I remember sticking this on and being extremely confused by the strange berk who does the weird rapping, then deciding I quite liked it. Must've been about eleven years of age.

Em um frio que beirava zero grau, os fãs tiveram a oportunidade de assistir grande parte das músicas do novo trabalho do Sigur Rós, “Með Suð í Eyrum Við Spilum Endalaust”. Antes de assumir os vocais e mostrar suas músicas, Björk tocou bateria em “Gobbledigook”, da banda islandesa, para delírio dos presentes.

A platéia também pôde conferir a apresentação do projeto Radium, que envolve membros do grupo Ghostigital e o ex-Sugarcubes (antiga banda de Björk), Einar Orn.

N.M.E. 27th August, 1988. Live review of The Sugarcubes from I Beam Club, San Francisco and One Step Beyond, Santa Carla.

Interesting to note the withering review of Carter. 12 months later as the Carter U.S.M. and with Sheriff Fatman they'd be making a big splash. Didn't they mug Philip Schofield at some Smash Hits award do?

Bem antes de impressionar o universo pop com seus vídeos exuberantes e até mesmo antes de lançar-se como cantora na extinta banda Sugarcubes (alguém se lembra do hit Deus, de 1988?), Bjork já era original até em comercial de tevê.

Dêem uma olhada neste anúncio de um condicionador da linha islandesa Glerbrot. Não se parece exatamente com aqueles comerciais da L'oreal ou da Seda, de artistas dubladas se esbaldando no chuveiro e depois balançando a cabeleira escovada. Até nisso Bjork é única.

Ok. Time to be open with all of you. I am a Bjork groupie. I fell for her when I first heard Sugarcubes' song "Birthday" back in the early 90's. I don't know what it is. It could be her elf-like appearance, her icey but comforting voice, the fact that she is from one of the most interesting places on earth - Iceland. Who knows. You know what I am not alone....

The guys over at the music blog Stereogum just released "A Tribute to Bjork's Post" 12 covers of Bjork's sophmore album. One of the most beautiful albums released in the last 20 years. And you know what it is free. Yep free. Two of  some of my favorite things: Bjork & free. At first I thought it was some April Fool's joke and the download would be some ad for Viagra. Nope it is nothing but goodness, sweet goodness.

The guys over at Stereogum have done other tribute albums including Radiohead's "OK Computer" and REM's Automatic for the people (both are free).

The Bjork Tribute album includes covers from Liars, Dirty Projectors, High Places, Bell, Pattern Is Movement, Evangelicals, Xiu Xiu, Final Fantasy & Ed Droste, White Hinterland, El Guincho, and Atlas Sound. Check some of the liner notes.

From the essay: A Post on Post(from Stereogum)

Björk launched Post's kaleidoscopic mix of electronic and dance music, her inimitable voice, and fantastical, personal lyrics into a very different, almost alien post-grunge landscape. In 1995 Bush (the band) released Sixteen Stone, Slash's Snakepit debuted with It's Five O'Clock Somewhere, Tommy Lee married Pamela Anderson for the first time, and Shannon Hoon died of a drug overdose. Elsewhere, Alanis brought us her Jagged Little Pill and the Pumpkins put out their vast double album, Mellon Collie And The Infinite Sadness. (Also, remember the ubiquitous Beatles Anthology?) ....

While Björk continues sailing, searching out newer sounds, take a listen to how a dozen of our favorite artists -- many of them bands we've told you To Watch in the last year -- tackled her older ones. Liars deconstruct "Army Of Me" and up its distorted fuzz. No Age remove "It's Oh So Quiet"'s choruses and big band, turning it into a melancholic Jesus & Mary Chain-tinged love song. El Guincho whittles "Cover Me" into pure rhythm with dark, spiraling, waterlogged loops and a steady snare hit...

Here is a little sampling of the album. You can grab the full one here.

