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BJÖRK

Crossover Prog • Iceland


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Björk biography
Björk Guðmundsdóttir - Born 21 November 1965 in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Björk is a singer/songwriter from Iceland, who has been both loved and hated during her long and multifaceted career. Writing and recording music since the '70s, she's become the face of her country and known to the whole world. Her music varies from new wave punk to experimental pop and even trip-hop and progressive pop. She has also composed music to movies and musicals and has also acted in several. There's no doubt Björk is one of the most influential female artists of modern music scene.

Björk recorded her first solo album in 1977 when she was only 11 years old. The album was simply named Björk, a collection of cover songs except for one that was her own composition. She quickly decided, that children's main stream was not what she wanted to do. Then soon, in the late '70s punk and new wave hit Iceland, and Björk as well. She was a singer in a group called Jam 80, which soon changed into Tappi Tikarrass, a band, that didn't concentrate on playing but mostly experimenting with instruments. Having recorded one record, the band broke up and the new
wave started to fade. Björk performed in a jazz band and recorded some songs with best known Icelandic musicians. Then she joined a supergroup of performers called Kukl.

Kukl recorded one album and did a tour in England, after which all of the musicians were so tired they had to take a long vacation. This offered Björk a chance to try out something else than punk or dark rock music. Kukl recorded one more album and toured with other punk bands after which they broke up in 1986. Later that year she recorded a duet with Gudlaugur Ottarsson, which was to mandate her first real solo album Debut. The musicians of Kukl kept in touch however, and in 1987 a label called Bad Taste was born. Under this label was soon to develop a band called Sugarcubes.

At 19 Björk made her acting debut in Nietzcha Keenes The Juniper Tree, and after 13 years she performed in Lars von Tiers Dancer in the Dark, after which she swore not to act ever again because of the emotionally stress of standing in someone else's shoes. Meanwhile Sugarcubes had become extremely successful, gaining one record as the single of week in 1987. The idea behind the band was to play through all the cliches they could put into pop-music. Apparently this was what the public wanted. The band was offered huge amounts of money for publishing rights, but they decide...
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BJÖRK discography


Ordered by release date | Showing ratings (top albums) | Help Progarchives.com to complete the discography and add albums

BJÖRK top albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

1.82 | 27 ratings
Björk
1977
2.66 | 29 ratings
Gling-Gló (with Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar)
1990
3.60 | 181 ratings
Debut
1993
3.60 | 164 ratings
Post
1995
3.87 | 203 ratings
Homogenic
1997
3.22 | 71 ratings
Selmasongs [Aka: Dancer in the Dark] (OST)
2000
4.05 | 183 ratings
Vespertine
2001
3.59 | 122 ratings
Medúlla
2004
2.18 | 33 ratings
The Music from Drawing Restraint 9 (OST)
2005
2.80 | 82 ratings
Volta
2007
3.35 | 67 ratings
Biophilia
2011
3.82 | 69 ratings
Vulnicura
2015
3.11 | 35 ratings
Utopia
2017
3.54 | 20 ratings
Fossora
2022

BJÖRK Live Albums (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

3.82 | 17 ratings
Debut Live
2004
3.80 | 15 ratings
Post Live
2004
4.17 | 18 ratings
Homogenic Live
2004
4.05 | 19 ratings
Vespertine Live
2004
4.00 | 3 ratings
Biophilia Live
2014
3.00 | 5 ratings
Vulnicura Live
2016

BJÖRK Videos (DVD, Blu-ray, VHS etc)

3.31 | 10 ratings
Volumen
1999
3.94 | 9 ratings
Live in Cambridge
2001
2.71 | 8 ratings
Live at Shepherds Bush Empire
2001
3.44 | 13 ratings
MTV Unplugged - MTV Live
2002
4.80 | 21 ratings
Vespertine Live at Royal Opera House
2002
3.13 | 5 ratings
Volumen Plus
2002
3.00 | 2 ratings
Later with Jools Holland 1995-2011
2012
2.50 | 2 ratings
Glastonbury - Live In England 2007
2014

