Björk said she asks the string players to play Black Lake "as if their hand is broken" and I think that really translates to the sound and feel of the song
i read somewhere that the intervals (?) in black lake are supposed to represent the silences between arguments, like that moment where you try to compose yourself and think about what you're going to say next.
Yes. And the boom boom boom sound represents her heartbeat. In the MV she’s hitting her chest at this point trying to revive herself because she feels like she’s dying from sorrow
on the pitchfork interview, björk said that she simply couldn't sing the lyrics one by one and she had to give a break, so with arca they decided to give some long breaks to express that emotional explosion moments afaik
@@jakubmarszaek8330 Debut, Post, Homogenic, Vespertine, & Volta are Bjork's most accessible albums. I would not introduce someone to her oeuvre by recommending or playing Black Lake. She's a hard enough artist for people to appreciate without having newbies slog through a 10 minute deep cut from a flop album.
The version of All Is Full of Love that follows Pluto on the album is a different, more ambient version. The pair go together as sort of a death and rebirth feeling. I always envision AIFOL as being the morning after the emotional explosion that is Pluto watching as the sun is coming up over the horizon and she is (emotionally) brand new with clarity and peace.
Hyperballad always hits me so hard. The simplicity of that drum build combined with the emotional delivery of the lyrics just hits me right in the heart.
Both her an Sigur-Rós used a natural stone-harp, assembled by Icelandic rocks selected into a sone-keyboard or stone-cymbal that gives off a totally otherwordly sound. Björk has been experimenting with all kinds of sounds since the very beginning from novel instruments to body sounds, animal and nature sounds.
You will be Sooo happy when u go thru her Discography. (Chronologically) The Evolution of her Talents but the Evolution of her Life(personal & professional) are what make each album its own personal Masterpiece. GREAT JOB, Looking forward to more of ur Bjork reactions.
Most accessible tracks from Bjork's most experimental albums: Medulla (2004): Where Is the Line?, Oceania, Mouth's Cradle, Triumph of a Heart Biophilia (2011): Virus, Crystalline, Hollow Vulnicura (2015): Stonemilker, Lionsong, Atom Dance Utopia (2017): Arisen My Senses, Utopia, Courtship, Tabula Rasa Fossora (2022): TBD...
a little Bjork tidbit : Vespertine was written at the beginning of her love with Matthew Barney, and Vulnicura was written to document its end. (Vespertine is just a lush beautifully crafted masterpiece. To me, this was her best era.)
Assuming you haven’t seen the music videos to the songs you reacted to, some of the things you were saying is in the visuals. I’d love to see you react to her videos.
Deeply thorough and beautiful review of her work. Please consider reviewing FKA twigs, I think you’d enjoy it, especially some of her music in Mary Magdalene which is essentially a breakup album about her failed engagement
Vespertine and vulnicura are your go-to albums if you love beautiful rich sounds. Homogenic is absolutely amazing too. Post is her most poppy album so that’s one to check out too. Her other albums are extremely experimental; biophilia and volta especially. Mutual Core is from the biophilia album and believe it or not it’s like the most generic song on the entire album lmao
also medúlla, its definitely not easy to get into if you aren’t a hardcore fan. things like ancestors are so different from most of her catalogue but every piece is gorgeous
i greatly appreciate your björk videos, they’re very good and you clearly know so much! before, i had only listened to venus as a boy from her discography (the song always made me feel good about my trans boy self) but i had always heard of her, so this video was really my own tour through it too! she’s so expressive and seems like a deeply and emotional caring woman in her heart, it’s so incredibly beautiful. you clearly know so much about music creation too, it really adds to the journey. thanks man :^)
Issue circa 4:42 - those "lyrics" for Human Behavior, which have been pasted all over the internet, are wrong (and this comment applies to many vintage Bjork songs) - because people are hearing English words where there are none. In this song each verse and each "chorus" ends with one or two phrases of scat vocal (vocalisation) - the kind which in places sounds like either broken English or broken Icelandic. One of the most remarkable and utterly distinctive things about Bjork in the '80s '90s and early '00s was the extent to which she infused this relatively complex kind of wordless singing into her music. She hardly does it at all now.
its so funny that she always does the same scat, she replicates it complete identically when performing live. (my fave nonsense is at the end of Bachelorette)
It’s hard to experience the full extent of Bjork without the visuals. There’s as much craftwork with her videos as there is with her songs. Check those out, even if on your own time, if you have the time. She’s absolutely stunning as an artist.
And Fiona’s first album Tidal all of the songs are good but never is a promos and slow like honey are great! I Tori’s little earthquakes album is epic, under the pink. boys for Pele (I agree )is one of my favorites and choir girl hotel is playful. Tool….Yes!
@@sumnshine Fiona can't miss for me. That first album had me hooked for life. She was so raw, I love it so much. Tori's first albums are amazing but boys for pele made my eyes roll to the back of my head it was SO GOOD. Tool is my favorite band :o I'm totally showing my age LMAO I was a teenager in the 90s.
@@MostlyCloudy yes! Couldn’t agree more Boys was and still is amazing! Of course we are a couple of 90’s kids!! Haha. I was also a teenager in the 90’s I think Boys for Pele was released in 97 right so I was 16 then!
Björk brought me here, and your multi-reaction got my sub! Do u watch her official vids to these songs; they are quite an addition to the experience, imo! Many thanx Dan/Lucent.
