@@figgettit I once had an embarassing comment section feud with some thirty-something dude who claimed that Björk could not possibly have purposefully written a melody in the locrian mode, and contrasted her with more cerebral composers such as the members of Dream Theater who were obviously intently crafting their music using advanced music theory. While the latter might be the case, no amount of evidence of Björk’s classical training and experience could convince him that she was anything other than an intuitive composer, since he had sung in a pop-band (and reading more into it-because she is a woman?).
I just wanna take a moment to appreciate this channel, the fact that you have the founder of PATREON making insanely in depth, interesting, educational music content with no sponsor breaks while giving his friends and people he admires a place to really shine, so cool.
Madison is so freaking good with you guys. I'd be down with her as a full time co-host lol. Also I hope this has one of your typical follow-on episodes talking about Madison's music next. Her guitar playing turns my brain inside out
I saw her at the Union Chapel with the Brodsky Quartet in 1999, it was extraordinary, despite the intense cold and my nose getting full of soot from all the candles. But god, I'd have loved to have seen her in the Sugarcubes era
Madison is VERY perceptive when it comes to discussing music. It shows in her own work, too. My favorite part of this series is seeing how different musicians perceive, intuit, and discuss music with their own vocabulary, and bouncing that off of everyone else in the room.
Been following Björk since the 90s. Saw the famous Westbank interview (it's on youtube in full length, look it up) and saw the part where she said "they look at the computer and say... There's no soul here.. but if there is no soul, it's because nobody put it there". I always remembered that part. The last shot of the documentary (again, go look it up, it's fantastic) is of a white-clad bjork standing at the edge of an Icelandic glacier. That image was etched in my mind. Last year I got to go to Iceland, stand on the same glacier and.... I kid you not... get to be with Bjork in the same room where she played a DJ-set to compensate for her concert show cancellation. It was weird and exciting being there with her. She was up in the balcony playing a very eclectical song choice, which later became my goto playlist all through my journey in Iceland. I still listen to it to this day. Some real gems in there. Here's the footage of that magical evening: ua-cam.com/video/gZ_L8CImKxU/v-deo.html
Bjork's Sonic Symbolism pod reveals a lot about her process. This was a pandemic obsession listening to her talk through her process and inspiration. Great choice to dissect! I'm also really into Possibly Maybe from Post. Also, Madison being here and articulating is perfect! I'm gonna go to Staples and pick up some new legal pads.
A friend of mine played cello in the string section on this (he also played on 'Play Dead'). He told me this story: It was a Sunday morning and a bunch of jaded (possibly hungover) classical musos turn up at a London studio to do a session. They set up and ask 'where are the charts?' Bjork appears, apologises that her co-producer (Nelee Hooper?) can't make it. She tells them that she has a clear idea of what she wants, but needs help to write it out properly. The classical folk shuffle in their seats - there are rolling eyes and heavy sighs. These string players have seen it all before, and this scenario rarely ends well.... She sits down at the piano with the leader, and spends an hour (with the musos on the clock) singing ideas to him. He scribbles down her ideas, and runs to the photocopier. Still cynical, the string folk start playing these charts to the track, conducted by Bjork herself. It works a treat - more or less what you hear on the record. Having a post - recording cigarette, they congratulate the section leader Gavin Wright for 'rescuing the session' and encourage him to push for an arrangement credit. Wright shrugs his shoulders and says 'every note you played came from Bjork herself - I was just the copyist'. The string players left the studio that day with a new-found respect for the weird foreign girl....
She actually learned how to transcribe music for a string orchestra later on. She did all the arrangements for Vulnicura, which is very impressive. A lot of people don't give her the technical credit she is due.
Born 1965, from 1970 she attended the Barnamúsíkskóli Reykjavíkur music school, where she spent ten years, among other things. was taught singing, piano and flute.
Bjork does indeed read and write traditional music notation- I recall once seeing scores of her string arrangements for Joga and Pagan Poetry in her manuscript and being absolutely gobsmacked. It brought a whole level of depth to her genius that I hadn't appreciated prior.
sure i'm not the first to say so here, but Bjõrk is very much a classically trained composer & a skilled producer who is able to draw from many different disciplines. She knows exactly what she's doing. She also stays very open to mystery & communing with the sounds of nature. I'm sure happy accidents happen for her -- but she is a composer thru & thru.
tis song has a sample the song is Music for Shō" by Mayumi Miyata, Marius de Vries played on the track at the time he used the Roland D50 and DX7 but the part on 1&3 (2:50) is the sample
"I have a feeling she just exists" is as close as you can get. It's the je-ne sais-quoi. She is free and when she is not she is seeking to be. Not to be mistaken by I'm free in my music, but at home I enjoy myself as Martha Stewart. It is through and through. Therefore it can't apply to the "normal" world, so you are forced to create your own one. Admirably exceptional. Great episode, thanks to everybody involved.
i love how the dissection & study of this song between the three of u illuminates the genius of it. I agree that Björk is absolutely a creator of entire worlds within each album.