BJÖRK Boxset & Compilations (CD, LP, MC, SACD, DVD-A, Digital Media Download)

2.91 | 3 ratings
The Best Mixes From The Album Debut For All The People Who Don't Buy White Labels
1994
3.21 | 14 ratings
Telegram
1996
3.75 | 20 ratings
Greatest Hits
2002
2.75 | 4 ratings
Family Tree
2002
4.32 | 10 ratings
Voltaïc
2009
3.40 | 5 ratings
Bastards
2012
3.00 | 3 ratings
Vulnicura Strings
2015

BJÖRK Official Singles, EPs, Fan Club & Promo (CD, EP/LP, MC, Digital Media Download)

0.00 | 0 ratings
Human Behaviour
1993
3.00 | 1 ratings
Venus As a Boy
1993
0.00 | 0 ratings
It's Oh So Quiet
1995
3.00 | 5 ratings
Bachelorette Two
1997
3.60 | 5 ratings
Celebrating Wood And Metal
1997
3.25 | 4 ratings
Björk Live
2002
3.50 | 4 ratings
All Is Full Of Björk
2002

BJÖRK Reviews


Showing last 10 reviews only
 Vespertine by BJÖRK album cover Studio Album, 2001
4.05 | 183 ratings

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Vespertine
Björk Crossover Prog

Review by WJA-K

5 stars This is a beautifully intimate record. Björk found a way to depart from her success sound and embrace her unique aspects even more. Highlights of the album are the minimalistic nature and the suppressed but complicated though logically sounding beats

Hidden Place is a great atmospheric opener with subdued beath and stunning orchestration 10/10

Cocoon is an absolute masterpiece of minimalism and intimacy. 10/10

It's not up to you is another great song with all the strengths of the album showcased 10/10

Undo is also great, especially the female choir and strings 10/10

Pagan Poetry is another highlight, especially the "I love him" repeat near the end. So emotional. 10/10

Frosti is icy and unique. Another home run 10/10

Aurora has extraordinary beats and a great harp. 10/10

An echo a stain has awesome electronic beats and a great atmosphere too. It may be my love for acts like Autechre that I appreciate these beats so much. I am amazed by how Björk combines this with strings and other musical arrangements 10/10

Sun in my mouth is the next home run. This album is so strong, so cohesive and so beautiful 10/10

Heirloom is the most straightforward track of the album so far. As straightforward as it gets with Vespertine. 9/10

Harm of Will is again extremely intimate and harmonious. 10/10

Unison is an absolute banger of a closer for the album. 10/10

This album is a tour de force of a unique artist. There's only one rating fitting for this one. 5 stars.

 Medúlla by BJÖRK album cover Studio Album, 2004
3.59 | 122 ratings

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Medúlla
Björk Crossover Prog

Review by WJA-K

4 stars It appears this is a really divisive album. Love it or hate it. Well, I love it. The concept is unique and the execution is almost flawless.

Pleasure is all mine is a great opener with beautiful harmonies of the Icelandic Choir. Björk sings beautifully too 9.5/10

Show me forgiveness is a short track and has only Björk singing. Nice enough. 7.5/10

Where is the line is the next highlight of the album. The beatboxing and mixing is an imaginative foundation of the song and both BJÖRK and the Icelandic Choir are again outstanding. 9.5/10

Vökuró again has beautiful harmonies of the Icelandic Choir and Björk is the only other contribution to the track. Great impact though. 8.5/10

Öll Birtan is even more minimalistic with only BJÖRK's voice in several shapes 7.5/10

Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right) is one of the most straightforward tracks which could also be on one of her 90s albums. Obviously, the delivery is totally different. Nice track. 8.5/10

Submarine is haunting and minimalistic 7.5/10

Desired Constellation is very subdued except when Björk sings "how am I going to make it right". Love it. 8.5/10

Oceania has beatbox and processed voices and I like this very much. Apart from the concept, this song is relatively straightforward. But the arrangement is extremely imaginative. 9.5/10

