Telegraph 03

Edito

Dear readers.

Here’s a another Telegraph for you.
In this issue we focus on the visual side of Björk’s work.
Her music videos have been ground breaking right from the start when she collaborated with Michel Gondry on "Human Behaviour". Their work is now shown in art museums and galleries around the world, as examples of late 20th century video art. Surrealism continues to be an influence the visuals that are created in relation with Björk an her music, so we are proud to present to you some images from her latest photo session with Mert & Marcus. A music score looks as ants on a string, well, almost.
So, open up your subconscious eyes (they’re at the back of your heads) and enjoy the treats we have prepared for you this time.

Sjón and Einar

Credits

Editors : Sjón / Mr E
Cover and page 4 photo by Nick Waplington
Cosmogenic String Theory written by The Team. Photo by Benni Valsson
Mark Bell interview by Sjón. Low resolution digital photo by Meester Fly
My Story by Bachelorette written by Sjón. Storyboard by Michel Gondry
Jóga video shoot photos by Francois Nemeta
Let There Be Light Written by The Team. Photos by Benni Valsson
Star Drag The Next Degeneration written by Thomas Stevens

Fanclub Co-ordinator : Julia Proud
Design : Me Company www.mecompany.com
Artwork © 2000 Me Company, moral rights asserted and reserved
Björk Fanclub : P.0 Box 4219. London. SW17 7XF
www.bjork.com

All Is Full Of Love

Against black, we hear the faint sound of electricity gently surging.

All around us, banks of fluorescent light, behind plexiglass flicker to life at random, illuminating an elegant, pristine white environment.

I has a Japanese feel to it, a simplicity in its design.

As we track forwards we are dwarfed on either side by two enormous medical/industrial robots. In unison they sweep around towards a workspace littered with eggshell white plastic parts.

As we get closer the parts become more visible and reveal an organic nature, theirs shapes resembling humanoid forms.

From above now we see clearly a female form in a foetal position completely abstracted and disassembled. Although it is artificial it is beautiful and elegant.

The machines set to work in extreme slow motion. Their arms gracefully engaging with the incomplete human form, removing and adding parts to the partially hollow plastic shell and its matt black complex inner workings.

Although only the front portion of the face is in place, its features are clearly those of Björk’s, albeit smoothed away like the side panels of a Japanese motorbike.

The eyes open as the back of the head is soldered. Warm orange sparks fly against the cold blue white of plastic.

It feels like we are watching the last stages of an artificial intelligence’s birth.

As it starts to sing, the elegance of the song and the imagery is contrasted by the abstractions caused by this incomplete form. It never quite becomes whole.

As the track unfolds so too does the imagery developing in stages.

The figure, still incomplete is upright now. Its hand reaching up to touch its own face. We reveal more of the scene.

Gently white fluid, like milk starts to was over the forms and eventually engulfs it (this would be achieved by submerging the forms in a vat of milk and draining it off, filmed in reverse).

When the form emerges from the vat we reveal that it is number two in a series. Still with Björk’s features, the two ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCES begin to engage with one another.

Locked together in a surreal embrace, parts intertwined and fused, we concentrate now on details, kissing, slow motion white fluid, fluorescent light.

The imagery is slowly becoming more sexual but way to surreal and abstract to be offensive.

We see the plastic bodies begin to unfold like strange flowers.

The last sequence of shots as we pull back very wide reveal an indescribably abstract life form made from the two unfolded, artificial, humanoid forms.

It is like Karma Sutra meets Industrial Robotics.

The shots in this video will not be as difficult as you might imagine.

The main performance aspect of the video would involve attaching blue panels to Björk’s body and replacing these areas with model parts filmed against the same background.

This will give the illusion of her being hollow, completely artificial. We would shoot everything as a lock off.

As we approach the finale, the shots would possibly start to include a mixture of computer graphics and live action, used seamlessly to depict these robots unfolding.

