Bjork - Biophilia

Man, I don't know how sincere she can be with any of this anymore

I remember Bjork from her Post/Homogenic period (I was like 12 at the time) and always remembered loving the videos she did, particularly the video for "I Miss You" (done by the creator of Ren & Stimpy!) which was so damn good and showed that she could not take herself so seriously for a minute and played like a demented version of the "Groove is in the Heart" video (which is like the greatest thing ever), only to find out that from Vespertine on she never really let loose again. Now it seems like she knows that everyone's expecting her to do weird things so she tries to blast everything into outer space without realizing that she's not really much of a songwriter. I mean she really seems like the kind of person who would go on and on in interviews or maybe her song lyrics about the importance of having fun and embracing your inner child and then put out music that no child could ever enjoy.

have you seen the "Triumph of a Heart" video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQB9d-MMIx0

Anyone watch her on the Colbert Report? I have to laugh at the anachronistic troubadour-yielding-iPad image and wish the interview was denser. Colbert's demonstration of the app was enough to convince me to finally download it though.

http://soundcloud.com/purplepr/bjork-crystalline-current

There is some nifty electro-"Closer" stuff going on here!

"Crystalline" is still the only song off of this album that I really get into. ;_;

this remix is fiyah tho! ^_^

Local independent record store owner's Facebook post today:
"Anyone else have a copy of Biophilia on LP that just LOVES to collect dust? No matter what I do I can't get rid of the static charge this record has. Maybe Bjork is playing some crafty Icelandic science trick on me"

well saw her last night performing a good portion of this and it was amazing. still not that keen on the album but as a live thing it was rad.

I still really like this!

was also there akm! Yes, inspiring show, and I haven't actually heard this album

Still really surprised at the muted response this album got on here. I much prefer it to her last two albums.

On a recent Bjork binge I decided to catch up and buy the Biophilia app. Despite all the Attenborough-narrated pomp and circumstance, I found it to be very disappointing, at least on my Galaxy S4 phone. Text was way too small to read and a lot of the apps were clunky and unresponsive. I wasn't sure how 'educational' it really was - the links between science, art and nature seemed tenuous to say the least, and the message seemed rather clouded. I didn't feel like I was learning anything new, about arpeggios, crystals or the cosmos.

The whole thing seemed very 'beta' (although I realise it came out a while ago now) and often it's hard to know what's supposed to be happening. The whole thing reminds me of those Virtuality machines from 1993 which is a shame because conceptually it could have been a really inventive and interesting app. As such it's an opportunity missed.

That said, I don't think the music/songs deserve the drubbing they received upthread. It's clear they've been designed specifically with the app in mind, so they had to be extremely minimal-sounding in order to work and the lyrics had to fit the educational objective. There are still some quite pretty and moving parts to it, and it's interesting to hear Bjork work with such barebones material.

She certainly hasn't 'lost it' - this is a noble but failed experiment.

Apps are the new multimedia CD-ROMs, along with all the attendant issues of archiving and upkeep. Just think about how many updates you have for apps on your devices over the past couple of months, along with operating system updates, no single artist run software app is going be realistically keep up with that. Shame as well, since these kinds of projects will be completely inaccessible in just a few years, perhaps only a couple of screenshots will likely exist.

This is true. It reminds me of early Flash-driven sites that were so clunky and complicated to negotiate you'd just give up. Jesus, I think it was the Skam site which was the worst of the lot. Literally impossible to use.

So, we know the producer of the new album:

In the new issue of The Fader, Arca reveals that he’s “the sole producer” of Bjork‘s new album.

Arca has released a brace of acclaimed solo records, but is best known for working on Kanye West’s Yeezus and FKA Twigs’ LP1. Earlier this month he announced his debut album Xen, which is due on Mute.

You can read the piece here. Arca has also released a new video, produced by regular collaborator Jesse Kanda for Xen‘s lead track ‘Thievery’. You can watch it below – it’s fairly NSFW.

Bjork, it’s worth noting, went to watch PC Music artists GFOTY and Danny L. Harle in London last week – she’s clearly keeping her eyes open for new producers.

(http://www.factmag.com/2014/09/30/arca-has-produced-the-next-bjork-album/)

Also, you can watch a teaser of the Biophilia Live movie here ("Moon").

ooooooh

Intrigued.

