POLL Neon Like -- ILM artist poll #88 -- BJÖRK (voting open until April 27, 2018)

karl
-

visur vatnsenda-rosu
sod off
so broken
my snare/nature is ancient
generous palmstroke
verandi
mother heroic
domestica
scary
the boho dance
yoga w/ Tricky
you only live twice

can we please keep "dated" as a pejorative out of this thread?

I am fine with what she's been doing with her albums throughout her career, but the dropoff in how many B-sides she releases is the real disappointment of her last 15 years as an artist.

ty ross = eric h!

i meant +

The 33 1/3 monograph on Homogenic didn't say a whole lot extra on the song's swap for Howie B's version other than, yeah, it's a more appropriate way to close out the album and emerge from the other side of "Pluto."

I meant to ask about that 33 1/3. Worth reading?

I thought the Sugarcubes (at the time) were arch as fuck except for "Hit" and "Birthday" so Debut was ideal for blowing me away. I have a memory of returning from a road trip with friends in August 1993 and turning on the college station and hearing that whirring drum program and thinking, whoa, what the fuck have I missed the last five days?

Eric yeah it’s weird she dropped off in the bsides department. She still seems fairly committed to remixes like the biophilia remix album (excellent Herbert mix on there). Most recently forest swords did a staggering ambient version of stonemilker

xxp it was a great beach read for me, and brought me back to what it felt like for me as a listener when Homogenic was the newest development in her career

you at the beach?

B-sides: “Charlene” and “I Go Humble”, the two Isobel b-sided, are phenomenal .

I don't fuck with All Is Full Of Love, sry, and I remember when friends were like "oh but the PLAID remix, oh but the VIDEO version" and no no no thank you so much!

But I'm in the "Homogenic is flawed" camp-- four perfect songs ("Hunter", "Joga", "Unravel", "Pluto")-- four un-extraordinary songs marred by weird/bad lyrics, when the-wonderful-obliqueness-of-non-English-as-a-first-language-individuals-writing-lyrics-in-English collides with infantilism and/or cuteness then I get the hives ("All Neon Like", "Five Years", "Alarm Call", "Immature")--

--a song I'm surprised became a single because it feels long and has that "if you forget my name / you will go astray / like a killer whale / trapped in a bay" garbage that is Desiree levels of "ghost / most / toast" embarrassment-- yes I know it's Sjon and not Bjork herself-- and I don't like the piano bass-line either-- this is "Isobel"'s annoyingly precocious younger brother who demands that you listen to him recite the times-tables before dessert--

--and then All Is Full of Love. I don't know why it doesn't work for me.

The A-side of "Debut" is the best. "Human Behaviour"'s insane vocal entrance, completely divorced from the tuning of the timpani, some of the best new-spins-on-what-is-considered-lyrics without the cutesiness: "but oh to be involved in the exchange / of human emotion / is ever so ever so satisfying" and my Virgo heart stops and says "yes, Bjork, this is indeed true, you are singing truths"-- again, "his wicked / sense of humour / suggests / exciting sex" she is half songwriter half docent-at-the-Natural-History-Museum

There is so much interesting shit going on harmonically on those four songs, none of the songs feel complete as a result, they satisfying but also create hunger for repeat listens-- and then Big Time Sensuality is just a mission statement

I adore every song on Debut except "Violently Happy" ("...because I love you?" that is not a good rejoinder)

And Post is perfect, "The Modern Things" is the weakest track and it's still fucking amazing

I remember picking "Homogenic" up the day it came out and showing my friends the cover art and Paul said "is that good art? I don't think it is. I think it's bad."

"but oh to be involved in the exchange / of human emotion / is ever so ever so satisfying"

I still must remind myself every other day that this is true.

5 years is so good tho - the distorted percussion and the strings are tops

But I'm in the "Homogenic is flawed" camp-- four perfect songs ("Hunter", "Joga", "Unravel", "Pluto")-- four un-extraordinary songs marred by weird/bad lyrics, when the-wonderful-obliqueness-of-non-English-as-a-first-language-individuals-writing-lyrics-in-English collides with infantilism and/or cuteness then I get the hives ("All Neon Like", "Five Years", "Alarm Call", "Immature")--

--a song I'm surprised became a single because it feels long and has that "if you forget my name / you will go astray / like a killer whale / trapped in a bay" garbage that is Desiree levels of "ghost / most / toast" embarrassment-- yes I know it's Sjon and not Bjork herself-- and I don't like the piano bass-line either-- this is "Isobel"'s annoyingly precocious younger brother who demands that you listen to him recite the times-tables before dessert--

--and then All Is Full of Love. I don't know why it doesn't work for me.

Well, agreed that "Bachelorette" is inferior to "Isobel," at any rate.

Not because of its lyrics, in any case. My upbringing has all but ensured that I don't really hear lyrics most of the time.

"five years" always reminds me of marching band bc the opening synth sound resembles the pitch control function on metronomes

Which is probably connected to why I've never really been able to get into "Human Behavior." It sounds wrong to my ears the same way Shep Pettibone sounds wrong to Dan P's.

