Back again to help with that mid-week dullness is a brand new Way Back Wednesday. Today I'm exploring the sounds of ever-intriguing Iceland artist, Bjork.
Bjork is one of the more eclectic musicians I was exposed to in the '90s. She blended elements of trip hop, alternative dance music, electronica, experimental rock, alt rock, jazz, classical music and the avant-garde. This Friday, Bjork delivers Vulnicura Strings (Vulnicura: The Acoustic Version), a hard copy of the album she delivered digitally in March 23, Vulnicura, that she's re-imagined with strings, her voice and a 'Viola Organista,' an instrument designed by Leonardo da Vinci using a friction belt to vibrate individual strings (ala a violin) that are selected by pressing keys on a keyboard (like an organ). In honor of the two releases, we're taking a look at the pre-'00s music career that got her here.
Background: Björk Guðmundsdóttir was born in Reykjavík, Iceland, but has employed her single-name pseudonym since we've known her. She dabbled in several music projects and bands before she decided to relocate to London and pursue a solo career. The decision proved quite successful; she went on to release nine studio albums over nearly 30 years of recording as a solo artist. Bjork's actual first album was actually released as a self-titled debut while she attended a music school in 1977, a collection of cover songs translated into Icelandic, like The Beatles' "The Fool on the Hill" ("Álfur Út Úr Hól") and Stevie Wonder's "Your Kiss Is Sweet" ("Búkolla"), along with some original material, too. But 16 years passed before another record from Bjork saw the light of day.
Notable albums: Ironically, Debut would be her second album, but her first proper release with a record company. Debut was embraced by most media outlets and critics upon its release in 1993, save for Rolling Stone, which called it "utterly disappointing," but changed its tune more than a decade later when Debut was counted 492 among the "500 Best Albums of All Time" in a 2004 issue. Her fans obviously loved it because it is still her best-selling album to date, earning platinum honors here in the states and winning several awards. Most cite it as being among the best albums to drop during the '90s era. "Human Behaviour," "Venus as a Boy," "Play Dead," "Big Time Sensuality" and "Violently Happy" were all released as singles. Its stylistic trajectory was eclectic and difficult to pin down, like most Bjork albums, blending electro pop, trip-hop, world music, jazz and house all into one idiosyncratic brew. As a whole, the album sold well around the globe, charting best in Europe and Australia.
More Bjork albums released before 2000:
Post (1995) Featuring the singles "Army of Me," "Isobel," "Hyperballad," "Possibly Maybe," "I Miss You" and "It's Oh So Quiet," the latter becoming rather popular and infamously tapped for a Maybelline commerical; Spike Jonze directed the video.
—Debut and Post were viewed as a series of albums, both reflecting periods of her life.
—Taking styles from Debut, Post also mixed in some big-band sounds.
—It was reviewed well by critics and fans, and went platinum in Europe and in the U.S.
Homogenic (1997) Featuring singles "Jóga," "Bachelorette," "Hunter," "Alarm Call" and "All Is Full of Love"
—Electronica is the primary musical focus, but she also infused the material with some string instruments.
—Once again, her album was met with critical acclaim and won multiple awards, not to mention appearing on several year-ending "best of" lists. The album was nominated in the Best Alternative Music Performance category at the 1998 Grammy Awards, but lost to Radiohead's OK Computer.
—It's said to be one of the the greatest electronic albums of all time, and the best of its decade.
"Human Behavior"
This article appears in Oct 29 – Nov 4, 2015.