A lot of preparatory work would be needed and some compositing but the shoot would be very simple.

I am convinced that this would make an extraordinary surreal performance video.

The imagery would be majestic and we could be sexually suggestive as we like and get away with it.

Chris Cunningham

Cosmogenic String Theory

Much has been written about the enchanting string arrangements on ’Homogenic’ and the performance of the Icelandic String Octet...

Jón Ragnar Örnólfsson took care of assembling the octet. Having studied the cello in Iceland he moved to Manchester where he graduated from the Royal Northern Collage of Music. He’s also an old friend Björk’s, being the younger brother of Magga the keyboard player of the Sugarcubes. But, hey, that doesn’t mean he’s not a person in his own right ! Here are his thoughts on the uniqueness of being an Icelandic string player on the road.

So, how did it come about that you are in charge of the string octet ?

Björk decided that she wanted to have Icelandic strings on ’Homogenic’.
She had worked with the Brodsky Quartet but now she wished to expand, to add more instruments and have an octet. We were talking on the phone one day when she mentioned if I was interested in taking care of putting the ensemble together, I felt I could do it as well as anyone else. In Iceland everybody knows each other so it was easy for me to contact the right people.

What did you have in mind when you chose the musicians ?

Well, they had to be good, the best musicians available. But they had also to be ready to tour once the album was out. So, I talked to musicians who aren’t settled down with families or steady jobs they can’t leave. As we were going to spend a lot of time together, they also had to be able to work together, the atmosphere has to be friendly, relaxed and creative.

Is this special Icelandic sound that Björk was looking for a reality ? Is there something that can be said to distinguish your playing from, let’s say French string players ?

It’s difficult to say. We are all educated abroad so it’s not like there is any special Icelandic tradition we’re working from, but maybe it has to be with the dynamics of the relationship within the group. We come from a small society, we are of the same age, we studied music in Iceland at the same time. And as I said we knew each other very well from years back. If people feel there is something unique about our playing it springs from the simple fact that the communication within the group is so friendly and easy. So, maybe that allows for our common Icelandic sensibility to sow through.

Is there something that has surprised you during touring with Björk ?

I can’t say that. Well it’s new to be playing for such a big crowd. It’s mainly been fun.

But the whole set up of a ’pop’ concert must be very different from a classical one.

The way Björk thinks about the strings is much closer to classical music than your usual "pop" string arrangements. The music we are playing, the way we use our instruments is not unusual for us. But the surroundings and the other sounds of the songs are new to us.

What about being on stage with all those monitors and gear ?

We’ve gotten used to it now.

People are really surprised at how well this idea is working out. I mean, a string octet, a singer and a mixing DJ is not what you expect to see when you go to a gig.

We’ve had a long time of preparing the whole thing. It started in Spain when we did the recordings. After playing in the songs we started with the live concept. We sat out on the patio and improvised. It has been a very natural process where we’ve swapped ideas within the group and with Björk. On our side I think it’s important that we have never watered down our playing, we’ve not tried to simplify it just because this is ’pop’.

You remain sitting throughout the concerts. Do you get the urge to get up and dance ?

We do it with whatever limbs are free at the time.

My Story by Bachelorette

The ongoing collaboration between Björk and Michel Gondry, the French director, continues to bear strange fruit. Together they have made videos for Human Behaviour, Army of Me, Isobel, Hyperballad, Jóga, and their bigger production to this date : Bachelorette. The video is the story of innocence lost, fame gone wrong, and innocence regained. It’s all told in a mixture of styles,ranging from documentary film to the big time musicals.

As I wrote the lyrics to the song Michel asked me to contribute to the video. He sent me a draft of the story told in the video and I wrote it out as you can hear Björk reading it in the beginning of that musical and visual extravaganza.

One day I happened upon a big book buried deep in the ground. I had been walking through the forest searching for mandrake and the rare mushroom of everlasting love.