Me too!!! SO happy they're back...this entire album by Bjork was amazing, my girlfriend at the time played it constantly...every song on it has that eclectic, yet sophisticated touch...definitely a world of her own!!!
Such a great insight at just shy of the 29 minute point, where you mention how a killer groove foundation allows all kinds of hijinks melodically. There's a short video here on YT called "No Wrong Notes with Victor Wooten" that talks about this concept exactly. Bang on, Dead Wax - bang on.
I still remember the first time somebody played Medulla for me. I had heard some other Björk before, but it never grabbed me like that album did, straight from The Pleasure is All Mine. After that, going back to the rest of her library was a whole different experience.
The Debut album was produced by Nellee Hooper. BTW, I think the Bjork quote about computers in music production was: ”If there’s no soul in the music, it’s because no one put it there. You can’t blame the tools”. And yes, she does have classical music training.
This was brilliant. Feels like taking part in a conversation with gifted minds. And It makes another nordic soul feel less alone in this world (and now I know why scary pockets arrangements are so good) Thanks
Hey guys - Thanks for the very fun episode. I'm a huge fan of Madison. Another artist that comes to mind similar to what you talked about with Bjork is Peter Gabriel. Cheers!
Fantastic to see you guys back. Discovered Tiny Habits this week and then saw Ryan playing with them on some live stuff. You guys gotta get them on. Their (few) songs are incredible and I think they need all the support and encouragement we can give them. Also, we need to hear the writing and recording process for those songs. The harmonies, the chords choices... The rhythm play. The blend.
Kate Bush had a visual presence, her own sound/world/alien visitation vibe... She is and always was able to wear her (he)art on her sleeve and her music touched us in its raw humanity. Another artist, who has very few lyrics and is in her own world with an amazing ability to craft emotions from thin air: Lisa Gerrard, who has made magic on multiple solo and collaborative albums and also as half of Dead Can Dance. I watched The Sugarcubes at the Warfield in SF, when the speakers went out, so they turned their monitors around to play. I loved it. They did a version of "Motorcycle Mama" that sent me. I also went to see her tour for _Debut._ It was magical and also at the Warfield. I always thought she'd easily be able to pull the crowd needed to fill the Shoreline Amphitheatre. Cripes, I need to make a mix tape. Xb
The Motown is definitely there. In an interview, she said her favorite voice or song is "Rock with you" from "Off the Wall" by Michael Jackson. And that album uses strings in that manor too.
Björk is tough to talk about with understanding her history and cultural background. And as far as Venus as a Boy is concerned, the importance of it being included in The Professional (and basically driving the score for the middle third) cannot be overstated.
Great choice! Thanks for introducing me to Madison Cunningham too!
10 місяців тому+8
Björk's musical influences are myriad but on Debut you can hear the influences of Kate Bush, Cocteau Twins (and the 4AD Label), Electronic Dance Music/House (like 808 State) as well as Indian percussion from her London experiences and interest in Bollywood, plus vocal inflections which incorporate a decidedly South London accent on her English. You can hear early Massive Attack which is hardly surprising given the Nellee Hooper overlaps and Drum and Bass. Not so much cinematic as she creates soundscapes reflecting her musical and general life experiences from London, Manchester and Bristol. That's the post hoc analysis but what she produced was other worldly at the time and it doesn't age because it seems to sit apart from a time. Great show.
@@themadgranolaRight?! Kate was absolutely groundbreaking and clearly put enormous thought into her visuals (and, well, _everything_ else), and Bjork cites Bush as one of her musical heroes.
Great video but I'm most excited that you are talking about what you've been listening to lately at the end! All three artists were brand new to me. Cannot wait for the next episode!
11:04 - When two of you were toddlers and one of you wasn't even a glimmer in someone's eye, I heard "Birthday" by The Sugarcubes (1988) and immediately fell in love with Bjork. On their first album, you can tell she was still learning English because she'd pronounce some words incorrectly. E.g., I remember chuckling when I heard her pronounce "give" as "jiv". As to her emphasis on odd syllables, I think that has more to do with her desire to serve the melody than it does with English being her second language. I've noticed some native English speakers, e.g. Stevie Wonder, also do this sometimes. You can tell that certain artists come up with a melody that's important to them, and the lyric is secondary to the melody.