Second comment: Joga is named for a friend of hers - well, actually it's Jo Johannasdottir (a former MP, but then, in Iceland, who isn't?). All released versions of the song are missing a particular verse, which can be heard in her 1997 South Bank Show episode and in a mere handful of live performances. (For a short time in the '97/'98 she experimented with the song live, sometimes slowing the tempo drastically, at times extending the ending etc) Pluto - it's implying something more cosmic than personal, in fact Bjork related it to Ragnarok. I was always disappointed by this one, musically-speaking - it should be building up to a real Alec-Empire-worthy frenzy of distortion, but it winds up sounding like a school-playground wimp trying to act tough. All Is Full Of Love - I wonder if it's addressed to some obsessive/deluded stalker-ish person, in danger of turning into another Ricardo Lopez Black Lake - owes much of its fame to the fact it has a viola de gamba on it (more audible on the instrumental version added to the deluxe editions), and the fact Bjork seems to have become instantly embarrassed by it (displaying too much vulnerability?) Rule of thumb: if a latterday Bjork lyric really stands up on the printed page as poetry, and has almost no broken English, you know it was written mainly by Sjon. Circa Vespertine she began using broken English as an authorial device: it bothers me, because, in conversation, she can be a really adept and inspired wielder of her second-language, and even in the mid '80s she (almost-)never spoke like that - all that "warmthest", "fragilest", "I am human, I do faults"-type stuff!
First time I'm watching a video from you, it's nice rediscovering Björk again and hearing your take on her songs. I just wanted to point out that she's in a musical as well, if that is your cup of tea, It's called Dancer in the Dark and is made by Lars Von Trier. I don't like musicals in general but I like that one, but that might be because I've always been a bit in love with her. :P Pluto is actually one of my favorites, but my favorite music in general is metal with kind of irregular beats, or seemingly so. Math metal is probably the easiest way to describe it, even though it doesn't have to be that heavy and intricate. Since most, if not all sees her as an alien, I must confess it would the best way, being an musical artist to try to convey a message would be an obvious and clever choice. Almost as the Swedish band Ghost sings so dark satanic text but having a pretty innocent melody. You don't expect that from them, but it would be a perfect disguise if they really wanted to spread the satanic religion.
I would like to see your reaction hearing more from Medulla album. My favourites from that album (the beatbox and human voices only) are The Triumph of a Heart (PLEASE) and The Dull Flame of Desire, with Antony Hegarty (now Anhony).
You should compare Björk’s POST album to the same track listing on her TELEGRAM album. It’s wild how much she changed every song. *After traveling to Iceland and experiencing their culture, I have a whole new appreciation for Björk’s traditional Icelandic values. She sourced live musicians in the London Airport BEFORE writing the DEBUT album. That is the most absurd yet resourceful way to produce an album. She composed that album based on the musicians’ styles and merged them all together with her voice into a timeless sound representing every corner of Earth.
I think Hyperballad is presenting a more playful, childlike and curious exercise in gratitude, using the idea of death to energize herself even more because of how safe and wonderful she has it where she is. It's a trip but that's my take on it.
listen to her podcast about her albums- she moved to London as a young mother and would get a babysitter and go out to the London Club scene all night and she learned a ton
FYI, Hyperballad is about getting up early and venting her inner dark tendencies of anger and destruction so she doesn’t take it out on him. She doesn’t want to hurt him or push him away and she sees the activity of destroying inanimate objects before he wakes up as a way to make herself safe to be around.
My guess has always been the song is called Pluto because she is plutonian - Astrologically speaking. She is a super Scorpio (Sun, Moon and Rising with Neptune in Scorpio on the Ascendant as well) Plus she has Pluto/Uranus conjunct her MC. Pluto is the dwarf planet that represents transformation, volcanic eruptions, and phoenix rising from the flames.
THE MARCHING IDEA you mention in the first track appears on Earth Intruders too, much more obvious. THE LIVING SONG IDEA you talk about is sth I say a lot about many of her songs, ALL IS FULL OF LOVE ALBUM VERSION especially sounds like a breathing organism ahaha even the booklet inside gives that idea..and many more songs give me this feeling ;)
I think it would be cool to do some sort of exchange reaction - like an older person tells you to react to Bjork (or another artist from before your time) and you tell them to react to something recent they haven't heard yet.
The way to get into Björk is going through her solo discography from DEBUT onward, to show her progression and growth (including soundtracks and remix albums). "Homogenic" through to "Medulla" are her best albums. "Biophilia" is underrated, though check out all the remixes, some of them are better than album versions of the songs (like the "These New Puritans Remix featuring Solomon Islands Song" of "Mutual Core"off "Bastards" remix album which really should have been on the album, and the "King Cannibal Remix" of "Thunderbolt" off the limited single pressings is an 8 minute mindgasm"). "Utopia" has a couple of songs that should have stayed b-sides to "Vulnicura," but has her finding her footing again with sublime melodies! "Vulnicura" is her worst album after the "Drawing Restraint 9" soundtrack. It's monotonous and frankly unlistenable in most parts, with track times that should have been edited down sometimes two-thirds.. I get it, it's supposed to be an open wound that's festering and it certainly sounds like that.. but she could have made it musically interesting at least. You only need to hear it once and never again. Fans with zero objectivity will continue flinging songs off that black hole as suggestions for some bizarre reason. You'd think if they were really fans they'd want people to get into her music and buy her albums, not scare them off!!
