Björk Appreciation Thread

[ScreenOrigami]

Björk is a big MJ fan, so she more than deserves her own thread here!

Let’s share a few of our favorite Björk music videos and performances here for others to discover. I’m starting with one of my all time favorite shows at the Riverside Church in NYC in 2001. A very intimate performance for a small audience.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XIKsRjcxT0U" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Side note for new listeners: performing a song called &#8220;Pagan Poetry&#8221; in a catholic church is just one of the many unexpected things Björk did throughout her career.

EDIT: I just realize what a terrible rip this is.
Will update when I find a better complete version.

 

[ozemouze]

Thanks for the recommendation, I skipped through the video to get a glimpse of it and it looks captivating. The choir (folk singers I guess?) at the end of Pagan Poetry works really well, and gives a different, softer vibe to the song IMO.
You can't miss the peacock dress either (she's such a great artist but so adorable at the same time).
What a lucky audience!

My pick isn't a rarity (I guess it's as mainstream as Björk can get) but it's still typical Björk and the video is a memorable cooperation with Michel Gondry (and one of my favourite songs of her). It's also a good introduction to Björk IMO as the sound is very enjoyable to listen (Vespertine is a more wild ride, I won't deny that, not to mention some of the videos still freak me out).

[video=youtube;pzUB1D5XQ_w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzUB1D5XQ_w[/video]

 

[JichaelMackson]

I don't know much about her except for her 90s hits but she put in one of the all time best acting performances in "dancer in the dark". Good film as well, it's a musical but it's bleak and not romantic, better have napkins ready if you decide to watch it.

 

[ScreenOrigami]

Thanks for the recommendation, I skipped through the video to get a glimpse of it and it looks captivating. The choir (folk singers I guess?) at the end of Pagan Poetry works really well, and gives a different, softer vibe to the song IMO.
You can't miss the peacock dress either (she's such a great artist but so adorable at the same time).
What a lucky audience!

My pick isn't a rarity (I guess it's as mainstream as Björk can get) but it's still typical Björk and the video is a memorable cooperation with Michel Gondry (and one of my favourite songs of her). It's also a good introduction to Björk IMO as the sound is very enjoyable to listen (Vespertine is a more wild ride, I won't deny that, not to mention some of the videos still freak me out).

[video=youtube;pzUB1D5XQ_w]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzUB1D5XQ_w[/video]

Oh yeah, the book that writes itself! Just beautiful.

The choir is from Greenland. According to this site, Björk says she found them by putting up ads in a supermarket. As authentic as it gets.

https://www.bjork.fr/Greenland-choir

 

[ScreenOrigami]

I don't know much about her except for her 90s hits but she put in one of the all time best acting performances in "dancer in the dark". Good film as well, it's a musical but it's bleak and not romantic, better have napkins ready if you decide to watch it.

One of my favorite movies! Here&#8217;s the trailer, for those who haven&#8217;t seen it:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/53vr9EiOH7g" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I&#8217;d describe it as a very twisted version of a musical social drama with a lot of dance sequences.
The choreographer is MJ&#8217;s Vincent Paterson.

 

[ozemouze]

I don't know much about her except for her 90s hits but she put in one of the all time best acting performances in "dancer in the dark". Good film as well, it's a musical but it's bleak and not romantic, better have napkins ready if you decide to watch it.

Well it's directed by Lars von Trier so we never really had the chance to get a happy-go-lucky musical. But you're absolutely right, it's a brilliant, hunting film, with great music and choreography (by Vincent Paterson! and I had to come to this forum to find it out...), fantastic acting by the whole cast, and Björk still delivering a standout performance. Her interpretation of the character is so "real-life" it hurts.

 

[ScreenOrigami]

Well it's directed by Lars von Trier so we never really had the chance to get a happy-go-lucky musical. But you're absolutely right, it's a brilliant, hunting film, with great music and choreography (by Vincent Paterson! and I had to come to this forum to find it out...), fantastic acting by the whole cast, and Björk still delivering a standout performance. Her interpretation of the character is so "real-life" it hurts.

I saw it in the movie theater when it came out, and I had two friends with me, two grown men, who were just as disturbed as I was when we left the theater. It&#8217;s really anything but light entertainment.

 

[ozemouze]

The choir is from Greenland. According to this site, Björk says she found them by putting up ads in a supermarket. As authentic as it gets.

https://www.bjork.fr/Greenland-choir

Thanks for the info! The "It's In Our Hands" video embedded on the site is great as well. I loved when the harp player started clapping and dancing as well.

