselves and created another highly personal album that has a chance of interrupting the airwave flow of whiny rockers with little imagination".}

 

The album's influence has been identified as being increasingly palpable on the contemporary music landscape, and later reviews of the album also make note of the timeless aspect of the music. Post is where mainstream music could have gone. While modern chart music hasn't gone there entirely[,] she undoubtedly helped broaden the playing field. 

 

Post Track List: 

 

1. Army of Me

2. Hyperballad

3. The Modern Things

4. It's Oh So Quiet

5. Enjoy

6. You've Been Flirting Again

7. Isobel

8. Possibly Maybe

9. I Miss You

10. Cover Me

11. Headphones

Rocktrospectiva: The Honest And Personal "Vulnicura" Turns 10

Released on 20 January 2015, "Vulnicura" was the 8th studio album by Icelandic singer and musician Björk, the album expresses her feelings before and after her breakup with American contemporary artist Matthew Barney and the healing process. No singles were released to promote the album but a series of innovative music videos were created, culminating in the 360-degree virtual reality exhibit Björk Digital. Vulnicura received widespread acclaim from critics, with many considering it one of her most honest and personal albums as well as her best output in a decade.

Björk's ninth proper full-length, filled with lush arrangements and some of her most powerful singing, can be slotted among the most human, emotionally candid, even functional of art forms: the breakup album. Björk has logged nearly 30 years of increasing artistic cred and platform-omnivorous ambition, and she has the enviable ability to anticipate sonic and technological waves just before they crest. 

 

Co-produced by Arca and the Haxan Cloak and drawing on Björk’s split with artist Matthew Barney, the album places itself among the most human, emotionally candid, even functional of art forms: the breakup album. Its position is deliberate, a "traditional singer/songwriter thing," suggesting something plainspoken, modest, even folksy. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Vulnicura is none of these things, but it’s simultaneously her most mature feat of arranging and almost psychosomatically affecting. It’s also, as was widely reported, with us a few months early. 

Vulnicura is loosely arranged around the chronology of a relationship: the period before the breakup, the dazed moments after, the slow recovery. It’s a sense of time that’s both hyper-specific—in the liner notes, Björk places each song up until the two-thirds mark in an exact point on the timeline, from nine months before to 11 months after—and loose, with half-moments that span entire dramatic arcs. "History of Touches", for example, is a near-forensic exhumation of the precise time of relationship death. The song begins and ends upon the narrator waking her soon-to-be-ex-lover, and Arca’s programming develops in slow motion as Björk’s vocal and lyric circle back upon the scale and warp the timeline: "The history of touches, every single archive compressed into a second." There’s some "Cocoon" in there, in the post-coital setting and smitten sigh, but there’s also the unmistakable sense that everything Björk describes is expiring as she speaks it. It’s luxuriant and bleary and sad, something like sleepwalking infatuated through an autopsy. 

Skip to several months after in the record's progression, album centerpiece "Black Lake", a masterwork of balancing elements: Björk’s requiem strings leading to Arca’s tectonic-plate percussion and vocal patches, cuttingly crafted (in unmistakably Björk fashion) lines like "I am bored of your apocalyptic obsessions" giving way to lines far more unadorned and unanswerable: "Did I love you too much?", Björk’s vocal delivery; she’s at least twice expressed her admiration, at the pure musical level, of fado singer Amália Rodrigues, and you can hear it in how she leans into syllables, indulging feelings then dissecting them. Rarely does Vulnicura sound anything but seamless; her palette blends in drum-and-bass loops, flatline effects, groaning cellos, pitch-warped echoes by Antony Hegarty. The more Björk has grown as an arranger, the less dated her albums sound; closer "Quicksand" initially scans like it’s approaching over-timely Rudimental territory, but it’s a little late in the album for that, and this is soon subsumed into a string reverie that’s unmistakably hers.

The album most resembles Vespertine, another unyieldingly cerebral work about vulnerability and being turned by love to besotted viscera, and also an unmistakably female album. Vulnicura doubles down on these elements, from the choir arrangements to the yonic wound imagery of the cover, like Björk’s attempt at a grand unified photoshoot of female pain, to Vulnicura’s echoes from the first track  of the long tradition of women artists thinking and rethinking their own life stories, in public, until they coalesce into art. Fittingly, when Björk dispenses with the breakup framework (and timestamps) two-thirds of the way through the album, Vulnicura becomes about more. "Mouth Mantra" is part glitchy nightmare of grotesque imagery ("my mouth was sewn up… I was not heard") and part reassertion of her artistic identity: "this tunnel has enabled thousands of sounds."