Pluto is one of my favorites but definitely not one I would have recommended!! Also, it's about being hung over. I heard her explaining once that the song is literally just about being hung over. 😳
I realize how much of what people request have strings, so emotive. I think shes aware and experiments like Medulla is only built of vocals, and the main character in Volta is brass to balance it all out
hyperballad is so good- it really changed my life when I started to do morning rituals to prepare myself and my craziness so that I can be present for the people I love later in the day
So happy you finally got into more Björk’s music! Now I’ll wait for the album reactions (which I recommend you to start doing really soon because her 10th studio album is supposed to be released this year !!!) Now I want to keep being annoying and recommending another amazing artist to you. To keep it simple Kristin Hayter (fka Lingua Ignota) is one of my favorite musicians/artists/performers of ALL TIME and I personally think it’s one of the most important and professional musicians of this decade. She’s really well known in the underground/noise music groups on internet and she became really popular after Anthony Fantano gave her a 10 in her 2021 album “Sinner Get Ready” so she’s been building up a really solid name just after 3 studio albums. I would say there’s no artist like her atm, of course I could think of Diamanda Galas, Mica Levi or Anna von Hausswolff, but I would say she’s the best at keeping her sound and experimenting with it to a point where sometimes it feels like you’re listening to two different artists, but they’re the same! I’ll list 5 songs I consider you should try getting in if you think you can give her a listen (Of course I have to point out, Kristin’s music is not an easy listening, I would even say you can HATE her music at the first to me you listen to it if you don’t have any death metal/noise/dark wave listening experience, so, this could be an amazing trip to you! Also I think you would love her lyrics, she’s a poet) 1. Wicked Game One of my personal favorites, she dropped this track in 2020 and it’s I think the best track to start getting into her 2. Holy is the Name (Of My Ruthless Axe) This is from her 2017 album; “All Bitches Die”, this LP has a really harsh noise/death metal sound to it so I picked the most easy one for you( still amazing tho) 3. O Ruthless Great Divine Director Okay, now we’re getting further with the heavy sound. The track itself holds a really solid classical sound, but at the end, Kristin deliver to us an amazing death metal outro (I’m telling you, I need to see your face when this happens) 4. Do You Doubt Me Traitor Probably her most iconic song (and from my personal favorite album from her, “CALIGULA” from 2019) so this song presents the build up from a really classic sound, to an angry, loud, and hard death metal big outro. This whole song is an experience I don’t think I will experiment ever again with any song 5. Pennsylvania Furnace Last one, I picked another classic from her (from her 2021 album “Sinner Get Ready” which it was my favorite album from last year) I could’ve picked ANY song from that album, but Pennsylvania Furnace I think represents this era pretty well. Lyrics and vocals are on point, I can’t help to cry EVERY TIME I hear it I hope you take my suggestions and give this woman a listen, I promise you won’t regret it ❤️ big fan of your channel from Venezuela!
I just searched this artist. I heard few snippets. I really find her voice unique and her music captivating. I am planning to hear her 4 albums in chronological order. But I don't really like death metal neither i understand why people like it. But it's their choice so it's okay. But tell me if her mostly music is this dark, slow and deep, i would then give her all albums a listen
@@poemwithpoet4296 oh I totally agree, the death metal and noise can be a bit triggering. But I can give you a list of songs from her that doesn’t have any death metal or noise sound to it! Just powerful vocals and deep lyrics. Would that be okay?
@@abram9516 SURE I AM READY. + I wanna try death metal but it's just ughhh to me. Maybe one day i will enjoy it. Is there some easy to get death metal song...or maybe howcan i get into death metal
@@poemwithpoet4296 Okay, so I’ll give you some songs to start with Lingua Ignota (just deep vocals and powerful lyrics) Wicked Game Holy is the Name (Of My Ruthless Axe) Faithful Servant Friend of Christ Fragrant is my many flower’d crown Pennsylvania Furnace Perpetual Flame of Centralia The solitary brethren of ephrata So now my death metal recommendations, I will suggest you to get into some “mainstream” metal groups to start with, maybe some names will sound familiar to you so this will make the experience a bit easier. Think of bands like System of a Down (Toxicity), Deftones (Around the Fur, White Pony), Black Sabbath (Paranoid), Metallica (Master of the Puppets) or Megadeth (Rest in Peace) After you’ve done all your mainstream metal listens, you will be ready for the heavy part. I recommend you to expect the worse of it, think of death metal like revenge and anger music, something you want to listen to so you can’t hear your own thoughts. I’m not an expert in death metal, but this are some of my personal favorites 1. The Sound of Perseverance by Death (has lots of cool instruments and really easy-to-get-into melodies 2. Planetary Clairvoyance by Tomb Mold (the most recent of my favorites and it’s pure death metal excellence, heavy sounds, deep vocals, loud drums and guitars, everything you will think of when you thin of death metal) 3. Deserted by Gatecreeper (even more heavy sounds than the other two) 4. Tomb Of The Mutilated by Cannibal Corpse (okay maybe this is a bit risky, but I still have to recommend it. I would not blame you if you hate this so much you will not hear it again in your life. Just be prepared for the ugliest lyrics ever) 5. Scream Bloody Gore by Death (Death again, in case you enjoyed the first one, you must listen to this one and you will probably like it even more!) 6. None So Vile by Cryptopsy (if you liked Cannibal Corpse, you will love this) 7. Those Once Loyal by Bolt Thrower (amazing instrumentals and the opening track is probably one of my favorite openers ever) 8. Wolverine Blues by Entombed (classic punk trashy metal, it’s fcking epic) 9. Drone Corpse Aviator by Archspire (more recent death metal, still pretty amazing) 10. And if didn’t like neither of these albums, maybe you should try something more artsy/symphonic like The Symmetry of I - The Circle of O by and oceans Hope this helps !!
@@abram9516 Well one small question. Does lingua ignota have only these 5-6 songs which have deep and dark vocals. Are rest all of her songs inaccessible? + can you suggest me some mainstream female rock music?
i would love if you react to iamamiwhoami someday, it's an audiovisual project leaded by the swedish singer ionnalee. all their albums have videoclips to all tracks, and in order they tell a story... if you do i recomend you to start by the album "blue" btw, loved the reaction
I agree. Extreme viral marketing and a vision for the meaning of music on full display. Back then, on their first two albums they didn't release anything other than puzzling singles and music videos for fans to figure out. They didn't even release lyrics, which made things worse because they were so abstract as well and Jonna's vocal inflections made it hard to figure out what she was saying sometimes. And their fans ate it all up because everything was outstanding. Anyways, the superior album is 'kin' but the fans usually point to 'bounty'. I'm surprised you recommended 'BLUE'. But whatever, everyone appreciates what they relate to the most.