[video=youtube;nWoEITAoYE8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWoEITAoYE8&[/video]

I saw it in the movie theater when it came out, and I had two friends with me, two grown men, who were just as disturbed as I was when we left the theater. It’s really anything but light entertainment.

I saw it at the cinema as well. The audience was all very quiet even after the end and remained seated for awhile before leaving. It's not even the story itself (if you think about it it's basically a melodrama plot), but how overwhelming and real the atmosphere is, it's literally suffocating at the end. The experience definitely worth it though.

 

[ScreenOrigami]

I saw it at the cinema as well. The audience was all very quiet even after the end and remained seated for awhile before leaving. It's not even the story itself (if you think about it it's basically a melodrama plot), but how overwhelming and real the atmosphere is, it's literally suffocating at the end. The experience definitely worth it though.

Björk was so convincing in that role, it&#8217;s a shame she said she&#8217;d never do a movie again after this experience &#8211; which according to her wasn&#8217;t all positive behind the scenes. She hasn&#8217;t studied acting or anything, she&#8217;s so talented!

Thanks for the info! The "It's In Our Hands" video embedded on the site is great as well. I loved when the harp player started clapping and dancing as well.

[video=youtube;nWoEITAoYE8]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWoEITAoYE8&[/video]

Wow, that&#8217;s a wild performance, thank you!

 

[code753cr]

Wow, I didn't think I would see a Bjork thread here. She is one of my favorite artist up there with MJ. My favorite song of hers is "Alarm Call" - the music video version. The song was actually originally named "Ja*ko" on the demo cassette for the Homogenic album. The music video is directed by fashion designer Alexander McQueen and you can hear a MJ influence in the track.

 

[ozemouze]

Wow, I didn't think I would see a Bjork thread here. She is one of my favorite artist up there with MJ. My favorite song of hers is "Alarm Call" - the music video version. The song was actually originally named "Ja*ko" on the demo cassette for the Homogenic album. The music video is directed by fashion designer Alexander McQueen and you can hear a MJ influence in the track.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ah5RVGiBqRs" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Thanks for the info, I didn't know about this backstory. There's an instrumental/BG demo version on youtube, it sounds even more MJ-ish:

[video=youtube;rU_nI4DO7iM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rU_nI4DO7iM[/video]

Thanks to this thread I discovered some of Björk's newer works (I listen to her quite often but mostly the albums I already knew as I realized now), she's still fun and fascinating. I've found this song (and video) particularly charming and interesting:

[video=youtube;Sqbv7cCM5AI]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sqbv7cCM5AI[/video]

 

[ScreenOrigami]

Wow, I didn't think I would see a Bjork thread here. She is one of my favorite artist up there with MJ.

Hey, welcome to our little Björk fan group.

I think it&#8217;s not so unusual for people who love MJ for the way he created his music and films to also find joy in Björk&#8217;s art. While they&#8217;re very different in style, they&#8217;re equally unique.

My favorite song of hers is "Alarm Call" - the music video version. The song was actually originally named "Ja*ko" on the demo cassette for the Homogenic album.

I had no idea! Thank you. I listen to Björk quite often and love all of her music videos, but I have never really looked into her demo recordings or watched many documentaries or anything like that. Will dig deeper in the future, thank you.

Thanks for the info, I didn't know about this backstory. There's an instrumental/BG demo version on youtube, it sounds even more MJ-ish:

Indeed! Wow.

Thanks to this thread I discovered some of Björk's newer works (I listen to her quite often but mostly the albums I already knew as I realized now), she's still fun and fascinating.

And the videos are always so colorful and creative! I have to be in a special mood to listen to Björk, but then I&#8217;m usually down the rabbit hole for hours.

She had a pretty gloomy phase with the album Vulnicura. Check out the video for Black Lake. Choose the highest quality setting and use headphones if you can to enjoy this 10 minute epic widescreen masterpiece.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YGn1pJIpZw8" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[ozemouze]

She had a pretty gloomy phase with the album Vulnicura. Check out the video for Black Lake. Choose the highest quality setting and use headphones if you can to enjoy this 10 minute epic widescreen masterpiece.

Well OK, I have to get her newer albums and give them due time and attention. It was absolutely brilliant, and even though it's about unbearable suffering and heartache, its beauty and dark melancholy feels strangely comforting to me. And those strings...