Sonnets / Unrealities XI is another track with the Icelandic Choir and it's truly beautiful. 8.5/10

Ancestors is probably the most experimental track. It is also the song that made me decide to not give the full 5 stars. I don't understand it. Parts of it are great, but I have issues with the moaning. 5.5/10

Mouths cradle has the Icelandic Choir again, so that's a bonus. Add to that the imaginative beatboxing and Björk and we have a winner 9.5/10

Miðvikudags is short and sweet 7./10

Triumph of a heart sounds like the biggest hits of her 90s period. A bit of a strange song on this album, although it is fully realized in the same concept. 8.5/10

I love this album and I rate it 4 stars.

 Fossora by BJÖRK album cover Studio Album, 2022
3.54 | 20 ratings

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Fossora
Björk Crossover Prog

Review by Lewian
Prog Reviewer

4 stars Most prog fans are probably happy if their long standing heroes don't go in a more commercial, watered down, easy listening direction, but rather remain inventive and complex. For sure with such attitude Björk's development needs to be appreciated, except that I suspect for most even on this site she has actually opted for too little accessibility in her later work. For quite some time now she refuses to do anything anywhere near to "catchy" or at least working as a standard song. This might disappoint those in particular who appreciate earlier trademark songs such as Human Behavior, Joga, I've Seen It All, or Hyper-Ballad, which were indeed wonderful. Also as prog fans we love great melodies and great vocals, don't we?

As a friend of an experimental and adventurous approach, even I have to admit that I find it often difficult to get into Björk's more contemporary oeuvre. This is in the first place due to Björk's idiosyncratic esthetic; in other words, she does things in a way that at least at first listen runs counter to my (and probably also many other's) musical intuition, and all too often when I think I have nailed what this is about, she goes elsewhere.

Fossora wasn't up to a good start for me. Atopos isn't really a bad track. Actually it has quite some energy and is maybe meant to work in an Army Of Me kind of way, but I find the loud and monotonous electronic drums on this one massively annoying. Surely they don't help getting into what Björk is up to here. In fact, the instrumentation and sound, with lots of clarinets plus electronics, is quite interesting, but unfortunately overshadowed by the beats.

Ovule, the second track, makes it somewhat easier to arrive in the sound world rolled out here. Still I was somewhat estranged listening to this for the first time, but things get better when the album goes on and with repeat listens. Mycella is a stunning experiment with voices only (be it for some manipulation). It sounds like a modern painting looks like, painted with light touch but sense of adventure, jumping around but hard to pin down. Sorrowful Soil is another vocals only track, but very different, a more emotional choir piece rooted in folk music.

For Ancestress, the instrumentation is back, strings and percussion and the omnipresent electronics this time. It is a slow and slow progressing piece where Björk's vocals slowly and tentatively tiptoe forward to reach some more intensity later. There is a small and nice melodic interplay before Victimhood, where the clarinets are back for a very dark track evoking a swamp in the night, with some electronic percussion bringing in something to stick to only later.

Another sharp contrast brings us a rather light touch track and a very different atmosphere in Allow, driven by optimistically marching rhythmic flutes, although later the rhythm leaves us and we are left in a rather unstructured landscape. The beginning of Fungal City resembles Allow, but this times it's the clarinets who drive the rhythm. Later strings come in and very late some (once more somewhat overblown) electronic beats, making it more dramatic, though with ebbs and flows. This is a rather complex composition, and the melodic journey is hard to predict and to grasp.

Trölla-Gabba is an experimental piece; actually it would pass for avantgarde contemporary "classical" music. This one has voices vs. electronics, and becomes exciting indeed, Björk not shying away from pretty sharp contrasts, twists and turns.

Freefall is once more is different kind of animal, an emotional if rather calm song driven by the singer and a string ensemble, with another one of these unpredictable melodies, which after 2:30 morphs into something quite different with the string emsemble now picking the strings and producing something much more rhythmic. Clarinets, oboe, and electrobeats are back on the title track Fossora, which starts off fairly harmlessly; one can still imagine an Icelandic folk dance here, but it then evolves into a rather noisy energetic affair.