If you like Björk you should listen to Sugarcubes. My favorite song of theirs is “Hit”. My favorite solo songs by her are off single eps. “Amphibian“, “Charlene”, “Nature is Ancient”. My all time favorite for the lyrics is “Bachelorette”, it’s very poetic.
Definitely listen to Vulnicura all the way thru. Each song is a timeline until notget. What’s interesting is I think the album Utopia fits in between family and notget.
Please react to the song “Oceania” from the album “Medúlla”. That song is one of my personal favourite and the album is definitely not talk about enough considering how ambitious it was how the whole album almost entirely made up of only using various human voice/noises to construct the melodies of each songs✨
you should totally react to Maya Hawke, her song Thérese is new (about a painting at the met in new York) and her 2020 album Blush is amazing too. She plays robin in stranger things, and people seem to think she's only famous for her music due to who her parents are, but her voice is so soothing.
Joga. Named for her friend. It’s about her friend, and about Iceland. “State of emergency” she actually means a state of emergence but I think she intended the mistranslation.
I love all of her albums, but Vulnicura has to be my favorite, to me it's a masterpiece and the only weak spot is Atom Dance, the rest is just constant, emotional, musical mastery.
Part of the tectonic plates thing is that I think they really do move at about the speed your fingernails grow. I’m not sure how that impacts any metaphors tho lmao
So the first time I heard Joga, I woke up to a call from my elderly mother, my father had had a heart failure had slipped, I rushed to her house, he was on the floor with him bleeding. my mom was in shock and I called 911 and the firefighters came and helped get him into the ambulance. we got in the car and followed the ambulance, at 1 am in the morning. I had been going through Bjork's music and Joga came on. All these accidents that happen Follow the dot, coincidence Makes sense only with you You don't have to speak, I feel Emotional landscapes They puzzle me The the riddle gets solved And you push me up to This state of emergency How beautiful to be State of emergency Is where I want to be All that no one sees, you see What's inside of me Every nerve that hurts, you heal Deep inside of me, oh You don't have to speak, I feel it took me somewhere important. this emergency was happening, it snapped me to the moment, the preciousnes of it, the horror, and sadness, the regret. it made it sacred and ready and prepared to be a 40 year old man with a father who might die and a mother who was completely unprepared for it. This song is about living with emergency. and then it's bigger, it's about what emerges- from crises, from life, pain, from all of this mess, emergencies depend on our readiness, out bravery, our presence. Bjork is very good at crystalizing the sensation of crises and using art to face it head on
Hiya! You can watch this with no cuts on Patreon! www.patreon.com/luscent
😘😘😘
Björk said she asks the string players to play Black Lake "as if their hand is broken" and I think that really translates to the sound and feel of the song
i read somewhere that the intervals (?) in black lake are supposed to represent the silences between arguments, like that moment where you try to compose yourself and think about what you're going to say next.
Yes. And the boom boom boom sound represents her heartbeat. In the MV she’s hitting her chest at this point trying to revive herself because she feels like she’s dying from sorrow
on the pitchfork interview, björk said that she simply couldn't sing the lyrics one by one and she had to give a break, so with arca they decided to give some long breaks to express that emotional explosion moments afaik
2:22 Human Behavior
6:08 Joga
10:49 Stonemilker
15:59 Pluto
19:52 All is Full of Love
23:07 Black Lake
30:20 Mutual Core
34:43 Hyperballad
Should've swapped out Black Lake & Mutual Core for other tracks.
@@got2bjosh dont think so, they are quite diffrent and shows very clearly how bjork switches genres and sonic movements
@@jakubmarszaek8330 Debut, Post, Homogenic, Vespertine, & Volta are Bjork's most accessible albums. I would not introduce someone to her oeuvre by recommending or playing Black Lake. She's a hard enough artist for people to appreciate without having newbies slog through a 10 minute deep cut from a flop album.
@@got2bjosh but that would just exclude her recent work which would be just stupid to not to do if she is still on music scene
@@got2bjoshthose are literally two of her best and most experimental songs
The version of All Is Full of Love that follows Pluto on the album is a different, more ambient version. The pair go together as sort of a death and rebirth feeling. I always envision AIFOL as being the morning after the emotional explosion that is Pluto watching as the sun is coming up over the horizon and she is (emotionally) brand new with clarity and peace.
Hyperballad always hits me so hard. The simplicity of that drum build combined with the emotional delivery of the lyrics just hits me right in the heart.
27:47 FYI - Björk singlehandedly did the orchestration for Stonemilker. A true masterwork.
Unison is by far my favourite Bjork song, Vespertine as a whole is a gorgeous album.
Completely agree with you UNISON is her Best song ever !!!
I really like how Bjork uses themes of geology and connects her music and lyrics to geological events. I don't think many artists do that
Both her an Sigur-Rós used a natural stone-harp, assembled by Icelandic rocks selected into a sone-keyboard or stone-cymbal that gives off a totally otherwordly sound. Björk has been experimenting with all kinds of sounds since the very beginning from novel instruments to body sounds, animal and nature sounds.
Geology and Iceland?! Quite a nice combo.
Just putting my request back in that you listen to all of Homogenic and Vespertine, but especially Unravel and Undo ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Ugh Vespertine 😩😩🤍🦢
PLEASEEEEE
considering no song from Vespertine popped up here, and also because it's my favorite Björk record, I hope they react to the album in full length 🤍🦢
Vespertine is sooooo good
Unravel is the most beautiful song in the world
Black Lake is still one of the best songs of all time imho
cant listen without bursting into tears
It's SO sad, I really feel that song every time.
“When Björk met Attenborough”, if you can find it, is a wonderful video detailing Björk’s 2011 “Biophilia” album.
The lyrics for Stonemilker are so poetic. Wow.
You will be Sooo happy when u go thru her Discography. (Chronologically)
The Evolution of her Talents but the Evolution of her Life(personal & professional) are what make each album its own personal Masterpiece.
