I had been in singer relationships before. I still remember my first love Deborah Harry of Blondie. I loved the way she could scream out a tune. In the 80s of course it was Pat Benatar and then Madonna. During the 90s there was a whole lot of women I loved, Shirley Manson of Garbage, Nina Persson of the Cardigans, Suzanne Vega, Sarah McLaughlin, Edie Brickell, Jewel. Ah but I was growing bored. It's oh so quiet, it's oh so still, you're all alone and so peaceful until.... you fall in love

I went to Newbury Comics, my favorite music store. I was looking through Surround Sound albums when I saw her there in one of the aisles. She was beautiful, a bit shorter than me, long brunette, almost black hair and dark green eyes. I thought she was Asian and I said Hello. She just smiled and said her name was Beeeyerk? ? and said she was from Iceland. Her pixieish face enchanted me, the gleam in her eyes enticed me. She motioned for me to follow.

She asked me if I wanted to take a ride. I walked outside with her and she pointed to a enormous tractor trailer that nearly filled the parking lot. We got in, and this diminutive Icelandic woman fired up the engines. Industrial sounds filled my ears. It reminded me of the future scenes in The Terminator. I told my new found friend that the music was a little loud. She turned to me and yelled IF YOU COMPLAIN ONCE MORE, YOU'LL MEET AN ARMY OF ME. I shut the heck up. We stopped at the dentist office and a large gorilla took a diamond out of her mouth. I took a nap at the Museum, and they put me in an exhibit, but Bjork quickly brought in an explosive device and rescued me!. I was hooked. She asked me if I liked sugar cubes and smiled.

Melodic tunes surrounded me with rich textured layers and a voice like I had never heard before as I listened to Post by Bjork on her newly released dual disc in DTS 5.1 surround sound. I was indeed in love. This mischevious Icelandic pixie had completely and totally enchanted me. But how did she feel about LOVE?

A quick watch of It's Oh So Quiet let me know that she felt the same way about me! At first she was bored, working at a tire store, sad depressed in an orange smock. She walked through the store talking about the quiet moments we have when we are between relationships. Strings softly play you're all alone, and so peaceful until.. BAMMM, like a Bollywood Musical, Bjork bursts out dancing and belting out You fall in love, Zing Boom, the sky up above zing boom is caving in then she let out a SCREAM, a primal joyful outrageous scream you've never been so nuts about a guyyou wanna laugh you wanna cry, you cross your heart and hope to die. She dances and sings with such enthusiasm everyone around her bursts into dance around her. The song goes from the soft strings and piano of the still between relations to that Zing Bam Boom that you feel when you're in love. And that Scream! Bjork screams like no one I ever heard. Bjork runs down the street dancing back and forth followed by an entourage of choreographed dancers for a big finale, and zing bam boom, I am completely infatuated, obssessed and in love with a woman whose name I cannot quite pronounce! I love you Bjork, and I want to buy all your albums in surround sound. I want to be wrapped and immersed in the most creative music I have heard since The Talking Heads. I love that you are not like all the other girls, you are unique and different and artistic and talented and... and...AUGUGGUGHHHHHHHH! the sky caves in the devil cuts loose, you blow blow blow your fuse... when you're in love.

Well, if you haven't figured it out by now, I've discovered a new artist to enthrall and captivate me. Her name is Bjork Guomundstdottir, and she is only one year younger than me (born in 1965). She is from Reykjavik, Iceland and actually recorded her first album when she was 12. In the late 1980s she fronted the alternative band, The Sugercubes (which I will now have to go out and buy, you know how musical obsession is, first, the studio albums, then the live albums, then every other project they have been in). In 1993, Bjork released Debut as her debut (even though it is not her debut). I discovered her when looking at a Bjork box in Surround Sound. I wanted to know how she sounded, so I bought a single dual disc, this one Post originally released in 1994.

The Dual Disc has the original stereo mix of the album on CD on one side, and two Surround Sound mixes on the DVD side (one in Dolby Digital, and one in DTS 5.1) This particular Dual Disc also features five awesome videos, two of which I discussed above.

