Bjork: How can you not like her?
So, I was listening to some Bjork tonight, reveling in how beautiful and dreamlike her music is, then I remembered that for some reason Albright doesn’t like her music. So, I wanted to post some of my favorites of her music, and get other people’s opinions on it. The content of the videos is always weird, and I know that will color some people’s opinions of the music; therefore I advise that you don’t watch the videos on the first run through, just listen to the music.
Possibly Maybe - I love this one a lot. One of the small things that I love about Bjork is her references occasionally to her love of solitude, which I share. The song is just about falling in love and falling out again.
Unison - There isn’t a music video to this song made by Bjork, this video is fan-made. Another song that mirrors my own feelings really closely. Maybe this is really the reason I dig her so much - even if her lyrics might seem nonsensical to some, they make perfect sense to me.
I Miss You - As a reminder: listen to the music before you watch the video. You’d think I’d like this video, since I generally like John K’s work, but this is just too weird even for me. He does draw Bjork really cutely, though.
Venus as a Boy - This video you can probably watch without it prejudicing your opinion about the song much - all she does is fry an egg.
One of the great things about all these songs is how she borrows so skillfully from different styles. I Miss You seems to have a South American influence, while Venus as a Boy clearly borrows from Indian music. Neither of these influences sound out of place or forced.
I remember thinking she was cute in Human Behavior when I first saw it. :p
Honestly, I like most of what I’ve heard/seen from her. Never actually went out and bought or downloaded albums though, because it seems more like novelty music to me. The kind of music that would probably get tiring if you listened to track after track, but is awesome if you hear a song every now and then.
I have a few random mp3s of hers from various places (Kazaa?, friends?), but since they’re on another hard drive somewhere, the only one I can remember right now is Rza’s remix of Bachelorette, which rocks. I’ve also had the pleasure of seeing her live at Coachella a few years ago, which also rocked.
…God, I can’t listen to “Possibly Maybe” without remembering that late night VH1 show that sampled it.
Nice remix, I hadn’t heard that one.
What show sampled Possibly Maybe?! I don’t watch VH1 shows…
Albright, I changed my mind: I really would like to read your opinion, that is, what you don’t like about the music. I don’t really want to read “snark”, though, I’d prefer honest and forthright opinion. Bjork is so amazing an artist to me, I have a hard time understanding how anyone can not like her.
Okay, I’ve listened to the first two very long songs; I’m afraid that’s all you’re going to get out of me for the time being. I’ll try to avoid snark, but it’s kind of hard to tell someone who likes X that you don’t like X. (Which reminds me; I had a weird dream last night that I was at Will Ferrel’s house and making fun of his DVD collection of quirky indie comedies that nobody had ever heard of, and I pissed him off. What a weird dream.)
All right. What don’t I like about Björk? First: Her voice. There, I said it. It’s abrasive. She also seems to wander all over the place with regards to timing. It seems each song has at least one part in it where she starts yelling, even though the background music remains flat. She simply does not exhibit what is generally accepted as a decent singing voice. In fact, the background music itself would probably be pretty decent if she would stop singing over top of it.
And then there’s her videos. That first one is a good example. Maybe it would have seemed in place in the ’80s when music videos were still new and nobody really knew how to make them so they just put a bunch of random shit on the camera. And so you have Björk, with a weird hairstyle, wearing clothes with florescent stripes under a blacklight and licking a flower or something that’s on the floor. I don’t even know how to begin interpreting that.
I think KJI struck something when he called her “novelty music.” Her existence and popularity is easier to accept if you write her off as a gimmick, or maybe even a parody of self-righteous artists who aren’t aware of just how awful their own art is.
So there you go.
Before you started this thread I had only heard the name. I didn’t even know that she was female so I went and listened with no preconceptions. Sorry, Fata, I have to agree with AB. Her voice is grating and I can’t even say that I would like the music if she shut up. She seems to have all the melodic talent of Yoko Ono, maybe you should check her out.
That said, I can’t say that if I were subjected to her music more regularly that she wouldn’t grow on me. I can think of lots of musicians who I didn’t like at first some of which I am now a big fan. Billie Holiday comes to mind.
