HYPERBALLOT: ILM Artist Poll #88 -- Björk Resultsness

The top ten, and especially the top five, feels very coherent (if not uniform) - I think if you played these songs in a row to someone with only a broad notion of Bjork's work and said "this is her best work" they would be surprised at the consistency of tropes and motifs and the relative lack of wild eclecticism.

(of course this is assuming that 2 and 1 are J and H respectively)

https://cansesclasseled.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/02-joga.jpg

02. Jóga (Homogenic, 1997) 1,376 points; 33 votes; 4 first-place votes

https://cansesclasseled.files.wordpress.com/2018/05/01-hyperballad.jpg

01. Hyperballad (Post, 1995) -- 1,558 points; 37 votes; 9 first-place votes

01. Hyperballad (Post, 1995) -- 1,558 points; 37 votes; 9 first-place votes
02. Jóga (Homogenic, 1997) 1,376 points; 33 votes; 4 first-place votes
03. Pagan Poetry (Vespertine, 2001) -- 1,171 points; 28 votes; 3 first-place votes
04. Bachelorette (Homogenic, 1997) -- 1,170 points; 31 votes; 1 first-place vote
05. Unravel (Homogenic, 1997) -- 1,121.5 points; 28 votes; 3 first-place votes
06. Isobel (Post, 1995) -- 1,043.5 points; 27 votes; 1 first-place vote
07. Venus as a Boy (Debut, 1993) -- 1,037.5 points; 27 votes; 1 first-place vote
08. Hunter (Homogenic, 1997) -- 1,037 points; 25 votes; 1 first-place vote
09. All is Full of Love (Homogenic, 1997) -- 1,035.5 points; 26 votes; 1 first-place vote
10. Hidden Place (Vespertine, 2001) -- 944 points; 25 votes; 1 first-place vote

11. Stonemilker (Vulnicura, 2015) -- 931 points; 26 votes
12. Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right) (Medúlla, 2004) -- 904 points; 26 votes
13. Undo (Vespertine, 2001) -- 901.5 points; 25 votes; 1 first-place vote
14. Human Behavior (Debut, 1993) -- 880 points; 23 votes
15. Cocoon (Vespertine, 2001) -- 835.5 points; 21 votes; 4 first-place votes
16. Army of Me (Post, 1995) -- 816 points; 22 votes
17. Possibly Maybe (Post, 1995) -- 780 points; 20 votes
18. It's Not Up To You (Vespertine, 2001) -- 743.5 points; 20 votes; 1 first-place vote
19. Unison (Vespertine, 2001) -- 700.5 points; 19 votes; 1 first-place vote
20. Big Time Sensuality (Debut, 1993) -- 693 points; 19 votes; 1 first-place vote

21. Black Lake (Vulnicura, 2015) -- 640 points; 19 votes; 1 first-place vote
22. All Neon Like (Homogenic, 1997) -- 596.5 points; 16 votes
23. 5 Years (Homogenic, 1997) -- 566.5 points; 15 votes
24. Triumph of a Heart (Medúlla, 2004) -- 565 points; 16 votes
25. Aurora (Vespertine, 2001) -- 550 points; 17 votes
26. Pluto (Homogenic, 1997) -- 543 points; 15 votes; 1 first-place vote
27. Mouth's Cradle (Medúlla, 2004) -- 526 points; 14 votes
28. One Day (Debut, 1993) -- 521.5 points; 15 votes
29. The Modern Things (Post, 1995) -- 515.5 points; 16 votes
30. Enjoy (Post, 1995) -- 513 points; 14 votes

31. Come To Me (Debut, 1993) -- 496 points; 13 votes; 1 first-place vote
32. Alarm Call (Homogenic, 1997) -- 478.5 points; 15 votes
33. Play Dead (The Young Americans soundtrack, 1993) -- 472.5 points; 12 votes
34. I Miss You (Post, 1995) -- 458 points; 12 votes
35. Desired Constellation (Medúlla, 2004) -- 456 points; 13 votes
36. Immature (Homogenic, 1997) -- 420.5 points; 13 votes
37. Crying (Debut, 1993) -- 408 points; 11 votes
38. Heirloom (Vespertine, 2001) -- 391 points; 13 votes
39. The Anchor Song (Debut, 1993) -- 383 points; 10 votes
40. Arisen My Senses (Utopia, 2017) -- 349 points; 12 votes

