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Re-view: Björk / Homogenic / Mother Records / 539 178-2 / Releasedate: 09.26 (tomorrow!) Tracks: Hunter Jóga Unravel Bachelorette All Neon Like 5 Years Immature Alarm Call Pluto All Is Full Of Love Little Gudmundsdottir is back. "I'm so bored of cowards" Björk exclaims in the 6th track, and at the same time makes it pretty obvious that she really means it. Accompanied by the heaviest electro/ industrial/whatever groove ever in a Björk track courtesy Mark Bell she's doing something that not many artist with a constant presence in the top-10 would do. This lady is pure magic, from Gling Gló to Debut to Post to the more or less brilliant Telegram to this there has been a constant transformation. Of course "Homogenic" lives up to everyones expectations, tracks like

quoted 1 line Jóga<<, >>Unravel<<, >>Hunter<< or >>Bachelorette<&

>>Jóga<<, >>Unravel<<, >>Hunter<< or >>Bachelorette<< are actually some of

the most beautiful tracks I've heard from this icelandic polarstar. Makes me want to give away all my cold and harsh Mururoa/IndustrialFolkSongs/Mask stuff; this is music that MOVES YOU. On most of the tracks the orchestration is by Deodato (some of you might recognize this name from the "Isobel" EP) and the very gentle strings in contrast to the hard beats makes things really interesting - really fucking brilliant actually, I take it most of you've already heard the >>Jóga<< single, which is the best proof of all that Björk has got something special in her fingers. It's getting quite crowded up ther now, but this album has it's place among the other killers of 1997; maPOd, Chiastic Slide, Hard Normal Daddy, Black Dog Live 1997 - >>Homogenic<< doesn't deserve anything less than that. Some tracks are mixed and some are produced by Howard Bernstein, beats/noices and programming by Mark Bell. I didn't like much of what Mark Bell did with LFO, but his work on this album is remarkable. I don't see any mention of Plaid anywhere... The earlier albums from Björk were founded on a neverending eclectism and Björk went like a bullet between different genres of music, flirting with Jazz here and D&B there. This album is indeed more "homogenic", it's based on rhythms and it's not as varied as the earlier "Post" or "Debut". There's no BigBandBrass like on "It's Oh So Quiet", no standards like "Like Someone In Love". No real surprises in the single compositions. However, everything is so very brilliantly arranged and composed that it doesn't really matter. Of course there is exceptions here as well, for example >>Pluto<< is unbearable, totally terrible, unlistenable. Björk is bored with cowards and she's fucking lightyears away from becoming one. I'd say get lost you "undergrounders", this is far more daring than Cylob, Freeform or Music Aus Strom will ever be. Open up, this is: True beauty, True brilliance. Fe. - sale/wants: http://gargamel.com/frankie ''' = ) - =-= = '''''''''' - - plodilism!: http://gargamel.com/plod -->--> -/ - - - ] '''''''' - - dot records: http://gargamel.com/dot '''''' = -.. =-= = '''''''''' -

wow. i think this whole thing has degenerated into a bjork fan vs. non bjork fan debate. what's silly is that I'm willing to bet 99% of the people in this argument actually enjoy listening to bjork; including gonzi (correct me if I'm wrong). bjork is an amazing singer/songwriter. she does what she does extremely well. i rarely buy albums with vocals at all, but I ran out and picked up the new bjork as soon as it came out. now, as far as artistic integrity goes, I have no beef with bjork. for a mainstream artist, she is VERY risky. her melodies, sounds, and instrumentation are far beyond what most pop artists would be willing to even attempt. i think the fact that she chooses to collaborate with some interesting artists is just a part of the bjork mystique, and it certainly results in some interesting material. HOWEVER, when faced with the decision to support one artist over the other, my money always almost goes to the rdj's, autechre's, cylob's etc. who are truly doing things on their terms and, I think, creating more interesting music than anything that has ever come from the pop lexicon. but again, this is just an opinion. so the scoresheet for tuesday's buying binge: 2 cylob ep's (just arrived in the mail) 1 ventolin single 1 bjork "homogenic" now you can see where i stand. --brian rachielles brachielles@juno.com www.geocities.com/sunsetstrip/club/4980 idm review archive: www.geocities.com/paris/metro/9160/idm.htm

quoted 13 lines In a message dated 97-09-25 19:34:16 EDT, you write:

>In a message dated 97-09-25 19:34:16 EDT, you write: > ><< Bjork: 100 'producers' and 'collaborators.' 10 zillion dollars. > > Cylob: One geezer in his bedroom. And he has a day job. > > You tell me who deserves more respect. > >> >Erm...no offense Gonz, but why can't they be equally deserving of respect? > The way I see it, they're both making good music w/the stuff available to >them..... > >--Matt

i dont see how you can even compare what the two do. cylob is a producer/engineer or whatever he fancies himself to be. bjork is a singer/songwriter. the later usualy have some sort of reliance upon the former to serve as "vehicles" for their songwriting/singing. at least bjork has some dignity about her and isnt a parisitic leach like david bowie or trent reznor who cash in on the innovativeness of other people such as cylob (or whoever) just to hustle some records. and i dont think id be to quick to acuse mark bell, plaid, et al of "whoring" themselves under the service of madame bjork - as for tricky and that massey guy well... ;) besides, that cylob fool has two work twice as hard as bjork as a "wage slave", while bjork as managed to emancipate herself quite nicely...and i get the impression that bjork has just as much control over her music as cylob does his. "the world is full of willing people...those willing to work and those willing to let them do so" - a. nonomous

Hary Walsh wrote:

quoted 17 lines "Random" == Random Junk <jsd@gamespot.com> writes:

> >>>>> "Random" == Random Junk <jsd@gamespot.com> writes: > > Random> what if an infinite number of monkeys wrote the best idm > Random> tune ever ... hey, not only COULD it happen, but by the > Random> laws of probability, it HAS to happen! > > Firstly, there is no such thing as an infinite number of monkeys. > Infinity is a construct of the human mind. Secondly, the best IDM > song doesn't exist. No matter what MTV or Billboard or whoever would > have you believe, there is no best song. Any quest to create better > music than XYZ is inherently dommed to failure. > > > > -hjw > "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." > --Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

...Actually, the whole monkeys/infinity thing is logically flawed in a more basic way in that it employs a "gambler's fallacy". The odds that one will succeed (or "win" in the case of the gambler) in an endeavor do NOT increase simply because one did not do so the last time, given that the "pool" of risk is not decreased. The odds remain the same every time each individual monkey does something construed as an attempt. What the concept of randomness requires to be even remotely feasible is an infinite amount of TIME - and HJW is right in that we have no basis on which to assume an infinite set of ANYTHING. Adding the statement that the successful attempt HAS to happen incorporates necessity, which is enough to fail you in any intro level Philosophy course. I like both Bjork and the Cylob stuff. "Why can't we all just get along?" Schoolmarmin', jeff

This is a strange debate. It has brought into it every tired thread in AH history, with the exception of Aphex Twin anagrams. Y'all settle down or I'm going to do the anagrams of bjorks name. And it won't be pretty.

c'mon, everyone knows gonzi's more interested in the names associated with the music than the music itself - he even posted that he didn't have _homogenic_ and he obviously hasn't heard it. it's much easier to make bad music with a lot of resources (though cylob DOES try damn hard to refute that), and to say that collaborations are inherently worse musically than solo work is plain silly. the ol' "nobly suffering artist" cliche does a lot more damage to the artists who are honored for it than it produces good music. the fact that artists still have day jobs tend to be reflective of a lack of marketplace for their work, since presumably they'd prefer to make music or whatever full-time. bjork's new one makes it a little more _possible_ that the creepy-nerd solo musicians that people on this list tend to like can someday enjoy full-time artmaking if that is their desire. eric, pissing in the wind onnow: teep:sewer sound 60(tape)

quoted 7 lines Björk is bored with cowards and she's fucking lightyears away from becoming

> Björk is bored with cowards and she's fucking lightyears away from becoming > one. > I'd say get lost you "undergrounders", this is far more daring than Cylob, > Freeform or Music Aus Strom will ever be. Open up, this is: > > True beauty, > True brilliance.

A-hem. Bjork: 100 'producers' and 'collaborators.' 10 zillion dollars. Cylob: One geezer in his bedroom. And he has a day job. You tell me who deserves more respect. -gonzi.