Well, chacun a son gout, I suppose. Her voice is, to me, perhaps the most amazing thing about her. But I admit there is that sense of “acquired taste” as with Billie Holiday. I’m not sure what you mean by “generally accepted” as a good singing voice, Albright. If you’re talking about the wretched dreck that they play on the radio, where every “artist” is assisted by the autotuner, then no, she’s nothing that what is “generally accepted.” That doesn’t reflect badly on her vocal quality, though. Moreover, as someone with an inate sense of rhythm, I can assure you there’s nothing wrong with her “timing.” Any way, it does make it clear why you’d dislike her, if you have problems with the voice. If it doesn’t appeal to you, it doesn’t appeal. I do encourage you though, GFC, to maybe give yourself a chance to warm up to the voice, because I think you’d end up being enchanted.
I mean Albright, you seriously have to understand, from a musician’s perspective: She has a simply AMAZING instrument. You can say you don’t like the quality of that instrument and that is perfectly valid, but if you’re trying to discuss her virtuosity as anything other than breathtaking, you’re speaking from a position of ignorance.
Also, I was sort of passing over the comments about the weirdness in the videos, because it doesn’t have any bearing on the music itself, and because I frankly like the weirdness, but one thing I have to mention - can you really be missing the humor of Bjork, Albright? I’m not saying she’s satirizing anything, but she certainly does have a sense of humor, especially about her self. I mean for pete’s sake she let Spumco do a video for her, and the beautiful love of her dream was portrayed as Jimmy the Idiot boy.
Fata, that’s pretty much the response I expected. I mean, you might as well have said “tell me why my religion is wrong.” My opinions are ignorant perspectives and your opinions are unarguable facts. I doubt there’s any way I could have responded to that with an answer you’d find valid or acceptable.
I love Bjork. Fata, ever heard of The Tiny? They are equally as dreamlike and beautiful. Their music takes me to other worlds. It’s beautifully orchestrated. I think you’d really enjoy it.
Albright:
Fata, that’s pretty much the response I expected. I mean, you might as well have said “tell me why my religion is wrong.” My opinions are ignorant perspectives and your opinions are unarguable facts. I doubt there’s any way I could have responded to that with an answer you’d find valid or acceptable.
Eh, not really. If you say “Her voice grates on me” that is perfectly acceptable a reason - because it’s subjective. If you say “She lacks skills as a singer” you’re being ignorant. It’s like if someone asked me to explain why I don’t like Mariah Carey and I said she’s a bad singer; that’s the one thing Mariah Carey is NOT.
Bwhahahaha! I have to see that! That’s a big plus on her side!
I posted a link to it, it’s “I Miss You” above.
Fata Morgana:
What show sampled Possibly Maybe?! I don’t watch VH1 shows…
“Insomniac Music Theater,” according to wiki.
Huh, cancelled in 2005… last time I watched VH1 was probably long before that.
Fata Morgana:
GrinfilledCelt:
Bwhahahaha! I have to see that! That’s a big plus on her side!
I posted a link to it, it’s “I Miss You” above.
You said not to watch the videos, so I didn’t. I should have read your comments though. I did google up a mess of pictures of her though and could see her humor from that.
That was funny. I don’t know why I like Spumco so much but I do.
tehkiba:
I love Bjork.
Woo, someone with taste. :P
Fata, ever heard of The Tiny? They are equally as dreamlike and beautiful. Their music takes me to other worlds. It’s beautifully orchestrated. I think you’d really enjoy it.
Hmm, I might not be doing them full justice because I’m in ‘Bjork’ mode right now, but they seem a little boring.
GFC, if you like Spumco, I hope you’ve seen the Spumco Weird Al video. (Very much NSFW) As far as John K goes, the reason I like him usually has to do with the way he draws women. He reminds me a bit of the old Bob Clampett stuff, only moreso. The reason I sometimes don’t like it is the gruesomeness. For some reason I like the Weird Al video, despite the gruesome. The Bjork video is growing on me.
