Björk

Björk, whose real name is Björk Guðmundsdóttir, is a singer and musician. Born in November 21st, 1965, in Reykjavík, Iceland, she started her career in 1977 when she released her first album "Björk." It was available officially only on vinyl and cassette, and it featured mostly cover songs in Icelandic.

Later, she formed her first punk band, all-girl alliance Spit & Snot, where she played drums. She was also involved in projects such as Exodus and Jam 80, all of which without known record releases.

In 1981, she launched a band named Tappi Tíkarrass (Icelandic for "Cork the Bitch's Arse"). They released an album, "Miranda," which combined punk with elements of funk, disco, and jazz. By 1983, the band had morphed into darker act Kukl (Icelandic for "Witchcraft"), which released three albums before disbanding in 1986: "The Eye," "Kukl à Paris," and "Holidays in Europe."

Björk's next band was to be the biggest group ever to emerge from Iceland: The Sugarcubes. In 1987, they published "Life's Too Good," with which they received critical acclaim. Two years later, "Here Today, Tomorrow, Next Week" was released, but it did not fare as well. Their final release before disbanding in 1992 was "Stick Around for Joy." Afterward, Björk moved to the United Kingdom to start a solo career. Previously, in 1990, she had recorded "Gling-Gló," a collection of popular jazz and original work, with the jazz group Tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar.

Her first album "Debut" was recorded with producer Nellee Hooper in 1993, even though its songs were actually composed during the previous ten years while she was in bands. Since then, she has released several studio albums:

• Post (1995)
• Homogenic (1997)
• Vespertine (2001)
• Medúlla (2004)
• Volta (2007)
• Biophilia (2011)
• Vulnicura (2015)

While Björk developed her unconventional song structures, she has worked with many renowned artists, mainly in the realm of electronic music. One of her long-time friends and main collaborators is Mark Bell. There are other artists who have played important roles in the creative part of her work: Guy Sigsworth, Icelandic poet Sjón, who helped on lyrics for some of her key songs, and video director Michel Gondry.

Acts such as Plaid, Leila, Matmos, and Talvin Singh have been at times part of her live bands. Furthermore, she has also worked together with Howie B, Graham Massey, Tricky, Eumir Deodato, Mike Patton, Matthew Herbert, John Tavener, and Evelyn Glennie; and has sung duets with Thom Yorke, PJ Harvey, Catherine Deneuve, and Antony Hegarty.

In the spring of 2000, she was named Best Actress by jurors at the Cannes Film Festival for her work in Lars Von Trier's Palme d'Or-winning "Dancer in the Dark." She had recorded the album "Selmasongs," for the movie. In 2005, she recorded the soundtrack to "Drawing Restraint 9," a film by multimedia artist Matthew Barney, which also featured contributions from Will Oldham.

I got to know who Björk was when I watched the above video on TV in the summer of 1995. I was instantly attracted and started following her during the next years. Although I have not been following her more recent work closely, I still count her among my favorite artists. Indeed, after wanting to see her live for many years, I will finally have my chance this next Friday, July 24th, 2015. Coincidentally, that day marks two years since my husband and I started our relationship. And it is because of him that I will be able to attend Björk's concert in Barcelona, Catalonia: What a great gift! Thank you! =)


UPDATE (07/27/2015):

The concert took place outdoors at Barcelona's magical Poble Espanyol. It mostly displayed her newest work from the "Vulnicura" album. It featured live strings and beats, plus beautiful pyrotechnics and video projections. It was a very intense set.