DEBUT

Well in the first part of the 90's, some people knew about this Icelandic elf, but the larger public (and for once I will include yours truly into that generally pitiful category) had no clue of her when this strange but groundbreaking album came to global attention. Indeed her music was then rather totally new and mixed some Trip Hop, Techno/New Beat (remember that fad?), rock instrumentations and other unusual influences.

Indeed there are some tremendous tracks that approach some of Portishead's best moments on their debut album called Dummy, like the immense opening Human Behaviour, the awesome Venus As A Boy (with superb string section), the excellent Aeroplane with its Wyatt-esque horns and great vibraphones and the incredible finale Play Dead. Some more titles are also interesting like the very-danceable Crying and its couple of inventive breaks or the rather-enjoyable One Day, the calm Come To Me (also with some good string arrangements)

However there are also some very weak tracks, like the weak Techno-esque and New-Beaty More To Life or the awful ultra-beat-esque of Big Time Sensuality, but Violently Happy is the exception that confirms that Techno can indeed be almost-correct. And even stranger yet, you'll also find some atrocious lullabies for crooners (and she doesn't have the voice to be one) like Someone In Love or the best-forgotten Anchor Song.

A very bizarre mixed bag of stuff, sometimes almost-groundbreaking (the Trip Hop parts), but also some rather dismaying tunes (the techno songs), but it's the two bizarre and very-flawed UFOs (the last two mentioned above) that stops this album from being "Essential", despite giving it a good shot with some seven memorable songs that give it an indisputable aura of being one of the better releases of the early 90's, outside the Seattle/Grunge club.

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