Everyone’s jumping on the decks at the moment. Last Friday, Björk, Icelandic singer-songwriter, producer and all round everything-threat, played a surprise DJ set for Tri Angle Records’ 5th year birthday as part of Red Bull’s New York Festival.
So did she play bangers? Björk played a set consisting of some singers and producers worldwide that she’s really enjoying at the moment, as well as some from the Tri Angle Records roster, namely Death Grips. The show followed the release of her latest album, Vulnicura, which she produced alongside the likes of Arca, who has produced a lot of stuff for FKA Twigs. It’s this sort of production and mixing that really dominated the mix, and you can peep a listen below.
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The New York Times gave the set a rave review, calling it “A euphoric culture crunch: unveiling fervent voices, like the Pakistani singer Abida Parveen or the Queen of Portuguese fado, Amália Rodrigues, then piling on beats, electronics and noise. It was all over the place in the best way”.
Björk had this to say about it on her website:
“I would like to wish tri angle label an incredibly sublime birthday and thank for having been invited to DJ at their party. Couldn’t possibly been more honoured than to play in that company !!! The mix I played was my present to them: merging together some of my fav beats last year with some of my fav vocalists doing some of their best songs.”
Hopefully she jumps back on it soon, it’s a sick change of pace to what sort of sounds would usually get played in a set.
Of course, we’re all experiencing pretty serious FOMO, but if you want a closer look at the actual event, head to Red Bull for some beautiful photos of Björk in action.
Bjork, Lionsong
It’s difficult to write about Bjork. She’s dazzling and unique and brilliant, and not many words can do her justice. Her recent album Vulnicura was a dizzyingly powerfull. Now, we’ve got a video clip to unfold the gorgeous album artwork, created by Bjork in collaboration with famed photographers Inez & Vinoodh, plus visual effects producers Framstore. Watch as the album cover comes to life, in all its beautiful, warped, extremely detailed glory.
Courts, Part Of
We posted about Courts’ wonderfully punky Part Of a couple weeks ago, and now we’ve got a video clip to boot. The clip was filmed while the Essex five-piece were enjoying a holiday. Watch as they drink, swim, party and generally have a great damn time – all to the very sweet sound of their own tune.
Pepa Knight, Coyote Choir
Now very much a solo artist in his own right, Jinja Safari’s Pepa Knight has released the brightly coloured video for his indie-with-an-Indian-flair single, Coyote Choir. The clip couldn’t be more perfect for the song. Bringing together the vast landscapes of Australia and New Zealand, the clip was shot on 8mm film by Sam Kristofski.
Saskwatch, I’ll Be Fine
Saskwatch have had a big week for news. Not only have they announced a huge lineup change (Will, Sam, Nic and Ed – horns and drums – are all leaving), but they’ve announced a new album, tour dates, single, and this video, with beautiful animations courtesy of Jason Galea. The album, Sorry I Let It Come Between Us, is set for a June 12 release and will reportedly be “evolutionary.” Have a listen and watch the first single from the new record:
Wolf Alice, Giant Peach
I was only introduced to Wolf Alice at Falls Festival this year, but they put on a killer show, and I’ve been following them ever since. Now gearing up to release their debut album, My Love Is Cool, on June 19, they’re unveiled the video clip for new single Giant Peach. The clip was directed by S’blood and features a pretty tongue-in-cheek look at the industry: evil managers, a mockumentary and serious partying ensure that chaos ensues from start to end.
Peter Bibby, Goodbye Johnny
I recently had the chance to share brunch with Peter Bibby, whose half-fabricated half-completely-real stories of hazy, romantic, drunken Australiana is, for whatever reason, really really special.The video clip for Goodbye Johnny features the actual Johnny, who the song is about, in a whole range of clips from Bibby’s life in Melbourne, a trip through the Californian desert, music festivals (watch out for cameos from Nick Allbrook and Mac DeMarco) and more.
Only Björk could make something like this work.
She is due to physically release her album Vulnicura on next week, which is beyond amazing by the way. To celebrate, she has created a visual for the track Family.
Björk herself has labelled it a “moving album cover” as it features the album’s cover art as it comes to life. In the video, a female lies flat on a rock as purple goo oozes out from her chest in an overflowing mess. The figure morphs into Björk, who stitches her chest back up.
You really need to see it to believe it. Watch below.
The two and a half minute video was filmed in collaboration with Andrew Thomas Huang, who also directed Black Swan which is currently on display at her retrospective at New York’s Museum of Modern Art.
Vulnicura will be physically released on March 24th.
In light of our Spotify story, here’s some good news that will lighten up a Björk fan’s day.
New York’s Museum of Modern Art will house an exhibition focusing on Björk and her creative experiments. You can see this retrospective from March 8 to June 7. Beginning with the release of her first solo album Debut in 1993, the retrospective runs through her career, spanning more than 20 years through sound, film, visuals, instruments, objects, and costumes up to her latest work. Like Björk herself, it will let off an innovative, unique feel than will truly astound you.
It’s not just about her music. It will include iconic wonders, such as the swan dress, designed by Marjan Pejoski, which she wore to the 2001 Academy Awards and the robots from her 1999 music video “All Is Full of Love”, designed by Chris Cunningham.
In addition to her older projects, it will exclusively feature her new music-and-film project Black Lake. This is also featured on her latest album Vulnicura.
It’s definitely worth checking out if you’re in New York at the time. Chief curator at large Klaus Biesenbach says, “It will be as if you were in her brain, listening to the world while she sings.”
Sorry to break it to all of you freeloaders, but you can no longer stream Björk’s latest album Vulnicura from Spotify.
Like many other artists, she has decided that offering her new music on a free streaming service just “doesn’t feel right.” She did leave her back catalogue though.
Spotify compensates artists by paying them $0.006 to $0.0084 per stream. Over recent years, a number of artists have pulled their music from the service in protest of the streaming service.
But it’s not the money Björk is concerned about. She explained her hesitation in an interview with Fast Company:
“We’re all making it up as it goes, to be honest. I would like to say there’s some master plan going on [with the album release], but there isn’t. But a few months ago I emailed my manager and said, ‘Guess what? This streaming thing just does not feel right. I don’t know why, but it just seems insane,'” Björk said. “To work on something for two or three years and then just, ‘Oh, here it is for free.’ It’s not about the money; it’s about respect, you know? Respect for the craft and the amount of work you put into it.”
That’s understandable. You can hear the amount of work she has put into her album; it’s actually incredible. You can read our review here.
As it is with everything else in this world; if want it, you have to be willing to pay for it.
Then again, you can always just listen to it on YouTube.