Bjork: An Alternative to the Usual

Bjork—the name conjures up sounds of strange and bizarre things. Undoubtedly you've heard of the singer (Her striking Icelandic features and odd fashion-sense are hard to miss) but Bjork is really famous for one thing, her music. It's an odd music, not really mainstream, not really alternative; it's simply Bjork music. It's also good music and judging by the early reviews of her new album Vespertine (released today, August 28th) Bjork is continuing her successful run of intriguing weirdness.

Vespertine isn't an Oops...I Did It Again and it isn't a Black & Blue, the lack of a solid drumbeat discourages those comparisons. But us pop fans already have Britney Spears and the Backstreet Boys making mainstream pop alongside an endless supply of similar singers, so if you're looking for something new, check out Bjork, she has an entirely different sound.

Several years ago fans and media began calling musical entertainers 'artists,' and rightfully so, those people were creating songs and albums that deserved the title, and many entertainers today still do. The contradiction is that some entertainers stick to the same style that made them successful in the first place, which is fine, but it's something a true artist never does. The real musical 'artists' are out there, groups like Radiohead and lately even 'N Sync who are pushing the boundaries of their sound, striving towards something they haven't done before.

And so you have Bjork, musical artist. Bjork's music is almost techno, almost pop, almost opera. She's everything from album to album. Bjork is probably best known to teens for her big band-inspired song, It's Oh So Quiet off her 1995 album, Post. A video sure to keep you from switching channels, It's Oh So Quiet was loud, quiet, comical, and sexy. It was literally a four-minute musical. Vespertine isn't like that. Vespertine is very intimate and hush-hush, it's like you're listening in on Bjork as she speaks about her private worries and joy.

Vespertine's songs were written in Bjork's home around the time she filmed her critically acclaimed movie, Dancer in the Dark. Bjork won awards and many fans for her portrayal of a poor-factory girl with big dreams, but she has since vowed to never do another movie again (Rumours of clashes between Bjork and the movie's director are strong). This album is her reclusion from that process. It's songs like Hidden Place, Cocoon, and It's Not Up To You. It's fragile, it's whispering when the rest of the world is shouting, it's zigging when everyone is zagging—you get the idea. Best of all, it is great music to listen to while studying, or reading, or painting, or whatever else you do when the TV's not on.

Bjork is unique in today's pop music. She's skipping a stone across a musical pond the rest of us aren't even sure holds water, but magically in the end it does, and we enjoy the results more because of it.