Birthday was even a bit earlier. I too am a man of a certain age and I think Birthday was getting MTV play the summer of 1987 before I went off to college. I still have the Life's too good CD and it does have the 1988 copyright.
when you were talking about the strings I was like "where have I heard that melody before???" and then I realized that it's very much like melodic lines used in two or three different songs at the end of the album "morning view" by incubus, specifically "echo" and "aqueous transmission," and, to a lesser extent, "are you in?" so similar that I had to look it up, and sure enough, incubus singer brandon boyd claims that "aqueous transmission," in particular, was inspired by bjork.
@6:00 She actually always starts with the melody first and then works in the rhythms and percussion. She’s said in interviews how she makes it difficult on her electronic collaborators as they’re used to building upon beats.
That was a fun convo. I spent my early 20’s driving around Los Angeles in a vintage 280zx with Debut and Post in heavy rotation, singing at the top of my lungs. Also The Sunday’s and Tori Amos.
I always wondered if she sometimes records her vocals over a very minimalistic backing track, and then they build the rest later. It was great to hear them mention that possibility. Everything fits together perfectly yet parts sometimes sound so foreign to each other....and it just works! It's almost like rap instrumentals. The vocals don't have to fit in the same key and the instruments since the vocals are not sung. But Bjork sings and she just makes it work....amazingly
the intro bassline is kind a bluesy Db minor pentatonic line over the Db major9 slash chord with the 3 as base note of this "percussive" sample. The sound in Second 13 is the #11, lydian mode for the major chord, so i think it all makes sense!
So to answer a question posed in this video: Bjork studied piano and flute at an early age at the Barnamúsíkskóli in Reykjavík. She had a Icelandic music career at age 10 or 11 and therefore stopped her schooling. I'm sure she was aware the bass and the voice were in different keys. Perhaps a video on atonal music is in order here.
Enjoyed this analysis of this brillant song. Worth also mentioning that Kate Bush was Björk’s inspiration as someone with a unique sound and idiosyncratic world of her own.
Imagining falling down and throwing things of a cliff are the most common things any kid thinks.. it's like experimenting with material endurance..As a grown up,she mentally goes from warmth of a relationship (returning to the guy who sleeps) were before the lives her small "revolutionary " and "experimental " self by causing noise of a cliff..Makes perfect sense..And Bjork is the most positive person,who also is highly experimental..So there you have it..😊
I went to her concert in September 2023, her visuals are insane and the whole show just sucked me in. After the concert there was a silence when we were leaving the venue like everybody was in their heads full of Björk‘s dreamy fantastic world. It was a stark opposite of the excitement before the concert.
Enjoyed watching this but there’s a brilliant breakdown of this track on UA-cam where the guy talks about the specific samples etc. in case anyone wants some more info.
Love Bjork, was so happy the song was Venus as a boy, but I think army of me was the first song I heard and was intrigued, it was so different but it worked, had elements of hip hop in the baseline, electronica obviously and more, was the typical sound of the British/ european era of the 90s, like massive attack. Then discovered all her other awesome music, she definitely creates her own eclectic world and it's beautiful!!!!
Madison's takes were very insightful! I've loved Bjork for years, and it was refreshing to hear americans talk about her music and artistry seriously and on a deeper level. Thank you for a great episode!
What a pleasant surprise! Madison became my favorite new artist with the release of Revealer. Absolutely love her! And I wish the hell I could get tickets to a show, but every time I look for her shows in the Bay Area, they're already sold out 😢.
What's fun about the bass in this song is the fact that in her podcast about the homogenic sessions Bjork said she was uncomfortable with the bass line for the chorus of joga. Mark bell, her co producer for that record brought it and it was a fith above what it should've been. But in that instance she didn't vibe with it at first. I think i could write a fantastic essay on her artistic persona but i wouldn't really scartch the surface. I always appreciate locking in on this music, thanks guys.
Oh wow....how am I only now discovering this channel? This is exactly the kind of music/songwriting stuff I want. There's plenty of great channels that deal in that milieu, but they never quite approach it the way I personally want to see. But just starting this video, and scrolling through the other videos, I'm already a fan. I was curious what Bjork song is "perfect" because that's...a tough choice. For me it's All Is Full of Love, specifically the single mix with the additional bass and rhythm. But there's plenty of Bjork songs I'd genuinely call perfect...and Venus As A Boy is definitely one. The title is super clever and catchy on it's own. But then the playful seductive mix of this plinky motif with the coy and flirtatious Bollywood-esque strings....it just works on every level.