41. Domestica ("Pagan Poetry" B-side, 2001) -- 332 points; 10 votes
42. Crystalline (Biophilia, 2011) -- 330.5 points; 11 votes
43. Oceania (Medúlla, 2004) -- 308.5 points; 10 votes
44. Wanderlust (Volta, 2007) -- 303.5 points; 9 votes
45. Scatterheart (Selmasongs, 2000) -- 300 points; 8 votes
46. Where is the Line (Medúlla, 2004) -- 294.5 points; 8 votes
47. Headphones (Post, 1995) -- 289 points; 9 votes
48. It's Oh So Quiet (Post, 1995) -- 286 points; 8 votes
49. Violently Happy (Debut, 1993) -- 282 points; 8 votes
50. I've Seen It All (Selmasongs, 2000) -- 268.5 points; 8 votes

51. Blissing Me (Utopia, 2017) -- 258 points; 8 votes
52. Sun in My Mouth (Vespertine, 2001) -- 257.5 points; 7 votes
53. Virus (Biophilia, 2011) -- 255 points; 7 votes
54. Lionsong (Vulnicura, 2015) -- 254 points; 8 votes
55. Amphibian (Being John Malkovich soundtrack, 1999) -- 224 points; 6 votes
56. Mutual Core (Biophilia, 2011) -- 222 points; 8 votes
57. There's More to Life Than This (Debut, 1993) -- 217 points; 7 votes
58. Generous Palmstroke ("Hidden Place" B-side, 2001) -- 216 points; 6 votes
59. An Echo, A Stain (Vespertine, 2001) -- 210 points; 5 votes
60. Quicksand (Vulnicura, 2015) -- 196.5 points; 7 votes

(claps)

Will upload the spreadsheet this evening for 61-130something

I'm very happy with the results. Few songs can rival "Hyperballad". It's timeless and totally deserves the top spot.

Also, Eric H. -- amazing job, well done and thank you for this! I've enjoyed this poll so much.

great poll Eric, thank you so much!

and those were amazing images. I'm still not sure where they came from or how you made them

9 first place votes? golly. I mean, it's alright.

Thanks Eric H for running this poll, it was brilliant to have two weeks of Bjork, the rollout was fantastic and the pictures were just superb, and some more superlatives too if I can think of any, thanks!

Fantastic work Eric.

Great work Eric, thanks. Excellent graphics!

gonna echo everyone else's praise for the images, real good stuff uppercase

*^*

^me agreeing that Eric did a great job, and also knocked out on the floor with the greatness of the music contained within^

great poll eric. bjork is fucking awesome.

OTM

My ballot

I mean

I don't know how many times I can listen, mystified, to "Vespertine"'s singles and "Homogenic"'s lesser tracks and wonder what everybody else is hearing

Or why people don't hear how gorgeous Biophilia's dark spots are

But overall yay Bjork and especially yay Eric H.!

Tracks

1. Hyper-Ballad (1)
2. Cocoon (15)
3. Who Is It (12)
4. Human Behaviour (14)
5. Venus As A Boy (7)
6. Hollow
7. An Echo, A Stain (59)
8. Stonemilker (11)
9. Big Time Sensuality (20)
10. Joga (2)
11. The Anchor Song (39)
12. Enjoy (30)
13. Dark Matter
14. My Spine
15. Scatterheart (45)
16. Unravel (5)
17. Hunter (8)
18. Triumph Of The Heart (24)
19. It’s Oh So Quiet (48)
20. One Day (28)
21. Mutual Core (56)
22. Black Lake (21)
23. Isobel (6)
24. Crystalline (42)
25. Aurora (25) — (I meant Unison (19) here! whoops. The strings on it are 10/10)
26. Crying (37)
27. Headphones (47)
28. Pluto (26)
29. Atom Dance
30. Heirloom (38)

Albums

1. Post
2. Debut
3. Homogenic
4. Biophilia
5. Vulnicura

My list was

1. Big Time Sensuality
2. Alarm Call
3. Overture (Vespertine Live version)
4. I Miss You
5. Karvel
6. Virus
7. Isobel
8. Crying
9. 5 Years
10. Enjoy
11. Declare Independence
12. I Go Humble
13. Hunter
14. Human Behavior
15. Hyperballad
16. Stonemilker
17. Domestica
18. Bachelorette
19. Triumph of a Heart
20. Army Of Me
21. Who Is It
22. Wanderlust
23. My Snare/Nature Is Ancient
24. Innocence
25. Hidden Place
26. One Day
27. Mutual Core
28. It's Not Up To You
29. All Is Full Of Love
30. It's Oh So Quiet