The aptly titled "Her Mother's House" finishes affairs in a more soothing way. It is one of Björk's "filling the space singing" songs, always calm but never giving in to a transparent song structure. Let's go to sleep now - after this rollercoaster of an album it's maybe good advice.

I like this more than her last few albums, but after getting into it properly I wonder whether I should give them more chances as well (which I haven't really). Ultimately this is avantgarde classic, folk, electronics, and Björk's great voice coming together in ever unexpected ways. After first and second listening I thought I might rate this one three stars, but there is such a stunning amount of things to be discovered here. It is *all* strikingly unconventional, all unmistakably Björk's magic garden creation, still it gives us an astonishing variety of moods and approaches. At some point I understood that this will need to have four stars, and finally I wonder whether it is so unique and rich that I could even give it all five. I think I'll refrain from this because of a lack of moments that stay with me after listening (I believe that Björk rather consciously refuses to give us these, but with more listening they may still evolve), and the occasional issue with annoyingly loud and not so good sounding e-beats, but this fortunately happens much less often than what I feared after the first track. So ultimately it's four, but WHAT A RIDE!

 Vulnicura by BJÖRK album cover Studio Album, 2015
3.82 | 69 ratings

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Vulnicura
Björk Crossover Prog

Review by Dapper~Blueberries
Prog Reviewer

5 stars I think in many music discussions, Bjork is brought up quite a lot, and for a lot of great reasons. Her unique sound that fuses pop with chamber music, IDM, ambient, and many more atmospheric genres give her a unique avant- garde twist. At first I never really got her, but now I am a very big fan of her work. I do not think she has released any bad albums. My only issue with them is that they kinda take a while to set in, but after you sit down in Bjork's wild train of mysteries then any of her releases can become a very fun adventure through music that is very cutely Icelandic. I think, though, she reached her highest peak after releasing her 8th (12th if you count her child album, Gling-glo, and the OSTs) studio release, Vulnicura.

A little background for Vulnicura, this album was recorded after Bjork broke up with Matthew Barney, a contemporary artist from the USA. This album is the result of such a break up, and is meant to be an album that is to heal the wounds that the break up left Bjork. The outcome of it all: an incredible and personal album that is filled with heartache and misery.

Vulnicura is an album that isn't just personal, but one that can perfectly encapsulate the listener in the feeling of longing, and heartbreak. No longer do we have those wintery hills of Homogenic, or the warm breezes of Volta, but rather a more deep and meditative Bjork, that knows how to contort her songs in a way that she is no longer giving you grilled meat, but rather the raw elements off the bone. Front to back, the album has instrumentation that fits the moods Bjork feels. Sadness, bitter defeat, anger, loneliness, and emptiness to name a few. She creates these wonderful soundscapes that break down the listener bit by bit; taking them apart and putting them back together. These sounds skewer and mauls your heartstrings, much like what that breakup did to Bjork, and thus creating this amazingly well put together experience that always beats me up inside.

Not only is the instrumentation amazing, but Bjork's voice never sounded any better. I think her voice always sounded heavenly, but man, here she just sounds flat out angelic. I just love how she amplifies the already moody atmosphere into stuff that can rival even the best vocalists like Peter Gabriel and Devin Townsend. She puts a misty mystique on everything, from the profoundly beautiful Lionsong, to the electronically inclined Quicksand, and that mystique ALWAYS makes these songs so memorable to me, more than any other song off any other Bjork album. If I had one critique on her vocals, it's that I miss her occasional voice cracks during her younger days. I think they added a very big level of charm in her music, but I can see that as she got older she lost the ability to crack her voice, so I do not harp on Bjork for it. Either way, her voice is still so wonderful.

The vocals and instrumentation combined creates what I think is Bjork's best album. Yes, even better than Homogenic or Vespertine, I think it is just that good.