The album  was met with widespread critical acclaim. Many critics have referred to it as her best work in the last decade and the boldest move after 2011's Biophilia. It has also been compared stylistically to her critically acclaimed albums Homogenic and Vespertine. Praise has centered around the "emotional honesty and musical daring" used to portray the album's deeply personal themes. The lyrics have been described as some of her "strongest and most moving",  and Björk's voice "miraculously expressive".

 

Vulnicura Track List:  

1. Stonemilker

2. Lionsong

3. History Of Touches

4. Black Lake

5. Family

6. Notget

7. Atom Dance

8. Mouth Mantra

9. Quicksand

Rocktrospectiva: The Acclaimed And Unique "Medúlla" Turns 20

 

Released on 30 August 2004, "Medúlla" was the fifth studio album by Icelandic artist Björk, the artist intended to make an album almost entirely constructed with human vocals, in contrast to the previous album's intense process of composition and multiple layers of instrumentation. The album's title derives from the Latin word for "marrow". The album spawned two singles "Who Is It" & "Triumph Of a Heart" both singles charted the top 40 in the UK, this helped the album to received critical acclaim from music critics, with many calling it "unique", although others deemed it "confusing". 

 

Despite the album was not as commercially successful as her previous albums, but did reach number one in France, Iceland and Wallonia, whilst also peaking within the top ten in the United Kingdom. Medúlla is estimated to have sold more than a million copies worldwide, and received two nominations at the 47th Grammy Awards. 

 

Björk began working on her fifth studio album in 2002, being known as The Lake Album at the time, she explained that she wanted to get away from the world of instruments and electronics present on her previous album, Vespertine, and remarked that the project was "very introverted" and avoided eye contact.When she was finishing Vespertine, Björk knew she wanted to make a vocal album, and had known since her teenage years that one day she would. For her, the majority of the album is connected to the time when she was 17 to 18 years old, focusing on aspects of life, love, family, and friends. She commented that she was thinking about how she used to live her life, how carefree she was, and how others around her affected the way she thought, saying it is shown clearly at the core of Medúlla.

 

Björk began working on the album while eight months pregnant by adding her own live drumming to arrangements to previously recorded demos. She then started muting the instruments, and liked the result of it. Inspired by paganism, and the idea of returning to a universe that is entirely human, without tools or religion or nationalities. "I wanted the record to be like muscle, blood, flesh. We could be in a cave somewhere and one person would start singing, and another person would sing a beat and then the next person sing a melody, and you could just kind of be really happy in your cave. It's quite rootsy", she added.

 

At the time of its construction, Björk considered Medúlla to be her most political album, saying that it countered outbreaks of racism and patriotism that followed the 11 September attacks. Regarding the album's composition, Björk also mentioned that she tried to find the common soul in everything, outside nationality and religion, whilst elaborating that she felt that "in that sense, it's a greatest hits of human spiritualism. Medúlla is almost entirely a cappella, also demonstrating avant-garde and experimental music."Despite its voice-only premise, Medúlla shows off a mile-wide scope of influences", noting elements of folk and medieval music, she also considered the style encompassing the album as "primitive and silly".  

 

The album combines beatboxing, classical choirs that suggest composers like Penderecki or Arvo Pärt, and "mews, moans, counterpoint and guttural grunts" provided by herself and guests like Mike Patton, Robert Wyatt and Tanya Tagaq. Also ncludes "vocal fantasias" that lean toward chamber music, alongside tracks that "are obviously but distantly connected to hip-hop. Glimpses of Bulgarian women's choirs, the polyphony of central African pygmies, and the "primal vocalisms" of Meredith Monk were also noted. 

 

Medúlla opens with "Pleasure Is All Mine", which begins with a vocal harmony layered on top of a woman's panting for a short while prior to when Björk starts singing her verses. The verses additionally have the background filled by a harmonic and cathedral-mimicking choir. "Show Me Forgiveness", an a cappella "short confessional anthem" follows, having no other effect than a subtle echo exerted onto her voice. The third song "Where Is the Line", she lyrically attacks a younger relative for being greedy and unreliable, displaying vexation: "I'm elastic for you, but enough is enough", "Demonic vocals" are delivered by singer Mike Patton, and "angelically dissonant swaths of lush singing" from the Icelandic Choir; as Rahzel beatboxes, the choir emotes some "ahhhs". The song grows darker as it builds up as the male members of the choir deliver heavier sounds, "Vökuró", originally by Jórunn Viðar, is the fourth track on Medúlla. The song is in Icelandic; Björk rolls her tongue around certain words, accompanied by a choir. 

