Comments on: Björk... finally a troubadour?

Björk... finally a troubadour?

achpea — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:04:43 -0800

Björk explains her interactive touch screen album to Stephen Colbert. The longtime boundary-pushing, Icelandic musician (and ever-fascinating fashionista) released Biophilia in October. It is the first album created entirely on touch screens and subsequently released as an album for touch screens with interactive apps for each song. Her interview (and performance in an inflatable dress) support her desire to educate kids about science through the album and its apps. Is this the future of music?

By: Yowser

Yowser — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:07:00 -0800

No.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:07:29 -0800

Yes.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:08:26 -0800

What is this 'future' you speak of, earth creature?

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:09:41 -0800

I think we've covered the bases here, we can close this thread up.

By: Threeway Handshake

Threeway Handshake — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:13:52 -0800

Where's the drop?

By: DoctorFedora

DoctorFedora — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:14:53 -0800

Today we learned that anything can be music. Even Björk.

By: Confess, Fletch

Confess, Fletch — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:21:54 -0800

Björk explains TV

By: mazola

mazola — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:24:46 -0800

I'm not sure this is the future of music or anything else but I sure loves me my Björk.

By: Buckt

Buckt — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:25:22 -0800

Biophilia! That's a word coined by EO Wilson and a 1984 book that's on my desk right now. Cool.

By: Trurl

Trurl — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:31:08 -0800

The David Bowie Interactive CD-ROM

By: Threeway Handshake

Threeway Handshake — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:38:53 -0800

There was that one Todd Rundgren album I like 1994 that had a video game on it that was like wolfensttein but the enemies were televangelists.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:39:04 -0800

I've been interested in this since I first heard about it, but haven't wanted to drop the money on it. I might buy the CD or something. I just don't want my music trapped on my iDevice. She's also doing a month-long residency in NYC right now. Her tour has oodles of concert dates, but in very few cities. It's an interesting model.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:44:31 -0800

Oh, sorry. Not a month long. Only ten dates total. Bummer.

By: nicebookrack

nicebookrack — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:14:16 -0800

I was heartbroken that Natalie Portman didn't borrow Bjork's swan dress to accept her Best Actress Oscar. Such a wasted opportunity!

By: JHarris

JHarris — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 21:41:08 -0800

Thanks for putting The Bjork Song in my head again. Thanks a heap.

By: hermitosis

hermitosis — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 22:11:52 -0800

I love the album. Just want to put that out there. Aside from "Hollow", I listen to the album from beginning to end and it just feels like where I'm at these days. I've felt this way about so many of her albums that I'll even forgive her for Volta.

By: clarknova

clarknova — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:34:59 -0800

Björk explains TV Björk believes some completley crackpot things, but she is the monarch of a mystical land not of this Earth, and there all her mad dreams are true. And we do not challenge her because that is not how one treats a royal lady.

By: DecemberBoy

DecemberBoy — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:54:05 -0800

Björk believes some completley crackpot things, but she is the monarch of a mystical land not of this Earth, and there all her mad dreams are true. I think a lot of her reputation for spaciness is simply due to the fact that when she was first getting a lot of media attention she couldn't speak English all that well.

By: saucysault

saucysault — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:51:55 -0800

I've been enjoying reading/watching her interviews for twenty years, she actually is just really odd with interesting views. She hit success very young and has been able to afford to be introspective and follow her passions all her life. I remember reading somewhere that the age of first major success generally stunts a person emotionally at that emotional maturity. Succes as a child has made her childlike with a pretty impressive intellect since she is so well-read. That being said, this album did nothing for me sadly, but I love the idea and the app. I think that is the baggage of my currently crappy life though. She is a real treasure.

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 03:23:09 -0800

My tiny Icelandic heart grew three sizes when I saw her answer 'do you believe in Elves?' with 'well, you believe in ghosts.'

By: dances_with_sneetches

dances_with_sneetches — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:32:06 -0800

For a long time I did not like Björk. Then I was assimilated.

By: curious nu

curious nu — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 05:45:26 -0800

Pizza!

By: ceribus peribus

ceribus peribus — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:01:01 -0800

Pizza! Do you enjoy grapefruit?

By: Herodios

Herodios — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 06:05:44 -0800

Björk explains her interactive touch screen album. . . interactive apps for each song. . . interview . . . inflatable dress . . . her desire to educate kids about science . . . Is this the future of music? You haven't mentioned anything about music.