This very open and raw album is an essential listen for anyone who likes pretty much any genre, namely pop and electronic music fans. It is on par with some of the best pop records in the 21st century, hell, even the 20th century. This is one of the most beautifully crafted albums from 2015, and one that I think can open up anyone's eyes to how truly grand Bjork's works can be, even at her most miserable of moments. This isn't just a breakup album, it is a breakdown album, and one that I cannot help but fall in.

 Later with Jools Holland 1995-2011 by BJÖRK album cover DVD/Video, 2012
3.00 | 2 ratings

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Later with Jools Holland 1995-2011
Björk Crossover Prog

Review by Matti
Prog Reviewer

3 stars My relationship with the music of this highly personal Icelandic artist has never been very close, or rather, it was mostly downhill from the promising start. I had liked the radio-played 1988 song 'Birthday' by The Sugarcubes, and admittedly it was especially the unique, childlike voice of the singer called Björk that made the impression. So, in the early/mid-90's, at the beginning of her coming out as a solo artist, I had a certain amount of interest, and I quite liked the accessible pop album Debut (1993) and its follow-up Post (1995). As time passed, in a way she was always there, being such a hyped artist. But instead of joining her admirers, I gradually began to feel colder and colder towards her style as it became more and more "artistic". If there was a live show in the TV, I usually only cared to watch it for a while. This DVD showcases the artistic development within the given timeline, and I wasn't surprised that I liked the earlier performances and disliked the later ones.

The 55-minute DVD compiles thirteen live tracks from the BBC music series "Later With Jools Holland". First, the lay-out is poor. The set list is printed only on the cover and I missed more precise, easy-to-find information on the years and the line-ups of the performances. I think the contents are taken from five different episodes. Jools is quickly seen either before or after the songs, otherwise it's all just the song performances, no interviews or DVD extras of any kind.

On the earliest clips such as 'Hyperballad' Björk is accompanied by percussion, keyboards and a string section. 'Venus As a Boy' is an intimate duet for vocals and harpsichord. Her next appearance on Jools's show concentrates on songs from Homogenic (1997). For example 'Joga' backed by a string octet sounds very nice. On 'So Broken' Björk is accompanied by two Spanish guitarists to give the song a beautiful fado-like treatment. Apart from white paint on her forehead Björk's visual appearance is still pretty normal.

From 'Earth Intruders' onwards I start to dislike both the music and the looks of Björk. She began to make herself look like a doll from a horror film, so to speak. And for the arrangements, all that electric noise is mainly a nuisance for me. The songs are less and less melodic and accessible, at times downward aggressive. Probably the dedicated fans, impressed by the increasing amount of the artistic uniqueness, get what they want. As for me, watching this DVD was a reminder of my chronologically decreasing interest for Björk.

 Vespertine by BJÖRK album cover Studio Album, 2001
4.05 | 183 ratings

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Vespertine
Björk Crossover Prog

Review by Necrotica
Special Collaborator Honorary Colaborator

5 stars I was lying there, surrounded by lush strings and a voice most passionate. I was enveloped in the intimacy of classical instruments, wrapped in dense, warm beats. I could practically touch the music; so tangible was its atmosphere. It signaled an evolution; one step beyond the baroque trip-hop of Homogenic, two steps away from the alternative dance and pop of Post, three steps into the thick aura of a warm symphonic embrace, in harmony with droning bass and minimalist rhythms.

I was lying there, taking in scenes of electronic erotica. I was hypnotized by the seamless synthesis of lavish production and a distinctly human touch, yet the complex craftsmanship remained. In the icy synths of 'Aurora,' in the sweeping angelic choirs lifting 'Harm of Will,' in the shrouding comfort the basslines of 'Cocoon' and 'Undo' give; in the interpersonal lyrics delivered with sighs and relief.

I was lying there, relaxed and reflective. I was listening to a distinct vision coming together, one hinted at since the dawn of a promising career, since the dawn of an eclectic personality. I was hearing more self-assurance and positivity within the trippy soundscapes and ample musical terrain, the turmoil and rage of Homogenic appearing to be a distant memory.