 

During the fifth track "Öll Birtan", Björk's voice is layered over several times, with a voice resembling a drone in the left channel, whilst "doot-doos" echo into the right side of the audio. The lead single "Who Is It" features collaborations by Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq and Rahzel, "Submarine", the seventh track on the album, was influenced by Björk's pregnancy with her daughter Ísadóra and how she felt somewhat lazy during that time, "Desired Constellation" was created from a sample of Björk singing the phrase "I'm not sure what to do with it" from "Hidden Place" on her previous album, Vespertine. She imagines herself "With a palm full of stars/ I throw them like dice on the table/ Until the desired constellation appears". 

 

With the ninth song, "Oceania", is about "Mother Oceania", from whom Björk believes all life materialised, whilst she sings: "You have done well for yourselves / Since you left my wet embrace / And crawled ashore"^, "Oceania" also features The London Choir., tenth song "Sonnets/Unrealities XI" was based on the poem "It May Not Always Be So; And I Say" by E. E. Cummings, and features only Björk's singing, with small inflections from the Icelandic Choir while she bids farewell to a lover lyrically. The following track "Ancestors" has no lyrics, featuring only Björk and Tagaq's voices. The twelfth song "Mouth's Cradle" is paced by a "glug, glug" sample of "what might as well be the emptying of a gallon bottle of water". Lyrically, she concludes: "I need a shelter to build an altar away from Osamas and Bushes", the thirteenth track of the album, "Miðvikudags", Björk sings once again in gibberish, while some "doot-doos" can be heard in the background, reminiscent of "Öll Birtan". On the closing track and second single, "Triumph of a Heart", the singer lyrically "celebrates the workings of anatomy", whilst musically it is the album's closest thing to a dance track. The song also features orchestral arrangements by the Icelandic and London Choirs.

 

The album receives acclaim from critics, considered the album as brave and unique, an interesting record in which Björk found a way to bathe her immediately distinctive melodies and vocal nuances in solutions that cause me to reevaluate her voice and her craft, her most extreme record and the most immediately accessible. 

 

Medúlla Track List: 

 

1. Pleasure Is All Mine

2. Show Me Forgiveness

3. Where Is The Line

4. Vökuró

5. Öll Birtan 

6. Who Is It (Carry My Joy On The Left, Carry My Pain On The Right)

7. Submarine

8. Desired Constellation

9. Oceania 

10. Sonnets/Unrealities XI

11. Ancestors

12. Mouth's Cradle

13. Miðvikudags

14. Triumph Of A Heart

Rocktrospectiva: El Aclamado Y Ecléctico "Debut" Cumple 30 Años

Lanzado el 5 de Julio de 1993 "Debut" fue el álbum con el que la Islandesa Björk se dio a conocer, bajo la producción de Nellee Hooper, fue la primera grabación de la artista tras la disolución de The Sugarcubes, en el disco se pueden escuchar variedades de estilos que variaban del rock que caraterizó a la banda, estilos desde la electrónica, pop, house, jazz y trip hop se pueden escuchar, además de los cinco singles que se lanzaron "Human Behaviour", "Venus As A Boy", "Play Dead", Big Time Sensuality" y "Violently Happy" que fueron muy bien recibidos en el Reino Unido logrando la aclamación mientra que en Estados Unidos hubieron críticas variadas. 

 

Tras la deserción de The Sugarcubes en un momento en que había logrado un hit mundial, entonces se muda a Londres en busca de emociones, y de la mano de Hooper buscando incursionar en la escena de clubes de underground obteniendo buenos intercambios creativos y tomando cosas de aquí y allá para lo que sería el disco, y el resultado fue este álbum que incorpora música dance, reflexionando en los estilos de Londres y su cultura de clubes, géneros como el euro house, acid jazz y worldbeat se puede apreciar en el álbum, en los temas "Human Behaviour", Crying", "Big Time Sensuality", "There's More To Life Than This", y "Violently Happy" tienen sonido house, ya que creía que ese estilo era lo verdaderamente moderno en ese 1993, además de acid jazz, funk y trip hop de la mano de Hooper, el productor del disco, que son los temas menos bailables del disco.

 

Sin duda "Debut" fue toda una revelación para el público, captando la energía y vibra del momento y eso quedo plasmado en la prensa Británica que alabo el disco por su magia y vibra inigualable, aunque en Estados Unidos no quedaron tan impresionados ya que consideraron el disco una rareza sonora pero no para emocionarse tanto, sin embargo, el disco era encantador y con el tiempo las críticas se fueron suavizando hasta considerarlo un disco esencial en la cultura alternativa y a su producto Nellee Hooper una especie de productor genial, tanto así que hasta la fecha se ha considerado al disco como quizás su trabajo más encantador con la cantante expandiendo los horizontes mucho más que en otras de sus producciones, aun hoy en día, el disco suena fresco e innovador superando la línea del tiempo lo cual ya es un hito considerando lo volátil que es la música electrónica y la velocidad con la que vive cambiando.

