There's nothing wrong with being a Bjork fan, PZ! I think her music is wonderful-- and you should check out her earlier work in KUKL as well, especially "Holidays in Europe (The Naughty Nought)".
My favorite is "It's Oh So Quiet". She's a bit of a strange lady, though; there's a video on youtube about her taking apart a television. Hilarity ensues.
I have an occasional fantasy about moving to Iceland, learning the language, and writing music with Bjork. No problem here, PZ; I completely understand. How could anyone not like lesbian robots?
If you're a Hearts of Space subscriber you can hear it here. (Sorry for the plug. I'm not associated with HoS, other than being a really satisfied customer.)
Wonderful. Haunting. Melancholy as hell, and I don't even speak Icelandic.
Great, I had to read the comments. Now instead on one sweet video I have a dozen to watch *sigh*.
@the Reverend: Actually when those machines aren't building androids (er, gynoids?) they dispense bacon. In the future you won't be able to walk 10 feet without finding a bacon dispenser.
Unfortunately, this is the only bacon themed music video that I can think of.
Avoid if:
You can't stand parody black metal
You don't want to see a fat bloke in corpsepaint being fed bacon by a scantily clad woman
You think that childrens' play areas should be used by children
You want directorial and/or musical talent
I have an occasional fantasy about moving to Iceland, learning the language, and writing music with Bjork.
Björk lives in New York City with an American man (Matthew Barney) and their daughter. She's also probably written more songs in English than Icelandic, so maybe your fantasy is a little bit easier to realize than you think.
All Is Full of Love is the best music video in Creation as far as I'm concerned. Here's a great live vocal performance of AIFOL:
Some languages have a more sane written form than English, where you are trying to denote forty-four (if memory serves) sounds with twenty-six letters in a completely incoherent way, making a big mess of the whole thing and making it very difficult for kids to learn to write. Get more letters! Or at least use the existing ones systematically.
For the record. my Finnish keyboard has ÅÖÄåöä. 'Björk' means 'birch' in English, and the root of the two words is the same. It was 'beorc' or some such English in the bad old times when the English language was still a weirdo dialect of Danish.
I love Bjork's music. Sometimes you need some noise, however,and it helps if there is PENIS in the name of the band: Surgical Penis Klinik. Oz in the 80s. Careful, this site autoplays.
Since machines are inherently asexual, can they truly be lesbian robots?
There is nothing "inherently asexual" about machines. It's all about their programming. Any robot can be lesbian, bi, gay, straight, whatever, so long as they have the right software and hardware.
i love the video on youtube (cant find it, at work) with Bjork and Mike Patton in the studio.
It's frickin hilarious - Patton does his screamy thing for a while, then everyone applauds and Bjork looks like Patton just delivered the performance of the century :)
This thread about jarring imagery/noise set to monotonous rhythm reminds me of a scene in Babylon 5 wherein a telepath sits at a table with two aliens speaking gibberish.
Talia: I've been scanning Mr. Abbut all day, and his mind is still just as empty as when we started. And these phrases that you keep speaking in, they don't make any sense.
Kosh: Ah, you seek meaning. Then listen to the music, not the song.
[After some more babble, it finally sinks in and she screams.]
I saw the video of Hit in 1991 - probably on one of the Saturday morning kids shows (from the demise of The Tube until replaced by vile cookery programs for the relentlessly bourgeois, the best source of new music on TV) and I thought at the time the Sugarcubes would be huge. It was like nothing anybody else was doing, and Björk was clearly a superstar. As it happens, the Sugarcubes split up and only Björk became huge.
@jafafahots, hznfrst and TheChimpsragingid,
The thing is I've experienced males who like anything from heavyrock to electronica and avantgardejazz who all as one find her 'aggressive' 'stressing' and 'unbearable'.
And I find her funny, cool, funky and heavy-in-the-good-sense.
I also am a heterosexual male (most days) who enjoys Björk.