Totally. Arca is great, clearly a son of Bjork's own aesthetic and this is an inspired choice

Finding it difficult to get excited about any choice of producer here given the quality of her songwriting over the last ten years or so.

The Haxan Cloak and Total Freedom are among collaborators as well. This is going to be dark.

guess arca isn't the "sole producer", then?

but yeah, very excited to hear the haxan cloak is involved as well. i don't know total freedom.

funny, just came across these comments on Bjork by Aphex Twin in an old interview:

Why did you turn down Björk?

Björk was also on Tom’s (Jenkinson) case. She’s been on everyone’s case. She also did some stuff with Bogdan (Raczynski). He was going to do a track on her album and they didn’t use it. They were quite sort of crafty and business. They just wanted to give him ten percent but I think if you work with someone you should always get fifty percent. It doesn’t seem very respectful. But she doesn’t get involved with that stuff she has people doing it for her in case it goes wrong. It’s a bid sad in some ways. I mean she wants to work with the people she likes but at the same time she’s really obsessed with „this is the newest thing“, you know „goldfish memory“. For some reason people always think that the best things are the most recent things.

I’m actually quite surprised that Björk wanted to work with you. I would have thought that you are too established for her.

(laughing) Yeah, that’s what I thought. I mean she’s also worked with other old people like that string quartett and stuff like that. And they are not famous. If I really wanted to work with her I could make it happen but I’m not really that bothered. If I’d work with singers I’d rather work with someone no one has ever heard of. Like opera singers or things like that.

Wouldn’t you be interested in doing something with Björk the musician rather then with only Björk the vocalist?

Oh yeah. I always tell her that anyway. I always say to her: „I don’t understand why you get all these people you should just do it by yourself.“ And she’s been trying. She got her laptop and everything. Maybe she will do that when she’s really old and everyone thinks that she’s not pretty anymore. I think then she’ll have to do it. Because then she won’t be able to get all the little techno boys to work with her because they will be like „Björk? Oh yeah, you mean that old woman. I’m not going to work for her!“ At the moment she can just phone them up, talk some Icelandic and they will be willing to do everything. … With Björk she’s really business when it come to things like that. When you deal with Björk she‘s like: „Ok, I’m going to fax you the details and you are going to send me that…“ If I‘m going to do a track with someone I’d have to be their friend. I’d have to spend some time with them and you’d have to come around my house and drink fifty cups of tea and smoke some spliffs and get pissed. You can’t just send me the track. That’s really cold and I think she didn’t really understand because she has done it that way all her life. I think she has forgotten how to relate to people.

jeez rdj chill out

Maybe she will do that when she’s really old and everyone thinks that she’s not pretty anymore. I think then she’ll have to do it. Because then she won’t be able to get all the little techno boys to work with her because they will be like „Björk? Oh yeah, you mean that old woman. I’m not going to work for her!

jeez rdj

pretty certain that until the day she dies bjork will have a line around the block of people who would love to work with her

Let's go through the list of Aphex Twin remixes and imagine each of them trekking to his house, drinking 50 cups of tea, smoking spliffs and getting pissed. Surely he held everyone to the same standard.

26 mixes for hash

Collaboration =/ remix

Total Freedom is on track to eclipse Ornette as my favourite-ever American musician tbh, Karl you should check him out

tbf he did address the remix difference right after:

But you have worked with musicians as well in the past that you didn’t really know.

Yeah, but only with remixes and that was just to get some money. And that’s not really like working with someone either.

http://www.groove.de/2014/08/21/aphex-twin-groove-interview-2001-english/

Ah, that adds the necessary context. Now i'm going to have to find something else to be indignant about. Shouldn't take long.

RDJ sounds like a fucking tool in that interview. I love his music but he should steer clear from interviews, he always sounds like an agoraphobic downer.

Also he believes he is much smarter than he actually is.

Ironic that he is the one pointing that Bjork has forgotten how to relate to people.

sadly otm

operative word there may be "forgotten"; I assume RDJ never actually knew how to relate to people based on those comments

I don't remember giving this record proper listening time when it came out, but it sounds incredible now. Listening to the podcast series helped.

Maybe in 10 years I'll be spiritually prepared for Fossora, lol.

I always adored this album!!