Collection 4 THE NORTH

Björk
Our favourite Icelandic icon
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Her extroverted character and unique vocals have been leading audiences to either love her or hate her for decades,
but either way, you can’t deny her originality for one second. Trying to sum her up in a paragraph is impossible.
She flits around the genres like a musical butterfly, from experimental electronica, rock, trip-hop and jazz to alternative
dance, industrial and rave… and from musician to songwriter and producer she moved into film with her memorable
performance in Lars Von Trier’s “Dancer in the Dark” (2000) and has made it onto every magazine’s fashion
pages with her outlandish style and designs. Her unconventional approach to the music industry and her anarchistic
affinity with nature has kept her firmly in the public eye but it’s her music that deserves the real press coverage.
Playful, intelligent, innovative compositions. True works of art. In 2011 her latest project “Biophilia” (One Little Indian)
was released which aimed to combine music with technological innovation, science and nature, and an „app
album“ was also released which made it highly interactive. With every new release she challenges us, and remains
a current and relevant artist. Reported to be working on a book release and playing intense live shows in Paris in
February of this year she shows no signs of slowing down, wherever will she take us to next!?
Sigur Rós
The music that dreams are made of…
Whenever I listen to this band I’m totally overcome with a wash of complete awe. It’s surely some of the most beautiful
music created in modern times. It sparkles through your mind, delicate and fragile, but builds up into moments that
fill your soul and leave goose bumps rippling across your skin… frontman Jónsi Birgisson’s vocals ride high over the
uplifting waves of noise in his native Icelandic tongue and if you close your eyes, you feel like you’re no longer listening
to music from this world. Last year they released their sixth album, “Valtari” (2012) and experimented with various films
to attach to their sound that you absolutely have to search for. They are currently on a world tour with an all new live
show which includes an 11-piece band and claim to be taking their sound in a whole new direction with yet more
new material due out this year, every concert ticket comes with a 3-track E.P of previously unreleased tracks, if you can
get hold of one that is…
Editor’s Pick
It’s got to be her 1995
album “Post”: that dark
heavy energy of “Army
of Me” and the visceral
driving “Hyperballad”
which both have classic
music videos from her
long time friend and collaborator
Michel Gondry
plus her all time hit, Betty
Hutton cover, “Oh It’s Oh
So Quiet” with the Spike
Jonze-directed music video
clip.
www.bjork.com
Editor’s Pick
The bands fourth album
“Takk…” (2005) features
their better known
tracks “Sæglópur” and
“Hoppípolla”, and you
can hear why, but for
me their latest offering
“Valtari” (2012) is my
favourite album of all,
especially the track
Varúð (Caution, in English),
and the films that
accompany the album,
to be released on their
own exclusive DVD collection
this year.
www.sigur-ros.co.uk