Few books find their way to my part of the world so I picked it up and dusted the earth of its massive cover. From beneath the dirt appeared a faded photograph of a young woman. The young woman was I.
Despite the alarming fact that my own image was on the cover, I clung to the hope that the book contained a tale of a knight in shining armour and a fair lady waiting to be rescued from a blackhearted ogre. I tried to picture myself on a dark winter’s night, sitting in front of the fire, immersed in an ancient adventure.
I opened the book, trembling with fear and excitement.
All the pages were blank.
I was about to cry out in a mixture of disappointment and relief when my gaze touched the paper where one would expect to find the first paragraph. To my surprise the book had started writing itself - as if by magic :
"One day when I was walking through the forest, searching for mandrake and the rare mushroom of everlasting love, I happened upon a big book buried deep in the ground.”
What it wrote was what I was doing there and then. It seemed to follow my every move. ”Well," I thought. “it’s an automatic diary. I guess that means it’s up to me to create the story as I go on living.” Deep down the thought saddened me. Who would ever want to go through page after page about someone like me ?
My life was so simple it would never make for a good read.
But then a new sentence appeared :
"I had to leave the forest"
"I realized the book was not merely recounting what I did, it was telling me what I should do. It was time I left my house and started exploring the world."
I did exactly what the book told me to and the forest opened up to me like never before. It put on a great show of colors, movement and sounds - as if it wished to make sure it stayed rooted in my memory in all its dazzling beauty.
Now, I was ready to leave.
I got on the train and was on my way to the city. The countryside disappeared in a flash. I sat in the compartment reading about my journey, the narration always being one step ahead of what was happening to me.
The train slid like a giant manic slug on its glistening tracks. The villages became towns, the towns became suburbs, the suburbs became the CITY.
Out the window I saw its skyscrapers grow from the horizon like giant fingers trying to poke holes in the firmament. As soon as the train pulled into the station and the busy crowd had pushed me out on the street, I consulted the book about what I was to do next. A sentence wrote itself out :

“I explored the city like the forest before”

So, that is what I did.
Strangely enough the city did not scare me. The buildings reminded me of the tall pine trees of the forest ; the light in the windows glimmered as the snow on their branches. The cars rushed along the streets like small animals busily preparing for the winter. And the neon lights ? Well, they were my northern lights.
The days passed and the pages filled up with words. I followed the book’s writing like a recipe for an alchemist’s elixir of life. It had told me it was on this condition the next sentence would had told me it was on this condition the next sentence would appear, and that if I did not respect the rule my beautiful adventure would vanish like a dream. It was an easy rule to obey. The book was taking me places beyond my imagination. I did whatever it asked of me.
But one thing had started to disturb me. The blank pages were becoming frightfully few. I could not but wonder how my story would end. I feared for the worst and started thinking about it day and night. Would I vanish ? Or die ?
I was seriously thinking about breaking up my relationship with the book when it came to my rescue. It spelled it out for me word by word. It had just been doing what all good books do ; they create suspense in their last pages. I laughed out loud where I stood on the edge of a high rise in the city centre. To celebrate having regained my trust the book wrote on the top of the last page :

"I took my story to Clark - Publisher of Fine Books on the corner of Easy Street and 23rd."

Once in Clark’s humble office I handed him my book. He offered me a seat in a comfortable chair across his desk and I watched him read my story. I could see how the words moved him, how he responded to the events as if he was going through them himself.
As his eyes glided down the last page the final sentence and conclusion to my tale appeared :

"I knew my heart was his and that I would love him forever and ever.”

The End

Let There Be Light

Going to a Björk concert is a razzling and dazzling experience. The reason is, of course, Björk and her all powerful presence ; the magic of the music ; and us the the bewitched audience, singing along to songs the record industry never believed one could learn by heart.

