Björk | "Fossora”

[Hurricane Lee]

Damn. A Wu-Tang collaboration woulda be hot. I love how she regards them with the reverence they deserve though. Also, this is getting great reviews! I put it on late last night as I was trying to pass out but I couldn't focus on it LOL.

[Glove Slap]

Nov 28, 2017 1:40:40 GMT -5 Hurricane Lee said:

Also, this is getting great reviews! I put it on late last night as I was trying to pass out but I couldn't focus on it LOL.

Ms. Guðmundsdóttir is the true acclaimed Queen! Her Metacritic consistency is a sight to behold.

Vespertine: 88
Medulla: 84
Volta: 77
Biophilia: 79
Utopia: 80

+ also

Selmasongs: 76
Drawing Restraint 9: 67
Votlaic: 77
Bastards: 72
Mount Wittenberg Orca EP: 79

Her first 3 albums aren't on it, but aside from the initial US reviews for Debut by people who are probably dead now, they were all incredibly acclaimed too. Homogenic would most likely be in the 90s.

I haven't heard the new one yet, I usually need to be in a certain mood and mode of focus for most of her work from Medulla onward, but I'm always glad to see her still pushing forward. She's by far the most outward thinking Female artist post-Kate Bush.

Also, it keeps up her trend of great album covers for me, it's by far the most memorable one I've seen this year. I love every single one of them. She's like the inverse-Britney in that sense.

[Hurricane Lee]

I had written this off because I don't like flute unless it's in ratchet hip-hop and I detest birds in general (except for Mariah's epic "Breakdown" track) but...after playing the first 3 songs while severely under the influence, I have changed my mind and will be buying this. That said, I long for the days when Bjork flexed her creative muscle over actual SONGS with a semblance of structure, but hey, she stays bewitching and more than unique than anyone else currently in music.

[Zinc.]

Bjork's 'Debut': An Art-Pop Masterpiece Turns 25

Great write-up.

[George]

Fifteenth Time Lucky: Björk’s Incredible Grammy Awards Journey

Words by Valur Grettisson
Published December 10, 2018

The news came out yesterday that Björk has been nominated for the Grammys for her new album, ‘Utopia,’ in the Alternative Albums category. Whilst this in itself might not seem that surprising—she’s a major international artist, after all—there’s one aspect of it is. Because, like several other well-known geniuses—say, Stanley Kubrick and Leonardo Dicaprio (?) in the world of film, or The Velvet Underground and Jimi Hendrix in music—she has never gone home with a Grammy award trophy, despite being nominated a total of fifteen times.

Her first nomination was in 1994, for the memorable “Human Behaviour,” directed by the incredibly original artist Michel Gondry. It was none other than David Fincher who robbed Björk of the honour, for his incredibly poor video for The Rollings Stones’ “Love is Strong,” which ages as badly as cancer.

From 1996 until now, Björk received eight more best album nominations—amongst others for videos, vocal performances and so forth—at the Grammys—and what a ride it’s been. We thought it might be a good time to take look back at the nominees, over the years, who have bested this beloved daughter of Iceland.

In 1996, Björk was nominated for her second album, ‘Post’—one of her best albums, if you ask the Editor-in-Chief here at The Reykjavík Grapevine. This year, the Grammy competition was tough. Also in the running were the Foo Fighters, for their eponymous debut, PJ Harvey for her classic ‘To Bring You My Love,’ and The Presidents of the United States of America’s self-titled album.

So far, so good—you’s be forgiven for thinking she had this one in the bag. But no. The final contender, and ultimate winner, was the legendary “MTV Unplugged in New York” by none other than the iconic, era-defining alt-rock band Nirvana.

Fair enough.

If at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. Björk’s next nomination came only two years later for her ‘Homogenic,’ which, more or less, rewrote the rulebook on how to make a textured, lyrical electronica-pop crossover masterpiece.

Surely, this time, the Grammy would be hers. But who was she competing with? Brace yourself.

Little known English crooner David Bowie got the nod for his reinvention LP ‘Earthling’; big-beat duo The Chemical Brothers where nominated for ‘Dig Your Own Hole’; The Prodigy, too, for ‘The Fat of the Land.’ All good contestants, but c’mon man—’Homogenic’ is clearly the best.

Alas, again, there was a final competitor. This time, it was an LP you might have heard of—’OK Computer,’ by Radiohead.