I'm glad Sigur Ròs got some love here, their music (and videos) are beautiful. Is it too cliché to mention Radiohead? Not their best video (or song) but it fits the vibe of the original post, so here is Like Spinning Plates
Bjork rules and Chris Cunningham is also genius..artists in the superlative sense of visionaries.
I was flicking through Woman's Day or some such rag a couple days ago (gimme a break it was in a salon and the choice was that or stare at the wall) and there was a Fashion bombs of the emmies article - someone was quoted regarding Bjork's infamous swan dress and the image stuck with me as encapsulating her perfectly:
".....she was backstage talking on her cellphone to someone in Iceland - you couldn't really see the phone and i can't understand Icelandic so it seemed like she was speaking to her dress in Swan..."
the 1st Bjork song/vid i saw was Human Behaviour (looong ago) and i was hooked after that though i find some of her recent work inaccessible -my favs are the older ones: Hyperballad, Joga, Unravel - so many good ones - Pagan Poetry is also bjeautiful & haunting.
Thanks Startlingmoniker now i'll have RubberJohnny nightmares!
Since machines are inherently asexual, can they truly be lesbian robots?
There's nothing wrong with being a Bjork fan, PZ! I think her music is wonderful-- and you should check out her earlier work in KUKL as well, especially "Holidays in Europe (The Naughty Nought)".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZ-rhuMZdyc
I saw this video a while back. If only the Will Smith movie had been a bit more like this.
See old man? You're down with us kids. I've certainly held a crush for her. And most crazy women, as has been oft pointed out to me.
Since both robots are Bjork, this might be a masturbation video, technically.
No need to confess it, it shows great taste.
Chris Cunningham's videos are great. If a bit disturbing. This Aphex Twin video is one of the all-time greats... (NSFW language)
My favorite is "It's Oh So Quiet". She's a bit of a strange lady, though; there's a video on youtube about her taking apart a television. Hilarity ensues.
ZIG BOOM!
http://hegartyblog.wordpress.com
Hold on-- if you're throwing up an Aphex/Cunningham vid and it ISN'T "Rubber Johnny," then you're doing it wrong: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vXyIB2L52Dc
I have an occasional fantasy about moving to Iceland, learning the language, and writing music with Bjork. No problem here, PZ; I completely understand. How could anyone not like lesbian robots?
Not a robot but has robotic moves. But the masturbatory element is inherent as well as being a huge genderfuck.
@9 - well, I just find the edited-on faces & general piss take of gangstas makes me laugh each time. "Rubber Johnny" is more genuinely disturbing. :-)
Bjork is amazing. Aphex Twin is amazing.
Perhaps I am being a bit cliched but you kind of have to have some Kraftwerk.
I figured that your favorite would be "Deus" by the Sugarcubes.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2sJzec2wmw
Marvin, I Love You
Who says machines are inherently asexual? Organicist bigot.
"Organic life-forms have no sense of fun." - unnamed Frogstar disco-bot
This reminded me of another video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl6hNj1uOkY&feature=related
Come on everybody, start doing the robot!
My favorite Bjork has got to be her musical treatment of Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu (an Icelandic poem) on Hector Zazou's album Chansons des mers froides (Songs from the Cold Seas).
If you're a Hearts of Space subscriber you can hear it here. (Sorry for the plug. I'm not associated with HoS, other than being a really satisfied customer.)
Wonderful. Haunting. Melancholy as hell, and I don't even speak Icelandic.
I feel I have to point out that that video is missing one important thing.
Bacon.
Great, I had to read the comments. Now instead on one sweet video I have a dozen to watch *sigh*.
@the Reverend: Actually when those machines aren't building androids (er, gynoids?) they dispense bacon. In the future you won't be able to walk 10 feet without finding a bacon dispenser.
Rev BDC
Unfortunately, this is the only bacon themed music video that I can think of.
Avoid if:
You can't stand parody black metal
You don't want to see a fat bloke in corpsepaint being fed bacon by a scantily clad woman
You think that childrens' play areas should be used by children
You want directorial and/or musical talent
FWIW I think that's great.
romsteady:
Organic lifeforms are machines too.