 

Debut Track List:

 

1. Huma Behaviour

2. Crying

3. Venus As A Boy

4. There's More To Life Than This

5. Like Someone's In Love

6. Big Time Sensuality

7. One Day

8. Aeroplane

9. Come To Me

10. Violently Happy

11. The Anchor Song

Rocktrospectiva: El Fresco E Influyente "Life's Too Good" Cumple 35 Años

Lanzado el 25 de Abril de 1988, "Life's Too Good" fue el álbum debut de una extraña banda Islandesa llamada The Sugarcubes, su álbum resultó ser un éxito inesperado y les trajo popularidad internacional y fue el disco que puso en la mira a una desconocida cantante llamada Björk cuyo carrera internacional vendría en 1993. Del disco se lanzaron cinco singles "Birthday", "Coldsweat", "Deus", "Motorcrash" y "Birthday" en un mix navideño. 

 

La banda estaba formado por veteranos de la escena de Reykjavik, por eso traían elementos de post-punk que era lo que le dio forma a la escena en los 1980s., entonces la idea era de recrear ese humor en un disco pop y por eso el título del mismo, no se lo tomaron muy en serio y la jugada les salio diferente ya que el disco pegó fuerte, y eso les dio un contrato en donde tuvieron que cumplir con el lanzamiento de otros dos discos más, todo comenzó en 1987 cuando NME nombró single de la semana a la curiosa "Birthday", lo que llamo la atención del Reino Unido, la banda evitó aparecer en las portadas pero el hype fue más que ellos y terminarían cediendo, aunque rechazaron a Warner y Polygram porque con ellos no habría independencia y terminarían grabando ellos mismos el disco y lanzándolo con One Little Indian, luego seguirían los singles "Coldsweat" y "Deus" y más tarde "Motorcrash.

 

Howard Thompson amigo de la banda orquesto el lanzamiento del disco en los Estados Unidos lanzando "Birthday" de primero teniendo éxito en la college radio antes de entrar al mainstream, pero para desgracia de la banda, en ese país se enfocaron en Björk, al final hicieron la gira mundial y eso catapulto las ventas del disco, el cual tuvo una crítica positiva, siendo aclamados por la prensa en ambos lados del charco con su manera no convencional de lanzar e interpretar las cosas, un disco lleno de curiosidad que pese a no ser particularmente innovador su aproximación era fresca y su energía sin limites, uno de esos raros debuts que no solo influencian la movida underground sino que traspasan las fronteras del rock, aunque por otro lado se les atacó por sus manera experimental y rata de hacer las cosas, son juguetones pero hasta allí cosa que sus fans no se han dado cuenta al respecto. 

Pese a todo, y como suele pasar, el legado sigue pesando, "Life's Too Good" sería el primer disco Islandés en alcanzar impacto internacional, su influencia sería definitiva en otras bandas Islandesas y proyectos internacionales, hasta la fecha sigue siendo considerado un clásico de culto. 

 

Life's Too Good Track List:

 

1. Traitor

2. Motorcrash

3. Birthday

4. Delicious Demon

5. Mama

6. Coldsweat

7. Bue Eyed Pop

8. Deus

9. Sick For Toys

10. Fucking In Rhythm And Sorrow

11. Take Some Petrol Darling

Primicia: Fossora

           

Seis meses después del lanzamiento del disco "Fossora", Björk regresa con el clip del track homónimo, un tema de dos minutos y pico en donde la Islandesa se puso a las ordenes del director Vidar Logi, y Futuredeluxe en donde la Islandesa aparece tocando con el grupo que usa clarinetes Murmuri así como el músico experimental Indonseio, Kasimyn, en el clip se ven esporas por doquier mientras Björk canta y baila al centro del conjunto.

Primicia: Ancestress

               

La Islandesa Björk estrena el clip oficial del 3er., single que se extrae de su nuevo material llamado "Fossora", el tema lleva por nombre "Ancestress" con un clip bajo la dirección de Andrew Thomas Huang en donde evocan una ceremonia de sacrificio ancestral recorriendo un trayecto por un frío paisaje Islandés en un tema bastante largo pero siempre lleno de arte.

