For audio reviewers and hi-fi technicians, Björk is one thing of a Godsend. Forging her personal slightly extraordinary sonic path that defies categorisation and generally even comprehension, the Icelandic powerhouse has melded genres as eclectic and far-ranging as experimental pop, industrial rock and post-classical, all whereas retaining her personal signature voice and soul on the coronary heart of virtually every little thing she composes. Numerous imitators have come and gone, however there’s solely ever been one Björk.
It gained’t shock you to seek out out, then, that Ms. Gudmundsdóttir is extraordinarily widespread throughout the partitions of our listening rooms. Not solely does Björk possess a inventive properly of near-infinite depth and selection, however she’s additionally an artist with a eager ear for manufacturing and an actual knack for association.
Pinning down the ten objectively finest Björk tracks is each not possible and redundant. What we’ve performed as an alternative is to whittle down quite a few compositions we predict will give your headphones or speaker system a extremely nice exercise. That is a a lot better use of everybody’s time, in any case.
Take heed to the total Tidal playlist right here
Bachelorette (Homogenic, 1997)
Just like the relentless ebbs and flows of a stressed ocean, the second monitor from 1997’s Homogenic is a moody, unstable meditation on the tumultuous nature of affection and attraction, damning the complete idea whereas concurrently seeing its protagonist give up to its irresistible lure. Bachelorette crashes into life with startling authority and energy after which slips beneath the waves for a quiet repose, earlier than thundering into life as soon as extra because the monitor’s irrepressible percussive twangs trigger real goosebumps (offered you will have the correct tools, that’s).
Like a tightrope walker, your system must convey the fragile balancing act that lies on the coronary heart of what’s arguably the artist’s best work, organising and revealing the complexity of the musical association whereas bringing to life the evocative vulnerability and strained ardour of lyrics comparable to “I’m a tree that grows hearts, one for every that you just take, you’re the intruder’s hand, I’m the department that you just break”. Beautiful stuff worthy of the best hi-fi you may get your fingers on.
Military Of Me (Submit, 1995)
Whereas later efforts would see Iceland’s favorite daughter push the sonic boundaries into extra sweeping orchestral numbers, 1995’s Military of Me was very a lot a mirrored image of the last decade’s proclivity for hard-edged various bangers tinged with a no-nonsense, formidable sonic presence. Rock was nonetheless very a lot alive and kicking.
An industrial piledriver of a monitor which instructions you to “rise up” as a result of “you have to handle”, Björk’s name to motion ought to hit listeners like a sledgehammer to the skull because the now-iconic chorus of “in the event you complain as soon as extra, you’ll meet a military of me” screeches above that thudding, head-jamming drum beat. The percussion must be clamorous, forceful and indomitable, but it surely’s Björk’s pressing, unapologetic vocals that ought to at all times be taking centre stage.
I’ve Seen It All ft. Thom Yorke (Selmasongs, 2000)
Björk and Thom Yorke collectively in a single monitor have to be most audio technicians’ final fantasy. Fortunately, the collaboration lives as much as the hype because the experimental, often misanthropic pair, as an alternative of cancelling one another out, present a monitor that sees two masters in dialogue with one another concerning the perceived worth of their very own private experiences.
Other than rising string passages and a few slightly glistening orchestral accompaniment, the actual pleasure is just listening to two very opposing vocal types coexist inside a single harmonious creation. In case your system has the organisational chops, Yorke’s slightly mumbled, muted fashion ought to anchor itself beneath the energetic, generally erratic nature of Björk’s personal distinctive heart-pouring.
Yoga (Homogenic, 1997)
If we will be completely sincere for a second, this was the monitor which served because the inspiration for curating this listing within the first place. Through the testing of a five-star pair of floorstanders, the audio system’ luxurious rendition of what’s arguably the best orchestral piece Björk has ever produced sparked a collective lightbulb throughout the halls of What Hello-Fi?.
And what a monitor it’s, opened by wealthy, enthralling strings earlier than the singer’s unmistakably confessional Nordic intonation actually takes maintain. Jóga is a handful for even probably the most refined system and fashions due to its many converging components and textures, all of which require not solely their very own respective areas however a system which might carry the personalities and timbres of every particular person side with out muddling and undesirable fascinating.
Piece of cake.
Hyberballad (Submit, 1995)
It might solely be the second monitor from Björk’s sophomore 1995 launch Submit, however Hyperballad actually does really feel just like the fruits of a lot which got here earlier than it. In some ways, it even feels predictive of a lot of the fabric that might observe. In sum, Hyperballad represents every little thing for which Björk has change into recognized and beloved in a single document.
