I’m kind of upset that this has been on the web for over 30 hours and I am just now finding out about it. As someone who has seen both of these ladies live, there is just nothing to say about this except to watch it.
Posts tagged with bjork
01/09/2010
saturday throwback. bjork – bachelorette
for the third straight week, by total coincidence, a song from the (apparently) great musical year that was 1997. ive been thinking a lot about bjork lately for some reason, mostly about how anxious i am to see her live again (no, nothing is announced or planned, its just me hoping), as her 2007 show at the fox theater in detroit was one of my favorite live music experiences of all time, which is saying quite a bit. and i remember how enamored i was by the reactable that her excellent dj was using. and how she really had 2 djs. and an all female horn section dressed like vikings. how icelandic of her. it was just swell.
before i get to the song, a video from another song from her excellent album “homogenic” (whose album cover my friend tara dressed up as a few years back!) that sum up bjork pretty well for me. the first is her video for “hunter”, where we get to see just how damn adorable she can be, even when slowly morphing into a bear.
and now, the ever epic “bachelorette”. i dont even know what to say about this song, but it kind of gives me chills every time i hear it, and i dont know why. theres also an exceptionally interesting music video to this song directed by the great michel gondry (who pretty much amazes me with every project he touches, and yes, his dvd is on “stuff white people like”, and yes i like it), but this song really kills it all on its own. i think i like the big strings, the dirty percussion, and bjorks extra huge ad libs near the end. so tasty.
buy it on 
or amazon
06/24/2009
climax week day 1 – sigur ros – glosoli
after much waiting, here we are at our first theme week. why am i starting a theme week on a wednesday in the middle of the week you ask? mainly because i can. im hoping to do theme weeks from time to time so figured might as well start now. the next theme week i have planned is requests, but i still need a few more to complete the whole week (hint hint). but back to the week at hand. this weeks theme is…wait for it….the climax. this week will feature songs that start out quiet and innocent but build up into something much bigger. it will also probably gratuitous sexual innuendo. you probably have heard most of the songs that will be featured this week, but i dont really care, cuz i like them anyway.
the first entry for climax week is glosoli by sigur ros from their stellar album “takk”. there are a few random accent marks in the song title, but i dont really feel like figuring out how to make them, and i clearly hate proper grammar anyway, so i guess its not a big deal. i think many of you are probably familiar with sigur ros, but in case you arent, they are a crazy good icelandic group, perhaps the second most famous icelandic musicians right after my girl bjork. what i like most about them is their wall of sound. i think it was phil spektor that created the concept of the wall of sound back in the day. but sigur ros really does a great job with it. its one of the great things about seeing them live, its kind of sensory overload at times in a really good way. if youve never heard them before, just go into it with an open mind and accept that the lyrics are in a language you most likely dont understand.
the first time i saw sigur ros live, they opened with this track and it was the start of something great. they played the whole track behind the sort of curtain thats in the picture above, with all kinds of crazy visuals being displayed in front of their shadowy silhouettes. maybe the concert was so great for me because i left work that day, went straight to the show, and left the following morning for 4 days in vegas, so i was in a pretty good mood. but, i saw them again last fall and it was just as good. their lights/visuals are pretty outstanding too, and they usually have a nice little string section accompanying them. the fascinating thing about sigur ros is i have no idea what any of the songs are about, but the music is captivating enough that it doesnt matter. of all the songs im planning on sharing with you in the next week, this one probably best exemplifies building up into something huge from almost nothing. pretty good climax, right?
ps. you should all check out the sigur ros documentary entitled “heima”. it will pretty much for sure make you want to go to iceland with a very expensive camera.
sigur ros -glosoli
buy this track on itunes
buy this track on itunes
06/22/2009
dirty projectors – stillness is the move
my history with dirty projectors is a short one, but they seem to be turning up everywhere i look. first i heard their duet with david byrne – knotty pine – which is the opening track of the red hot compilation “dark was the night”, and i liked it quite a bit. then i read about their show in new york with bjork. i guess they wrote some original music for five voices and performed at housing works bookstore in new york city with bjork. the show was to benefit housing works, which according to their site works to end the twin crises of aids and homelessness. i wonder if bjork approached them or vice versa. either way, maybe the coolest thing ever. then i heard todays track and loved it. then i was walking to fill up my water at bonnaroo and was lucky enough to walk by their show and catch a few minutes of it. i never really searched out any of these things, so i feel like they are following me, but in a really good way.
