756 Björk - Post (1995)

 756 Björk - Post (1995)

Studio Album - Experimental 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 Björk's second album, recorded in the Bahamas, and produced by herself and several co-producers. It is considered by some to be one of the best albums of the 90s. 

My History with this Album:

I have had a copy for, well, since it came out, I think. It was one of my early CDs along with Debut. I have played it quite a few times and know it well.

Review:

It's easy, at 25+ year's distance to take Björk for granted, and to forget how ground-breaking she was at the time, how odd and eclectic, and how cool you were assumed to be if you listened to her. At this distance I now know that she was not alone in the weirdness she purveyed, but what she achieved, almost uniquely, was to bring that experimental thing to a mainstream audience. In this she was like a 90s Pink Floyd, popularising the odd. Of course it helps that she looks so cute and mischievous, although over her career she seems to have paid as much attention to her visual image as David Bowie did.

So, musically, there are quite a few strands here, trip-hop was emerging, and I can hear the Massive Attack and Portishead elements in here, with lo-fi, deliberate scratches, and slow beats. There's industrial and almost noise electronica, with big phat electronic bass sounds, and then in the middle "It's Oh So Quiet", which is big band jazz. These electronic elements are then blended with acoustic instruments, including folky sounds, and minimalistic pianos, sampled rhythm loops, Dulcimer, String sections, cello, harpsichord, trumpet... nothing is off limits when it comes to making the textures she wants. It's intricate and meticulously recorded, sampled, sequenced and produced.

So, sonically, she is not afraid to go off the beaten track. This is also true harmonically. Some tracks conform to musical normality, but some tweak, bend, break and crash through those norms.  Not that is doesn't work, or is discordant, it's just unusual. At one point, for example, the singing and gentle background keyboard chords are definitely in the same key. The electronic bass is somewhere in a different key altogether. 

Vocally, well I love Björk's voice, she has so many modes and expressions, from strong, and loud to gentle and vulnerable, and she seems to put so much of herself into her singing. She has a particular growl she uses, and a tendency to mis-pronounce some English words ("can" becomes "chan" for example) which I suspect is deliberate.

And so we come to the lyrics and subject matter. Once again we are off the beaten track. I'd love to list what all of the songs are about (those I can work out), but I will limit myself to Headphones, a love song to her headphones, Army of Me, a song about being angry, Hyperballad, which is a weird fantasy about living on top of a mountain, The Modern Things, which is about inventions waiting to be invented, and getting irritated by the noises of dinosaurs, and even a song called "I Miss You" is about a relationship that has not yet happened. The lyrics are often bizarre and picked for good effect. I want to draw out two examples: "I suck my tongue in remembrance of you" and from "I Miss You", almost shouted in frustration and outrage: "When will I get my cuddle?!"

This is a seriously good album, inventive, curious, human, evocative, experimental and superbly bonkers.

9/10


Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/3p7WXDBxhC5KS9IFXnwae7

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBaC7nMz00WjIhsBb1ZMWMCi24URMSQRF

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_(Bj%C3%B6rk_album)



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

724 Queen - A Day at the Races (1976)

Image
 724 Queen - A Day at the Races (1976) Studio Album - Art Rock About the Act: Queen were and kind of still are, a mega-rock band from England. Their classic line-up was Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon. They were formed in 1970 and took the world by storm, but especially the UK and Japan. Freddie famously died from HIV-related issues in 1991, but before he died they had been working on a last album with him, and their 15th studio album. After that, they continued after a fashion, with first Paul Rodgers, then Adam Lambert taking over vocals, I think officially as guests. John Deacon left in 1998, so Queen are now effectively Brian and Roger. About the Album: This was their fifth studio album, the first without long-term production partner Roy Thomas Baker, and the first after they had smashed the world with Bohemian Rhapsody. My History with this Album: I first heard this album aged about 13 or 14, with my schoolfriend Tim. We started a pact, savin...
Read more

785 Jackson Browne - The Pretender (1976)

Image
 785 Jackson Browne - The Pretender (1976) Studio Album - Rock About the Act: Jackson Browne is an American Singer/Songwriter. He wrote some songs, and did some singing, and played guitar and piano, and seemingly still does all of those things, but maybe not right now. He started in the late 60s in the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, then writing songs for other people, and finally recording them himself. He has won awards, sold lots of records, been an activist and done charity stuff. In 2015 Rolling Stone ranked him as 37th in the list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.  About the Album: This was his fourth studio album. There are 32 different musicians credited over the 8 tracks. My History with this Album: None Review: In 1976, if you were doing singer/songwriter rock then it was popular, but that also meant there was a lot of competition. I don't know this album, and Jackson Browne has not been particularly on my radar. On this album I cannot help but be reminded o...
Read more

661 LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening (2010)

Image
 661 LCD Soundsystem - This is Happening (2010) Studio Album - Electronica About the Act: LCD Soundsystem are an American Dance-Punk band from Brooklyn, who have existed from 2002, with a gap between 2011-2015. They are led by James Murphy, who is also the co-founder of the DFA Records label. About the Album: This was their third studio album My History with this Album: None Review: I'm not going to be able to describe them without referencing other bands, sorry. They are kind of a mix of electronic dancy stuff with 80s retro dance electronic, and a bit of indie and more modern sounds. When he sings, Mr Murphy can sound like a turn-of-the-80s robotic kind of person, like David Bowie, Gary Numan or The Human League. A lot of the backing sounds are kind of 80s too, with some drum machines and analog-style synths. When he talks, it sounds more like Talking Heads. One song really reminds me of Eurythmics.  Musically, it's pretty simple, using a lot of repetition. Why use 50 notes ...
Read more