It might take a whole article of its personal to element the deserves of Hyperballad and the myriad components which make it an ideal take a look at in your system. Suffice to say, you’ll wish to be looking out for the element and staccato of the static-esque lower-range manufacturing, the depth and timbre of the aching strings, the dynamic peaks and troughs because the musical panorama waxes and wanes and, after all, the hovering feelings of the vocal supply above all else.
You would possibly want greater than a single pay attention for this one.
It’s Oh So Quiet (Submit, 1995)
Eager on testing your headphones’ dynamic vary? One monitor springs to thoughts…
It’s Oh So Quiet is a weird trampoline act of a document, springing backwards and forwards between hushed, muted and barely intimate passages through which Björk appears to be whispering instantly into your ears, earlier than the all chaos is let free and the music crashes right into a cacophony of sound and life which, in the event you’re not cautious, could cause the pinnacle to throb and the guts to bounce towards the ribcage in shock.
These, slightly counterintuitively, are precisely the bodily reactions you’ll need It’s Oh So Quiet to elicit when performed by way of a pair of headphones or audio system able to doing it justice. Much less succesful gear tends to make musically expressive performances really feel like boring, barely flattened sonic landscapes. Right here, you need these peaks and troughs to be as drastic as Mount Everest plonked subsequent to the Mariana Trench.
Unravel (Homogenic, 1997)
In distinction to a lot of the complicated, highfalutin preparations which so keenly characterise Homogenic as an album, Unravel is a far easier, way more intimate affair which rises and falls relying on a speaker or headphones’ capability to burrow into Björk’s head and coronary heart and reveal the feelings held inside.
Sparse instrumentation, together with hesitant strings and a muted organ, supplies accompanying assist, however it’s Björk’s lyrics and vocal supply which have to be conveyed with probably the most intimate emotional and dynamic understanding to ensure that the craving and emotional instability of Unravel to essentially shine by way of. The sibilance of the whispering “s” sounds, the occasional warble and vocal crack, even the slight inhalations of breath; all have to be communicated to the listener with out uniformity or emotional remoteness.
Stonemilker (Vulticura, 2015)
The gradual, grave baroque ballad Stonemilker sees its protagonist at her emotional rawest, one thing which ought to come as little shock contemplating the monitor’s wider context. Launched because the heart-breaking apex to 2015’s Vulturethe album which adopted Björk’s difficult breakup with American artist Matthew Barney, it is a splash of pained colors solid upon a decidedly barren musical canvas. The outcomes, as you’d think about, are deeply affecting.
Apart from the total strings, remorseful lyrics and that unmistakable vocal supply, it is the house that basically issues on the subject of arguably Björk’s most soul-crushing launch to this point. The accompanying music video (a type of 360-degree digital actuality expertise) sees our heroine standing alone on a flinty seaside because the solar descends, a setting which appears apposite contemplating how the tune itself is designed to be heard. Identical to the volatility of the waves, the stillness of the sky and the countless unfold of the sands, every musical factor inside Stonemilker ought to discover its personal house when performed by way of a reliable, technically adept sound system.
Pagan Poetry (Verspertine, 2001)
2001’s Within the night continued to replicate its composer’s gradual ascent up the avant-garde mountain, incorporating extra digital and digital sounds whereas pushing the boundaries of Björk’s nascent progressive tendencies. It is not essentially the artist’s most well-known document, but it surely would possibly properly be her most acclaimed and boundary-pushing launch ever.
Pagan Poetry, the album’s fifth monitor and second single, is an unquestionable spotlight. The tune’s sonic panorama is an enchanted forest of glistening, metallic percussive textures underpinned by heavy, assertive drum kicks and the occasional shimmering trace of a harp. The impact must be ethereal and enchanting, however watch out for lesser tools which is able to flip these nebulous, often formless sounds and textures right into a muddled, soupy mess.
Human Behaviour (Debut, 1993)
The snappy, strict drumbeat of Human Behaviour is simply the primary hurdle in what is definitely a speaker system’s equal of a navy impediment course. Sure, conveying that rhythm with spark and drive is vital to anchoring the complete composition whereas retaining it shifting in the correct course, but it surely isn’t the trickiest side that must be nailed completely to ensure that Human Behaviour to essentially be performed justice.
Once more, it’s revealing the vocal gymnastics of Björk’s ever-shifting, multi-layered vocal supply that your tools ought to actually enjoy revealing. Virtually line-by-line, generally even phrase by phrase, the Icelandic chanteuse’s supply switches and flits, bouncing between staccato assertions (“undoubtedly, undoubtedly, undoubtedly”) to voice-cracking highs (‘then hastily flip joyful” earlier than melding right into a type of Cockney spoken phrase handle (“Oh, to become involved within the trade”). An ideal vocal take a look at for any headphones or set of audio system.
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