Come To Me
All is Full of Love (single version)
Possibly Maybe
Hyperballad
Undo
Isobel
Bachelorette
One Day
Unison
Hunter
Human Behavior
Triumph of a Heart
Violently Happy
Pagan Poetry
Unravel
Joga
Headphones
Hidden Place
Desired Constellation
Stonemilker
I Miss You
Army of Me
The Gate
I Go Humble
Black Lake
Who Is It
I’ve Seen It All
Aurora
Charlene
Ambergris March

1. Joga
2. Pagan Poetry
3. Hyperballad
4. Come To Me
5. The Modern Things
6. Unravel
7. Cocoon
8. Play Dead
9. I Go Humble
10. Isobel
11. Hunter
12. Big Time Sensuality
13. Immature
14. Venus as a Boy
15. Saint 
16. I Miss You
17. One Day
18. Possibly Maybe
19. Hidden Place
20. Mouth’s Cradle
21. It's Not Up To You
22. Enjoy
23. Crying 
24. Mutual Core
25. Blake Lake
26. Bachelorette
27. Arisen My Senses
28. Charlene
29. Undo
30. Courtship

TRACKS

1. Hyperballad (1)
2. Pagan Poetry (3)
3. Unravel (5)
4. Stonemilker (11)
5. All Is Full of Love (9)
6. Arisen My Senses (40)
7. Who Is It (12)
8. Pneumonia
9. Bachelorette (4)
10. Losss
11. Thunderbolt
12. Undo (13)
13. Lionsong (54)
14. Hunter (8)
15. Isobel (6)
16. Mutual Core (56)
17. Domestika (41)
18. The Anchor Song (39)
19. Body Memory
20. Unison (19)
21. Charlene
22. Pleasure Is All Mine
23. Possibly Maybe (17)
24. New World
25. Venus as a Boy (7)
26. Storm
27. Oceania (43)
28. Headphones (47)
29. Atom Dance
30. So Broken

ALBUMS

1. Homogenic
2. Post
3. Vulnicura
4. Utopia
5. Medúlla

my ballot

Ranked:
Cocoon
Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left Carry My Pain on the Right)
Army of Me
Pagan Poetry
Black Lake
Venus As a Boy
Joga
I Miss You
One Day
Unravel
Possibly Maybe
Crying
Immature
Undo
Amphibian
Like Someone in Love

Unranked:
Isobel
Hidden Place
Crystalline
Stonemilker
Hyperballad
Aurora
Bachlorette
It's Not Up To You
Where Is The Line
Claimstaker
Generous Palmstroke
Future Forever
Human Behaviour
Alarm Call

Albums:
Vespertine
Homogenic
Post
Debut
Vulnicura

Music Videos:
Human Behaviour
It's Oh So Quiet
Wanderlust
Venus As a Boy
Who Is It?

My ballot

Pagan Poetry (3)
Bachelorette (4)
Play Dead (33)
Hunter (8)
Joga (2)
Stonemilker (11)
Human Behaviour (14)
Isobel (6)
Arisen My Senses (40)
Family
Wanderlust (44)
Pluto (26)
Where Is The Line? (46)
Cocoon (15)
I Go Humble
Náttúra
Hidden Place (10)
Who Is It? (12)
There's More To Life Than This (57)
Triumph of a Heart (24)
Hyperballad (1)
5 Years (23)
It's Not Up To You (18)
Black Lake (21)
It's In Our Hands
Alarm Call (32)
Crystalline (42)
All Is Full Of Love (9)
Atlantic
Cvalda

My ranked ballot:

Jóga
Hyperballad
All Neon Like
Desired Constellation
Isobel
The Anchor Song
Aurora
Unravel
Oceania
Sun in My Mouth
Mouth's Cradle
Immature
Play Dead
Storm
Who Is It
Venus as a Boy
The Modern Things
History of Touches
Hunter
Thunderbolt
Crying
Generous Palmstroke
Pagan Poetry
Heirloom
Possibly Maybe
Blissing Me
Bachelorette
Big Time Sensuality
I See Who You Are
Scatterheart

Great work Eric H! This might have been the most, er, useful poll I've participated in: I'd started taking Björk for granted again. A period of immersion has clarified just how much I like her, right through to Utopia.