I was lying there, soothed and in control. I was observing some inventive background noise, such as card shuffles in 'Cocoon' or the music box melodies of 'Frosti;' or the various harp arrangements seeping through the central core of sweeping cinematic instrumentation. Still, it all remained personal, still distinctly Bjork.

I was lying there, knowing what I was hearing but still not believing, still blown back in awe, years after the first listen. I was still lying there, pulled into this fusion of subtlety and grandiosity; it was a masterpiece of atmosphere, of electronica, of pop, of music, of art.

 Selmasongs [Aka: Dancer in the Dark] (OST) by BJÖRK album cover Studio Album, 2000
3.22 | 71 ratings

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Selmasongs [Aka: Dancer in the Dark] (OST)
Björk Crossover Prog

Review by Hiram

3 stars I'm not a Björk fan. I did listen to her a bit in my late teens/early 20s in the mid/late 90s when "all" the "cool" "kids" did, but lost interest quite soon. My wife, however, is a fan and has many of her CDs so I thought I might reacquaint myself with them.

This is a soundtrack to the film Dancer in the Dark, directed by Lars Von Trier and starring Björk as the main character Selma (hence the album title). Songs are tied to film scenes but also work independently although you'll get more out of them if you've seen the whole thing. If you haven't, be forewarned that Von Trier knows which strings to pull to really exploit the viewer's emotions with his display of human wretchedness.

On to the music. Opening track "Overture" plays along with the opening credits and is more or less generic string music piece they use in movies. The first proper song "Cvalda" (named after the character played by Catherine Deneuve who also sings part of the song) starts with industrial rhythm and Björk's original vocals, then turns into a very typical Björk song with electronic trip hop rhythm and strings, and is in my opinion very musical-ish. "I've Seen It All" is my favourite Björk song. A melancholic near-ballad with Thom Yorke (of Radiohead) singing male vocal parts. I wonder why the actor Peter Stormare didn't sing them like ms. Deneuve did? I absolutely love the call-and-response lines "what about China, have you seen the Great Wall? - all walls are great if the roof doesn't fall". "Scatterheart" begins with musical box type melody. It might be the celesta that's Björk credited playing on the album? Dark song, nice sparse bassline and well-utilized scratchy vinyl sounds. "In the Musicals" is more uptempo but not very memorable I think. Nice use of tap-dancing type percussion sounds though. "107 Steps" has the voice of actress Siobhan Fallon counting the steps from prison cell to the gallows. Rhythm and strings and Björk's vocals are added on top of it. Very dramatic. "New World" is the closing credits song. It starts rather minimal trip hop and grows again dramatically towards the end.

I kind of like the album. It doesn't feature Björk's most irritating singing mannerism that were the main reason I didn't much like her in the first place. I like how she uses concrete sounds (factory rhythm of "Cvalda", counting in "107 Steps") with musical ones and how she utilizes modern beats and strings. After this, I didn't become a fan and probably never will, but I'll try and listen to more Björk when the time is right. Three stars.

 Vespertine Live at Royal Opera House by BJÖRK album cover DVD/Video, 2002
4.80 | 21 ratings

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Vespertine Live at Royal Opera House
Björk Crossover Prog

Review by BrufordFreak
Collaborator Honorary Collaborator

5 stars One of my favorite concert videos to watch and listen to--one that I go back to probably once a year. The performance of Maestra Bjørk is, of course, mesmerizing--her vocal acrobatics simply unearthly, but the chance to watch her collaborator musicians tinkle and fiddle with their computers, keyboards, and other toys is almost as fascinating and then watching and listening to how much of the soundscape is contributed by the amazing Inuit Choir of Greenland is, for me, the absolute mind-blowing highlight. As if the Vespertine album was not enough, this concert of it being performed live is better--makes me appreciate the genius and mastery of the studio album even more. In short, this is not a concert to be missed! You will not be sad to have given your time to it.
 Vespertine by BJÖRK album cover Studio Album, 2001
4.05 | 183 ratings