One of the collaborators who has remained unseen throughout the years is the man responsible for us seeing anything at all when we attend Björk’s gigs. He is Paul Normandale, the lighting designer Björk has worked with since the days of the Sugarcubes. Usually shy of the limelight Paul granted Telegraph an interview. And who did we send to talk to the mystery man ? None other than Mr. E.

So is your name Paul Normandale ?
Yes.

Where are you from ?
I am born in Scarborough North Yorkshire, did vacation jobs doing lights in the local theatre. Went to Manchester university and did a Ph.D.

In what ?
In Medical Biology. Met a band from Iceland in 1987 and went on the road.

How come you became a lighting designer ?
Something different to do.

Are you telling me now ?
Yes ?

As we sit here ?
I never did a band before the Sugarcubes !

Ten years later you admit that you never did a band before the Sugarcubes ?
Nobody asked me.

What would have happened if that band hadn’t come along ?
Ah ! Maybe a band called the Pixies might have come along.

So we have got your career sorted out before the Sugarcubes ?
No career, it all started out with them.

What was your first impression of this band or gang from Iceland ?
It was always fun, always fun.

Now, we carry on, your working relationship with the artist, and how you go about putting lights together for a concert ?
What I try to do is to get the artist to write on paper ideas , the themes or the feel of what the album or music is about. It doesn’t need to be technical, it just has to be the feeling. The kinds of things they are trying to portray musically, or they think tie in visually, and from those words try to create a set of lights to suit successfully.

Your ideas behind a light design, do you want them to be fun, entertaining ?
I think they should enhance the meaning of what is on stage, not overshadow, but add drama on a large scale.

So the aesthetic of it is to enhance ?
Perhaps, or even challenge, completely. Some artists are very specific, and others nothing what so ever.

How do you deal with them ?
Either way, you just listen to it. It is your own decision and they like it or they don’t. I have never worked for anyone commercially. The artists I have worked for I have always considered to be friends, and the music I want to listen to, so I have never had to do something for money.

What is the difference between the lights for the ’Homogenic’ concerts compared to those of the ’Post’ concerts ?
Well obviously we did larger room on the ’Post’ tour, it was very vivid, very peak and neon, bright vivd colors like candy. This one is far more natural, ambient, simpler, as befits the stage representation.

Let there be light, can you make everything from light ?
No, definite not.

Is there something you dream of doing but haven’t been able to do so far ?
No, for a living I do exactly what I want to do, and that is exactly it.

Have you got a favorite situation with an artist ?
I think one where there is complete trust, where they just say, OK you do it, and they trust you.

There are some questions here. Should we go a bit deeper ?
Tricky stuff, no publicity. You have got the only photo of me.

You are always enlightening people.
I have the reputation of very alternative interesting light shows, and yet I am none of these things myself.

You are a straight forward orange juice drinking kind of a guy.
That’s right, and that’s the trick.
I would like to think, that when I listen to an artist’s album that I can see the lights in my head, then I can do that for the live show. Sometimes I can’t see any light.

Do you dream lights ?
Yes, and electric sheep.

Star Drag : the Next Degeneration

In last issue of ’Telegraph’ I complained about the lack of original material on the Internet. Shortly afterwards I went surfing in arrogance - and was proved wrong. On Pann Ranta’s page I came across some original art and this funny faux Star Trek episode featuring Björk.

Written and conceived by Thomas Stevens, major Björk fan.

Starring :

Special Guest : Björk as a member of the alien race "the Björk"

On Tonight’s Episode : "The Björk Vessel"

Piker : "Captain, sensors are picking up a distress signal. It originates from an unexplored part of the galaxy.”
Ricard : ”I’m on my way to the Bridge, Number One !"

Ricard enters the Bridge, tripping over the leg of a small kid playing on the floor.