Rocktrospectiva: El Experimental E Individualista "Homogenic" Cumple 25 Años

Lanzado el 22 de Septiembre de 1997 "Homogenic" fue el 3er., álbum de estudio de la Islandesa Björk y es considerado su entrega más individualista, siendo ella la productora principal contando con otros colaboradores como Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B y Markus Dravs. Desde el punto de vista conceptual, el álbum está enfocado en su natal Islandia, mientras que en lo musical, la chica nos presentó una fusión de instrumentos orgánicos como los de cuerda, acordeones, harmonicas de cristal y elementos sintéticos y electrónicos, yuxtaponiendolos con lo clásico y actual para entregarnos algo caótico pero a la vez encantador que es como se vive en su isla.

 

Uno de los discos más completos y valorados de los 90's, siendo muy exitoso en varios mercados y alcanzando el top 10 en más de diez países, gracias a su carácter individualista y más experimental que sus discos anteriores, la artista buscó ser más homogénea en cuanto a tonos y las canciones emergieron de ese punto, hay una confusión y es que la palabra "Homogenic" no es Inglesa, no existe en el idioma, pero al Castellano todos lo tradujismo como "Homogenico", aparte que también tenía que ver con hogar en Islandia y es que a partir de esa premisa, Björk buscó mostrar y rescatar los sonidos más privados de su natal país, esa apuesta le funcionó y termino ganando el benéplacito de todos, su curiosa mezcla de sonidos electrónicos con un conjunto de cuerdas como la Icelandic String Octet, le dieron su toque.

Se lanzaron cinco singles con sus respectivos videos, siendos esto "Jóga" de corte melódico y dramático lleno de música dance, gustó tanto que en los Estados Unidos le hicieron infinidad de remixes, también se lanzó la meláncolia "Bachelorette" que iba a hacer para un fallido proyecto de Bernardo Bertolucci, ella le da un toque con más instrumentos y el resultado es épico, la curiosa "Hunter", la canción que habla sobre renacer "Alarm Call" y finalmente la más brillante a mi criterio "All Is Full Of Love", y el video fue aún más espectacular en donde unos robots se daban un beso, mucho lo censuraron por que lo consideraron una imagen homosexual, y la verdad no se de donde se sacaron eso, los robots tenian cierta semejanza a Björk pero hasta allí, eso no impidió que fuera un éxito. 

El disco márco la etapa más introspectiva de la artista, ya que después de esto seguiría con la misma tecnica, no complacer a nadie más que a ella, el estilo de los temas es muy similar, siempre cuidando la estética, hasta en la portada, que es una fotografía de Nick Night y diseñada por Alexander McQueen. La crítica fue abrumadora alcanzando casi la perfección en todos lados, y fue colocado como uno o el mejor disco de ese año para varios medios, destacando la rareza más brillante de la artista siendo uno de sus pasos más audaces en su carrera, su grabación más emocional y directa a la fecha, y que tal vez no pudo reinar del todo porque en ese año también se lanzó "OK Computer" uno de los discos más brillantes de la época. 

 

Homogenic Track List:

 

1. Hunter

2. Jóga

3. Unravel

4. Bachelorette

5. All Neon Like

6. 5 years

7. Immature

8. Alarm Call

9. Pluto

10. All Is Full Of Love

Primicia: Ovule

           

Björk estrena una semana después de haber lanzado el primer single de "Fossora" su balada "Ovule" su nuevo y romántico tema que viene dotado de otro extraño y curioso video esta vez a cargo de Nick Knight quien ya había trabajado anteriormente con la Islandesa, es la versión de romanticismo que tiene en mente con dos amantes caminando alrededor de este mundo como si fueran dos esferas representante un amor ideal.

Primicia: Atopos

           

La Islandesa Björk esta de vuelta con nuevo disco "Fossora" a publicarse este 30 de Septiembre y del cual se extrae este primer single "Atopos" para la ocasión hace equipo con Kasimyn de Indonesia y el dueto Gabber Modus Operandi, el tema es una oda rara llena bajos, clarinetes y vocales confusas arropados por poderosos beats, el clip ha sido dirigido por Viðar Logi quien nos muestra una especie de rave de hongos y plantas.

Rocktrospectiva: El Profundo y Ecléctico "Medúlla" Cumple 15 Años

Fue el 5to., álbum de estudio en la carrera de Björk, lanzado un 30 de agosto del 2004 bajó el sello One Little India. Si bien con "Vespertine" había creado un mundo sonoro oscuro, ahora con Medúlla sorprendío a todos con un disco en donde la voz humana es la única fuente musical, y un gong.

