Human behaviour - Björk

Human behaviour - Bjork

I don't think my life could be summed up in any way better than with this song right now! Having a rollercoaster week, and the more stress kicks in, the more extreme mood changes are. Still, so frustrating and irresistible to approach the definitely definitely definitely no logic!

"If you ever get close to a human

And human behaviour

Be ready to get confused

There's definitely, definitely, definitely no logic

To human behaviour

But yet so, yet so irresistible

And there's no map

They're terribly moody

And human behaviour

Then all of a sudden turn happy

But, oh, to get involved in the exchange

Of human emotions is ever so, ever so satisfying"

The modern things - Björk

The modern things - Björk

In the last few days I've been listening to the whole Björk discography because, again, I had her in my head for no particular reason. I must say that listening to all her songs randomly made me appreciate a bit more also the music she released after the turn of century, which has always been very hard on me. Then I went on to take a nap this afternoon - after getting up very early (for my standards) this morning - and waking up from it, I had in my head the looped lyric she sings at the end of "The modern things", which is in Icelandic; after searching the Internet I think she's singing something like "Engin sér við mér", which means "Nobody gets the best of me", but I am not 100% sure I got it right, as her pronunciation seems slightly different... It's amazing how things that are (supposed to be) unintelligible to our brain given our knowledge pool, still have such a big influence on us, isn't it?!

#liveweek Satisfaction (live @ Brit Awards) - Björk & PJ Harvey

Satisfaction (live @ Brit Awards) - Björk & PJ Harvey

By now we're in the second half of this #liveweek, which has been going quite well up to now! Yet I wanna take it to the next level with these last few posts. This is a song that immediately came to my mind when I thought about the whole idea of a set of blogposts about live performances and I feel I cannot leave it out. So, the recipe is quite simple: take a great and underestimated singer/songwriter from England; take a crazy singer/songwriter from Iceland who is ages ahead her current time; take a glorious rock song by the Rolling Stones; mix it all together and... voilà! I dare you to find a 4-minute music video more powerful than this one in its simplicity!

Crystalline - Björk

Crystalline - Björk

I came in late with Björk's (not anymore) latest album, Biophilia. I actually started approaching it just a few days ago, as her new work came out. I think I needed a pause with her, as after her first three albums (that I loved), it's been pretty hard for me to get through her later discography, but you know that already, it's not the first time I'm telling about this difficult relationship! Fast forwarding to now, I felt ready to approach her new work and I must confess that I didn't devote much attention to Biophilia yet, but after a couple listens I didn't feel a block as I did with Vespertine or even somehow with parts of Medulla and Volta. It's not straight-forward, accessible music of course, but I think I can get it through with a few more listens. I'll keep you updated about that, for now enjoy the one song that got through to me already!

Big time sensuality - Björk

Big time sensuality - Björk

A few days ago Björk surprisedly released her brand new album, Vulnicura, months before the expected release, about 4 years after her latest album Biophilia (it seems like yesterday that it came out). In between the release of these two albums I completed my getting-to-know the discography of the most famous Icelandic singer-songwriter, not without difficulties. My uncompromised love for her first three albums (from Debut to Homogenic) is in total opposition to my questionable and partial appreciation for the three next releases, in particular Vespertine, which I have always had a very hard time to process, and whose (to me) unremarkable melodies annoy me more than Medulla's crazy, metallic and electrical noises. To the point that I had never listened to Biophilia yet. Until today. Well... the experience has not been unpleasing, but I can't deny it has been tough. I think there is potential for this album to grow in me more than at least a couple of his three predecessors. I haven't got the chance to listen to Vulnicura yet, but I hope I will soon and I will close my personal bjorkish circle. Yet the raw and powerful but clean musical strength of her first triad still remains unmatched in my ears...! Here is one of my favourite examples of it! And, come on, just how brilliant is this video? Genius!

Q magazine interview (May 1994) - Tori Amos + PJ Harvey + Bjork

I promised myself I wouldn't post this (again) until I finished listening to all of their discographies. Now a few years have past and, taking out Bjork's latest album (that came out after my decision anyway), I got through the whole experience.

I take the occasion and exploit this chance to make myself a birthday gift and I'll share this with you now! Also, almost 20 years have past since the article was written, but it is still so up-to-date and so relevant to their music and to the music industry panorama that it really makes you realize just how great and true their work has been and still is.

These ladies have been one (well, actually three) of the most awesome music discoveries and their songs will stay with me for my whole life. I hope you enjoy my favourite music-related interview ever.

Oceania - Bjork

Gosh, this day has been so weirdly intense that I forgot to post at all (until now)! Just in time! Ok, so it's been my first day off since I started working here in England and I must say it's been a pretty wise choice, a monday just after a weekend trip and just before my birthday, awesome choice! I still can't believe I'm getting older tomorrow...! Anyway, back to music. In the lat couple of days I have been listening a lot to songs that I have already posted here, so that puts me a little bit in a hard spot for picking a song, and it is the first time this happens even if I am well-inspired. Too bad I get into songs more than once. Of course I'm joking.

Oceania - Bjork

Well, I think that another big milestone has been past today with me barely noticing it. I have (kinda) finished listening to Bjork's discography (excluding her latest album, that anyway was released after I started). She has been the one who made me change my way of approaching new music (you might remember something about it in an R.E.M.-related post) and not in a positive way, as at one point I got stuck with her and for a long time I haven't been able to proceed. I have never processed her album Vespertine, which made me stop listening to her whatsoever. I have recently approached Volta and my impression was a little bit more positive, even though I'm not fully convinced I really like it either. Considering the fact the I had bought the album between these two (Medulla) even before starting with her and that I have listened to it sporadically (with more pleasure than the other two anyway), I feel safer picking from it, as a kind of beginning and end of a chain. This is one of the songs I can safely say I like on Medulla, it's still very experimental but, to me at least, enjoyable!

Army of me - Björk

Army of me - Bjork

Hello guys! Finally the fates have turned in my favour and today I have a song for the blog, before I even start writing! Irony aside, I'm finally glad music inspiration is coming back to me! Today I've been listening to some old albums I love and to some brand new music too, like an iTunes + Spotify blend. And yet this song is not on any of the albums I've been listening to, it just started right after Bjork's debut album (Debut) because I didn't change song quickly enough. And I'm glad I didn't. 'Cause I found my song for today. Obviously I couldn't stop it after it started (it's too good!) and I enjoyed every second of it. Well, I can just hope that for the future an army of songs will come to me asking to get posted!

It's oh so quiet - Bjork

Hey guys! I hope your thursday went well! Mine did, I had a pleasant day at work. Yet, from time to time, each day in the office has a moment of alienation I think. This is where my mind went today during one of these moments!

Fletta - Antony & the Johnsons (feat. Bjork)

Today I'm coming to you with another tune from a CD I started listening to recently. They are Antony and the Johnsons, an alternative band formed by British New York-based artist Antony Hegarty. I remember vividly the moment when I was first listening to their 2011 album Swanlights on the main street of Lyon a few days ago, freezing in my clothes but tasting the smell of snow in the air. At one point this song started and I was all like "Wait! ... but... this must be Bjork!". And so it was. And in the end this is the song of the album I have been loving the most so far. Enjoy this fusion of England, Iceland and New York (and France, why not? Context matters).