Bjork Homogenic

After cathartic statements like Homogenic, the role of Selma in Dancer in the Dark, and the film's somber companion piece, Selmasongs, it's not surprising that Björk's first album in four years is less emotionally wrenching. But Vespertine isn't so much a departure from her previous work as a culmination of the musical distance she's traveled; within songs like the subtly sensual "Hidden Place" and "Undo" are traces of Debut and Post's gentle loveliness, as well as Homogenic and Selmasongs' reflective, searching moments…

After cathartic statements like Homogenic, the role of Selma in Dancer in the Dark, and the film's somber companion piece, Selmasongs, it's not surprising that Björk's first album in four years is less emotionally wrenching. But Vespertine isn't so much a departure from her previous work as a culmination of the musical distance she's traveled; within songs like the subtly sensual "Hidden Place" and "Undo" are traces of Debut and Post's gentle loveliness, as well as Homogenic and Selmasongs' reflective, searching moments. Described by Björk as "about being on your own in your house with your laptop and whispering for a year and just writing a very peaceful song that tiptoes," Vespertine's vocals seldom rise above a whisper, the rhythms mimic heartbeats and breathing, and a pristine, music-box delicacy unites the album into a deceptively fragile, hypnotic whole…

Volumen 2 is an updated version of Björk's greatest musicvideos "Volumen" from 1999. It is almost needless to say, that these are some of the best, most innovative videos ever made. Björk is always able to find and collaborate with groundbreaking artists (not only directors as but remixers, producers etc. as well) Take for instance the "All is full of love" video - Chris Cunningham have created a modern classic. Even some of my friends (who hates Björk!!!) admits, that this musicvideo is the best they've ever seen. Until now "Alarm call" has only been available on VHS or on a special japanese 2 dvd edition of Volumen.

It's hard to accuse Björk of making music influenced by commercial or critical expectations at any point in her career, but her post-Homogenic work is even more focused on following her bliss, whether that means acting and singing in Lars Von Trier's grim musical Dancer in the Dark; crafting tiptoeing laptop lullabies on Vespertine; or, in the case of Medúlla, sculpting an album out of almost nothing but singing and vocal samples. The album's title and concept refer to the purest essence of something, and Medúlla explores both the ritual power of the human voice and some of the most essential themes of Björk's music in a way that's both primal and elaborate. It took a large cast of characters to make the album's seemingly organic sound, including vocalists ranging from Icelandic and British choirs to Inuit singers to Mike Patton and Robert Wyatt…

Ice is an instrumental tribute to the music of Björk. It features ten tracks culled from the Icelandic performer's post-Sugarcubes output, focusing specifically on material from Debut, Post, and Homogenic. What's remarkable – or perhaps unremarkable – is the ease with which many of these songs are translated to violin, viola, cello, and bass. Björk is one of the few artists working successfully within the increasingly narrow parameters of popular music while accessing multiple genres and influences. This means that her music is as likely to feature drum programming as it is a full section of reeds. That said, Homogenic's "Joga" appears here, stripped of the stippling drum'n'bass that skittered across the surface of the strings in the original. Instead, unadorned violin and viola employ the full emotional range of the melody. A bass stalks the bottom end of "Army of Me" as eerie reverb and chorus effects make the violins sound like carrion birds calling to one another from the parapets. And Debut's "Big Time Sensuality and "Human Behavior" end up resembling the more urgent material from Björk's later solo efforts. An example of this is "Bachelorette." The original crossed its hissing, crackling electronics with a plaintive string section. The Ice version removes the beats and the vocal, but retains the strings. Like "Joga," "Bachelorette"'s sad, sweeping melody is rendered beautifully by the symphonic arrangement. While Ice was not endorsed by the artist herself, the album is such a success that it could stand next to Björk's own Telegram remix LP as a document of her songs' limitless potential for sonic exploration. ~ Johnny Loftus. Allmusic.com

Equal parts retrospective, autobiography, and objet d'art, Björk's Family Tree gives fans a very special glimpse at the creative processes behind her work, collecting two decades' worth of her music and words in a unique, lavishly packaged set. A white paper sleeve embossed with work by Icelandic artist Gabriela Fridriksdottir holds a translucent, petal-pink plastic case containing five 3" discs of "Roots," "Beats," and "Strings"; a collection of Björk's favorite songs from her albums; "Words," a booklet of selected lyrics; and an essay by Björk explaining the genesis of this set, which manages to use phrases like "taxonomic structure" and "a new Icelandic modern musical language" without sounding too ambitiously academic…

Björk – Biophilia (2011)
Vinyl rip in 24-bit/96kHz & 16-bit/44.1kHz | FLAC (Tracks), artworks | Stereo | 950 Mb, 248 Mb | 5% RAR Recovery
Styles: Electronic, Rock | Filesonic + FilePost
One Little Indian Records

Biophilia is easily her most ambitious project as a whole, but its music is more about completion than competition, even against herself.