Congratulations, you just disproved sexuality.
Gotta say, I really like the way Bjork squirts air through her meat.
http://www.sff.net/people/tbisson/meat.html
Hail Björk!! If you like her, you might also like her often collaborator, Matmos (who are two gay non-robots). And yes, Aphex Twin is God.
As a slightly more up-to-date alternative to Kraftwerk, might I suggest this?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tD5P7RsC9TI
Bacon and lesbians -- two of my favorite people, or foods.
/sorry I had to do that.
Here's a nice, weird, semi-offensive video just right for the current religious holiday:
Stump - Charlton Heston
Whät Ï perhäps lïke möst äböüt Björk, äpärt fröm hër müsïc, ïs thë fünnÿ ö ïn hër nämë, whïch ï bët ïs nöt ön PZ's këÿböärd.
You're a fan of Björk, eh? Me too.
My favorites, "Earth Intruders"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Q9ppPPHjU
and "Human Behavior".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yuwiYq50gwA&feature=player_embedded#
My favorite: the Bjork song:
www.brunching.com/feature-bjorksong.html
Cliff, I love having a fierce pancake but there is a robot theme. But damn, I love it when Charlton Heston puts his vest on.
Captured! By Robots I cannot believe I am even posting even a cover of that fucking band.
Vespertine is as far as I'm concerned a masterpiece. One of my favorite CDs of all time, got me through some rough times just by being so beautiful.
Then there's Vokuro, off of Medulla. So beautiful.
http://video.yandex.ru/users/nadeykas/view/292/
And of course Selmasongs, from the movie Dancer in the Dark.
My eldest niece picks on me for being a Bjork fan, but I don't care.
She is great, but Slash is a better guitarist.
/Typical YouTube commenter mode off.
ereador
Björk lives in New York City with an American man (Matthew Barney) and their daughter. She's also probably written more songs in English than Icelandic, so maybe your fantasy is a little bit easier to realize than you think.
All Is Full of Love is the best music video in Creation as far as I'm concerned. Here's a great live vocal performance of AIFOL:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDYMfm0JQOE
In the interest of balance, this just creepy.
Draken
It's not that funny, really, just a letter in the alphabet. See
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_alphabet
Some languages have a more sane written form than English, where you are trying to denote forty-four (if memory serves) sounds with twenty-six letters in a completely incoherent way, making a big mess of the whole thing and making it very difficult for kids to learn to write. Get more letters! Or at least use the existing ones systematically.
For the record. my Finnish keyboard has ÅÖÄåöä. 'Björk' means 'birch' in English, and the root of the two words is the same. It was 'beorc' or some such English in the bad old times when the English language was still a weirdo dialect of Danish.
I distrust anyone who's not a fan of Bjork.
I think there are clinics where this can be treated.
I love Bjork's music. Sometimes you need some noise, however,and it helps if there is PENIS in the name of the band: Surgical Penis Klinik. Oz in the 80s. Careful, this site autoplays.
SPK
Link fail.
http://spk.id.au/
Try that. One size fits most.
They say you Brade Runnah!
Björk isn't the only good thing to come out of Iceland, of course: there's also the wonderful Sigur Rós:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4L_DQKCDgeM
Their tour video Heima is wonderful.
It's great that Björk has developed as an artist, but I miss the energy of the Sugarcubes days.
You *should* be a fan of Björk, she's wonderful!
hznfrst:
Yeah, but it's my kind of creepy.
Ohhh - so much good music!
Givesgoodemail: I thought noone but me knew the Chansons des mers froides!!! Amazing cd. Must. Buy. Now.
I was beginning to develop a theory about Björk-appreciation: Men dislike her, women like her.
I have now - on this very thread been proven wrong.
And I like that ;-)
Maybe I suffer a little from pareidolia, or I'm obsessed with meat balls, but doesn't it look like our dear FSM around 3:15 ?
