HYPERBALLOT: ILM Artist Poll #88 -- Björk Resultsness

as much as i definitely enjoy solitude
i wouldn't mind
spending a little time with you
sometimes

― 808s & Deep States (voodoo chili), Friday, May 11, 2018

my life in 17 words

had no idea possibly maybe was so rated. I heard mutual slump first and somehow that makes it a faintly unsatisfying listen. it's not up to you was my #1, never particularly stood out to me until it caught me on just the right day and now it just seems perfect to me

https://cansesclasseled.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/16-army-of-me.jpg

16. Army of Me (Post, 1995) -- 816 points; 22 votes

#16?!

yeah this is way too low

my #3

Bjork thinks so too. That's why she's punching away the 16, you see.

weird i was expecting this to hit the top five

proud of "isobel" and "unravel" for getting this far

had no idea possibly maybe was so rated. I heard mutual slump first and somehow that makes it a faintly unsatisfying listen.

i think i also heard mutual slump first, but i had the opposite reaction when i heard where the sample came from. the only bit of shadow's song that i really liked was the sample, so it was amazing to hear how that sustained organ line hanging over silence was just one component of bjork's composition, and how different of a place that she took it to

missed Unison placing above, too! Made my top 10

i probably should've ranked army of me higher for how much i used to love it but i really ruined myself on it at some point.

When "Army of Me" dropped I thought, damn someone's figured out what to do w/the Zep drum sample again. It was the single that made me a full-on convert.

it's that damn synth bass

i think i also heard mutual slump first, but i had the opposite reaction when i heard where the sample came from. the only bit of shadow's song that i really liked was the sample, so it was amazing to hear how that sustained organ line hanging over silence was just one component of bjork's composition, and how different of a place that she took it to

Three words: slide guitar drop

otm about the bass

And if you complain OOOOOOONCE more

"Army of Me is so much about me actually learning that I have to defend myself. I have to stand up and fight the fucking gorilla. Once I’ve got the diamond and I run away with it, it becomes massive ‘cos it’s mine. But if the gorilla had kept it, it would have gone really tiny. That’s surrealism for me.”

I love Army of Me but is it just me or does it sound like a demo? It’s mostly the chorus which bothers me how it sounds... the verses sound more overpowered and the chorus sounds somewhat unfinished. I wish I knew more about music production to verbalize what I’m hearing.

To me, that it sounds like a demo is the best thing about it. See also: "Enjoy"

https://cansesclasseled.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/15-cocoon.jpg

15. Cocoon (Vespertine, 2001) -- 835.5 points; 21 votes; 4 first-place votes

whooooooooo

that "cocoon" image is particularly impressive eric

lmao I am stunned "Army of Me" isn't in the top 5, like it's not even in my top 10 but I thought it was very canonical????

i guess we all had other bjork songs we were more excited about

four first place votes for "cocoon" is wild

I feel Army of Me placed perfectly. Not too low (or high) at all. Great single but far from her best.

yeah i was not expecting myself to fall so hard for the song during the nominations process, but cocoon is a masterpiece of sustained mood and the thesis statement for vespertine's portrait of domestic bliss

i couldn't pick anything else at numbero ne. who would have known?

i've completely given up on "who is it." though if it doesn't appear at all then i'm v surprised "where is the line" beat it

to a boyyy

When "Army of Me" dropped I thought, damn someone's figured out what to do w/the Zep drum sample again. It was the single that made me a full-on convert.

Had opposite reaction. "ugh ANOTHER use of this drum sample??" Expected more uniqueness from Bjork. Don't hate the song but not really a fan.

i never even really noticed the use of the sample for whatever reason, i think the Bjorkness overwhelmed the Zeppelintude.

Vespertine heavy hitters coming a little too low in my opinion. I don't think she's had a better run of songs than Hidden Place to Aurora.

no way Who Is It doesn't make it - what else is there that's more likely to take its place?

It's Not Up To You and Unison were both in my top 10, both have really beautiful builds

https://cansesclasseled.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/14-human-behavior.jpgp

14. Human Behavior (Debut, 1993) -- 880 points; 23 votes

idk but i didn't expect it to beat "cocoon." can't wait to be delighted xp

https://cansesclasseled.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/14-human-behavior.jpg

or "human behavior" for that matter

Fuck, that's the wrong number again. Standby, I can't abide this.

xp if we only get one post-Vespertine track for the remainder, I'm hoping it's Stonemilker

human behaviour ;)

I only ended up voting for Hyperballad and Isobel from Post - nothing particularly against any of the other tracks, but none of them blow me away the way everything else I voted for did. Army of Me in particular is a track I liked at first, but which I've completely tired of now.

Human Behaviour = best track on Debut afaic

that isn't true but it still sounds amazing

Internet high five to the other Cocoon #1 votes.

i suspected it but the poll has me more convinced now that she's been the best artist out there for the past 25 years.

I really like that it’s not immediately clear what the harmonic connection is between the baseline and her vocal line at the beginning of Human Behaviour. it always draws me in

Here's the right image, at any rate:

https://cansesclasseled.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/14-human-behavior1.jpg

wow my fav one yet

i remember distinctly the first time a negative review sold me on an album, and the first time i recognized r0ck1sm (but i didn't have a name for it.)

Months before the Sugar Cubes' first album debuted in the United States, a heavy buzz began to circulate about the group's lead singer, Björk. It was weird enough that the group hailed from Iceland, but Björk's eerie yelps, shrieks, girlish whispers and leather-lunged vocal acrobatics transported the band into another head space entirely. The word invariably used to describe Björk's synapse-bending vocals was feral. Songs such as "Motorcrash" and "Delicious Demon" were supercharged tours de force.

In concert, however, two things became abundantly clear about the Sugar Cubes: First, Björk could deliver the goods; second, the Sugar Cubes' stage act seemed dangerously close to bad performance art. On two subsequent albums, the Cubes abandoned their blunt rock attack for a trendy Euro-dance sound. Björk's vocals were lost amid the electronic clatter. People wondered if it wasn't time for Björk to light out on her own.

She did, and Debut is the utterly disappointing result. Rather than sticking to rock & roll, Debut is painfully eclectic. On "Come to Me" and "Venus as a Boy" Björk adds not just a string section but an entire orchestra from India. It's more intrusive than galvanizing. Likewise, on the jazz standard "Like Someone in Love," Björk is accompanied by a harp — not the kind Little Walter played. Only on the opening track, "Human Behavior," do we get a glimmer of what the fuss was all about.

Producer Nellee Hooper (Sinead O'Connor, Soul II Soul) has sabotaged a ferociously iconoclastic talent with a phalanx of cheap electronic gimmickry. Björk's singular skills cry out for genuine band chemistry, and instead she gets Hooper's Euro art-school schlock — and we do, too.

Rather than sticking to rock & roll, Debut is painfully eclectic.

on the jazz standard "Like Someone in Love," Björk is accompanied by a harp — not the kind Little Walter played.

Björk's singular skills cry out for genuine band chemistry...