By: Rory Marinich

Rory Marinich — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:40:20 -0800

The Biophilia app is fascinating. Each song comes with a MIDI (or equivalent) score, an animation of all the parts of the song and how they interact (interesting to watch various lines of music dancing around each other instead of just hearing it happen), and some kind of standalone app that fits the song in some way. Some of the apps are experimental games. Some of the apps are generators or some sort (one lets you see/play with all the chromatic chords within a song; one is a drum machine that uses all the sounds of the song; one lets you generate a melodic rhythm by picking notes and arranging the order in which they're played). They're all a little strange, and I'm not going to it when I need easy listening music or a pleasantly distracting video game sort of thing, but they're all very interesting forays, and they make me think a lot more about each individual song than I would have if I'd just heard it or seen a music video. The app tries to make the apps each relevant to the song, so as you're using them you're thinking about what the song's trying to make you think about. (Each song also comes with a little artist's statement, which I love because I love artist's statements. And some of these songs really need the explanation.) Bjork hit my "has contributed to society" mark with It's Oh So Quiet, Human Behavior, and All Is Full Of Love. Now she can do whatever she wants, and if it's interesting I'll pay attention/give her some money. She doesn't have to justify her experiments to anybody. Also worth noting is that Biophilia was developed by Scott Snibbe, who's done a number of other interesting things. Check out his Projects page – lots of fun cool things that are a bit more accessible than this app/album. As for the future of music... I've grown up with music as a computer and iPod thing, didn't really do many concerts until my second year of college, and still would usually rather listen to an album in the quiet of my home than have a social concert "experience". Having an application to draw me in and focus my attention is a logical next step, and might let musicians attempt more ambitious music without losing their audience. It's not the only future of music, certainly not! But is it a future? Of course it is. Don't be fucking dense.

By: blucevalo

blucevalo — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:46:38 -0800

She hit success very young and has been able to afford to be introspective and follow her passions all her life. I don't always love or even like her music but I have always admired her dogged Nordic idiosyncrasy all the same.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:50:24 -0800

I still insist that she stole her vocal style from Ari Upp; but granted most people don't listen to Bjork for her vocal style.

By: Dragonness

Dragonness — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:34:08 -0800

>I love the album. Just want to put that out there. Aside from "Hollow", I listen to the album from beginning to end and it just feels like where I'm at these days. Gosh, I envy you. I love Bjork and find her completely inspiring, but this album is just almost utterly inaccessible to me, and in my blind faith I know it's a matter of time. How many spins did it take for you to get it? >granted most people don't listen to Bjork for her vocal style Oh you're so wrong. I love her vocal style with its deliberately raw, unprocessed, imperfect edge.

By: gompa

gompa — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:48:57 -0800

an animation of all the parts of the song and how they interact (interesting to watch various lines of music dancing around each other instead of just hearing it happen) Those animated depictions of the song parts are maybe my two-year-old's favourite thing in the world. If you leave him alone with the iPad, he'll usually find his way to the "Moon" animation. Or Angry Birds, depending on his mood.

By: mr.ersatz

mr.ersatz — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:16:41 -0800

Billy Idol did this already in 1993: Cyberpunk I was hoping for Blade Runner - the Musical but my 16 year old Neuromantic self was sorely disappointed.

By: Herodios

Herodios — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 09:56:00 -0800

Here's an even earlier interactive music release from my record collection: HPSCHD, a composition for harpsichord and computer-generated sounds by John Cage and Lejaren Hille. Released on LP by Nonesuch Records in 1969 (Nonesuch H71224), each copy included a unique printout of a computer program called KNOBS, containing a set of randomly generated instructions for the listener to adjust the volume, bass, and treble for each stereo channel at 5 second intervals. Later reissued on CD with new interactive instructions. Not a whole lot of fun, actually, but it does require the listener to participate in realizing the score, and also means that each set of LP + KNOBS cards represents a unique score for the piece. * * * Both sites above misquote Cage. He didn't say: "I've always hated the harpsichord, it reminds me of a sewing machine." What he actually said was: I've always hated the harpsichord, it reminds me of a sewing machine, hm?"

