HYPERBALLOT: ILM Artist Poll #88 -- Björk Resultsness

https://cansesclasseled.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/36-immature.jpg

36. Immature (Homogenic, 1997) -- 420.5 points; 13 votes

this song came alive for me when i was revisiting everything for this poll. i find it... jazzy? (sorry alfred)

is that the first Homogenic track to place?

Yes, and (spoiler alert) the last.

lol

For a very long time, those were my absolute favorite minutes of Björk, I used to play it on repeat. I haven't really changed my opinion, she tears it apart, the melody behind is deceptively simple, with gorgeous detail, this is a transcendent moment in music for me. At most there are three other Homogenic tracks I'd put in front of it.

The way the layers of sound peel off toward the end until you realize that the sampled bassline is actually in a different key gets me every time.

another one i voted for. possibly the most vespertine-like of the tracks on homogenic, if that makes sense.

i think i thought "immature" was a minor track when i was younger but that might've just been bc of the relative brevity of the lyrics, now it's one of my absolute favorite things she's done. as a drummer i kinda wanna cover it just bc it would be fun to figure out how to approximate the programming, it's so buoyant and loose

Ugh, got the number wrong on that graphic. Ah well, it truly is #36. Don't be fooled.

Oh crap forgot to vote Heirloom, it was my favorite Vespertine track for quite some time. Domestica and Heirloom defined a very precise sound aesthetic for me the early to mid 00s. I kind of wish Bjork had stuck with this intimate and charming sort of bedroom electropop sound for another album before jumping into medulla. I feel like this was her album with the most playful and childlike wonder even above post or debut.

Wanderlust feels like a lost Homogenic song. It’s definitely a Volta highlight... I kind of wish the horn arrangements eere mixed higher in the mix they get swallowed by the beat.

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35. Desired Constellation (Medúlla, 2004) -- 456 points; 13 votes

YEAH

Fitting that it's right next to Immature. Gotta love Matmos for that one (if it's them, but it must be).

Did we still not have any first place votes, Eric?

My brain isn't working. Again, the number on the pic is wrong. (Guess I was just trying to right the wrong.)

xp re the horns in Wanderlust, I agree, I think the horns are what make it great

came across an interview with Encyclopedia Pictura, the creators of the Wanderlust video, and liked their description of it

“Bjork is an archetypal nomad, shepherding giant yaks through the Mountains. She does hydromancy to decide whether to take them down a river or not. A second self, the Painbody Backpack, sprouts from her like a growth and then engages her in an action play which displays their relationship. The force which compelled Bjork to go down river begins to manifest itself in Bjork's head and in the physical world. This character, the Rivergod, is a transcendental attractor which pulls her into the future.”

Did we still not have any first place votes, Eric?

Correct, unless you count the few first-place votes for songs that fell outside of the top 60.

Fitting that it's right next to Immature. Gotta love Matmos for that one (if it's them, but it must be).

― Nabozo, Wednesday, May 9, 2018 11:18 AM (two minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

it's not, it's olivier alary aka ensemble!

YES DESIRED CONSTELLATION! Too low though

Fitting that it's right next to Immature. Gotta love Matmos for that one (if it's them, but it must be).

― Nabozo

It’s actually Olivier Alary aka Ensemble

damn solid xpost

Have people seen the Arisen My Senses video? It's sort of brilliant but it really made me feel physically queasy

yes it's freaky as hell

Oh you stole my post Brad haha almost same exact wording too. Knock on wood.

one of my fav latter day bjork videos tho xp

love the unnecessary shot of arca

the video for The Gate is pretty great too

Yeah, that one got really close to top 10 in the sidebar poll.

Immature is the only track to place for Homogenic??! wow. I think 6 tracks were on my ballot.

Desired Constellation is great, feels like a continuation of the Vespertine b-sides

At one point I was so obsessed with that micro glitch sound that I asked Olivier Alary himself what programs he used for the work he did with bjork on vespertine and medulla. Here’s the three programs he was using for the curious:

MAX/MSP: http://www.cycling74.com/
SOUNDHACK: http://www.soundhack.com/
SUPERCOLLIDER www.audiosynth.com/index.html

somehow i think we'll be seeing more homogenic tracks as the countdown continues

xpost

lol i am literally going through max/msp, supercollider, and pure data tutorials at this very moment! good to see i'm about 25 years behind the times

i would be surprised if there are any homogenic tracks that don't place

Xpost: Never used max msp but I know at some point even Johnny Greenwood the guitarist from Radiohead used it for pedal effects so it seems hard as hell to dominate but it seems you can program any sound you’re looking for with it so I don’t think it’s outdated software at all unless something more intuitive comes along.

Autechre have been using MAX/MSP for years. I used it to create some novel midi controller interfaces in the past. Never got into the sound design aspects.

(Taking a little break before the last four today.)

Re:"Immature", for me the definitve version of the song is the 07/08 brass rearrangement. Incredible, powerful sound.

Live performances of desired constellation I’ve seen on youtube she uses what i think is the reactable, which operates on the same principles as max/msp but in a more analogue way. It looks so fun to use.

i should've put "arisen my senses" higher on my ballot

a lot of bjork's music codes as extremely romantic and sensual but i almost feel like she perfected the balance on "arisen." it actually sounds like falling in love to me

^ Yeah, it's almost like the millisecond of lips touching for the first time stretched out to a song length.

hell yeah

I have a belated comment on Heirloom, actually it’s more of a question, are there any other songs whose second half is just a repeat of the first but with the pronouns changed? It’s a simple trick but a really effective one imo, really opens up the dreamy feeling of domestic intimacy to include the listener. So generous, and especially effective as part of a more driving track in between some slower reveries, as Dan said.

I kind of wish Bjork had stuck with this intimate and charming sort of bedroom electropop sound for another album before jumping into medulla.

She should’ve made a full album with Matthew Herbert

at least róisín did

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34. I Miss You (Post, 1995) -- 458 points; 12 votes

great song though it feels like it placed correctly

I think that’s the only Post single I didn’t vote for, feels unfinished