Bjork came to my notice in the late 80s with The Sugarcubes, but she started as a professional at 10 years old. I think she started so early and covered so much ground by the time she was 20 that's just what she continued to do ... she has no chains to hold her back, it's just her.
Loved this. FYI, Corrine Bailey Rae did an R&B version of this song "Venus as a Boy". Actually didnt even realize it wasnt Corrine's song until this episode.
FYI, just because Bjork is singing about wondering about jumping off the cliff doesn’t make it a song ABOUT suicide… if that makes sense. Thinking about something doesn’t make it an intention and Bjork is always thinking about things that may be considered dark, but then again, her work is also always deeply imbued with hope, wonder, awe, love and happiness. She has that deep nature (Icelandic) connection in most of her work (exhibited in film roles like The Juniper Tree and The Northman). Like an honoring of the ancient animistic cultures of the past (she sings a lot about goddesses, etc).
I always felt like that at the beginning of her career, she knew already where, what even when everything it was going to fold out. And in 30 years I will write my 12th album that is about that. Crazy!
3:00 That sound is an harp. Sounds crazy, but the sample comes from a track named "Music for Sho and Harp" from Mayemi Miyamoto. It took me lots of relistenings of that track to understand that the particular reverb and resonance and the way she plays that chord makes it sounds like glass. Pure sound design genius.
I recently went back to the album Post. That is one of the few perfect albums. Every song is good, several are great. It shows so much range in singing and style.
Bjork studied in classical music and piano at 6, released her first album at 11, and part of punk and jazz bands during her teens...
everybody knows that
@@figgettit someone is in a bad mood… 😂
@@richardlehoux Richard does his daily shadow work
@@figgettit I once had an embarassing comment section feud with some thirty-something dude who claimed that Björk could not possibly have purposefully written a melody in the locrian mode, and contrasted her with more cerebral composers such as the members of Dream Theater who were obviously intently crafting their music using advanced music theory. While the latter might be the case, no amount of evidence of Björk’s classical training and experience could convince him that she was anything other than an intuitive composer, since he had sung in a pop-band (and reading more into it-because she is a woman?).
🖲️She is a God. 🖲️
I just wanna take a moment to appreciate this channel, the fact that you have the founder of PATREON making insanely in depth, interesting, educational music content with no sponsor breaks while giving his friends and people he admires a place to really shine, so cool.
That "sound" you're talking about at around 3:00 is a Sample from Mayemi Miyamoto, called "Music for Shō and harp" from 1986 :)
hyperballad was the song that did me in for björk as well.
same, unless you count DJ Shadow's sample of Possibly Maybe from his Endtroducing album.
me too, I don't know how she pulled that one off
Madison is so freaking good with you guys. I'd be down with her as a full time co-host lol. Also I hope this has one of your typical follow-on episodes talking about Madison's music next. Her guitar playing turns my brain inside out
just a few too many "likes" for my liking😏
I have consistently said that this team needs a vocalist, because there is an entire set of musical terminology missing otherwise!
I just found my way all the way back to your comment just to say thanks for turning me on to this awesome artist. I’m obsessed now!
Agreed!
Humble brag here - I saw the Sugarcubes in 1989. Wonderful
That would have been awesome! The Here Today...tour?
@@billium99 91X-X Fest II - New Order / Public Image Ltd / The Sugarcubes / De La Soul
@@dpe4Omg, I am sooo jealous! That gig sounds absolutely incredible. Awesome dude
Same here.
I saw her at the Union Chapel with the Brodsky Quartet in 1999, it was extraordinary, despite the intense cold and my nose getting full of soot from all the candles. But god, I'd have loved to have seen her in the Sugarcubes era
Here I am agreeing alongside them like they’re preaching the gospel. Bjork is such a genuine amazing artist
Just wanted to say as a mailman, this show has been a delight to listen to in podcast form at work. Thank you for doing that :)
Madison is VERY perceptive when it comes to discussing music. It shows in her own work, too.
My favorite part of this series is seeing how different musicians perceive, intuit, and discuss music with their own vocabulary, and bouncing that off of everyone else in the room.