Dirty Projectors - "Hyperballad"
[audio=http://stereogum.s3.amazonaws.com/enjoyed/02-dirty_projectors-hyperballad.mp3]

Bell - "It's Oh So Quiet"
[audio=http://stereogum.s3.amazonaws.com/enjoyed/04-bell-its_oh_so_quiet.mp3]

Xiu Xiu - "Isobel"
[audio=http://stereogum.s3.amazonaws.com/enjoyed/07-xiu_xiu-isobel.mp3]

White Hinterland - "I Miss You"
[audio=http://stereogum.s3.amazonaws.com/enjoyed/09-white_hinterland-i_miss_you.mp3]

Also check out the newest video from Bjork's album Volta. It is for the song Wanderlust, and I have to say it is one of the most visually stunning video in a long time.

[vodpod id=Groupvideo.1050100&w=425&h=350&fv=id%3Dv58762612%26eID%3D1301797%26enableFullScreen%3D0]

Ei hakka ka arutama, kas Eesti on vanapapi või noor punkar ega üheksakümmet aastat koera- või kilpkonna-aastateks ümber arvutama.

Mina oleks rahul, kui mulle laulaks sünnipäevalaulu Björk ja õnnesoovid Islandilt sobivad igati hästi ka täna.

Sugarcubes - Birthday

P.S. "EESTI 90" ütles telefon mulle ärgates. "ANS. ANDUR 6" vastasin. Mõlemad olime rahul.

Nell'ultimo decennio, il fenomeno dell'ibridazione tra le diverse correnti della musica rock e pop è stato preponderante: in particolare, l'hip-hop ha dimostrato di essere il genere più onnivoro (inglobando stilemi provenienti dal rock, dal metal e dall'elettronica) e al tempo stesso più facilmente assimilabile all'interno di altri contesti. Il progetto Ghostdigital (che si avvale di featuring quali Dalek e Mark Smith dei Fall) rientra in questo meccanismo: il duo formato dagli islandesi Einar Örn (cantante, trombettista ed ex Sugarcubes, vecchio gruppo di Bjork) e Curver (attivo al mixer e in produzione) propone una musica a metà strada tra elettronica, rap e industrial, senza collocarsi appieno in nessuno di questi generi. The Heart è sorretto dal beat saltellante di Curver, che ora accelera e dialoga con la tromba, creando una sorta di mini-progressive, ora rallenta, riprendendo le cadenze pesanti tipiche dell'industrial. Il canto di Einar riassume bene l'anima instabile e claustrofobica del suono, attraverso un uso della voce che alterna momenti "declamatori" a una forma di “quasi-rapping” fortemente nevrotico. Come a dire che l'Islanda non è sempre quella landa poetica evocata dalla musica dei Sigur Ros.

Link: sito personale, pagina Myspace

In the late eighties / early nineties, when I started to buy music, my interests started to change and evolve, becoming more or less what they are today. Back then the british Indie music scene was at its peak and started to get some air play in portuguese pirate radios and space at local music press. The bands in today's show are a somewhat random pick from that movement. They are all from independent record labels and they are all part of my record collection.

Factory Records is probably the first independent label I have ever heard of, initially because of one of my preferred bands at the time, Durutti Column, which led me to discover other bands, like the one I bring you today, New Order, playing one of its hits, Blue Monday.

Curve is the only band I know from this record label, Anxious Records, an operation of Eurythmics' guitarist Dave Stuart. Nevertheless, I think their sound is the typical indie sound and so here they are, playing Clipped.

My brother introduced me to Sugarcubes, an icelandic band that signed for a small label with a funny name: One Little Indian Records. After that I came to know some other artists from this label, like Sleeping Dogs Wake and Kitchens of Distinction. The band broke up a record later, leaving Björk to soar alone, but left behind some classic indie songs, like Deus:

Finally, here are The Sundays playing Here's Where the Story Ends, with a sound and attitude typical of a 4AD band. Maybe one of these days I will dedicate a show just to this label. However, never mind how they sounded, The Sundays were not a 4AD band, but rather from Rough Trade Records, another independent record company. Curiously, Rough Trade eventually went broke and got sold to One Little Indian.

And that's a wrap for today. See you all next week.