GREAT JOB, Looking forward to more of ur Bjork reactions.
The hyperballad string section was written by a brazilian composer
Love your Bjork reactions. She's my favourite artist, and you really understand the details of her artistry.
Most accessible tracks from Bjork's most experimental albums:
Medulla (2004): Where Is the Line?, Oceania, Mouth's Cradle, Triumph of a Heart
Biophilia (2011): Virus, Crystalline, Hollow
Vulnicura (2015): Stonemilker, Lionsong, Atom Dance
Utopia (2017): Arisen My Senses, Utopia, Courtship, Tabula Rasa
Fossora (2022): TBD...
I know this is not the focus of your channel, but I would love to hear/see your reaction to Bjork as an actress in “Dancer in the Dark.”
Be prepared to cry for hours afterwards though!
Bachelorette is my ABSOLUTE favourite! Also Alarm Call, Enjoy and I Miss You !
Alarm Call is my favorite!
25:20 Wow. I am so impressed at how you really hit the nail DEAD ON the head with Stonemilker. This commentary is all so spot on.
a little Bjork tidbit : Vespertine was written at the beginning of her love with Matthew Barney, and Vulnicura was written to document its end.
(Vespertine is just a lush beautifully crafted masterpiece. To me, this was her best era.)
I'm old enough to remember how much i liked the album on launch. Glad it's still relevant and beautiful to hear today for younger musicians.
Assuming you haven’t seen the music videos to the songs you reacted to, some of the things you were saying is in the visuals. I’d love to see you react to her videos.
Yeah I'm planning on it!
It's always nice to hear a songwriter's perspective
Deeply thorough and beautiful review of her work. Please consider reviewing FKA twigs, I think you’d enjoy it, especially some of her music in Mary Magdalene which is essentially a breakup album about her failed engagement
My faves:
1) Declare Independence
2) Oceania
3) Ancestors
4) Pagan Poetry
5) An echo, A stain
Ancestors is the most insane thing a human being has ever recorded. I love Bjork so much but that song........ omg horrible
that song is like angels in my ears
I set out to search for Bjork reviews and came across your channel immediately - lovely - Thank You x
Vespertine and vulnicura are your go-to albums if you love beautiful rich sounds. Homogenic is absolutely amazing too. Post is her most poppy album so that’s one to check out too.
Her other albums are extremely experimental; biophilia and volta especially. Mutual Core is from the biophilia album and believe it or not it’s like the most generic song on the entire album lmao
also medúlla, its definitely not easy to get into if you aren’t a hardcore fan. things like ancestors are so different from most of her catalogue but every piece is gorgeous
I highly suggest that you check the video for All is Full of Love. It’s as haunting and fascinating as the song :)
i greatly appreciate your björk videos, they’re very good and you clearly know so much! before, i had only listened to venus as a boy from her discography (the song always made me feel good about my trans boy self) but i had always heard of her, so this video was really my own tour through it too!
she’s so expressive and seems like a deeply and emotional caring woman in her heart, it’s so incredibly beautiful. you clearly know so much about music creation too, it really adds to the journey. thanks man :^)
Issue circa 4:42 - those "lyrics" for Human Behavior, which have been pasted all over the internet, are wrong (and this comment applies to many vintage Bjork songs) - because people are hearing English words where there are none. In this song each verse and each "chorus" ends with one or two phrases of scat vocal (vocalisation) - the kind which in places sounds like either broken English or broken Icelandic. One of the most remarkable and utterly distinctive things about Bjork in the '80s '90s and early '00s was the extent to which she infused this relatively complex kind of wordless singing into her music. She hardly does it at all now.
its so funny that she always does the same scat, she replicates it complete identically when performing live. (my fave nonsense is at the end of Bachelorette)
It’s hard to experience the full extent of Bjork without the visuals. There’s as much craftwork with her videos as there is with her songs. Check those out, even if on your own time, if you have the time. She’s absolutely stunning as an artist.
Precisely, she was one of the first artists to have an app accompanying Biophilia.
Album reaction?
Tool - Lateralus
Pink Floyd - Animals
Kyuss - Welcome to Sky Valley
Tori Amos - Boys for Pele
Fiona Apple - Idler Wheel
And Fiona’s first album Tidal all of the songs are good but never is a promos and slow like honey are great!
I Tori’s little earthquakes album is epic, under the pink. boys for Pele (I agree )is one of my favorites and choir girl hotel is playful. Tool….Yes!
idler wheel idler wheel idler wheel idler wheel
@@sumnshine Fiona can't miss for me. That first album had me hooked for life. She was so raw, I love it so much. Tori's first albums are amazing but boys for pele made my eyes roll to the back of my head it was SO GOOD. Tool is my favorite band :o I'm totally showing my age LMAO I was a teenager in the 90s.
@@MostlyCloudy yes! Couldn’t agree more Boys was and still is amazing! Of course we are a couple of 90’s kids!! Haha. I was also a teenager in the 90’s I think Boys for Pele was released in 97 right so I was 16 then!
@@sumnshine ME TOO :D What a time ay? I miss it so much lol
Björk brought me here, and your multi-reaction got my sub!
Do u watch her official vids to these songs; they are quite an addition to the experience, imo!
Many thanx Dan/Lucent.
YES BJÖRK I'M SO HAPPY 😭
as a björk fan, this gives me oodles of pure joy
Second comment:
Joga is named for a friend of hers - well, actually it's Jo Johannasdottir (a former MP, but then, in Iceland, who isn't?). All released versions of the song are missing a particular verse, which can be heard in her 1997 South Bank Show episode and in a mere handful of live performances. (For a short time in the '97/'98 she experimented with the song live, sometimes slowing the tempo drastically, at times extending the ending etc)
Pluto - it's implying something more cosmic than personal, in fact Bjork related it to Ragnarok. I was always disappointed by this one, musically-speaking - it should be building up to a real Alec-Empire-worthy frenzy of distortion, but it winds up sounding like a school-playground wimp trying to act tough.