Who wouldn't.
Off topic:
Venus and Mecury visible in the west after sunset.
http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2010/03/30/venus-and-mer…
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/about/pressreleases/89145892.html
http://earthsky.org/es-tonight/mercury-and-venus-in-same-binocular-fiel…
Note: this robot not voiced by Alan Tudyk.
I've got the Chris Cunningham video collection and this is definitely the best of the bunch.
@TrineBM
Further evidence to the contrary here. I'm male and have been a fan of hers since Debut.
This reminds me of a conversation I had with Cleverbot once...
Hey TrineBM #45, I would modify your theory to say that *heterosexual* men dislike her - not that there's anything wrong with men who do like her...
Hey, I'm male and I like her, and I'm reputed to be heterosexual. In theory at least.
romsteady | March 30, 2010 11:24 AM:
There is nothing "inherently asexual" about machines. It's all about their programming. Any robot can be lesbian, bi, gay, straight, whatever, so long as they have the right software and hardware.
i love the video on youtube (cant find it, at work) with Bjork and Mike Patton in the studio.
It's frickin hilarious - Patton does his screamy thing for a while, then everyone applauds and Bjork looks like Patton just delivered the performance of the century :)
This thread about jarring imagery/noise set to monotonous rhythm reminds me of a scene in Babylon 5 wherein a telepath sits at a table with two aliens speaking gibberish.
Talia: I've been scanning Mr. Abbut all day, and his mind is still just as empty as when we started. And these phrases that you keep speaking in, they don't make any sense.
Kosh: Ah, you seek meaning. Then listen to the music, not the song.
[After some more babble, it finally sinks in and she screams.]
At least Technologic's an earworm of sorts...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPZJYQXQsm8
I find most of the techno/electronica/house/etc genres' offerings headache inducing... or is that the objective?
I saw the video of Hit in 1991 - probably on one of the Saturday morning kids shows (from the demise of The Tube until replaced by vile cookery programs for the relentlessly bourgeois, the best source of new music on TV) and I thought at the time the Sugarcubes would be huge. It was like nothing anybody else was doing, and Björk was clearly a superstar. As it happens, the Sugarcubes split up and only Björk became huge.
@jafafahots, hznfrst and TheChimpsragingid,
The thing is I've experienced males who like anything from heavyrock to electronica and avantgardejazz who all as one find her 'aggressive' 'stressing' and 'unbearable'.
And I find her funny, cool, funky and heavy-in-the-good-sense.
Glad to hear that it's not so all over the world.
#37: It's not that funny, really, just a letter in the alphabet.
I know, I moved from the Netherlands to Denmark, so I've gotten used to the 'extended alphabet'.
Another tip if you want to hear Björk in Icelandic is Gling Gló, a collection of jazzy songs. Here's one number.
Bjork?
I thought you were a music lover!
I also am a heterosexual male (most days) who enjoys Björk.
I'm glad Sigur Ròs got some love here, their music (and videos) are beautiful. Is it too cliché to mention Radiohead? Not their best video (or song) but it fits the vibe of the original post, so here is Like Spinning Plates
10Cities10Years
Bjork rules and Chris Cunningham is also genius..artists in the superlative sense of visionaries.
I was flicking through Woman's Day or some such rag a couple days ago (gimme a break it was in a salon and the choice was that or stare at the wall) and there was a Fashion bombs of the emmies article - someone was quoted regarding Bjork's infamous swan dress and the image stuck with me as encapsulating her perfectly:
".....she was backstage talking on her cellphone to someone in Iceland - you couldn't really see the phone and i can't understand Icelandic so it seemed like she was speaking to her dress in Swan..."
the 1st Bjork song/vid i saw was Human Behaviour (looong ago) and i was hooked after that though i find some of her recent work inaccessible -my favs are the older ones: Hyperballad, Joga, Unravel - so many good ones - Pagan Poetry is also bjeautiful & haunting.
Thanks Startlingmoniker now i'll have RubberJohnny nightmares!