Both "Debut" and "Post" are wholly represented (barring "Like Someone In Love" and "Aeroplane", and "You've Been Flirting Again" and "Cover Me")

"Homogenic" is entirely represented, and in the top 40.

"Volta" has only one song in there ("Wanderlust", 44)-- yay, glad there are no weird stans for "Earth Intruders" around here

I love seeing other people's ballots and all the b-sides.. I wish there was an easy playlist of Bjork B-sides that I could just immerse myself into, I feel like having to seek them out individually doesn't do them favours

Pagan Poetry
Big Time Sensuality
Unravel
Hyper-ballad
Undo
Stonemilker
Venus as a Boy
Future Forever
Hunter
I Miss You
Tabula Rasa
Human Behavior
Violently Happy
Unison
Joga
Hidden Place
Family
Army of Me
Features Creatures
Mouth's Cradle
Enjoy
Quicksand
Alarm Call
Harm of Will
The Gate
It's Not Up To You
Atom Dance
Arisen My Senses
Cocoon
Virus

Albums

Vespertine
Utopia
Vulnicura
Debut
Homogenic

Videos

Wanderlust
Big Time Sensuality
Pagan Poetry
Unison
The Gate

Interesting that three of the polls shared so far have 'I Go Humble' highly ranked. If it were on Post I'm sure it would be top 30.

Tracks on my ballot that didn't make it:

7. Scary
11. Future Forever
14. Aeroplane
17. Notget
18. Vertebrae By Vertebrae
19. Mouth's Cradle
22. Pleasure Is All Mine
23. The Gate
24. Sod Off
27. Dark Matter
28. Cover Me

I wish Future Forever had placed!

XP: Whoops, "Mouth's Cradle" did place, of course

i wont post my whole ballot but "declare independence" was my number one track and "undo" was my two, everything else i put in unranked

my ranked ballot:
Hyperballad
All Is Full Of Love
Undo
Pagan Poetry
Unravel
Joga
It's Not Up To You
Unison
Stonemilker
Venus as a Boy
Pluto
Play Dead
One Day
Isobel
Aurora
It's In Our Hands
In The Musicals
Sun In My Mouth
Cocoon
Army of Me
Hunter
Big Time Sensuality
Who Is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)
Hidden Place
Family
New World
Alarm Call
Human Behaviour
The Modern Things
Black Lake

I'm shocked that It's In Our Hands didn't place at all

Great poll with great images, thanks for running this Eric

Well done, sir! Bjork is unquestionably my favorite artist of the 90s-10s. And Ind think she'll continue to do fascinating thing.

My lists:

Albums

01. Homogenic (10.0)
02. Post (1995) [9.7]
03. Medulla (2004) [9.5]
04. Vespertine (2001) [8.3]
05. Vulnicura (2015) [8.0]
06. Debut (1993) [7.7]
07. Biophilia (2011) [7.2]
08. Utopia (2017) [6.0]
09. Drawing Restraint 9 (2005) [5.3]
10. Semlasongs (2000) [5.1]
11. Volta (3.5)

Songs:

01. Hyper-Ballad ('Post')
02. Joga ('Homogenic')
03. Bachelorette ('Homogenic')
04. The Anchor Song (Live w/ Brodsky Quartet) ('Debut')
05. Unravel ('Homogenic')
06. Hunter ('Homogenic')
07. Where Is The Line ('Medulla')
08. Visu Vatnsenda-Rosu ('Post' b-side)
09. Unison ('Vespertine')
10. All Neon Like ('Homogenic')
11. Who Is It ('Medulla')
12. 5 Years ('Homogenic')
13. Possibly Maybe ('Post')
14. Generous Palmstroke ('Vespertine' b-side)
15. Oxygen (Post-era, released by Evelyn Glennie)
16. Cocoon ('Vespertine')
17. Army of Me ('Post')
18. All Is Full of Love ('Homogenic')
19. Mouths Cradle ('Medulla')
20. Submarine ('Medulla')
21. Domestica ('Vespertine' b-side)
22. The Modern Things ('Post')
23. Black Lake ('Vulnicura')
24. Vokuro ('Medulla')
25. Isobel ('Post')
26. Enjoy ('Post')
27. Desired Constellation ('Medulla')
28. Undo ('Vespertine')
29. Alarm Call ('Homogenic')
30. Stonemilker ('Vulnicura')