Been following Björk since the 90s. Saw the famous Westbank interview (it's on youtube in full length, look it up) and saw the part where she said "they look at the computer and say... There's no soul here.. but if there is no soul, it's because nobody put it there". I always remembered that part. The last shot of the documentary (again, go look it up, it's fantastic) is of a white-clad bjork standing at the edge of an Icelandic glacier. That image was etched in my mind. Last year I got to go to Iceland, stand on the same glacier and.... I kid you not... get to be with Bjork in the same room where she played a DJ-set to compensate for her concert show cancellation. It was weird and exciting being there with her. She was up in the balcony playing a very eclectical song choice, which later became my goto playlist all through my journey in Iceland. I still listen to it to this day. Some real gems in there. Here's the footage of that magical evening: ua-cam.com/video/gZ_L8CImKxU/v-deo.html
Bjork's Sonic Symbolism pod reveals a lot about her process. This was a pandemic obsession listening to her talk through her process and inspiration. Great choice to dissect! I'm also really into Possibly Maybe from Post. Also, Madison being here and articulating is perfect! I'm gonna go to Staples and pick up some new legal pads.
Ooooh.....thank you! I've been meaning to check that podcast out, but keep forgetting.
Is that where she takes apart old TVs?
@@bentucker2301 er... nope... That happened on TV promo for a Sugarcubes tour (back in the 80's)
Got me excited for someone to talk about Bjork!
the main sample is Music for Sho and Harp (Cort Lippe) Mayumi Miyatav
Good call! Nellee Hooper on the production as well. It certainly sound like he brought a lot to this track.
A friend of mine played cello in the string section on this (he also played on 'Play Dead'). He told me this story:
It was a Sunday morning and a bunch of jaded (possibly hungover) classical musos turn up at a London studio to do a session. They set up and ask 'where are the charts?' Bjork appears, apologises that her co-producer (Nelee Hooper?) can't make it. She tells them that she has a clear idea of what she wants, but needs help to write it out properly. The classical folk shuffle in their seats - there are rolling eyes and heavy sighs. These string players have seen it all before, and this scenario rarely ends well....
She sits down at the piano with the leader, and spends an hour (with the musos on the clock) singing ideas to him. He scribbles down her ideas, and runs to the photocopier. Still cynical, the string folk start playing these charts to the track, conducted by Bjork herself. It works a treat - more or less what you hear on the record. Having a post - recording cigarette, they congratulate the section leader Gavin Wright for 'rescuing the session' and encourage him to push for an arrangement credit. Wright shrugs his shoulders and says 'every note you played came from Bjork herself - I was just the copyist'.
The string players left the studio that day with a new-found respect for the weird foreign girl....
She actually learned how to transcribe music for a string orchestra later on. She did all the arrangements for Vulnicura, which is very impressive. A lot of people don't give her the technical credit she is due.
Born 1965, from 1970 she attended the Barnamúsíkskóli Reykjavíkur music school, where she spent ten years, among other things. was taught singing, piano and flute.
Can we please talk about Madisons music though? She’s absolutely incredible
I came here just to write that exact comment!
PLEASE. 🤞
At least talk about her recent release, "Subtitles" - what a brilliant composition. 🤯
And about her fabulous drummer beth goodfellow
Gigantic missed opportunity. She's like the new Joni Mitchell of our time
Bjork does indeed read and write traditional music notation- I recall once seeing scores of her string arrangements for Joga and Pagan Poetry in her manuscript and being absolutely gobsmacked. It brought a whole level of depth to her genius that I hadn't appreciated prior.
She is classically trained and absolutely can read and write notes..
sure i'm not the first to say so here, but Bjõrk is very much a classically trained composer & a skilled producer who is able to draw from many different disciplines. She knows exactly what she's doing. She also stays very open to mystery & communing with the sounds of nature. I'm sure happy accidents happen for her -- but she is a composer thru & thru.
When I first met Bjork's music I realized I had run into one of the great geniuses of music. Mozart, Bach, ... Superb.
tis song has a sample the song is Music for Shō" by Mayumi Miyata, Marius de Vries played on the track at the time he used the Roland D50 and DX7 but the part on 1&3 (2:50) is the sample
I fell in love with bjork with the sugar cubes “birthday” kills!
"I have a feeling she just exists" is as close as you can get. It's the je-ne sais-quoi. She is free and when she is not she is seeking to be. Not to be mistaken by I'm free in my music, but at home I enjoy myself as Martha Stewart. It is through and through. Therefore it can't apply to the "normal" world, so you are forced to create your own one. Admirably exceptional.
Great episode, thanks to everybody involved.
i love how the dissection & study of this song between the three of u illuminates the genius of it. I agree that Björk is absolutely a creator of entire worlds within each album.
Dead Wax is back. So happy !
Me too!!! SO happy they're back...this entire album by Bjork was amazing, my girlfriend at the time played it constantly...every song on it has that eclectic, yet sophisticated touch...definitely a world of her own!!!
