1997, Music

Homogenic (1997) by Bjork

It’s been a while since I sat down and listened to all the Bjork records I own at once time so you should really take what I say with a grain of salt because, maybe if I had done that recently, I wouldn’t be so damn blown away by this record. But, without having listened to the other records in some time (except for the two preceding this one), I am very, very tempted to acclaim this one as her very best.

Everything that I like Bjork is here: her idiosyncratic blending of trip hop,pop, dance music, singer-songwriter and chamber music and other non-popular music sources, her introspective, personal lyrics, her fearless willingness to do anything she feels like, even if it doesn’t fit into some kind of preexisting mold.

And it’s all done very well. It’s a strong set of songs with fewer sore thumbs than her albums usually have. (I feel like there’s usually at least one or two tracks which, though not necessarily mediocre, will often not fit in with the vibe of the rest of the record. Not so here.)

As someone who often bemoaned the rise of electronic instruments and digital editing when he was younger, Bjork has always been someone who has provided a pathway into that world that was more accessible to me, because she combines I recognize with things that are foreign to me, in a way I can relate to, which is something I can’t say for so much of the popular music made with an emphasis on electronically generated sounds. (My attitude has changed over the years, and continues to change, but it is still an uphill battle.) And so I find this record to be right in my wheelhouse and one that I can’t believe it’s taken me so long to hear, given how much I like Bjork already.

Great stuff. Possibly her best. (Gotta go back and listen to them all again now.)

9/10

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