Ricard : “What the devil...?! Mr. Morf, isn’t it your job as Head of Security to keep these damn brats off my Bridge ?!"
Morf [a bit embarrassed) : "’Er... I really didn’t see the child enter, Sir.
But I guess these things just happen in space."
Ricard : ’Mmm, I’ll accept that as a satisfactory explanation, Mr. Morf. Keep up the good work."
Morf : ’Thank you Sir !"
Ensign : ’Speed and course laid in, Sir.”
Ricard : ’Very well. Let’s see what’s out there... Engage !"

When the starship Lesserprize reaches its destination, it suddenly gets fired upon.

Piker : "Shields and thumbs up ! Purple alert !"

- Intro sequence - (lots of stars and empty space ; consider it skipped)

Ricard : Who’s firing at us ? Mr. Beta, any ideas ?"
Beta : "Sensors are picking up no signs of any vessel, Sir. Hihihi’
Ricard : "I beg your pardon ?"
Beta : "My latest effort at being more human, Sir. Humour. Intriguing."
Ricard : "Ah. Very commendable, Mr. Beta. Maybe one day you’ll get there."
Beta : ’Yes Sir. ’thank you Sir."
Ricard : "Well, ’Number One, haven’t you got anything better to do than to clumsily hang around all over my Bridge ?"
Piker : "But Sir, isn’t that what I always do ?"
Ricard : "Oh, come to think of it... Quite right Number One ! Keep it up !"
Piker (stupidly grinning) : "No problem Sir !"
Ricard : "What about you, Mr. Morf, any suggestions ?"
Morf : "The vessel might be cloaked. I recommend shooting at everything, Sir, even at those things that do not move."
Ricard : "A bit wasteful though. Do NOT make it so."
Morf (who does NOT start firing phasers and does NOT launch photon torpedoes) : "Right away, Sir !"
Beta : "Sir, a vessel is uncloaking straight ahead."
Ricard : "Can you identify it, Mr. Beta ?"
Beta : "Judging from its typical shape and characteristic type of armament, I can definitely inform you that it’s obviously an... unknown vessel, Sir."
Piker : "Beta, you used a contraction ! You said "it’s" instead of "it is" ! Does that mean you can talk like real people now ?!"
Beta : "I believe that to be an error in the script, Sir."
Piker : "Mpfh, bummer.”
Morf : "The vessel is hailing us, Sir !"
Ricard : "On screen !"

On the screen appears an oriental looking being, with lots of little black cones on its head. The creature only produces a strange sort of humming noise.

Morf : "Sir, the being... I believe it to be female... it’s trying to... paralyze us.. with that... sound."
Ricard : ’An extremely perceptive observation, Mr. Morf, but I kinda noticed that myself, thank you.” (Dots indicating paralyzation omitted for convenience.) "The being is apparently communicating directly with me using some sort of telepathy. I believe our lives have just become a lot more complicated. We have encountered... the Björk !"

- Dramatic close-up of Ricard’s nose followed by commercial break -

Beta : "Sir, the Björk vessel has locked its tractor beam onto the Lesserprize and I cannot seem to find the key to unlock it - I believe I just made a pun, Sir, a play of words, a..."
Piker : "This is not the time for jokes. Mr. Beta, just find that key !"
Beta : "Aye, Sir.”

The Lesserprize shakes as the Björk vessel becomes... rather aggressive, actually.

Morf : (admiringly) ’Mmm ! That Björk seems to be stronger than a Klingon woman ! I like her !"
Piker : "Jordi, what the hell is going on in engineering !"
Jordi : “The dilithium crystals are decrystallising, which is causing a subatomic flux interference with the subspace warp drive ! It’s going to take at least seven months to repair this"
Piker : "You’ve got five seconds !"
Jordi : ”I’ll do it in three !"

Suddenly a Björk materializes in Engineering. One cute gaze and all inside are paralyzed.