By: hermitosis

hermitosis — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 10:43:15 -0800

Gosh, I envy you. I love Bjork and find her completely inspiring, but this album is just almost utterly inaccessible to me, and in my blind faith I know it's a matter of time. How many spins did it take for you to get it? Well, when the Michel Gondry video for "Crystalline" was unveiled it took me a couple of listens to sort of get what was happening there. It made me optimistic (cautiously, because I've been burned before) about what was coming. The album arrived at a time when I was was going through a period of loss. Since the songs were all about geological, biological, and astronomical processes, it seemed to match that feeling I had of retreating from the human world and searching for personal meaning in the dark void. The album itself is very monastic, it's good "alone time" music. "Moon" seems to start from scratch with this simple repetitive pattern and comforting sort of lullaby cadence. Sort of like previous tracks such as "Amphibian" or "Coccoon." It mostly reminds me of a song Joanna Newsom would make. "Thunderbolt" starts off spartan and lugubrious but builds into a Philip Glass-esque "Koyaanisqatsi" sort of intensity. It hones in on this very lonely, meditative state but then supports it from beneath with all these choir voices and warm synths, so that the overall effect is one of personal empowerment. "Crystalline" reminds me of Homogenic and Selmasongs for some reason. The beat is weirdly catchy, and the imagery evoked from the video and app have sort of woven themselves into my appreciation of the song, so I get this very specific aesthetic experience when I listen. "Cosmogony" struck me as schmaltz on the first five or so spins, it's basically the "Oceania" of this album. But it fits seamlessly into the fabric of the album, with its steady heartbeat and otherworldly musings and indolent choirgirls. It's grown on me, sonically at least. "Dark Matter" is Bjork doing one of her characteristic voice doodles (like "Oll Birtan" on Medulla) but it hardly feels like filler to me, it seems a broadcast from some deep ocean ravine or interstellar void. "Hollow" is like Medulla's "Ancestors" or a lot of Drawing Restraint 9 -- a mood/art piece that's probably very interesting to her, and which fits with the rest of the album tonally, but is pretty challenging listening by musical standards, and I just skip it usually. "Virus" is a Vespertine-caliber love song -- with a subversive streak once you get how unhealthy or unsustainable her feelings are. I don't have much love for "Sacrifice" but I don't turn it off. I can't stand it when Bjork alludes to obviously specific relationships in very plain terms without making it accessible to the casual listener (a la "You've Been Flirting Again" on Post). "Mutual Core" is the climax and the grisly, still-beating heart of the album. Again, on first listen I thought it was a love song. Only after a while did I get that it was about the triumph of pulling free. The sort of churning aortal gurgle in the back ground is like a war drum, and then you get to these ecstatic dance breaks -- but it's definitely an angry "dancing alone" kind of thing. Anyhow, if it's possible to experience a sort of of enraged inner peace, this is what it sounds like. The final track, "Solstice," sort of pulls us off the warm skin of our home planet and ushers us into space. It's a sort of death ballad, like saying goodbye to life and your homeland and your true love all in one breath. All that support from earlier tracks have been omitted -- there are no choirs, no synths, just this clear, precise notation that you fumble with like rosary beads until the lights go out.

By: looli

looli — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:07:40 -0800

Jian Gomeshi did a long-form interview with her on Q last year and it was the first thing that ever made me really, really want an iPad. It makes me really really want one every time I hear about it, but not quite enough, apparently, to make me actually shell out the money.

By: koeselitz

koeselitz — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:30:35 -0800

me: “... granted most people don't listen to Bjork for her vocal style...” Dragonness: “Oh you're so wrong. I love her vocal style with its deliberately raw, unprocessed, imperfect edge.” Then I hope you listen to the Slits, because Ari Upp was basically doing the same thing vocally in 1976. Really, sometimes the similarity is uncanny, at least to me.

By: ifjuly

ifjuly — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:45:54 -0800

I love both of them singing-wise and for some reason had never made the connection. Super obvious on stuff like "Instant Hit", and plausible given Bjork apparently liked punk back when she was in Sugarcubes. Thanks for the comparison, koeselitz! You're good at them (that recent Doors=poor man's Stranglers got to me too, heh).

By: Kattullus

Kattullus — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 15:57:09 -0800

Björk was in punk bands before she was in The Sugarcubes, specifically Tappi Tíkarrass and K.U.K.L.

By: speicus

speicus — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 17:33:50 -0800

Well, David Bowie "stole" his vocal style from Anthony Newley, but did radically different things with it in the long run. It's a happy theft!

By: clarknova

clarknova — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 23:13:30 -0800

Oh you're so wrong. I love her vocal style with its deliberately raw, unprocessed, imperfect edge. That edge is perfect.