Oh, the production is wonderful across the board on those Homogenic songs

But Bjork coming over to weave a cocoon that will feed me with a luminous beam? "I dare you to take me on / I dare you to show me your palms", "you can't handle love / you can't handle love, it's obvious / you can't handle"? "I'm no fucking Buddhist / but this is enlightenment"?

I actually like "Immature"'s lyrics I don't know why I called it un-extraordinary

I mean I know it's maybe weird and shit of me as a consumer to get all "these lyrics aren't good" with an artist I adore but like... this is widely considered to be a Perfect Record in many camps, and I don't quite j'accuse but I definitely suspect that a weakness for pixie-faced-women-from-other-countries-with-adorable-accents-who-talk-about-the-men-who-live-inside-TV-sets is a contributing factor to the acceptance of clunker after clunker after clunker

Sorry btw it's always my favourite musicians that I am most critical of, I love what you've done with the place, now let me tell you what I really think

Bachelorette is amazing and you are all crazy

inside every young pair of pants
is a fountain
(a fountain)
IN THE SHAAPE OF A GIIIRLL

Five Years is one of my favorite beats ever.

Love the tango-esque piano bassline on Bachelorette, glad I don't care about lyrics much.

I like how “The Modern Things” and “Immature” serve the same function on their respective albums: the most overlooked and secretly-best songs.

hmm "The Modern Things" was my go-to after burning out on "Army of Me."

I suppose “Crying” is the equivalent on Debut - a track no one ever talks about (but no one singles out for specific criticism either) which is a perfect precis of the album’s intentions and charms.

Def true in the case of “Crying”

“crying” is def on my ballot until i listen to all of the other albums and have a nervous breakdown over my ballot

otoh "Big Time Sensuality" left me cold at the time but hearing remixes at the club months later unleashed it

oh! My review of Post published in the college paper was my first ever

One day
I found a book buried deep within the ground
I opened the book and to my surprise
There was a forest
I went into the forest
And there I found a book buried deep within the ground
Inside that book there was another book
One day
I found a forest buried deep within a book
I went into the book and to my surprise
I found a book buried deep within the ground

For your consideration: "Cocoon"

^that’s probably my no 1

Cocoon is a lovely song but it's totally overshadowed by the songs around it. It was such a weird song to see performed on Top Of The Pops. Not exactly one to get the crowd going and some reason, it only lasted a minute and a half.

Of course it's on YouTube https://youtu.be/jMRY2cy45ms

Cocoon slid inside my list at #2, we faded back into sleephood, when I awoke a second time, with my list, gorgeousness, it was still at #2

I mean I know we all know right but it’s just challops to say that Hyper-Ballad isn’t the best song of the 90s and in the top 10 of all time right

It’s hard to communicate now how inspiring Homogenic was to me as a teenager. At the time it seemed like there was I other pop star marrying the influence of aphex twin and IDM with stirring melodies and vocals. Shame aphex took the piss out of Bjork on “funny little man”

No other I mean **

Is "funny little man" taking the piss out of bjork? Heard it many times and it's never occurred to me.

i heard that once but it's unsubstantiated (probably bullshit tbf)

just read bjork and aphex communicate regularly and share music via email which is cool

Cocoon slid inside my list at #2, we faded back into sleephood, when I awoke a second time, with my list, gorgeousness, it was still at #2

― nevertheless, he stopped (flamboyant goon tie included), Thursday, April 12, 2018 6:02 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

<3 Cocoon definitely maybe my number 1.

I for one am looking forward to immersing myself in all of her work yet again for this fine purpose. 'tis the time, 'tis the season.

I love him
I love him
I love him
I love him

xp yes, third winter

I want to stump for the version of "Anchor Song" as performed live with the Brodsky Quartet as perhaps her most amazing vocal performance. Compare it with the album version from just a few years prior, and her total mastery or her voice is incredible. I've listened to this performance hundreds of times over the (many) years, and it still causes my hair to literally stand on end every time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mgiI2gm-RIs

It is a great performance, attached to a song that just has never sunk its anchor into my turtleheart.

Going back to Medulla for the first time in many years I’m not finding much to love, which is a bummer because that was a reliably intense album length experience for a couple years after it came out. Even if it still had the same impact I don’t know how I’d pick which tracks to vote for.

Biophilia on the other hand is still gorgeous, I love how warm and cozy it sounds, it’s almost as intimate for me as Vespertine. Another one I almost always listen to as an album but Virus, Moon and Hollow are all going to be on my ballot, probably a few others as well.

One of my earliest musical experience was watching the Army of Me video over and over on a quicktime disc with my father.

Still rather confused about the the ape dentist.

'Medulla' has ascended over the years to being virually tied with 'Post' as my second-favorite Bjork album. It's probably still top 3 for the 2000s.

Despite being known for it's "experimental" gimmick of being all-vocal-based, it's really the last album of hers were she fused her interests in repetition and mood and concept with her huge melodic talents (as both songwriter and performer). Her music since has seemingly abandoned "song," sometimes with fascinating results, often with somewhat muddled or tedious results, and rarely with the emotional range and impact of earlier work.

I still admire and respect Bjork's work and will always give a listen, but I don't know if she'll ever produce work that moves me (emotionally or physically) like 'Medulla' again.

Lots of Medulla on my ballot