971 Björk - Homogenic (1997)

 971 Björk - Homogenic (1997) 

Studio album - Experimental Art Pop




About the Act: 

Björk is a demented Scandinavian pixie. She has been making a musical living out of being professionally weird since her teens in the early 80s, with several bands, mostly Punk, but one Jazz Fusion, eventually making it fairly famous with The Sugarcubes. She and her pixie smile went solo in 1993 making an experimental name for herself with the aptly named "Debut" album. She has had 9 solo albums, or more, depending on how you count them, and how many fingers you have. She is from Iceland.


About the Album:

This is her third studio album, if you don't count her album of covers she made when she was eleven, and marked a turning away from a more poppy image and style into a more experimental area. It did pretty well commercially.


My History with this Album:

I have had a copy of this album on CD since shortly after it came out, but have not listened to it anywhere near as much as her first two albums. Consequently I was not very familiar with it.


Review:

So, this album is a combination of several things. Apparently it was a deliberate attempt to have one "sound" and it kind of achieves that. The bedrock is glitchy "drum and bass" style beats, often overdriven, and with electronica/trip-hop style processing. These are meaty, beaty, big and bouncy. Over this is laid a blanket of pads and strings, and then the whole thing is sugarcoated with sprinkles of other sounds and instruments, including cello, accordion and glass harmonica. That makes it sound simple, but it is often musically complex, with different elements in different time signatures and pulling against each other to create a delicious tension. Into this we inject the jam in the doughnut, the vocals. Björk's voice is distinctive and expressive, high and tinkly with a tiny residue of punk to it, but with the clarity of a glass bell, and the occasional growl. This cuts through everything to give a focal point. The lyrics are festooned with metaphor and evocative imagery, highly individual and eclectic. My favourite, probably, is "I tried to organise freedom, how Scandinavian of me".

And then there is the production, which is just exquisite. The sound is big, and everything can be picked out individually. It's lush and warm and crunchy and you can sink into it like a warm duvet.

I love it.

8/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3knDOJUQBAATXsKYLWO4k8

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL_PD_RD4vvcjjh0w_ohn1Fz4YVLmBLl9i

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homogenic


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