Such a great insight at just shy of the 29 minute point, where you mention how a killer groove foundation allows all kinds of hijinks melodically. There's a short video here on YT called "No Wrong Notes with Victor Wooten" that talks about this concept exactly. Bang on, Dead Wax - bang on.
I’m excited see Madison Cunningham on show talk about. Amazing legend signing of ever.
I still remember the first time somebody played Medulla for me. I had heard some other Björk before, but it never grabbed me like that album did, straight from The Pleasure is All Mine. After that, going back to the rest of her library was a whole different experience.
What a great episode! In addition to the bjork songs mentioned, unravel is also worth checking out.
The Debut album was produced by Nellee Hooper. BTW, I think the Bjork quote about computers in music production was: ”If there’s no soul in the music, it’s because no one put it there. You can’t blame the tools”. And yes, she does have classical music training.
This was brilliant. Feels like taking part in a conversation with gifted minds. And It makes another nordic soul feel less alone in this world (and now I know why scary pockets arrangements are so good) Thanks
Hey guys - Thanks for the very fun episode. I'm a huge fan of Madison. Another artist that comes to mind similar to what you talked about with Bjork is Peter Gabriel. Cheers!
Fantastic to see you guys back. Discovered Tiny Habits this week and then saw Ryan playing with them on some live stuff.
You guys gotta get them on. Their (few) songs are incredible and I think they need all the support and encouragement we can give them.
Also, we need to hear the writing and recording process for those songs. The harmonies, the chords choices... The rhythm play. The blend.
This was a really good one, you guys. Talking about Björk + talking with Madison = really good stuff.
Kate Bush had a visual presence, her own sound/world/alien visitation vibe... She is and always was able to wear her (he)art on her sleeve and her music touched us in its raw humanity. Another artist, who has very few lyrics and is in her own world with an amazing ability to craft emotions from thin air: Lisa Gerrard, who has made magic on multiple solo and collaborative albums and also as half of Dead Can Dance.
I watched The Sugarcubes at the Warfield in SF, when the speakers went out, so they turned their monitors around to play. I loved it. They did a version of "Motorcycle Mama" that sent me. I also went to see her tour for _Debut._ It was magical and also at the Warfield. I always thought she'd easily be able to pull the crowd needed to fill the Shoreline Amphitheatre. Cripes, I need to make a mix tape. Xb
The Motown is definitely there. In an interview, she said her favorite voice or song is "Rock with you" from "Off the Wall" by Michael Jackson. And that album uses strings in that manor too.
Thanks for this. It’s been like 20 years since I listed to a full Björk album and this sent me on a full discography journey.
These are so great. More, please!
The telegraph version of hyperballad is EVERYTHING
Björk went to music school from age 4 where she learnt to sing and play piano and flute. So I guess musically she's rather literate.
Björk is tough to talk about with understanding her history and cultural background.
And as far as Venus as a Boy is concerned, the importance of it being included in The Professional (and basically driving the score for the middle third) cannot be overstated.
Great choice! Thanks for introducing me to Madison Cunningham too!
Björk's musical influences are myriad but on Debut you can hear the influences of Kate Bush, Cocteau Twins (and the 4AD Label), Electronic Dance Music/House (like 808 State) as well as Indian percussion from her London experiences and interest in Bollywood, plus vocal inflections which incorporate a decidedly South London accent on her English. You can hear early Massive Attack which is hardly surprising given the Nellee Hooper overlaps and Drum and Bass. Not so much cinematic as she creates soundscapes reflecting her musical and general life experiences from London, Manchester and Bristol. That's the post hoc analysis but what she produced was other worldly at the time and it doesn't age because it seems to sit apart from a time.
Great show.
That’s not me sitting in my livingroom yelling « Kate Bush! » while they’re talking about world builders 😂
@@themadgranolaRight?! Kate was absolutely groundbreaking and clearly put enormous thought into her visuals (and, well, _everything_ else), and Bjork cites Bush as one of her musical heroes.
Great video but I'm most excited that you are talking about what you've been listening to lately at the end! All three artists were brand new to me. Cannot wait for the next episode!
I just thought I’d say: I Love You guys!!
Period. ‘Nuff said.
More please.
Would love to have her (and other artists) in to talk about their own songs, She's such a fantastic gem
OOOOO I LOVE Madison Cunningham!
UA-cam needs more of this. Great chat. Peak Björk for me is that Vespertine + Medulla + Biophilia phase. Just incredibly visceral.