All Is Full Of Love - I wonder if it's addressed to some obsessive/deluded stalker-ish person, in danger of turning into another Ricardo Lopez
Black Lake - owes much of its fame to the fact it has a viola de gamba on it (more audible on the instrumental version added to the deluxe editions), and the fact Bjork seems to have become instantly embarrassed by it (displaying too much vulnerability?)
Rule of thumb: if a latterday Bjork lyric really stands up on the printed page as poetry, and has almost no broken English, you know it was written mainly by Sjon. Circa Vespertine she began using broken English as an authorial device: it bothers me, because, in conversation, she can be a really adept and inspired wielder of her second-language, and even in the mid '80s she (almost-)never spoke like that - all that "warmthest", "fragilest", "I am human, I do faults"-type stuff!
First time I'm watching a video from you, it's nice rediscovering Björk again and hearing your take on her songs. I just wanted to point out that she's in a musical as well, if that is your cup of tea, It's called Dancer in the Dark and is made by Lars Von Trier. I don't like musicals in general but I like that one, but that might be because I've always been a bit in love with her. :P
Pluto is actually one of my favorites, but my favorite music in general is metal with kind of irregular beats, or seemingly so. Math metal is probably the easiest way to describe it, even though it doesn't have to be that heavy and intricate.
Since most, if not all sees her as an alien, I must confess it would the best way, being an musical artist to try to convey a message would be an obvious and clever choice. Almost as the Swedish band Ghost sings so dark satanic text but having a pretty innocent melody. You don't expect that from them, but it would be a perfect disguise if they really wanted to spread the satanic religion.
I would like to see your reaction hearing more from Medulla album. My favourites from that album (the beatbox and human voices only) are The Triumph of a Heart (PLEASE) and The Dull Flame of Desire, with Antony Hegarty (now Anhony).
You should compare Björk’s POST album to the same track listing on her TELEGRAM album. It’s wild how much she changed every song.
*After traveling to Iceland and experiencing their culture, I have a whole new appreciation for Björk’s traditional Icelandic values. She sourced live musicians in the London Airport BEFORE writing the DEBUT album. That is the most absurd yet resourceful way to produce an album. She composed that album based on the musicians’ styles and merged them all together with her voice into a timeless sound representing every corner of Earth.
I just watched three videos of you reacting to bjork and i think I grew a crush on you honestly hahaha
You have to watch the Mutual core video!!
I think Hyperballad is presenting a more playful, childlike and curious exercise in gratitude, using the idea of death to energize herself even more because of how safe and wonderful she has it where she is. It's a trip but that's my take on it.
You need to listen:
Lionsong
Pluto
Declare independece
Big time sensuality
The gate
Great video ❤ thank u. more bjork content please
listen to her podcast about her albums- she moved to London as a young mother and would get a babysitter and go out to the London Club scene all night and she learned a ton
Wanderlust
Possibly maybe
Hidden place
HEY thanks for watching!! ALSO if you wanna check out my Hounds of Love reaction a week early it's on Patreon nowwww: www.patreon.com/luscent
Yyyeeeesss!
FYI, Hyperballad is about getting up early and venting her inner dark tendencies of anger and destruction so she doesn’t take it out on him. She doesn’t want to hurt him or push him away and she sees the activity of destroying inanimate objects before he wakes up as a way to make herself safe to be around.
You must react ALL The songs - Bjork - Utopia album.
My guess has always been the song is called Pluto because she is plutonian - Astrologically speaking. She is a super Scorpio (Sun, Moon and Rising with Neptune in Scorpio on the Ascendant as well) Plus she has Pluto/Uranus conjunct her MC. Pluto is the dwarf planet that represents transformation, volcanic eruptions, and phoenix rising from the flames.
I really like the way you analyze things
So glad you reacted to Black Lake, such a beautiful song
THE MARCHING IDEA you mention in the first track appears on Earth Intruders too, much more obvious. THE LIVING SONG IDEA you talk about is sth I say a lot about many of her songs, ALL IS FULL OF LOVE ALBUM VERSION especially sounds like a breathing organism ahaha even the booklet inside gives that idea..and many more songs give me this feeling ;)
"ALL is Full of Love" is a masterpiece!
I think it would be cool to do some sort of exchange reaction - like an older person tells you to react to Bjork (or another artist from before your time) and you tell them to react to something recent they haven't heard yet.
That'd be quite cool!
The way to get into Björk is going through her solo discography from DEBUT onward, to show her progression and growth (including soundtracks and remix albums).
"Homogenic" through to "Medulla" are her best albums. "Biophilia" is underrated, though check out all the remixes, some of them are better than album versions of the songs (like the "These New Puritans Remix featuring Solomon Islands Song" of "Mutual Core"off "Bastards" remix album which really should have been on the album, and the "King Cannibal Remix" of "Thunderbolt" off the limited single pressings is an 8 minute mindgasm").
"Utopia" has a couple of songs that should have stayed b-sides to "Vulnicura," but has her finding her footing again with sublime melodies!
"Vulnicura" is her worst album after the "Drawing Restraint 9" soundtrack. It's monotonous and frankly unlistenable in most parts, with track times that should have been edited down sometimes two-thirds..
I get it, it's supposed to be an open wound that's festering and it certainly sounds like that.. but she could have made it musically interesting at least. You only need to hear it once and never again. Fans with zero objectivity will continue flinging songs off that black hole as suggestions for some bizarre reason. You'd think if they were really fans they'd want people to get into her music and buy her albums, not scare them off!!
I first heard Black Lake in MOMA and oh man... that song is heartbreaking but also you can't split the song away from the visuals.