Gracias a la ayuda del ingeniero de sonido Valgeir Sigurdsson, se trabajó en un disco curioso y muy ecléctico durante un año y medio arriesgando con el hecho de usar voces, y  partir de esto, crear ritmos vocales, arreglos corales y cantos guturalesm junto a un grupo de colaboradores como la artista Japonesa Dokaka y el rapero Rahzel, ademas de coros de Islandia y Reino Unido y una serie de escenarios para grabar las pistas como Islas Canarias, New York, Londres y Sao Paulo entre otras.

La música era una mezcla de folk antiguo, techno, pop, y rarezas vanguardistas, destacando "Oceania" que se utilizó en la ceremonia de apertura en los Juegos Olímpicos de Atenas en el 2004. El disco es también muy político, ya que destaca la lucha contra el racismo y el patriotismo Estadounidense tras el 11S, mensajes que son escuchados en el disco, por ejemplo el tema "Mouth's Cradle" donde declara su embarazo de su hija Isadora, "Submarine" canción para despertar y trabajar,"Who Is It" uno de los temas más curiosos en donde hay algunos instrumentos,  "Desired Constellation" es considerada muy simple y austera, en comparación de la sutil y personal "Vökuro", sin dejar aún lado la increible "Ancestors" y ese curioso piano, o el gong intenso en "Pleasure Is All Mine", y por supuesto la vanguardia mezclada con esa dulzura pop en "The Triumph Of Heart" como temas destacables de este curioso disco. 

Por supuesto que la crítica fue muy buena, catalogandoló de un registro intenso y muy interesante destacando a Björk una vez más por su creatividad y vanguardia, el disco logró llega al 14avo., lugar de la Billboard siendo esta su posición más alta en esas tierras pese al mensaje político, y dejando a Björk de nuevo en el pedestal. 

Medúlla Track List:

1. Pleasure Is All Mine

2. Show Me Forgiveness

3. Where Is The Line?

4. Vökuro

5. Öll Birtan

6. Who Is It (Carry My Joy On The Left, Carry My Pain On The Right)

7. Submarine

8. Desired Constellation

9. Oceania

10. Sonnets/Unrealities XI

11. Ancestors

12. Mouth's Cradle

13. Midvikudags

14. Triumph Of A Heart

Primicia: Losss

        

Björk vuelve a la carga con otro single "Losss" cargado de increibles visuales de la mano del talentoso Tobias Gremmler, quien según dice Björk captura imágenes digitales tan sensuales, elegenates y expresivas, aquí en el video se puede apreciar el trabajo de lartista usando multiples pantallas de cornucopia para luego resumirlas en una sola pantalla a tráves de una lap top, las visuales se han basado en las conversaciones entre nuestro interior optimista y pesimista, según cuenta Björk además que cuando cantaba el tema quiso hacerlo en un tono más profundo para el altavoz izquierdo y en un tono más optimista y alto para el altavoz derecho por lo que nos sugiere escucharlo en audifonos mientras se mira la imaginería.

Primicia: Tabula Rasa

         

Björk acapara nuestra atención gracias a este curioso e innovador video para el single "Tabula Rasa" que vienen incluido en el "Utopia" del 2017, de la mano de Tobias Gremmler artista visual, la Björk abandona la forma humana y se convierte y en varias criaturas, contrayéndose y expandiéndose a medida que avanza el clip, cuyo concepto se origina cuando por la música y letra englobando el concepto utópico del asunto en donde la naturaleza y la humanidad co-existen basado en la empatía, según palabras del propio director.

La Noticia: Björk Regresa A Los 90's Con Más Nostalgía Que Nunca

La leyenda musical de Islandia ha decidido relanzar todos sus nueve discos pero en formato cassette así como la re-edición de t-shirts con diseños clásicos. 

Los 90's fueron una década muy buena para Björk, se dío a conocer en 1993 con el lanzamiento de "Debut" y luego vendría "Post" y "Homogenic", y por tal motibo a decidido regresar a esa época apelando a la nostalgía del cassette que a pesar de todo se mantiene activo, así como nuevos tipos mercaderías relacionadas con la artista.

Primero lanzará toda su discografía en cassette para lo cual One Little Indian creo unos diseños increibles abarcando desde "Post" hasta "Utopia", y para ellos seran ediciones limitadas de colores que encajen con el tipo de colores presentes en cada portada, serán vendidas de manera individual y como set completo a partir del próximo 26 de abril. 

También lanzará un gran rango de retro t-shirts conmemorando sus primeros lanzamientos de la mano de O.G. designs que celebra "Debut" en donde ya se mostró un modelo realizado con la toma de Jean-Baptiste Mondino así como para "Post" y "Homogenic" y que estarán disponible a partir del 12 de abril.