Björk : "Well, Mr. LaGorge, do you think I went through all that trouble of causing damage, just to let you repair it ? Any attempts to interfere with my plans and I’ll make you see some colors you didn’t even know were in the spectrum !"
Jordi : "I don’t think my visor would be able to pick them up anyway.”
Björk : "Don’t try to be clever ! I’m good at karate, you know ?"
Jordi : "I wouldn’t dream of upsetting you. ’mam.’"
Björk : ’I will now go and see your captain."

The Björk vanishes from Engineering and re-appears on the Bridge. Having beamed herself onto the Bridge, the Björk carefully examines the officers present.
With a typically quick reaction, Morf draws his phaser and points it at the Björk.

Morf : "Halt ! One more step and I’ll zap you !"
Björk [pulling a funny face) : “Who said anything about moving, macro-head with micro-brain"
Morf : "You dare insult me ? My code of honor dictates that I shall zap you anyway, steps or no steps !"

Morf frantically searches for the correct setting on his phaser until he breaks a sweat, but when he attempts to fire, nothing happens.

Piker : "Wow, that Björk can even neutralize weapons"
Morf [uttering some Klingon curses) : "Er... I’m afraid that’s my fault, Sir. I seem to have forgotten to recharge the damn thing !"
Ricard : "Alert and vigilant as always, Mr. Morf ?"
Morf : "Obviously, Sir !"
Ricard : "Obviously"
Morf : "Then I’ll just growl a lot and see what happens !"
Piker : "I don’t think that’s a good idea. Let me handle this. Since I’m good at charming women, I’ll simply sweep her off her feet.”
Björk : "Haha ! You can"t even keep your head straight !"
Ricard : "She’s got a point there, Bill."
Piker : "Yeah, but it’s because the emotional half of my brain is larger than its, er..."
Ricard : "Intellectual part ?"
Piker : "Grmph. Thanks for helping me out. Sir."
Ricard : "That’s what friends are for."
Björk : "It’s you I’ve come to talk to, baldie !"
Ricard : "You can address me as Captain Ricard, young lady !"
Björk (undisturbed) : "Ok, ok, Riccy, let’s tall : business."
Ricard [nervously straightening his jacket) : "And just what is your BUSINESS on my vessel ?"
Björk : "I come from a planet which is called " ! ;-"" (the crew members on the Bridge only "feel" a few ’sounds’ inside their heads), but in your language that would be "Iceworld". That’s because there’s a lot of ice on it.”
Piker : "My home-planet is also named after its most common component. You see, there’s a lot of earth..."
Beta : "And water, and highly polluted air.”
Björk : "Let me see... That would have to be... I think I’ve got it ! ’Planet Dirt", right ?!"
Piker : "Well, erm..."
Beta : "A very logical deduction indeed.”
Ricard : "Are there any more like you aboard that vessel ?"
Björk : "No. Because I was very restless and easily bored, I was considered a threat to my home-world and so they abandoned me on board that ship. They just left the weapons operational so I could shoot at asteroids whenever I got bored. But I figured out a way to send out a distress signal, and that’s what lured you to me ! [The Björk makes a little jump of joy.)"
Piker(annoyed) :"And I suppose you want this ship as your new toy ?"
Björk : "Nah, you people are all too boring ! I want you to take me back to my home-world, where I can drive everyone crazy again !!”
Ricard : "Can I discuss this with my senior officers ?’
Björk : "Yeah. Meanwhile I’ll roam about your precious vessel to find out where a girl can have some fun on this ship. See ya later Riccyl”
Ricard : "All senior officers to my Ready Room !"

When Ricard, Piker, Morf, Beta and Jordi have entered the Ready Room.
the Björk leaves the Bridge in search for some entertainment [which of course she will never find...].

For the rest of the episode plus more go to <http://www.sci.fi/~pranta/Björk/Bj...> . (lien indisponible)

FAQ : Who is this Ásmundur Jónsson ?

... or Asi, who Björk frequently mentions when interviewed about her music projects ? At the releases of ’Post’ and ’Homogenic’ she spoke highly of his contribution, and still we can’t hear him play a single instrument on these very same records.

