Debut is insanely overrated, which makes this ...
Violently Happy 0
... all the more an outrage.
― Eric H., Friday, 1 February 2008 03:50 (sixteen years ago) link
Debut is probs my fav
― Surmounter, Friday, 1 February 2008 04:08 (sixteen years ago) link
violently happy in particular
wow
4 for Joga?! RONG
― Autumn Almanac, Friday, 1 February 2008 04:10 (sixteen years ago) link
Debut is severely underrated if anything! suffers by comparison to the direction her careers taken since (i.e. it's not 'weird/adventurous/creative' enough... bollox imo), by being the first, a little of-it's-time-ness to the production, etc etc
and the fans she's attracted becoming a little haughty about their private little megastar dirtying herself with popular music way back when (if only again...)
also, I hate all those 6th single from an album picks, Hunter's an incredible album opener, but as a single? meh.
― fandango, Friday, 1 February 2008 07:52 (sixteen years ago) link
wow, there are some fantastic songs that received 0 votes: 'pagan poetry', 'play dead' and 'army of me'. each of these songs, particularly the former two, feature some of the best vocals she ever committed to tape i think
― Charlie Howard, Friday, 1 February 2008 11:09 (sixteen years ago) link
Debut is the only Björk album I bother to listen (besides the jazz album she did in 1990), and I don't think it's really sounds of-its-time that much. I was listening to it a while ago, and I was surprised how timeless the production actually are, it definitely sounds less dated that many other dance albums released in 1994. I think many of her later, more trip-hoppy tunes actually sound more dated.
― Tuomas, Friday, 1 February 2008 11:50 (sixteen years ago) link
I haven't really paid attention to her latest efforts though - has she even done any proper dance music since the mid-90's?
― Tuomas, Friday, 1 February 2008 11:52 (sixteen years ago) link
"Hunter" was actually the first Bjork song I heard. I remember I saw the video on a tv they had set up outside Gameworks when I was waiting to get in there for my friend's (12th maybe?) birthday. I was a little freaked out.
Zeros for "Oceania" and "Army of Me" and "Innocence" and especially "Pagan Poetry" make me : (
― The Reverend, Friday, 1 February 2008 12:45 (sixteen years ago) link
'It's In Our Hands' is great.
― blueski, Friday, 1 February 2008 12:57 (sixteen years ago) link
PROPER dance music, i don't know,
there's definitely been some dance but never really the same since Debut
― Surmounter, Friday, 1 February 2008 14:06 (sixteen years ago) link
which isn't to say that i would want it any other way. all subsequent albums have been properly AMAZING, but yeah, Debut holds a special place in my heart
One could dance to Earth Intruders, in a slighty jerky fashion.
― chap, Friday, 1 February 2008 14:08 (sixteen years ago) link
inteersting, the 3 singles from Debut with 5 votes -- mine would have read Big Time Sensuality, Violently Happy and maybe Human Behavior.
how beautiful is Like Someone in Love?...
haha yes or Declare Independence could be danced to, in a slightly manic, fitful manner.
― Surmounter, Friday, 1 February 2008 14:09 (sixteen years ago) link
Declare Independence is for headbanging.
― The Reverend, Friday, 1 February 2008 14:18 (sixteen years ago) link
there's always the Vitalic mix of 'Who Is It'
― blueski, Friday, 1 February 2008 14:52 (sixteen years ago) link
My problem with Debut is so not the notion that she was sullying herself by doing the dance music that was supposedly beneath her. My problem is that it's as much a simulacrum of dance music as I guess her persona is one of human behavior, et al. "Human Behavior" and "Big Time Sensuality" sound to me as academic and fussy as I'm sure Medulla sounds to just about everyone.
Dated is also not an issue with me. If we're talking early '90s diva dance, give me Zhané, Jade, Masters at Work, and so on and so forth.
― Eric H., Friday, 1 February 2008 17:44 (sixteen years ago) link
That said, I don't hate Debut and I find its singles very listenable. I just can't see why it's all "Nellee Hooper era and nothing else, plz" with some people.
― Eric H., Friday, 1 February 2008 17:46 (sixteen years ago) link
I suppose I take your point re Big Time Sensuality (not a favourite of mine), but Human Behaviour doesn't really have an early 90s dance sound at all! It's kind of earthy and tribal, the closest contempory(ish) tune to it in terms of production would probably be Massive Attack's Karmacoma.
― chap, Friday, 1 February 2008 17:49 (sixteen years ago) link
(x-post ... point taken, I was actually thinking of the Underworld remix of "Human Behavior," which is the only one I've listened to much)
Oh, and I'll also admit she was never cuter than here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38UrRpYsPjw
― Eric H., Friday, 1 February 2008 17:51 (sixteen years ago) link
I woulda voted coccoon.
― I know, right?, Friday, 1 February 2008 17:52 (sixteen years ago) link
i can kind of see what u mean about human behavior and BTS sounding schooled, but i just don't really feel that way. big time sensuality was always like a perfect thing for me. just perfect.
but i'm definitely not "nellee hooper or bust" about it. medulla could very well become my favorite soon enuf.