Pluto is one of my favorites but definitely not one I would have recommended!! Also, it's about being hung over. I heard her explaining once that the song is literally just about being hung over. 😳
I think you'd love Arca's self-titled record!
all her best songs this video woahhhh… pluto, hyperballad, mutual core, black lake, joga AHHHHHH BEST SONGS OF ALL TOME
I realize how much of what people request have strings, so emotive. I think shes aware and experiments like Medulla is only built of vocals, and the main character in Volta is brass to balance it all out
hyperballad is so good- it really changed my life when I started to do morning rituals to prepare myself and my craziness so that I can be present for the people I love later in the day
i feel like it's about taking responsibility for your mania and artistic and mad self
not dysfunction in my POV, it's showing a solution
as a buddhist i've heard a lot of talks about "inviting your anger and pain to have tea with you"
So happy you finally got into more Björk’s music! Now I’ll wait for the album reactions (which I recommend you to start doing really soon because her 10th studio album is supposed to be released this year !!!)
Now I want to keep being annoying and recommending another amazing artist to you. To keep it simple Kristin Hayter (fka Lingua Ignota) is one of my favorite musicians/artists/performers of ALL TIME and I personally think it’s one of the most important and professional musicians of this decade. She’s really well known in the underground/noise music groups on internet and she became really popular after Anthony Fantano gave her a 10 in her 2021 album “Sinner Get Ready” so she’s been building up a really solid name just after 3 studio albums.
I would say there’s no artist like her atm, of course I could think of Diamanda Galas, Mica Levi or Anna von Hausswolff, but I would say she’s the best at keeping her sound and experimenting with it to a point where sometimes it feels like you’re listening to two different artists, but they’re the same!
I’ll list 5 songs I consider you should try getting in if you think you can give her a listen
(Of course I have to point out, Kristin’s music is not an easy listening, I would even say you can HATE her music at the first to me you listen to it if you don’t have any death metal/noise/dark wave listening experience, so, this could be an amazing trip to you! Also I think you would love her lyrics, she’s a poet)
1. Wicked Game
One of my personal favorites, she dropped this track in 2020 and it’s I think the best track to start getting into her
2. Holy is the Name (Of My Ruthless Axe)
This is from her 2017 album; “All Bitches Die”, this LP has a really harsh noise/death metal sound to it so I picked the most easy one for you( still amazing tho)
3. O Ruthless Great Divine Director
Okay, now we’re getting further with the heavy sound. The track itself holds a really solid classical sound, but at the end, Kristin deliver to us an amazing death metal outro (I’m telling you, I need to see your face when this happens)
4. Do You Doubt Me Traitor
Probably her most iconic song (and from my personal favorite album from her, “CALIGULA” from 2019) so this song presents the build up from a really classic sound, to an angry, loud, and hard death metal big outro. This whole song is an experience I don’t think I will experiment ever again with any song
5. Pennsylvania Furnace
Last one, I picked another classic from her (from her 2021 album “Sinner Get Ready” which it was my favorite album from last year) I could’ve picked ANY song from that album, but Pennsylvania Furnace I think represents this era pretty well. Lyrics and vocals are on point, I can’t help to cry EVERY TIME I hear it
I hope you take my suggestions and give this woman a listen, I promise you won’t regret it ❤️ big fan of your channel from Venezuela!
I just searched this artist. I heard few snippets. I really find her voice unique and her music captivating. I am planning to hear her 4 albums in chronological order. But I don't really like death metal neither i understand why people like it. But it's their choice so it's okay. But tell me if her mostly music is this dark, slow and deep, i would then give her all albums a listen
@@poemwithpoet4296 oh I totally agree, the death metal and noise can be a bit triggering. But I can give you a list of songs from her that doesn’t have any death metal or noise sound to it! Just powerful vocals and deep lyrics. Would that be okay?
@@abram9516 SURE I AM READY.
+ I wanna try death metal but it's just ughhh to me. Maybe one day i will enjoy it. Is there some easy to get death metal song...or maybe howcan i get into death metal
@@poemwithpoet4296
Okay, so I’ll give you some songs to start with Lingua Ignota (just deep vocals and powerful lyrics)
Wicked Game
Holy is the Name (Of My Ruthless Axe)
Faithful Servant Friend of Christ
Fragrant is my many flower’d crown
Pennsylvania Furnace
Perpetual Flame of Centralia
The solitary brethren of ephrata
So now my death metal recommendations, I will suggest you to get into some “mainstream” metal groups to start with, maybe some names will sound familiar to you so this will make the experience a bit easier. Think of bands like System of a Down (Toxicity), Deftones (Around the Fur, White Pony), Black Sabbath (Paranoid), Metallica (Master of the Puppets) or Megadeth (Rest in Peace)
After you’ve done all your mainstream metal listens, you will be ready for the heavy part.
I recommend you to expect the worse of it, think of death metal like revenge and anger music, something you want to listen to so you can’t hear your own thoughts.
I’m not an expert in death metal, but this are some of my personal favorites
1. The Sound of Perseverance by Death (has lots of cool instruments and really easy-to-get-into melodies
2. Planetary Clairvoyance by Tomb Mold (the most recent of my favorites and it’s pure death metal excellence, heavy sounds, deep vocals, loud drums and guitars, everything you will think of when you thin of death metal)
3. Deserted by Gatecreeper (even more heavy sounds than the other two)
4. Tomb Of The Mutilated by Cannibal Corpse (okay maybe this is a bit risky, but I still have to recommend it. I would not blame you if you hate this so much you will not hear it again in your life. Just be prepared for the ugliest lyrics ever)
5. Scream Bloody Gore by Death (Death again, in case you enjoyed the first one, you must listen to this one and you will probably like it even more!)
6. None So Vile by Cryptopsy (if you liked Cannibal Corpse, you will love this)
7. Those Once Loyal by Bolt Thrower (amazing instrumentals and the opening track is probably one of my favorite openers ever)
8. Wolverine Blues by Entombed (classic punk trashy metal, it’s fcking epic)
9. Drone Corpse Aviator by Archspire (more recent death metal, still pretty amazing)
10. And if didn’t like neither of these albums, maybe you should try something more artsy/symphonic like The Symmetry of I - The Circle of O by and oceans
Hope this helps !!
