Continuing in the Icelandic vein...the First Lady of Icelandic pop Bjork. She recorded her first album in 1977 at the age of 12! She played in punk bands through her teens with interesting names like 'Spit and Snot', 'Exodus', Jam-80, and Tappi Tíkarrass (which means "Cork the Bitch’s Ass" in Icelandic). She got together with the soon to be members of The Sugarcubes to form KUKL ('Sorcery' in Icelandic) in 1986, and soon the band changed their name.
The Sugarcubes released their debut album, Life's Too Good, in 1988, to critical acclaim in both the UK and the US. They first came to notice in the UK when radio DJ John Peel played "Birthday". It became an indie hit in Britain, later voted single of the year, and a college radio hit in America. The Sugarcubes released two more albums before an amicable break up in 1992. Here's "Birthday":
Bjork has released seven albums post-Sugarcubes each with a unique and varied sound, or a particular theme. My all-time favorite Bjork tune is from her second album 'Post', an electronic album, released in 1995 and featuring production from Tricky, Howie B, and Graham Massey of 808 State. This is "Hyperballad":
Bjork's latest album 'Biophilia' was released last week. Each track has an iPad app, and Biophilia will be the world's "first app album" in collaboration with Apple. Björk has described the project as a multimedia collection "encompassing music, apps, internet, installations, and live shows". Other instruments used on the album and in Bjork's live performances harness lightning to create sound. Her lead single is 'Crystalline. The song was composed using one of several specialized instruments custom built for the project.
These last videos are by frequent collaborator Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, The Science of Sleep, The Green Hornet).