― Surmounter, Saturday, 2 February 2008 01:17 (sixteen years ago) link
Tuomas: yes.
― energy flash gordon, Saturday, 2 February 2008 04:36 (sixteen years ago) link
-- blueski, Friday, February 1, 2008 9:52 AM (13 hours ago) Bookmark Link
^ YSI?
― Catsupppppppppppppp dude 茄蕃, Saturday, 2 February 2008 04:40 (sixteen years ago) link
I finally fell in love with another song from Debut: "One Day."
― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 13:15 (nine years ago) link
(Up to now, I'd only really liked "Violently Happy" and "Venus as a Boy.")
― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 13:16 (nine years ago) link
Have you heard the live version of "One Day" from her last tour? Totally rearranged, just her and Manu Delago playing the shit out ouf his hang. It's sublime.
― mthrn, Wednesday, 24 September 2014 13:38 (nine years ago) link
Yep, that amazing Biophilia tour version is what pushed me to go back and check out the original. Amazing song.
― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 13:58 (nine years ago) link
it will always perplex me that "hyperballad" is the consensus best björk single
bizarrely didn't vote in this but my order would be
jógabachelorettehidden placepagan poetryhunterplay deadisobelhuman behaviourbig time sensualityarmy of meviolently happyall is full of lovei miss youvenus as a boyoceaniahyperballadwho is it?alarm callearth intrudersdeclare independencecocoontriumph of a heartit's in our handspossibly maybethe dull flame of desirewanderlustinnocenceit's oh so quiet
i added the last two singles off volta; i would have added the singles off biophilia but i can't remember a thing about three of them, you can p much slot them in at the bottom
― lex pretend, Wednesday, 24 September 2014 19:48 (nine years ago) link
oh that's the version of "oceania" with kelis obv
"Hyper-Ballad" has the best lyric of any Björk song (or any song, really) by a long shot. That's why it'd be my #1. I also love: "Who Is It?" all versions of it, esp. the Bogdan Raczinski remix with the Colargol video, "Human Behaviour", "Venus As A Boy", "Cocoon" and "Hunter". The rest bubble under. Bum lyrics sink so many of B's songs out of sight for me, Jóga with its "state of emergency" chorus and Bachelorette with its "like a killer whale / trapped in a bay". One of the reasons "Biophilia" has become my favourite Bjork album is that she totally knocked it out of the park, those are real songs
― flambient 4: on goon (fgti), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 20:18 (nine years ago) link
Bjork's ear for weird English phrases are a big part of what initially attracted me to The Sugarcubes and I love that some element of that weirdness has persisted through her solo career.
― 💪😈⚠️ (DJP), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 20:20 (nine years ago) link
Yeah, Bjork's off kilter lyrics are the one thing that keeps me checked in even when -- as in Biophilia (especially in Biophilia) -- the music loses me entirely.
― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 20:48 (nine years ago) link
I started liking "5 Years" less when I realized she wasn't singing "You can't hurry love/It's up the ass"
― 💪😈⚠️ (DJP), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 20:50 (nine years ago) link
How Scandinavian of her.
― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 20:53 (nine years ago) link
― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.
I don't know if you were at the time, but I loved Debut as the apotheosis of that Nellee Hooper early nineties shuffle beat, weirded by Bjork. It sounds confident and sure of itself, and no trace of the Sugarcubes. If it sounds thin now, blame its successors.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 20:55 (nine years ago) link
*if you were there at the time
I didn't really hop aboard on Hooper until the R+J soundtrack, I think.
― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 20:58 (nine years ago) link
"Wanderlust" was her most recent single that got the blood pumping for her like it did back in my college days.
― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 20:59 (nine years ago) link
Eh, I was there at the time and I thought that most of Debut was a valiant failed effort; only "Human Behaviour", "Big Time Sensuality" and "There's More To Life Than This" worked for me and I had basically written her off as "better in rock bands and with 808 State" until I heard "Army of Me". (Then I heard the rest of Post and "Army of Me" became less impressive, lol.)
― 💪😈⚠️ (DJP), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 20:59 (nine years ago) link
loved those three, "Venus as a Boy," "One Day," "Come to Me" (which has one of my favorite keyboard hooks and uses of icy electronics in a ballad) -- all of it really except "The Anchor Song."
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 21:04 (nine years ago) link
I wasn't there at the time.
― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 22:27 (nine years ago) link
I loooooove "Crying" and "Venus" and "There's More To Life Than This" and "Anchor Song" and "Aeroplane" and all those weirdzo tracks. Debut is a fabulous album. I even like the jazz song. To my ears, "Violently Happy" is the only bummer jam but again, not my favourite lyric and the melody is lame slash non-existent. My first MIDI keyboard I got when I was 14 I transcribed "Venus" into its sequencer, lol.