And the podcast series she did chronicling all of her albums is great too, Sonic Symbolism
11:04 - When two of you were toddlers and one of you wasn't even a glimmer in someone's eye, I heard "Birthday" by The Sugarcubes (1988) and immediately fell in love with Bjork. On their first album, you can tell she was still learning English because she'd pronounce some words incorrectly. E.g., I remember chuckling when I heard her pronounce "give" as "jiv".
As to her emphasis on odd syllables, I think that has more to do with her desire to serve the melody than it does with English being her second language. I've noticed some native English speakers, e.g. Stevie Wonder, also do this sometimes. You can tell that certain artists come up with a melody that's important to them, and the lyric is secondary to the melody.
Birthday was even a bit earlier. I too am a man of a certain age and I think Birthday was getting MTV play the summer of 1987 before I went off to college. I still have the Life's too good CD and it does have the 1988 copyright.
when you were talking about the strings I was like "where have I heard that melody before???" and then I realized that it's very much like melodic lines used in two or three different songs at the end of the album "morning view" by incubus, specifically "echo" and "aqueous transmission," and, to a lesser extent, "are you in?"
so similar that I had to look it up, and sure enough, incubus singer brandon boyd claims that "aqueous transmission," in particular, was inspired by bjork.
She's so amazing! I love this album and never even paid too much attention to the lyrics! The music alone is enough!
@6:00 She actually always starts with the melody first and then works in the rhythms and percussion. She’s said in interviews how she makes it difficult on her electronic collaborators as they’re used to building upon beats.
That was a fun convo. I spent my early 20’s driving around Los Angeles in a vintage 280zx with Debut and Post in heavy rotation, singing at the top of my lungs. Also The Sunday’s and Tori Amos.
Yes! Me too but in my mid 20’s. Bjork, Sundays, and Tori Amos!
15:00 Taken figuratively, "Eyes closed or open" is insanely deep and poetic.
Heck yeah, love Madison!
That’s my dream UA-cam content right there!!
Please keep it flowing ❤
I always wondered if she sometimes records her vocals over a very minimalistic backing track, and then they build the rest later. It was great to hear them mention that possibility. Everything fits together perfectly yet parts sometimes sound so foreign to each other....and it just works! It's almost like rap instrumentals. The vocals don't have to fit in the same key and the instruments since the vocals are not sung. But Bjork sings and she just makes it work....amazingly
Missed this channel. So glad we’re all back
the intro bassline is kind a bluesy Db minor pentatonic line over the Db major9 slash chord with the 3 as base note of this "percussive" sample. The sound in Second 13 is the #11, lydian mode for the major chord, so i think it all makes sense!
Bjork's voice and the notes she could reach when in The Sugarcubes was absolutely stunning.
So to answer a question posed in this video: Bjork studied piano and flute at an early age at the Barnamúsíkskóli in Reykjavík. She had a Icelandic music career at age 10 or 11 and therefore stopped her schooling. I'm sure she was aware the bass and the voice were in different keys. Perhaps a video on atonal music is in order here.
Enjoyed this analysis of this brillant song. Worth also mentioning that Kate Bush was Björk’s inspiration as someone with a unique sound and idiosyncratic world of her own.
Imagining falling down and throwing things of a cliff are the most common things any kid thinks.. it's like experimenting with material endurance..As a grown up,she mentally goes from warmth of a relationship (returning to the guy who sleeps) were before the lives her small "revolutionary " and "experimental " self by causing noise of a cliff..Makes perfect sense..And Bjork is the most positive person,who also is highly experimental..So there you have it..😊
This was amazing. Thank you!
18:56 add Kate Bush to that list of musicians whose visuals created a world
Exactly, to me, shes the most obvious one that came to mind in that regard.
I went to her concert in September 2023, her visuals are insane and the whole show just sucked me in. After the concert there was a silence when we were leaving the venue like everybody was in their heads full of Björk‘s dreamy fantastic world. It was a stark opposite of the excitement before the concert.
I’ve been fascinated by Björk since her days with The Sugar Cubes. This is one of my favorites from her solo work.
That Hyperballad track is so breathtakingly gorgeous. Thanks for bringing that one up. ❤
Adore Bjork!!. Also kate Bush, Sinead o con̈nor and PJ Harvey are incredible!!!
Enjoyed watching this but there’s a brilliant breakdown of this track on UA-cam where the guy talks about the specific samples etc. in case anyone wants some more info.
