It was all about the voice.
The radio was on one day and I heard these lines:
- Today is a birthday
They're smoking cigars
He's got a chain of flowers
And sows a bird in her knickers
OK, I had no idea what this was about. But at that point it didn't matter as I'd been reeled in by that voice. The song was "Birthday" by the Sugarcubes and the singer was Björk Gudmundsdottir.
Now, I do realize that her voice is an acquired taste (though my acquisition process lasted all of two or three seconds), but it's such a unique instrument. Of all of the "weird mouth noise" female singers (including Nina Hagen, Kate Bush, the Cocteau Twins and Diamanda Galas), Björk seems to strike the right combination of humanity and weirdosity. She can go from a hushed & sexy whisper to a frightening shriek...all the in the same syllable.
At some point after my initial shock (and purchase of that fateful CD Life's Too Good) the Sugarcubes broke up and Björk went on to begin her solo career. Her post-Sugarcubes work has been populated with many stylistic shifts, emphasizing musics as dissimilar as jazz (Gling Glo) and beat-laden electronica (Homogenic).
Now all of the instruments have been jettisoned in favor of the purest one: the human voice. On Medulla, the highly textured layers of Vespertine are transformed into a symphony of vocal cords.
For highlights, let's look at the first four tracks.
On "Pleasure Is All Mine" we have Björk singing a very simple melody (with her own added harmony) before she begins the first verse, which is supported by Mike Patton and the Icelandic Choir. It might seem just a little bit formal if not for the various "voice-lets" that pop in from all angles: whispering, sighing, exhaling and generally providing an edge to the scene. I've read descriptions of the voices sometimes heard by schizophrenics. These could be the musical equivalents.
Article comments
1 - Eric Olsen
so now she's our Scandinavian Bobby McFerrin? Fascinating!
2 - Rodney Welch
I've been spinning that disc a lot. I think the title is Swedish for "I'm horny as a fucking dog."
3 - Justene
This review was chosen for Advance.net. You will be able to find it on newspaper sites including Cleveland.com.
4 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
good stuff mark. i never been much of a fan of Bjork, although i can see why she gets the praise she does (she was fantastic in Dancer In The Dark, also). I was intrigued enough by the yackings of a-capella carry on's in reviews i'd read to check out this album though. I don't know what i think of it. I don't know that i even like it especially. But i know it's amazing, regardless of personal taste.
And for some damn reason, having never thought anything remotely similar in the past, i find that album cover to be among the, um, "nicest" i've saw in some time.
ie, very sexy, is what.