Rocktrospecitva: El Ecléctico "Debut" Cumple 25 Años

Lanzado oficialmente un 5 de Julio de 1993, "Debut" fue el primer disco en solitario en la prolífica y ecléctica carrera de la islandesa Björk, producido por ella misma y Nellee Hooper, fue la primera entrega tras la disolución de la variopinta banda The Sugarcubes, y su estilo fue más allá del rock usando varios estilos que iban del pop eléctronico, house, jazz y trip hop. 

El disco lanzó cinco singles "Human Behaviour", "Venus As A Boy", "Play Dead", Big Time Sensuality" y "Violently Happy" del cual solo el primero vino a Guatemala. La carrera de Björk siempre ha sido curiosa, con su banda The Sugarcubes lograron éxito internacional con el tema "Hit", pero al año siguiente decidío disolver la banda y volver a comenzar de cero. Entonces se mudo a Londres y comenzó abrirse camino en la escena de clubes hasta llegar a oídos de Hooper con quien confraternizó con el movimiento más innovadoras de la época, por lo que tomó un poco de aquí y otro poco de allá y a pesar que no fue nada facíl trabajar con Hooper, pudo lanzar un disco de lo más curioso y bizarro que significó su mejor carta de presentación, a pesar de la tímida que se miraba en la portada.

Llenó de música house, ya que Björk pensaba que era la única música pop verdaderamente moderna además que gracias a su influencia rockera logro hacer el enlace perfecto, también uso mucha música dance basada en su afición del acid house desde sus inicios, enmarcando varias de sus canciones en ese genero, tan exigente era que solía decir que casi 95% de la música dande de aquel entonces era una basura, el restante 5% era lo verdaderamente valido, por lo que abrazó la cultura dance de la Inglaterra de principios de los 90's para enmarcar mucho de sus temas.

Los temas hablaban del amor, de la pasión por otra persona y por su amor, dirigidas al oyente como alguien con dolor y que por las noches fuegos pirotécnicos se encenderian para hacerlo sentir bien, y por el otro lado hablaba de su propio dolor, así tenía los temas más curiosos como "Human Behaviour" que hablaba sobre la harmonía entre niños, naturaleza y animales, con "Crying" mostraba contradicciones entre el sonido y las letras, de sentirse incomodo y alienado en una gran ciudad, temas muy etéreos y sensuales como "Venus As A Boy" la sensibilidad que por la época tenía con su pareja con "Come To Me", el romance detrás en "There's More To Life Than This", la festiva y dinámica "Like Someone In Love", la tecno marcada "Big Time Sensuality" con un recordado video en la MTV de la época, y su lado más académico en "Anchor Song", "One Day" y "Aeroplane" entre otros temas.

Al final de cuentas, "Debut" logra capturar esa energía vivida, creatividad, y expone el lado sensual de Björk y su eclécticismo que nunca la abandonaría, y que ha marcado su carrera en todo sentido de la palabra hasta la fecha, su originalidad al final de cuentas, terminó de garantizarle el éxito absoluto a diferencia de lo logrado con The Sugarcubes que desgraciadamente no terminó de cuajar. 

Debut Track List:

1. Human Behaviour

2. Crying

3. Venus As A Boy

4. There's More To Life Than This

5. Like Someone In Love

6. Big Time Sensuality

7. One Day

8. Aeroplane

9. Come To Me

10. Violently Happy

11. The Anchor Song

12. Play Dead

 

Primicia: Utopia

         

Björk estrena el video de su nuevo single "Utopia" el 3ero., que se extrae de su producción del mismo nombre bajo la dirección de Warren Du Preez y Nick Thorton Jones presentando a la islandesa en un escenario soñado y relajado con una suave instrumentalización portando la peculiar mascara de silicona.

Discos: Utopia

"Utopia" es el 9no., álbum de estudio de la islandesa Björk lanzado el pasado 24 de noviembre y producido en colaboración con uno de sus músicos predilectos, el venezolano Arca.  

Tras el lanzamiento del personal y oscuro "Vulnicura" en el 2015, la islandesa se puso a trabajar minuciosamente en su nuevo material desapareciendo de evento público, y apenas dando alguna que otra entrevista en donde medio decía que si su último disco había sido oscuro y depresivo, este nuevo material iba buscando ser algo más alegre, animado, romántico, y apasionado, tal y como su nombre después lo confirmó.

Ya el anuncío del mismo venía desde el pasado 2 de agosto en donde se decía que iba a ser lanzado el pasado noviembre, mientras eso venía, los primeros singles comenzaban a lanzarse, primero con "The Gate" el 12 de septiembre, seguido de un anuncio de la islandesa en donde aún no tenía decidido el nombre del disco, si bien iba ser "Utopia" ella se mostró abierta alguna sugerencia y posiblemente cambiarlo. 