Christ! How unlucky can you be? But with the power of hindsight, I’ll happily state the case that ‘Homogenic’ was a game changer, the effects of which can still be seen today. Radiohead wouldn’t manage such an influential album until ‘Kid A.’

So, third time lucky… right? Björk’s next nomination for the best album came in 2002 when she released another true favourite of her oeuvre: the beautifully crafted ‘Vespertine.’

The competition? Tori Amos, for ‘Strange Little Girls,’ Fatboy Slim’s ‘Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars,’ and Radiohead’s nowhere-near-as-good-as-OK-Computer ‘Amnesiac.’

This was it! It must be Björk’s year.

But no. The winner was a commercial indie smash hit: Coldplay’s ‘Parachutes.’

Thanks to that moment, we’re stilling all listening to bullshit colourful-jacket arena-rock. Although, sure, ‘Parachutes’ was one of Coldplay’s best albums, and did have an incredible moment at that time.

So… the shitshow must go on.

In 2005 Björk got nominated again, for her experimental voice-and-beats LP ‘Medúlla.’ Not her strongest effort, sure—but then again, neither was the competition. Couldn’t Björk beat Franz Ferdinand’s self-titled debut, PJ Harvey’s okay-ish ‘Uh Huh Her,’ and the forgettable ‘Good News for People Who Love Bad News’ by Modest Mouse?

Probably. But what won? Some band called Wilco. Not be confused with the UK home goods chain store, or the iconic 80s fantasy movie ‘Willow.’

I mean, come on. Björk was robbed this year. Franz Ferdinand’s album was presentable enough, but Wilco? Jeez.

In 2008, Björk was still going strong, releasing a robust album with striking visuals and an excellent live show: ‘Volta.’ The nominations were Lily Allen – ‘Alright, Still,’ The Arcade Fire for ‘Neon Bible,’ The Shins for ‘Wincing the Night Away’… it was looking good for Queen B.

The winner? A past their prime White Stripes, for ‘Icky Thump.’

There’s not so much to say at this point. The White Stripes were fantastic. And whatever happened to the Shins?

Five years later, Björk released perhaps her most ambitious effort yet—the amazing scientific/educational/Tesla-infused insanity of ‘Biophilia.’ This album arguably moved the needle on what an album even is—the concept around it was elaborate, imaginative, expansive project, including apps, an exhibition, and even an educational programme.

Now it must happen! The competition?

Fiona Apple – The Idler Wheel
M83 – Hurry Up, We’re Dreaming
Tom Waits – Bad as Me

But who won?

Are you sure you’re ready?

It was the Belgian one-hit-wonder Gotye, with his album ‘Making Mirrors.’

What’s that you say? No Tesla-coil generated bass? No app suite? No educational programme? Who cares, it’s the Grammys….

So, now we’re down to the last one. 2016 Björk released the deeply sincere ‘Vulnicura’ where she tackled the brutality of her divorce with Matthew Barney, poureding her heart out for her listeners. Stark, brave and beautiful.

Who would stand a chance against the now world-famous electronica queen, with the powerful emotions that arose from that album? Here are the competing nominees:

My Morning Jacket – The Waterfall
Tame Impala – Currents
Wilco – Star Wars

This is obviously in the bag. Right?

Not right.

The winner: Alabama Shakes with their album ‘Sound & Color.’

Wait, what? This is getting silly.

So… to today. Björk got her 15th nomination for the critically acclaimed ‘Utopia.’ This places her fourth in the pantheon of musicians who’ve been nominated without having actually won a Grammy. But even here, poor Björk is beaten—Snoop Dogg leads, with 17 unsuccessful nominations.

So. Fifteenth time lucky? The competition this year looks doable… Björk fellow nominees are:

Arctic Monkeys – Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino
Beck – Colors
David Byrne – American Utopia
St. Vincent – Masseduction

[SHOOTER]

I do agree that she’s long overdue for a Grammy. Although I love St. Vincent’s album, I wouldn’t be upset if she won this time.

[Hefty Hanna]

She won’t win but Björk never winning a Grammy is an absolute travesty and, quite frankly, makes the Grammy Awards seem like a laughing stock of a joke.

[George]

Björk Is Re-Releasing Vulnicura As a VR Experience

Björk’s 2015 album Vulnicura is being released again—as a VR experience. At the time of the album’s release, Björk experimented with VR in her videos for the album, including “Notget,” “Family,” “Stonemilker” and “Black Lake.” These videos were included as part of the Björk Digital exhibition which premiered in 2016 and toured for two years. Now, the full collection of videos is being widely released as a package on September 6 (Friday).