For me, Bjork was love at first listen, I went back the next day to buy the Bjork in a Box, which includes all seven of her studio albums. For review purposes, I listened to the album in Surround Sound, there are already plenty of reviews of the album when it first came out. The album begins with the hypnotic futuristic Army of Me which just screams out of my system. Heavy industrial riffs filled my living room as Bjork pleasantly sings the first verse. However as she commandingly shouts out the chorus If you Complain Once More, you'll meet an army of me I knew I was dealing with a force to be reckoned with. Hyperballad showcases how beautiful her voice is, a ballad like song set amidst an array of sounds I couldn't even begin to identify.

A music video for Hyperballad is also included in which visions of Bjork in real time and in computer enhanced digital imagination is superimposed. Blinking neon lights back the images. Bjorks avatar runs through a computerlike dream scape. Wow.

More trippy sounds begin The Modern Things and Bjorks voice pours out of my speakers in a voice unlike anyones I have ever heard. Part pixie, part growl, part outerworldly, it is a voice completely unique and intriguing. It's Oh so Quiet sounds like an old fashioned musical and the video that is also included makes it seem like one of those Indian movies where everyone sings and dances! (If you've never seen a Bollywood film, you owe it to yourself to check one out).

Enjoy is a hyper frenetic ditty that begins with an assortment of strange instruments and lots of percussion. Bjork tells me in her special way I wish I want to stay here, I wish this be enough, I wish I only love you. How do I feel about her songs? Her lyrics sum it up for me best here How can I ignore, this is sex without touching I'm going to explore, I'm only into this to enjoy. The surround sound surrounds me completely.

Ah, Bjorks sensual soft side comes forth on You've been flirting again. Her voice is fragile, yet strong. The background of this song is almost orchestral, perhaps it is. Isobel is next, and it also is included in the bonus videos! in a heart full of dust, lives a creature called lust, it surprises and scares like me like me Bjorks voice is haunting. Again, the backing strings and drums give this song an ethereal quality. The music floats around the room while Bjork stays near the front.

The video for Isobel is also magical and ethereal. A black and white forest is shown, running water, and Bjork sings us the song of Isobel. She looks absolutely beautiful, her smile knowing as she sings. A flock of small planes grow from lightbulbs she has planted. They all fly and cover Bjork like dragon flies. Her haunting lyrics echo through the room backed by incessant percussion.

Possibly Maybe is the next song, and also an included video. Bjork appears as a radiant angel backed by a blue light in the sky. She also appears in her mortal life with her hair drawn up into two tight buns on her head accented with black light glowing lights. She lays naked in her bath tub and sings to me as much as I definitely enjoy solitude, I wouldn't mind perhaps spending a little time with you sometimes sometimes, possibly maybe probably love.

I miss you has a highly inventive video for it, in which the lovely Bjork transforms into the cartoon Bjork. She bathes with bubble bath in a Flintstones like house. A crazy cartoon like horn section bounces from speaker to speaker as a cast of good old fashioned Saturday morning cartoon characters follow cartoon Bjork. The music is cartoon like, so the video matches perfectly. I know by now that you'll arrive But the time I stop waiting I miss you !

Cover Me begins with Japanese sounding strings, perhaps it is a harp. Strange sounds reverberate through the room. while I crawl into the unknown cover me / I'm going hunting for mysteries cover me / I'm going to prove the impossible really exists This song only has Bjork's soft voice, the Japanese sounding strings and an odd assortment of sounds that permeate the strange world Bjork is exploring.

Headphones is the last song on the album, and the sounds give you that headphone feeling. I hear Bjork singing in one ear, and whispering in another. Her voice floats around the room. She is to my left, my right and behind me. my headphones, they saved my life, your tape it lulled me to sleep

Summary

What can I say? I can tell you I have already bought and started to listen to Bjorks other albums (all in surround sound) and watching her other videos. She is a force unto herself and I love her. She gives me that feeling of wonder and amazement that I had missed for a long time in the boredom of the same old same in music. You know you fall in love zing boom the sky up above zing boom is caving in wow bam!

Bjork, where have you been? Oh yeah, Iceland.



Related Reviews

I love you Bjork : Review of Bjork Debut (__ Surrounded) Dual Disc
I fall Deeper in Love with Bjork : Review of Bjork Homogenic (___ Surrounded) Dual Disc






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