| Stretched on Your Grave presents.... |
| music |
| Bjork |
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Bjork Gudmundsdottir was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1965, to a musical family. Her parents divorced not long after she was born, and her mother retreated with Bjork to a sort of Hippie commune. Bjork began playing traditional Icelandic folk songs at an early age, and recorded her first album 'Bjork' in 1977 at age 11. During the 1980's Bjork played in a series of anarchistic punk bands, for example 'Spit and Snot', 'Exodus', 'Jam 80', 'Tappi Tikarass', etc. But it was with the band 'Kukl' that Bjork first became slightly infamous abroad, she was already well known in her native Iceland. She was also rather notorious, an example would be the she sang with 'Kukl' on Icelandic television, heavily pregnant with her son Sindri, she appeared in a torn maternity dress, nine month pregnant belly exposed, literally giving one viewer a heart attack! In 1986, Bjork and fellow 'Kukl' members, Einar Orn, Thor Eldon (ex-husband) and Siggi Baldursson formed 'Sykurmolnar' or in English, 'The Sugarcubes'. 'The Sugarcubes' were an international success with the own brand of strange Icelandic pop/rock. Their first single 'Birthday' is at once the strangest but most beautiful sounding thing you have ever heard, it appeared on their debut album 'Life's Too Good', which was released in 1988. Their second album 'Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week', released in 1989, was less successful. In 1991, the band released their final album, 'Stick Around for Joy', although a remix album, 'It's It', was released in 1992, and a greatest hits album entitled 'The Great Crossover Potential' was released in 2000. In 1990 Bjork had recorded an album of Icelandic jazz standards aswell as two western ones, with and Icelandic jazz trio, the album was titled 'Gling-Glo', Gling-Glo is Icelandic onamatapaea and like the english known, Tic-Toc. Bjork shot to international superstardom with her solo albums. In 1993 Bjork released 'Debut'. It was strange, frothy and fiercely independant, like Bjork herself. It was an enormous hit, especially on the club circuit, but also in the mainstream. 'Debut' featured such tracks as 'Human Behaviour', 'Venus as a Boy', 'Big Time Sensuality', and a cover of the old Chet Baker song 'Like Someone in Love', with well known harpist, Corky Hale on harp. Bjork embarked on a world tour in support of 'Debut', and released a video of a concert called 'Vessel'. In 1995 Bjork released he second album 'Post', it was a huge success, wielding the top ten hit single 'It's Oh So Quiet'. 'Post' was an enormous success, Bjork again embarking on a world tour, complete with and incident with a certain reporter that gained her real notoriety! Next was an album of remixes, 'Telegram' was album of remixes from the album 'Post'. In 1993 Bjork released an EP of remixes from 'Debut' entitled 'The Best Remixes From the Album 'Debut' For All the People Who Don't Buy White Labels'. In 1997, Bjork released another album 'Homogenic', a less eclectic album, yet still as strange and turbulent as her others, and also alot stronger. 'Homogenic' included such amazing tracks as 'Joga', 'Bachelorette', 'Hunter', 'Alarm Call' and others. The year 2000 saw Bjork take up acting for the second time (the first time was in a 1987 movie called 'The Juniper Tree'), she starred as 'Selma', the lead in Lars Von Trier's 'Dancer in the Dark', an amazing film which won 'Best Picture' an the Cannes Film Festival, and won Bjork 'Best Actress' and 'Palm D'Or'. Bjork was also responsible for the music in the film, it was a musical. One of the songs, 'I've Seen It All', was nominated for an Academy Award, Bjork performed the song at The Academy Awards in 2001 but unfortunately did not take home the award for 'Best Original Song'. Bjork released the songs from 'Dancer In the Dark' on and album called 'Selmasongs', the album featured Radiohead's Thom Yorke duetting with Bjork on 'I've Seen It All'. Bjork's latest album, 'Vespertine', was released in 2001 to yet more critical acclaim, it seems she can do no wrong. 'Vespertine' included tracks such as 'Hidden Place', 'Pagan Poetry', 'Cocoon', 'Undo' and others including 'Harm of Will' for which the lyrics were written by filmmaker Harmony Korine. A Greatest Hits was released in November 2002, along with a package known as 'The Family Tree'. Bjork is expecting her second child around the same time. |
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