then after all this happened, i remembered a video i stumbled upon many moons ago, long before id even heard of dirty projectors. it was on perhaps the coolest site ever for music fans – la blogotheque. this site does a bunch of what it calls “take-away shows”. basically, they pick all of your favorite musicians and film them performing in every day places. like arcade fire in an elevator. and yeasayer at some french apartment afterparty. warning: you may be compelled to watch every single video here, and i think there are about 100. dont say i didnt warn you, but you can thank me later if you havent already been fortunate enough to stumble upon this site. but sure enough i looked back and the crazy man and harmonizing three women that i remembered (although it turns out that the lineup changes up quite a bit) were in fact dirty projectors performing in, yes, some random mcdonalds.
so todays newish song is off their new album “bitte orca” and is rather funky if you ask me. one thing thats for sure is that these ladies can hit the high notes and really belt it out like its their job, which technically i guess it is. this jam, along with the other numerous appearances dirty projectors have made in my life recently (see above) have definitely peaked my curiosity in this group. does anyone have any other recommendations about where to start in their catalogue? something tells me that the sounds of “stillness is the move” are not really their usual sounds and that they are pretty versatile. i only wish i had stayed to catch the rest of their set last week.
UPDATE!!!! its happened yet again. apparently on tuesday, just one day after my post, the band was in a pretty bad car accident, just outside of detroit, aka where i live. fortunately everyone is OK and they are home resting now.
dirty projectors – stillness is the move
buy this track on itunes
buy this track on amazon
05/25/2009
apparat – fractales
i just returned home from day 2 of the movement festival in downtown detroit. it was pretty enjoyable for the most part. we caught a few minutes of dennis ferrer, then caught all of rjd2′s set, and headed back to the main stage to catch loco dice vs. luciano, which was a little too housy for my tastes, although im not quite clear on the exact definitions of house, trance, techno, dance, etc. but what i mean is i like it better when djs mix songs with words rather than just the same beat over and over. anyway, the point is, i wanted todays song to be sorta electronic. im obviously more into indie rock electronic than dance/techno electronic, but i can definitely appreciate both (and in fact may go back tomorrow to see benny benassi, who i know will be mixing it up the way i like it. i need to get one of those beat pad things that all the djs use, mostly because i have no idea how they work and im intrigued by them. and when i become a famous musician, there will definitely be electronic aspects to my game, so i need to learn how that shizz works fast.
the other crazy electronic music making gadget i want is the reactable, aka the coolest thing ever. i first saw this device at the bjork show i went to fall 2007 (was it really that long ago?) and had no idea what it was. after some research, i found out that you cant even buy these things, and that she was pretty much the only person who was able to acquire one for non-exhibition use. its basically an interactive screen that reacts to certain markers that you place on it. depending on what pattern is on the blocks, how far from center they are, how theyre turned, etc, you can control the beat, pitch, volume, etc. and on top of all that, it looks like it comes from the future — always a plus.
anyway, todays jam is a 2 for 1, mainly because the song has two parts. its by apparat and was my instant favorite when i first heard his latest album “walls”. other favorites from the disc include arcadia and headup. part one is the up-tempo mover and shaker, while part two is the calm after the storm, if you will, nicely complimenting the rigor and speed of part one. i think i liked this song (and album) so much the first time i heard it because of my aforementioned secret dream of putting together a bunch of electronic rock on my own. i know how hard of a time i have trying to write music mainly because im not in a band, and all of my influences have big full sounds that i cant get on my own with one guitar, so everything i come up with inherently sounds boring and not awesome. but electronic is the one place where you can do it all on your own and still get as big of a sound as you want. kind of blows my mind how some of my favorite songs were probably made by some guy on his laptop, and how that could be me. “we could be that mistake!!” enjoy.
apparat – fractales pt I
apparat – fractales pt II
buy part I on itunes
buy part II on itunes
buy part I on amazon
buy part II on amazon