Gonzi Merchan writes:

quoted 3 lines Bjork: 100 'producers' and 'collaborators.' 10 zillion dollars.

> Bjork: 100 'producers' and 'collaborators.' 10 zillion dollars. > Cylob: One geezer in his bedroom. And he has a day job. > You tell me who deserves more respect.

whatever. "team bjork" produces better music than cylob. so sorry. i don't care who's behind it or what it costs. the bottom line is the results. what if an infinite number of monkeys wrote the best idm tune ever ... hey, not only COULD it happen, but by the laws of probability, it HAS to happen! -- Jon Drukman jsd@gamespot.com SpotMedia Communications ...I was an infinitely hot and dense dot...

quoted 1 line "Random" == Random Junk <jsd@gamespot.com> writes:

>>>>> "Random" == Random Junk <jsd@gamespot.com> writes:

Random> what if an infinite number of monkeys wrote the best idm Random> tune ever ... hey, not only COULD it happen, but by the Random> laws of probability, it HAS to happen! Firstly, there is no such thing as an infinite number of monkeys. Infinity is a construct of the human mind. Secondly, the best IDM song doesn't exist. No matter what MTV or Billboard or whoever would have you believe, there is no best song. Any quest to create better music than XYZ is inherently dommed to failure. Anyone ever stop to think that maybe everyone else is right, and our taste in music is up our arses? It's at least worth a thought. -hjw "Heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible." --Lord Kelvin, president, Royal Society, 1895.

On 26 Sep 97, Hary Walsh wrote: Re: (idm) [review] Bj/rk - Homogeni:

quoted 2 lines Firstly, there is no such thing as an infinite number of monkeys.

> Firstly, there is no such thing as an infinite number of monkeys. > Infinity is a construct of the human mind.

Albert Einstein: "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." I *

Irene McC wrote:

quoted 5 lines Firstly, there is no such thing as an infinite number of monkeys.

> > Firstly, there is no such thing as an infinite number of monkeys. > > Infinity is a construct of the human mind. > > Albert Einstein: "Only two things are infinite, the universe and human > stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former."

And the winner of the IDM-Quote-Of-The Month award is...

quoted 10 lines A-hem.

>A-hem. > >Bjork: 100 'producers' and 'collaborators.' 10 zillion dollars. > >Cylob: One geezer in his bedroom. And he has a day job. > >You tell me who deserves more respect. > >-gonzi. >

none of them do. its not the way you MAKE the music or the money you put in it, both artists deserve respect under their own terms. jifb

At 10:24 AM 9/26/97 -0400, jif wrote:

quoted 17 lines A-hem.

>>A-hem. >> >>Bjork: 100 'producers' and 'collaborators.' 10 zillion dollars. >> >>Cylob: One geezer in his bedroom. And he has a day job. >> >>You tell me who deserves more respect. >> >>-gonzi. >> > > >none of them do. its not the way you MAKE the music or the money you put in >it, both artists deserve respect under their own terms. > > >jifb

that's the thing.. .bjork doesn't have her own terms. she's got howie b's, tricky's, graham massey's terms... - wells oliver / s0ewoliv@titan.vcu.edu " bored? no, i wasn't bored. i'm never bored. that's the trouble with everybody, you're all so bored. you've had nature explained to you and you're bored with it. you've had the living body explained to and you're bored with it. you've had the universe explained to you and bored with it. so now you just want cheap thrills and like plenty of them. and it doesn't matter how taudry or vacuous they they are, as long as it's new, as long as it's new; as long as it flashes and beeps in forty different colors... whatever else you can say about me, i'm not bored." - mike leigh's "naked"

quoted 2 lines but don't be so fucking naive to believe that

> but don't be so fucking naive to believe that > there's Howie B or Mark Bell or friggin Plaid that's doing the work here.

Aren't they? I just call them as I see them - look at the credits. No, I don't have Homogenic but I do have a copy of post here. Of the 11 tracks listed Bjork has a sole songwriting credit on 4. All the tracks were produced with Nelle Hooper and Graham Massey. Now I'm not in the studio when she records the albums so I don't know how much of the tracks are hers and how much comes from the collaborators - but I certainly have more respect for artists such as Autechre, Cylob, Squarepusher, afx, etc. that program, engineer, mix, arrange, write, record and produce everything themselves than I do for Bjork who has an army of many other people to support her in those tasks.

quoted 3 lines Don't even TRY and convince me that because Björk has a zillion dollars she

> Don't even TRY and convince me that because Björk has a zillion dollars she > can't do anything interesting or that because Cylob DOESN'T he can't. It's > not about that and I though we had learned that by now.

