at a glance...

Hometown: Reykjavik, Iceland
First Solo Recording: 1975

Personnel:
Björk -vocals, keyboards, organ, arrangements
Graham Massey -keyboards, programming
Marius De Vries -keyboards, programming
Talvin Singh -percussion
Guy Sigsworth -harpsichord
Marius De Vries -keyboards, programming
Markus Dravs -electronic sounds
Einar Orn, Stuart Brooks, Maurice Murphy -trumpets
Lenny Franchi -programming
Tricky -programming
Gary Barnacle -soprano sax
Jim Couza -hammer dulcimer
Eumir Deodato -sorchestra conductor

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"

As soon as the kamikaze style beats start to rain down from "Army Of Me," you start asking questions. Our heroine Björk then exclaims "You're on your own now; we won't save you!" Is this the same surreal earth-mother character that accentuated the positive on her Debut? Well, no. No it's not.

The cross-bred musical genres from Debut mutate further on Post, a darker sounding effort that belies a Björk still mystifed by love. Taking a right turn from her dance-floor oriented tunes, she slows down the arrangements, pumps out the bass, uses full orchestras, and seeks out stranger off-kilter studio rhythms. Even Björk's whimsical delivery is now entwined with a wistful, sometimes even snarling frustation. "Hyperballad" is really the only mirrorball vestige from the upbeat Debut that exists on Post, and even then it is a restrained thumper.

The inspired idea of recording much of the album on the sands of a Spanish beach certainly affects the flavor of the record, as Björk adopts a further guise as a chanteuse. Vocal-driven "You've Been Flirting Again" is almost acapella save a slight string arrangement, which morphs into the warm percussive breeze of "Isobel," gliding along with a whirling orchestral backbone. The barnburning "It's Oh So Quiet" goes for the full big band sound with the proper amount of cheeky Björk humor.

A grown up and wiser Björk seeks and creates wider soundscapes - from the futuristic mechanized burps and echo effects of "Enjoy" to getting medieval on your ass with "Cover Me," which ranks up there with the best madrigals your great great great great great great great grandparents heard during those nasty Bubonic plague days.

Despite the shift in tone, Björk's brilliant dreamlike, stream-of-consciousness lyrics are ever-present. During the finale, Björk poetically claims that headphones saved her life. Apparently, it made her want to make an album about it, for Post is headphone music for the lovelorn. Its success lies in taking old-school orchestration and updating it with electronic beats for results that make both sound better than either did before.

If you like Björk, check out:
Björk Debut / Homogenic
Björk Selmasongs
Björk Telegram
Tricky Maxinquaye
Beth Orton Central Reservation
Portishead Portishead
DJ Shadow Endtroducing...
gus gus This Is Normal

-- Pierre Stefanos