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Vespertine
Björk Crossover Prog

Review by TCat
Special Collaborator Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin

4 stars 'Vespertine' is Bjork's 5th official studio album, and definitely demonstrates her foray into progressive and art rock. The songs on this album center mostly on love and eroticism and the lyrics can be quite graphic at times. The music is produced by instruments that would not be compromised by the download process as that was an issue at the time where the quality of a lot of music was diminished when downloaded electronically. Most of the percussive sounds on this album are produces by household objects. Best of all, the composition of the songs is anything but standard. That is where I admire Bjork the most is in her attempt to push boundaries of popular music, which she does without fear. She also experiments around the use of minimalism and micro beats.

'Hidden Place' starts off the track list with what would be the lead single from the album. Right away you get the electronic loop of a digital beat along with her soft vocals and harmonics. Some nice orchestral sounding loops create an older European atmosphere. You will also notice the lyrics are about a relationship between two people that are not yet confident about their feelings. 'Cocoon' dives deeper into the minimalism sound with the clicking percussion created with a synthesizer which sounds similar to vinyl clicking noises when a needle plays a record. The lyrics are erotic and sensuous and the feeling of the soft vocals reflect that.

'It's Not Up to You' has the same minimal feeling during the voices, but has a nice, well orchestrated chorus that utilizes a processed choir and has a more intense feel. 'Undo' utilizes harp and strings to create atmosphere and does a nice job of creating dynamics to help push the non-traditional melody along. 'Pagan Poetry' is a beautiful track which uses both a harp and a music box to create the background, but a regular bass is used also to help create a foundation. This was the 2nd single released, but it didn't receive a lot of airplay because of the sensuality of the lyrics. 'Frosti' is a short instrumental interlude created by a music box.

'Aurora' recreates an incident where Bjork was running across a glacier and fell. She injured herself and put snow in her mouth to ease the pain. Of course, this is innuendo to a sexual encounter. There is a beautiful choral arrangement in this one, with more harp and music box arrangements. 'An Echo, A Stain' enters a more experimental territory as it is much more minimal. The lyrics are based around a one-act play called 'Crave' written by Sarah Kane. The foundation is mostly driven by strings, a minimal beat and a lush choir. 'Sun in My Mouth' has lyrics based around a poem by E.E. Cummings called 'I Will Wade Out'. Bjork uses her vocal range quite effectively in this one.

'Heirloom' uses the beat of what sounds like an old Wurlitzer organ along with processed beats. Despite what many people might think, this is actually about familial love and how they take care of a person when they are sick. The track remains more minimal as do most of the songs on the 2nd half of the album, which, strangely enough, ends up creating a much stronger impression especially considering the subject matter. I find it more effective as far as the sensuous and romantic aspects go.

'Harm of Will' is about a romantic relationship between a troubadour and a libertine. It is the first collaboration between Bjork and Harmony Korine who would later become a regular collaborator with her. The last track is 'Union' which slowly climbs out of the minimalist feel of the last several tracks with a more traditionally composed song, but even so, it is far from traditional pop. There is a nice synthesizer hook that appears in the 2nd verse. This is a very beautiful and effective ending for this sensuous and lush album.

As much as one might think this is a boring album, it is not. In fact, it gets more beautiful and meaningful the more you hear it. It is original and does a great job of demonstrating Bjork's experimental and art-sy side. It is definitely original and progressive in every aspect. Even the more traditional tracks are still pushing the boundaries of popular music. This album definitely defies a real genre other than maybe minimalism at its most dynamic.