Luego se confirmaría el lanzamiento para la fecha antes mencionada revelando la curiosa portada en donde aparecía con una rara mascara de silicona y una peluca, el cual fue hecho por Jesse Kanda quién era colaborador de Arca su músico veneozolano, y luego el lanzamiento del 2do., single "Blissing Me" el pasado 14 de noviembre ganado el benéplacito de la crítica, y el más reciente "Utopia" lanzado hace algunos días atrás. 

Son un total de 14 tracks y con total de 71 minutos y 38 segundos, haciendoló el disco más largo en su carrera hasta la fecha, en donde la islandesa se mete minuciosamente en la exploración del significado de la palabra "Utopia", cuya composición lírica coincide con su estado y punto de vista personal, su opinión sobre el ambiente y la política actual, para lo cual volvío a llamar a su colaborador Arca quién participa en todo el disco, no solo produciendoló sino interpretando los temas junto a la islandesa, animandola a buscar una dirección más en el estilo de temas como "Batabid" que fuera el lado B de "Pagan Poetry" y "Ambergris March".

El disco abré con la interesante "Arisen My Senses" en donde se nota lo animada que esta Björk dejando atrás lo dólida y rota que se escuchaba en su disco anterior, lo que me hace desear que este tema se convierta en single, ya que tiene el potencial para serlo, "Blissing Me" es más tranquila y se muestra su confianza que sirve de puente para "The Gate" un canción de amor pero como ella misma dice, en una forma mucho más transcedental que es el tema principal el disco, refiriendose a un amor más universal, no solo sexual sino a todo lo que se estime y despierte pasión, luego con "Utopia" la cosa se vuelve un poco confusa con ese sonido de instrumentos de vientos en donde canta casi hasta el final, 

Hay otros temas interesantes como"Body Memory" un larguísimo tema de 10 minutos en donde Björk canta acerca de una situación engorrosa contra la que su cuerpo pide que luche y no se dejé vencer, quizás reavivando y llevando por todo lo alto el poder femenino como la alternativa a todas las divisiones, con "Features Creatures" en donde habla de verse con alguien en el mismo acento que un amante, también "Losss" que al igual que la anterior contaron con la co-producción de Rabit, y trata de un recordartorio de como la fuerza de voluntad es la última y más grande de todas las fuerzas, con "Tabula Rosa" busca cortar los errores de los padres justificandoló por el bien de su hija como los momentos más destacables del disco. El disco cierra con "Future Forever" un tema acerca de un mañana libre en donde todo transcurra normal liberado de la opresión y las ataduras dominantes quizás haciendole guiño a la situación política del mundo actual.

El disco es un material futurista y soñado con una serie de canciones suaves y cantadas de una manera normal sin sobresaltos algunos, ya que eso rompería la armonía que se busca proyectar llena de susurros, instrumentos de vientos, arreglos que dan la impresión de estar en un ambiente tranquilo y relajante que hacen de esta nueva entrega, algo impecable, completo y a la vez muy variopinto con un contenido sociopolítico actual y un punto de vista más personal y amoroso, con una notable producción como ya es habitual en los discos de la islandesa,

Utopia Track List:

1. Arisen My Senses
2. Blissing Me
3. The Gate
4. Utopia
5. Body Memory
6. Features Creatures
7. Courtship
8. Loss
9. Sue Me
10. Tabula Rasa
11. Claimstaker
12. Paradisa
13. Saint
14. Future Forever

Primicia: Blissing Me

         

La islandesa Björk estrena el video oficial de su nuevo single "Blissing Me" que se extrae de su nueva producción "Utopia" a lanzarse el próximo 24 de noviembre, una canción como siempre curiosa, extraña y relajante en donde la islandesa se ha puesto a las ordenes de los directores Tim Walker y Emma Dalzell realizando una rara danza con un traje celeste y varios adornos en el pelo y cabeza y con unos puntos amarillos y rojos en la parte trasera y así transcurre por completo el video.

Primicia: The Gate

         

La islandesa Björk estrena el clip oficial del single "The Gate", el cual venía originalmente en "Nowness" y que la propia artista había descrito semanas atrás como una canción de amor pero de una manera más trascendental, redescubriendo el amor pero de una forma más espiritual lo cual le hace falta al mundo actual, también dejó un link en donde se puede descargar el tema: The Gate por último cabe destacar también que el curioso y creativo video ha sido dirigido por Andrew Thomas Huang.