at a glance...

Hometown: Reykjavik, Iceland
First Solo Recording: 1975

Personnel:
Björk -vocals, keyboards
Mark Bell -keyboards, drum programming
Guy Sigsworth -keyboards, clavichord, pipe organ
Markus Dravs -drum programming
Trevor Morias -Electronic Drumkit
Yashuhiro "Coba" Kobayashi -accordion
Alasdair Malloy -glass harmonica
Programming -Mark Bell, Markus Dravs, Richard Brown, Marius De Vries, Howie B.
The Icelandic Octet -strings

Bands In The Family:
The Sugarcubes, 808 State, Radiohead, Tricky, Underworld, Massive Attack, Howie B, Cassius, Talvin Singh

Notes:
Having already released a hit album when she was 11, Björk Guðmundsdóttir was involved in several punk bands as a teenager, one of which morphed into the Sugarcubes in 1986. The Sugarcubes were superstars in Iceland and had a strong following in both the UK and America, but tension within the band led to their 1992 demise. After the break up, Björk moved to London. The dance culture there inspired her to pursue a dance-oriented solo career, and in 1993 she released Debut. Björk's strange interpretation of pop and hip-hop thrust her into the spotlight immediately. With 1995 came the more subtle Post, and in 1996, Björk allowed Nellee Hooper, Graham Massey, Tricky, and the Brodsky Quartet, among others, to tranform Post into Telegram. In 1997, Björk decided to take production matters into her own hands and the result was Homogenic, which has placed her in international demand.

Links:
Check out our
Björk Mothership

Read Ink Blot's tribute to Björk, "Dancing Queen"

Björk is often described as a quirky little pixie that chirps along to weird songs. On Homogenic, Björk proves that is only partially true. She does have weird songs, but Björk is somehow both too volatile and contemplative to be the average woodland nymph.

The songs spun on Homogenic are built on extremes. There are frenetic, distorted beats laced with lush orchestral arrangements which are complimented by crystal keyboards and accordions. Love songs are sung tenderly over what sound like old Atari sound effects. It all definitely works though, and Björk's singing is what holds it all together.

Her voice is intense and passionate on "Joga," a song of gratitude to her best friend. The same sense of urgency is shared on "Bachelorette," which is filled with fantastic lyrical imagery ("I'm a fountain of blood/ in the shape of a girl/ you're bird on the brim/ hypnotized by the whirl"). On other tracks like "5 Years" and the frantic, driving "Pluto," Björk uses her the full force of her vocal chords as an assault weapon, but then gently coos, "Don't get angry with yourself/ I'll heal you" on "All Neon Like".

More involved and intimate than on her previous albums, Björk takes polar sounds to create songs that are immediate and ardent. Eccentric, sonic, and mysterious, Homogenic goes beyond where any little pixie could ever take us.

If you like Björk, check out:
Björk Debut
Björk Post
Björk Telegram
Andrea Parker Kiss My Arp
Iva Bittova Iva Bittova
Dot Allison Afterglow
Underworld dubnobasewithmyheadman
Tricky Nearly God

-- Lori Latimer