It must be quite novel to be able to purchase your influences rather than create the music yourself. I wonder what Ken D. has to say on the topic?

quoted 2 lines You tell me who deserves more respect.

>>You tell me who deserves more respect. >...if you ask me Björk is the one because she dares. Cylob doesn't really.

Hmmm. What kind of risks are you taking when you already have a zillion dollars? There are many struggling IDM artists who have the talent and technical skills to produce the sort of mindless dance music that will sell loads more than the type of music they produce to stay true to themselves and because they believe in what they are doing. Some of those people are members on this list. I suppose I think they are a bit more brave than bjork.

quoted 1 line And please... don't be so fucking picky.

>And please... don't be so fucking picky.

I'm not being picky. I can enjoy a good pop tune as much as the next geezer (I'm the one who posted about my love for the spice girls, remember?), but I acknowledge the music for what it is. When I read stuff like this...

quoted 3 lines It's getting quite crowded up ther now, but this album has it's place among

> It's getting quite crowded up ther now, but this album has it's place among > the other killers of 1997; maPOd, Chiastic Slide, Hard Normal Daddy, Black > Dog Live 1997 - >>Homogenic<< doesn't deserve anything less than that.

and...

quoted 4 lines Björk is bored with cowards and she's fucking lightyears away from becoming

> Björk is bored with cowards and she's fucking lightyears away from becoming > one. > I'd say get lost you "undergrounders", this is far more daring than Cylob, > Freeform or Music Aus Strom will ever be.

I have to say: get real. I still love you Plod geezers but I think you're off your rockers with this one. Random says...

quoted 3 lines what if an infinite number of monkeys wrote the best idm tune ever

> what if an infinite number of monkeys wrote the best idm tune ever > ... hey, not only COULD it happen, but by the laws of probability, it > HAS to happen!

I suppose the monkey with Graham Massey, Nelle Hooper, Plaid, Howie B, Tricky and Mark Bell in it's cage has a bit of an advantage though :) gonzi.

ooops... i guess there was more to my last message by i cut it and forgot to paste it somewhere else in the message: without björk and her zillions of dollars, a lot of her 'starving' collaborators would be nothing. björk has the voice and the charm to make anyone (including middle aged librarians and 12-year old dire straits fans) swallow any kind of music and if she gives all those artists a chance to be showcased on her records, isnt that brave? she gives them as much as she gets from them in returns and she hires them because she knows theyll do the job right and it does sell millions doesnt it? dont sweat it so much... jif

Gonzi Merchan writes:

quoted 7 lines produced with Nelle Hooper and Graham Massey. Now I'm not in the studio

> produced with Nelle Hooper and Graham Massey. Now I'm not in the studio > when she records the albums so I don't know how much of the tracks are > hers and how much comes from the collaborators - but I certainly have > more respect for artists such as Autechre, Cylob, Squarepusher, afx, > etc. that program, engineer, mix, arrange, write, record and produce > everything themselves than I do for Bjork who has an army of many other > people to support her in those tasks.

the scope of your delusions are frankly quite breathtaking. i just don't even know where to start with this.

quoted 2 lines Hmmm. What kind of risks are you taking when you already have a zillion

> Hmmm. What kind of risks are you taking when you already have a zillion > dollars?

you'd be quite surprised. major labels are not known for their willingness to indulge in new and different styles of music. i think it is to bjork's credit that she can release uncompromising music and still sell lots of copies.

quoted 6 lines There are many struggling IDM artists who have the talent and

> There are many struggling IDM artists who have the talent and > technical skills to produce the sort of mindless dance music that will > sell loads more than the type of music they produce to stay true to > themselves and because they believe in what they are doing. Some of > those people are members on this list. I suppose I think they are a bit > more brave than bjork.

so you think bjork hires people like plaid and mark bell because of their proven hitmaking ability? just what exactly are you trying to say anyway? -- Jon Drukman jsd@gamespot.com SpotMedia Communications ...I was an infinitely hot and dense dot...