In a way it reminded me of Víg Mihály's music for Tarr Béla's films, the heartbreaking sadness and beauty of life and mankind:

[video=youtube;EMlQ04g0pDc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMlQ04g0pDc[/video]

Here's something more uplifting, a dreamy old drum & bass remix of All Is Full Of Love:

[video=youtube;LpHy641Ox4E]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LpHy641Ox4E[/video]

 

[JichaelMackson]

Ok guys, so I know and love the hits "army of me" and "human behavior", I remember being intrigued by the video as a kid of the latter song. I definitely have an interest for her music but I don't know where to start, her work is expansive and hard to digest, perhaps you guys can put me on my way?

Also thank you very much for that beautiful piece of music by Mihaly Vig. This is totally up my alley! Been meaning to watch those Bela Tarr films but I haven't found a chance yet.

 

[CaptainEoLove85]

Love Bjork. TBH, I decided to look into her music more when I heard about her being a MJ fan. Her music is great. So unique.

 

[ScreenOrigami]

In a way it reminded me of Víg Mihály's music for Tarr Béla's films, the heartbreaking sadness and beauty of life and mankind

This sounds fantastic! I will have to come back to it when I&#8217;m done with my latest migraine, so I can turn it all the way up on my headphones.

Ok guys, so I know and love the hits "army of me" and "human behavior", I remember being intrigued by the video as a kid of the latter song. I definitely have an interest for her music but I don't know where to start, her work is expansive and hard to digest, perhaps you guys can put me on my way?

That&#8217;s a tough one to answer, really. I&#8217;ve been following her from way back in the Sugarcubes days, and she is such a prolific artist that it&#8217;ll be hard to catch up, as she keeps creating and creating and creating.

I&#8217;d say, start watching all her music videos in roughly chronological order, so you can see how she developed as an artist over the years. She always put a lot of work into those videos and hired the best talent and explored the latest technologies. There are at least 3 or 4 music videos per album, so that should give you a good idea about what each album sounds like.

 

[code753cr]

Ok guys, so I know and love the hits "army of me" and "human behavior", I remember being intrigued by the video as a kid of the latter song. I definitely have an interest for her music but I don't know where to start, her work is expansive and hard to digest, perhaps you guys can put me on my way?

Also thank you very much for that beautiful piece of music by Mihaly Vig. This is totally up my alley! Been meaning to watch those Bela Tarr films but I haven't found a chance yet.

I would start with her core albums that made her career listening to "Debut", "Post" and "Homogenic"

Those are the most easy to listen to albums and will give you her foundation. I most definitely recommend watching her music videos for the songs that strike you most as visually her music videos are way ahead of her time. Her music is amazing but with the accompanied videos is due justice.

 

[ozemouze]

Love Bjork. TBH, I decided to look into her music more when I heard about her being a MJ fan. Her music is great. So unique.

I think that's a great thing, thanks to her love for MJ you discovered another great artist. Everybody wins.

I loved Björk since her solo debut in the 90's before the net/youtube days so it was a lot harder to get additional information on your faves: I listened to her music and tried to catch her videos on music channels and that was it. When I found out later (somewhere in the 2000's) that she was a fan of MJ it was a nice big bonus and made me quite happy.

I would start with her core albums that made her career listening to "Debut", "Post" and "Homogenic"

Those are the most easy to listen to albums and will give you her foundation.

I absolutely agree, just wanted to suggest the same. These albums are quite "approachable" but still 100% Björk.

You can't go wrong with her videos either, even though some of them still makes me freak out, haha, not necessarily in a bad sense though.

Also thank you very much for that beautiful piece of music by Mihaly Vig. This is totally up my alley! Been meaning to watch those Bela Tarr films but I haven't found a chance yet.

Sorry, it was a bit of a spoiler then, as the music is such an essential part of those films since their collaboration (it's from the Werckmeister Harmonies BTW which can be a good introduction to Tarr IMO, but that's a different topic ).

I think it&#8217;s not so unusual for people who love MJ for the way he created his music and films to also find joy in Björk&#8217;s art. While they&#8217;re very different in style, they&#8217;re equally unique.

That's nicely put. The final result of their work might be very different, but their creating process, vision about their art and unique way to see and interpret the world, not to mention their outstanding level of enthusiasm and genuine, energetic idealism (a very rare trait!) have quite much in common.