 The Music from Drawing Restraint 9 (OST) by BJÖRK album cover Studio Album, 2005
2.18 | 33 ratings

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The Music from Drawing Restraint 9 (OST)
Björk Crossover Prog

Review by Lewian
Prog Reviewer

3 stars I was inspired to review this because I saw that this was rated 1.59 before. This is not the Björk album I listen to most often as much of it is not easy to digest, but surely this is adventurous interesting music that should get some appreciation. It's apparently a soundtrack, which may explain a few of its peculiarities, but I don't know the film, so the music needs to speak to me on its own, which it does very nicely. I think this is mostly rated low because people expect something else rather than the album actually being bad. It's experimental music, and it doesn't have that much vocals of Björk, which is obviously why many would buy a Björk album in the first place. Tough luck. But let's face it, 99.9% of the music on this site doesn't have Björk singing and isn't criticised for that at all.

It starts off very nicely with "Gratitude". I love the shimmering glockenspiel-sound arrangement and the vocals are very well delivered by Will Oldham and some children, vulnerable and sensitive. Yeah, Björk doesn't sing herself but give the lady a rest!

"Pearl", a little calm experimental piece, fine for what it is if you don't have expectations. "Ambergris March" has some folk percussion and Japan-inspired light touch electronic sounds and melodies. Björk has managed to combine this influence here well with her own aesthetic, nicely balanced between sensitivity and machinery. "Bath" finally has Björk singing, but in a very experimental performance in which we hear her notes together with lots of breathing noises without clear melody. Again this sets up a vulnerable atmosphere, rather than being a "song" with "direction". Once more, the story of this album, when rating this against certain expectations that people have about a Björk album, it will disappoint, but in its own right it achieves what it tries to achieve.

"Hunter Vessel" - slowly marching brass oriented contemporary avantgarde music; or rather slowly marching in the beginning, then it changes between long flowing sounds and more intense marching parts with increasing speed. Somewhat formal but interesting and well composed. "Shimenawa" counters this with much softer thinner keyboard pads, the composition again being minimalist and atmospheric. "Vessel Shimenawa" takes it back to the brass again, though somewhat softer than "Hunter Vessel"; I'd expect this to be appropriate in a soundtrack, but on its own it doesn't add much to the two pieces before. On "Storm" Björk's voice is back, this time in a more characteristic fashion plus some electronic noises for which we knew she has a weak spot already before this. For once she fulfills expectations, although the song is rather haunting and monotonic, a far stretch from what got her in the charts once. Her vocal performance is impeccable, although I can see how some may find the noises annoying. "Holographic Entrypoint" is based on some (I'd think) intense experimental Japanese vocals by Shiro Nomura plus a second voice and very minimalist percussion. Fans of Japanese avantgarde may be used to this kind of stuff but most Western ears will struggle to get into how this works as "music". Undeterred, Björk lets this go on for a full 10 minutes. Well you get it or you don't. No complaints from my side about being exposed to this experience (and an experience surely it is!) although it's not going to enter my top 500 songs any time soon.

On "Cetacea", sequencer-like glockenspiel sounds are back, together with voicemaster Björk herself. The instrumental background is about as minimalist as it gets but I like this sound. The vocals are dynamic in intensity but static in speed; the whole thing goes round in circles. Another one that creates its very own special atmosphere, another one that isn't a proper song with direction for those who look for them. "Antarctic Return" is another minimalist soft and thin keyboard theme. It delivers a bit of intensity at the end, well, a very minimalist interpretation of "intensity". Not a real highlight at the end unfortunately, rather one of the tracks that probably rather served the film than a standalone album of music.

I'm fond of much contemporary avantgarde music, so my ears are open and prepared for this kind of thing. Some of the music on this album is very good, some quite challenging, with which I'm fine. Some parts are probably just there because they serve the film. Although they don't do much harm on their own, overall the fact that this is made as a soundtrack and doesn't therefore follow an entirely musical logic and flow keeps the album in some distance from the highest marks. This is what you have to live with when listening to soundtracks, so it's not really a complaint, but will make me round the 3.5 stars rather down than up. Anyway, a good and interesting album and its flaws as a work of "pure" music are all in my view down to the fact that it's actually a soundtrack.

Thanks to chris s for the artist addition. and to Quinino for the last updates

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