Regarding Biophilia-- I had a unique problem with Bjork's production when she hooked up with The Greenhouse around Vespertine and started recording her vocals into an SM58 and mixing them hot and sibilant. My ears shrink from it. When she changed to work instead with Damien, he softened her voice and made it sound great again (Volta, Biophilia). For my personal history of Bjork it's like she disappeared after Selmasongs and reappeared 10 years later making terrific arty prog-rock. I guess if you're hanging around waiting for New Hot Bjork Singles then Volta might be a disappointment (I hated "Earth Intruders" and "Independence" but thought the rest was A+), but I dunno, Biophilia rules, it's an entirely original and amazing record and if it were some lost Tzadik thing made by an anonymous we'd all be bragging about who found it first
― flambient 4: on goon (fgti), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 23:42 (nine years ago) link
Bjork's vocals being hot on Vespertine don't bug me half as much as the choir swells being hot. The only disappointment I associate with "It's Not Up To You" and "Undo" is that their climaxes sound cramped and overbearing than expansive. (Production only; the arrangement is great.)
― a guy named Christian White who represents the typical white Christian (Eric H.), Wednesday, 24 September 2014 23:46 (nine years ago) link
The Vespertine Live album is really great cause you get to hear those arrangements executed in a 'real' space
― von Daniken Donuts (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 25 September 2014 04:15 (nine years ago) link
biophilia was the first time björk's lyrics started to jar with me; i have no problem with the supposed "bad lyrics" mentioned so far from homogenic or post, but biophilia felt very...conscious, and laboured, on many levels
― lex pretend, Thursday, 25 September 2014 13:19 (nine years ago) link
Those are both positive adjectives in my book :)
― flambient 4: on goon (fgti), Thursday, 25 September 2014 13:20 (nine years ago) link
My first reaction to Homogenic as a teen was so negative. "I'm going hunting / I'm the hunter" "I'm no fucking Buddhist / but this is enlightenment" wtffffffff. I liked the fake-mythic stuff like "Unravel", or the fake-conversational tone of "Pluto". I try not to be critical of ESL lyricists when they're playing-at-poetry but it does get in the way of true love sometimes
― flambient 4: on goon (fgti), Thursday, 25 September 2014 13:33 (nine years ago) link
I wish I could go back in time and play teen-you "Birthday" first just so I could film your reaction
― 💪😈⚠️ (DJP), Thursday, 25 September 2014 13:36 (nine years ago) link
poxiii björk deep cuts:
come to mecharlenesod offmy snareplutoone dayenjoyunravelaurorawhere is the line?the modern thingsmy spine
― lex pretend, Thursday, 25 September 2014 14:31 (nine years ago) link
Man I love "Sod Off."
― Eric H., Thursday, 25 September 2014 14:34 (nine years ago) link
"Homogenic" didn't have many songwritey moments that resonated with me, though production-wise it was fucking amaaaaazing. "Cocoon" was a big one for me on "Vespertine" but most of the rest of that album's songs have faded from my mind. I wanted to hold on to the song about her son pouring oil in her mouth but it never stuck.
In comparison I really fuck with "Virus" and "Cosmogony", not to mention the out-there shit like "Dark Matter" and "Hollow", but emotionally I file her recent records next to Dagmar Krause
― flambient 4: on goon (fgti), Thursday, 25 September 2014 14:35 (nine years ago) link
FUUUUCK lex those are all amazing songs
― flambient 4: on goon (fgti), Thursday, 25 September 2014 14:36 (nine years ago) link
"Heirloom" is the one track that doesn't work for me on Vespertine b/c album is 110 percent sex and then BOOM song about her mother and son stuffing lightbulbs down the throat.
― Eric H., Thursday, 25 September 2014 14:47 (nine years ago) link
Also, the lyrics to "Immature" are all they need to be.
― Eric H., Thursday, 25 September 2014 14:48 (nine years ago) link
play dead is so great. maybe my number 3 after Bachelorette and Isobel.
― zip it shrimpy (dog latin), Thursday, 25 September 2014 15:08 (nine years ago) link
brb gonna listen to " Come to Me" for the nth time in the last 24 hours.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 September 2014 15:23 (nine years ago) link
one of my favorite string sections on an electronic track too.
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 25 September 2014 15:24 (nine years ago) link
"Who Is It" always seemed like a deep cut to me, despite being a single, and it's absolutely my 2nd or 3rd favourite Bjork song
Here's the version Tagaq and B and Rahzel did together, ruuuuules
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60meINdgk9c
― flambient 4: on goon (fgti), Thursday, 25 September 2014 15:31 (nine years ago) link
'filed emotionally next to dagmar krause' = you just sold me a copy of biophilia, young man!
― von Daniken Donuts (Jon Lewis), Thursday, 25 September 2014 15:59 (nine years ago) link
Bjork the producer: http://www.redbullmusicacademy.com/magazine/bjork-production-feature
― guess that bundt gettin eaten (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 6 March 2015 18:31 (nine years ago) link
Recruiting: POLL Neon Like -- ILM artist poll #88 -- BJÖRK (voting open until April 27, 2018)
― Uppercase (Eric H.), Monday, 9 April 2018 19:29 (six years ago) link