Remixes/Versions:

01. Anchor Song (Strings Version)
02. Isobel (Deodato Mix)
03. Black Lake (Viola Organista Version)
04. Hyperballad (Girls Blouse Mix)
05. I Miss You (Dobie Part 1)
06. All Is Full of Love (Strings)
07. Sun In My Mouth (Recomposed By Ensemble)
08. Oceania (Piano & Vocal)
09. Bjork - Earth Intruders (Lexx Remix)
10. Wanderlust (Ratatat Remix)

Wow surprising but pleasing results for Volta tracks, it was really raved about bitd (maybe not on ILX?), but i never understood the hype.

Great poll, wish i'd had time to play along but my Top 10 would have been pretty much The Hits.

Thanks Eric for running this -- I know next to nothing about Björk and this poll is a big help as I dig in.

Undo was a bit robbed, man that's an incredible tune.

Internet high five to the other Cocoon #1 votes.

― ✖✖✖ (Moka), Friday, May 11, 2018 6:58 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

High five!

Thanks so much for doing this Eric, it was in typical charm with gorgeous images to boot.

Thanks everyone! The first batch of images were straight up Google search results, but on Tuesday, I discovered a French fanpage that has a treasure trove of shots to choose from ... I wanted to, as much as possible, avoid using stills from the music videos because, among other reasons, they're just not available in good quality.

FULL RESULTS

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1go55y2oWRttEQFnC8VnzSu9MrWgdQirfZK8FW_sBvKQ/edit?usp=sharing

The next 17 tracks, if it had been a full 77 poll:

Pleasure is All Mine
You've Been Flirting Again
Declare Independence
I Go Humble
Future Forever
New World
History of Touches
I See Who You Are
So Broken
Family
Earth Intruders
Tabula Rasa
It's in Our Hands
Gate, The
Storm
Charlene
Atom Dance

Of that group, honestly, I think "I See Who You Are" is my favorite. Maybe "You've Been Flirting Again," tho it's a tough listen most of the time.

Sleep deprivation and the concurrent rollouts have me imagining "Stonemilker" as a particularly devastating Eurovision entry just now. Representing Iceland, naturally. I see a whole continent weeping in unison as the strings step up a notch in the "we have emotional needs" part... Anyway, I'm glad that almost 2/3 of y'all voted for it!

I've been out watching Claire Denis' latest and getting drinks. "Pagan Poetry" sounds fabulous at the moment.

Tracks:

Unison
Possibly Maybe
All is Full of Love
Verandi
Come to Me
Mouths Cradle
Virus
Desired Constellation
Amphibian
Who is It (Carry My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)
Hyperballad
Aurora
Immature
It's Not Up to You
Karvel
Isobel
Big Time Sensuality
5 Years
One Day
I Go Humble
Domestica
Headphones
Black Lake
Pluto
Arisen My Senses
Undo
Cosmogony
Family
Generous Palmstroke
The Modern Things

Albums:

Vespertine
Medúlla
Biophilia
Homogenic
Debut

Remixes:

One Day (Springs Eternal Mix)
Human Behavior (Underworld Mix)
Isobel (Transfunk Remix)
Violently Happy (Masters at Work 12”)
Big Time Sensuality (Morales Def Club Mix)

Music Videos:

Possibly Maybe
All is Full of Love
Hyperballad
Triumph of a Heart
Mutual Core

amazing work Eric H, you can run a poll anytime. great images and a great roll-out. i only know the Sugarcubes and was going to vote in that but ended up being only one song so i ended up not bothering.

"Oxygen" was seriously sorely overlooked--nobody besides me rated it? Maybe it's just not well known? If you don't know it, it's one of her most purely beautiful:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIccpF1S2mY

ok that is beautiful, never heard it

amazing work Eric H, you can run a poll anytime

there is no higher praise

Bjork in her interpreting EE Cummings mode didn't get much love. "Mother Heroic" might be my favorite of the 0-votes tracks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp3S4Vod0yw

And "Sonnets/Unrealities" is amazing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfrPlsgO_vw

I guess "Sun In My Mouth" placed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhYZXhYIZ3Q