I love listening seasoned musicians saying how much they love the music I love. I love Björk and I loved this! And Björk is love
@deadwax Have you had a listen to Eusexua by FKA Twigs? The video is insane
I love Madison’s cover of “Army of Me”
Love Bjork, was so happy the song was Venus as a boy, but I think army of me was the first song I heard and was intrigued, it was so different but it worked, had elements of hip hop in the baseline, electronica obviously and more, was the typical sound of the British/ european era of the 90s, like massive attack. Then discovered all her other awesome music, she definitely creates her own eclectic world and it's beautiful!!!!
Madison's takes were very insightful! I've loved Bjork for years, and it was refreshing to hear americans talk about her music and artistry seriously and on a deeper level. Thank you for a great episode!
Bjork was living in London at the time and got quite a lot into Bollywood music (via the Indian community in the UK)
One of your best episodes, imho! Thank you so much!
watch/listen to the arrangements she made for her live rendition of this song and you'll be blown away even further.
What a pleasant surprise! Madison became my favorite new artist with the release of Revealer. Absolutely love her! And I wish the hell I could get tickets to a show, but every time I look for her shows in the Bay Area, they're already sold out 😢.
What's fun about the bass in this song is the fact that in her podcast about the homogenic sessions Bjork said she was uncomfortable with the bass line for the chorus of joga. Mark bell, her co producer for that record brought it and it was a fith above what it should've been. But in that instance she didn't vibe with it at first. I think i could write a fantastic essay on her artistic persona but i wouldn't really scartch the surface.
I always appreciate locking in on this music, thanks guys.
Oh wow....how am I only now discovering this channel?
This is exactly the kind of music/songwriting stuff I want. There's plenty of great channels that deal in that milieu, but they never quite approach it the way I personally want to see. But just starting this video, and scrolling through the other videos, I'm already a fan. I was curious what Bjork song is "perfect" because that's...a tough choice. For me it's All Is Full of Love, specifically the single mix with the additional bass and rhythm.
But there's plenty of Bjork songs I'd genuinely call perfect...and Venus As A Boy is definitely one. The title is super clever and catchy on it's own. But then the playful seductive mix of this plinky motif with the coy and flirtatious Bollywood-esque strings....it just works on every level.
After over 20 years, Hyperbalad still makes me cry every time. So strong!
Love Venus as a boy too! ❤
She worked with Nellee Hooper from Soul II Soul and Talvin Singh did the Tabla and some of the strings(Indian)
Such a fun episode!!
Great show. maddi is amazing!
This was awesome. Anytime Bjork applies grit to her voice in a song or does her wide mouth yell thing, I'm sold.
Bjork came to my notice in the late 80s with The Sugarcubes, but she started as a professional at 10 years old. I think she started so early and covered so much ground by the time she was 20 that's just what she continued to do ... she has no chains to hold her back, it's just her.
Loved this. FYI, Corrine Bailey Rae did an R&B version of this song "Venus as a Boy". Actually didnt even realize it wasnt Corrine's song until this episode.
I've always loved this song. You're making me fall in love again
Greetings from iceland, love your channel!
FYI, just because Bjork is singing about wondering about jumping off the cliff doesn’t make it a song ABOUT suicide… if that makes sense. Thinking about something doesn’t make it an intention and Bjork is always thinking about things that may be considered dark, but then again, her work is also always deeply imbued with hope, wonder, awe, love and happiness. She has that deep nature (Icelandic) connection in most of her work (exhibited in film roles like The Juniper Tree and The Northman). Like an honoring of the ancient animistic cultures of the past (she sings a lot about goddesses, etc).
shes a creative artist creating colors with music - like painting an image with sound
Look up her conversation with philosopher Timothy Morton and you can see how deep Björk is. She refers to her songs as "entities."
I always felt like that at the beginning of her career, she knew already where, what even when everything it was going to fold out. And in 30 years I will write my 12th album that is about that. Crazy!
And, (sorry, was too caught up in my own world) ... of course, I appreciate you guys for loving and analyzing Björk's songs in this video 😊
3:00 That sound is an harp. Sounds crazy, but the sample comes from a track named "Music for Sho and Harp" from Mayemi Miyamoto. It took me lots of relistenings of that track to understand that the particular reverb and resonance and the way she plays that chord makes it sounds like glass. Pure sound design genius.
Fossora is LEGENDARY. Her best album
This song is amazing.
There's a video of her creating on her own remotely in the mountains somewhere. I saw it on UA-cam years ago.
That sound you were looking for sounds exactly ike the gates at the metro stations in Paris
I recently went back to the album Post. That is one of the few perfect albums. Every song is good, several are great. It shows so much range in singing and style.
More Maddison, love her takes and is great to hear what a vocalist has to say