Even before Asi and his partner Guðni Rúnar Agnarsson asked 6 people from different bands in Reykjavík to perform especially as Kukl, for the final broadcast of their legendary radio program ’Destinations’ in 1983, he had been the quiet partner and third ear in the development of the new Icelandic music.

Before that he run a record store in Reykjavík which in 1981 Einar Örn had frequented, exchanged records and chatted, this time around Einar asked Asi whether he would put out a single with his band Purrkur Pillnikk. Asi returned the answer ’yes’, but suggested the foundation of a new label called Gramm Records. Which subsequently became Iceland’s main independent record shop before its demise in the late nineties.

From the inception of BadTaste which brought us the Sugarcubes, Asi has been the force behind BadTaste and has kept it running. The success of the Sugarcubes left home alone to run BadTaste while the others went roaming around the world.

But it is not Asi’s managerial skills, or stamina to endure the silliness of BadTaste business which has made him one of the most important people in history of current Icelandic music. It is his sincerity and willingness to listen and give valuable comments on the music being made. His great knowledge of music has made him the authority you always ask for advice and comments before you let anyone else hear what you intent to let the rest of the world hear, and that goes for musicians who are just making it out of the garage, as well as accomplished musicians like Björk.

The GrapeWire

The GrapeWire is focusing on the numerous projects which rumours have been circulating about. At times it has been hard to follow track of where they are at, but here is what is correct at time of printing.
The GrapeWire is of course all the time active on www.bjork.com and there you will most certainly be the first to see the latest concrete news.

Dancer In The Dark

The first release since 1997 ’Homogenic’ is the soundtrack album from the motion picture Dancer in the Dark, called Selmasongs. Selma is the character Björk portrays in the movie so these are her songs.
Björk’s sidekicks on this record are Mark Bell and Valgeir Sigurðsson, but the lyrics were written by our very own Sjón and the films director Lars Von Trier.
The track ’I’ve seen it All’ from the album has already been previewed on www.bjork.com, briefly in July. On this track Thom Yorke from Radiohead duetted with Björk.

The Book

We know the pictures ! These many images of Björk which have been our companion over the years are now being collected into a book. It is not though a picture book, but it will have contribution from artists, friends and collaborators. It will be indeed a gem.
The book is scheduled for release in March 2000, and it will be M&M of Paris who designing the book, the very same who designed Volumen - the video collection. This book will be made available to fan club members at a special price, when the time is nigh.

Union Chapel Concerts

The Union Chapel in Islington, London was the host of two special concerts by Björk and the Brodsky Quartet, where they played a varied set of songs.
These two concerts were recorded by a fleet of digital video cameras and the concert was also audio recorded for a future release.
The project was put on hold but now it looks like it will be released, though not the whole concert but 10 selected songs. This release will occur sometime before Björk’s next studio album, scheduled for release spring next year.

RZA an Björk

The scene is New York, and Björk and RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan meet for a work session, some tracks get done. But nothing more. The results of this session will not see the light of day, as this was an experiment. One can though assume that some of this work showed up on ’Homogenic’, in some form or another we saw a mix of Bachelorette on a B-side.

Empire B & B

Questions have been raised regarding the Brodsky Quartet recorded tracks of Björk’s music with the collaboration of Alec Empire of Atari Teenage Riot. These tracks are not yet mixed, consider this project to be shelved.
Totally !

Domestika

As soon as Björk work finished for Dancer in the Dark, the course was set on the creation of a new set music. This work is now in full process, with engineer/programmer Jake Davies and has taken Björk from Iceland via England via Spain via New York. Expect old faces contributing parts to the recordings to be finished in October 2000.
In an Internet chat she revealed that the working title for this album was Domestika.
Whether this title is final we will not know until its release which should be in March 2000.

Finally, for the latest on the GrapeWire, check www.bjork.com