@@abram9516 Well one small question.
Does lingua ignota have only these 5-6 songs which have deep and dark vocals. Are rest all of her songs inaccessible?
+ can you suggest me some mainstream female rock music?
i would love if you react to iamamiwhoami someday, it's an audiovisual project leaded by the swedish singer ionnalee. all their albums have videoclips to all tracks, and in order they tell a story... if you do i recomend you to start by the album "blue"
btw, loved the reaction
The best suggestion
I agree. Extreme viral marketing and a vision for the meaning of music on full display.
Back then, on their first two albums they didn't release anything other than puzzling singles and music videos for fans to figure out. They didn't even release lyrics, which made things worse because they were so abstract as well and Jonna's vocal inflections made it hard to figure out what she was saying sometimes.
And their fans ate it all up because everything was outstanding.
Anyways, the superior album is 'kin' but the fans usually point to 'bounty'. I'm surprised you recommended 'BLUE'. But whatever, everyone appreciates what they relate to the most.
@@nodezsh I agree but I recommend doing it chronologically
@@nomi.hagen. well if he was to do all four then it's granted lol
absolutely, BLUE their absolute masterpiece nothing she releases will ever top it. Maybe 10P10B but yeah BLUE was their peak!
If you like Björk you should listen to Sugarcubes. My favorite song of theirs is “Hit”. My favorite solo songs by her are off single eps. “Amphibian“, “Charlene”, “Nature is Ancient”. My all time favorite for the lyrics is “Bachelorette”, it’s very poetic.
I love watching you discover these AMAZING tracks! Thank you for sharing!
Definitely listen to Vulnicura all the way thru. Each song is a timeline until notget. What’s interesting is I think the album Utopia fits in between family and notget.
Funny to you to suggest running in Hyperballad. It actually happens in the music video, so you're probably onto something there.
Please react to the song “Oceania” from the album “Medúlla”. That song is one of my personal favourite and the album is definitely not talk about enough considering how ambitious it was how the whole album almost entirely made up of only using various human voice/noises to construct the melodies of each songs✨
Joga is probably one of the most stunning pieces of music ever recorded
Joga she actually sampled volcanoes around Iceland and put them with beats
you should totally react to Maya Hawke, her song Thérese is new (about a painting at the met in new York) and her 2020 album Blush is amazing too. She plays robin in stranger things, and people seem to think she's only famous for her music due to who her parents are, but her voice is so soothing.
Oh cool!
I wish luscent would react to Fletcher. Like she's so underatted
Missing the song that made the world stop and take notice: Birthday ... when she was with the Sugar Cubes. That song created Björk.
Your reactions to bjork are amazing! Thank you
there is alot to cover when you discover the legend that is Björk, her music videos are also works of art.
Björk’s music is timeless.
Listen undo. Es beautifulll as well as heirloom. So dreamy and fragil
Been waiting for this all week.
I’d highly suggest Army of One and Hidden Place. My two favourite Björk songs
Don't forget Bjork's music with the Sugarcubes
Please hear Possibly Maybe and Isobel, two of my faves from Post. And maybe some Volta tracks too
Joga is her own personal national anthem to Iceland. ♡
Joga. Named for her friend. It’s about her friend, and about Iceland. “State of emergency” she actually means a state of emergence but I think she intended the mistranslation.
Please do Sigur Rós!! The other icelandic geniuses!
Ahh I’ve been waiting for this one, very excited 🤩
I love all of her albums, but Vulnicura has to be my favorite, to me it's a masterpiece and the only weak spot is Atom Dance, the rest is just constant, emotional, musical mastery.
Black Lake is such a masterpiece.
I Have Seen It All from Dancer In the Dark
I think it's about a state of emergence (e-mer-gen-ce)
Part of the tectonic plates thing is that I think they really do move at about the speed your fingernails grow. I’m not sure how that impacts any metaphors tho lmao
PUHLEASE react to MUNA’s new self titled album MUNA !!! They’re a queer female trio under phoebe bridgers record label. MASTERS of lyricism ❤️
You should react to So Broken, it is awesome.
Joga is a song about her best friend.
Loved this btw
Best worse, best worse. Why most people can only think in these terms?
ive slept to pluto before. that was a good nights rest❤
React to Vulnicura. It's an amazing journey.
I'm surprised Bachelorette didn't make the cut!
one of ur best vids!!!!!
So the first time I heard Joga, I woke up to a call from my elderly mother, my father had had a heart failure had slipped, I rushed to her house, he was on the floor with him bleeding. my mom was in shock and I called 911 and the firefighters came and helped get him into the ambulance.
we got in the car and followed the ambulance, at 1 am in the morning.
I had been going through Bjork's music and Joga came on.
All these accidents that happen
Follow the dot, coincidence
Makes sense only with you
You don't have to speak, I feel
Emotional landscapes
They puzzle me
The the riddle gets solved
And you push me up to
This state of emergency
How beautiful to be
State of emergency
Is where I want to be
All that no one sees, you see
What's inside of me
Every nerve that hurts, you heal
Deep inside of me, oh
You don't have to speak, I feel
it took me somewhere important. this emergency was happening, it snapped me to the moment, the preciousnes of it, the horror, and sadness, the regret. it made it sacred and ready and prepared to be a 40 year old man with a father who might die and a mother who was completely unprepared for it.
This song is about living with emergency.
and then it's bigger, it's about what emerges- from crises, from life, pain, from all of this mess, emergencies depend on our readiness, out bravery, our presence.
Bjork is very good at crystalizing the sensation of crises and using art to face it head on
her songs about s**c*, heart break, obsesion, mania, motherhood, isolation, her mother's death etc etc