In a statement cited by Pitchfork, Björk discussed the long road to the full collection being released, and why she chose to devote so much time and effort to the project, which began with the production of the “Stonemilker” video in 2014. “It is too easy for musicians to turn pessimistic after CDs have evaporated,” she explained. “But I wanted to try to have courage to grow along with how 360 sound and vision tech was growing. With every challenge try to turn it into an additional gift for the ideology in the music.”

Björk, who has traditionally enjoyed releasing live, remixed, and multimedia-enhanced versions of her albums, also released live and strings-only versions of Vulnicura following its release. In August, the singer and songwriter announced a tour for her new stage show Cornucopia, as well as a deluxe box set version of her last album, 2017’s Utopia, featuring a collection of handmade wooden flutes that produce birdcalls. Gotta love Björk.

http://instagram.com/p/B19dXJul8pM

[George]

So happy to see her doing another acting role:

It was a shame she had such a traumatizing experience on Dancer in the Dark.

[Edith Puthie]

Rolling Stone's 500 Best Albums of All Time (2020)

[bat1990]

Here is Björk's very brief history on the Billboard sales and radio genre charts.

Song	Chart	Peak Position	Weeks Charted	Peak Week
Human Behaviour	Alternative	2	13	8/21/1993
Big Time Sensuality	Alternative	5	14	2/5/1994
Army of Me	Alternative	21	9	4/29/1995
Hidden Place	Single Sales	50	3	9/1/2001
Earth Intruders	Digital Songs	65	1	4/28/2007

[George]

She’s doing a series of live stream concerts this month and in November:

http://instagram.com/p/CS9AbTYtYd4

Plus, her CORNUCOPIA tour will stop in LA in 2022:

[George]

Her return to films opens this weekend!

[Eqbk]

[Carlitoz]

And her album is coming soon!!! I can't wait!!!

[Carlitoz]

Fossora!!!  September 30!!!

[Deleted]

I am loving the visuals so far! And the first single is "Atopos", which going by the way the word sounds, I am loving it lol

[bat1990]

The "Atopos" video is here! We need a thread title change.

[Deleted]

Video is fine, nothing groundbreaking. But the song is kinda letting me down. I remember disliking so much the preview tracks from Biophilia, and now that's my favorite Björk album, so I am hoping for something like that here.

[Deleted]

Björk - Ovule

[Carlitoz]

[George]

Album is out:

[Deleted]

If she doesn't win a Grammy for Fossora, I will riot! She has been passed with all her albums (except Debut, which rightfully wasn't nominated) I mean, she is THE artist of this generation!

[Hurricane Lee]

This album is WILD!

[God]

I was distracted during my first listen of Fossora yesterday but no much so to recognize that I was pleased with what I heard. Utopia has done absolutely nothing for me since its release so my expectations were pretty low this time around.

But anyway, really enjoying Sonic Symbolism so far! I'm looking forward to revisiting Biophilia after this week's episode.

[Deleted]

Oct 1, 2022 10:01:03 GMT -5 God said:

I'm looking forward to revisiting Biophilia after this week's episode.

Do so! Biophilia is my favorite Björk album ♥

[HEADOFTHEPACK]

Prefer this to Utopia which was technically great but maybe a bit too long/meandering/samey?

[Hurricane Lee]

The more I play it, the more I fall in love with it. That said, I think Vespertine followed by Medulla will always be my favorite albums of hers, as full bodies of work. Some of Fossora reminds me of Medulla, actually.

[Troublemaker]

I still can’t believe she and Tori Amos have never won a Grammy. I would really hate to see her lose to something subpar especially after hearing this masterpiece.

[SHOOTER]

Oct 3, 2022 18:35:45 GMT -5 Troublemaker said:

I still can’t believe she and Tori Amos have never won a Grammy. I would really hate to see her lose to something subpar especially after hearing this masterpiece.

Yeah, it’s mind boggling to think she hasn’t been rewarded once yet also not surprising.

She’s lost to Nirvana, Radiohead, Coldplay, Wilco, The White Stripes, Gotye, Alabama Shakes, and Beck. None of them will be nominated next year so maybe this will finally be her turn? Trying to think of who her major competition might be but also kinda hard to know what the academy will decide to classify as “alternative music”.