061: Björk - Homogenic (1997)

December 01, 2020 / Amanda Rodgers

“There's a lot of pop music that is escapism, trying to paint this imaginary, beautiful paradise, this place you never go to. … It's very important that pop music take reality and make magic out of it.”

—Björk

On her junior album Homogenic, Björk (pronounced “Bjerk”) dumped the playful genre-bending of her earlier albums for a consistent palette of strings and volcano-like, almost proto-dubstep beats, and the result is almost universally considered the pièce de résistance of her career. But even more than that, the album is a mature, unique expression of Björk’s inner life, at a time when the press often treated her as more a quirky headline in a swan dress and less a human being. Well, Discord & Rhyme will have none of that! Returning guest Shivam Bhatt has a limitless ability to gush over Björk, and he joins Rich, John, and Mike for an episode best described as “groveling at the feet of a deity.” There are so many things we love about Björk, from her truly outside the box lyricism to her absolutely otherworldly voice, and we hope this episode conveys the unpredictable joy of getting to know her music.

Miscellany

Shivam previously joined us for our episodes on Takashi Tateishi’s Mega Man 2 soundtrack and Dream Theater’s Metropolis Part 2: Scenes from a Memory. You can also hear him on the Magic: the Gathering podcast Commanderin’ and follow him on Twitter @elektrotal.
We talked a bit about the Sugarcubes and “Birthday” (and learned how to pronounce their names) earlier this year during our compilation series on MTV’s Never Mind the Mainstream.
This 2002 archive of interview transcripts on the personal website 14142.net was indispensable to the research for this episode. Without devoted hobbyists, this podcast could not exist.
Homogenic has an entry in the 33⅓ series, written by Emily Mackay and published in 2017.
There’s a studio video of “5 Years” on YouTube where you can see Björk’s performance style (eyes closed), as a bit of commentary from Mark Bell, and the Icelandic Sting Octet in action.
“Cooling the Lava” is available as part of John McPhee’s The Control of Nature, a collection of essays about humanity’s futile attempts to control natural processes like landslides and the Mississippi River. It’s a page-turner, if you have the exact same reading tastes as Rich.
There is technically one female Robot Master, Splash Woman from Mega Man 9, but her level is water-themed, not ice-themed. Her theme music is a banger, though.

Discord & Rhyme Roll Call

Rich Bunnell (host)
Mike DeFabio (moderator)
John McFerrin
Shivam Bhatt (special guest)

Homogenic tracklist

Hunter
Jóga
Unravel
Bachelorette
All Neon Like
5 Years
Immature
Alarm Call
Pluto
All Is Full of Love

Other clips used

Björk:

It's Oh So Quiet
Pagan Poetry
Human Behaviour
Bukolla
Hrollur (Tappi Tíkarrays)
Birthday (The Sugarcubes)
Hit (The Sugarcubes)
Big Time Sensuality
It's Oh So Quiet
Isobel
Alarm Call (Radio Mix)
All Is Full of Love (Video Version)
Venus as a Boy
Quicksand
Hyperballad
Hidden Place
Army of Me
The Space Ghost Song

Others:

Yasuaki Fujita & Harumi Fujita - Mega Man 3 Title
Yasuaki Fujita & Harumi Fujita - Mega Man 3 Stage Select
Manami Matsumae - Ice Man Theme
Yasuaki Fujita & Harumi Fujita - Gemini Man Theme
Shusaku Uchiyama - Absolute Chill (Chill Man Theme)
Yuko Takehara - Blizzard Man Theme
Yasuaki Fujita & Harumi Fujita - Mega Man 3 Game Start
David Bowie - Little Wonder
Genesis - Dance on a Volcano
Radiohead - Unravel
Peter Gabriel - Signal to Noise
Les Baxter - Simba
Azusa Hara & Hiroaki Yoshida - Clear
The Stone Roses - Waterfall
Pandit Uday Bhawalkar - Dhrupad Raag Bhimpalasi
David Bowie - Hallo Spaceboy
Ludwig Van Beethoven - Symphony No. 6: V. Hirtengesang
AURORA - Running with the Wolves

Band/album personnel

Björk – keyboards, vocals, arrangements, programming, production
Mark Bell – keyboards, programming, production, drum programming, crew
Mike Brittain – bass
Jeffrey Bryant – horn
Paul Gardhaim – bass
Isobel Griffiths – orchestra contractor
Steve Henderson – timbales, tympani
Yasuhiro Kobayashi – accordion
Chris Laurence – bass
Alasdair Malloy – glass harmonica
Trevor Morais – drums, electronic drums
Paul Pritchard – bass
Frank Ricotti – snare drums
Guy Sigsworth – clavichord, keyboards, pipe organ
Mike Thompson – horn
Helen Tunstall – harp
Vaughan Armon, Sigurbjorn Bernhardsson, Mark Berrow, Ben Cruft, Sigrun Edvaldsdottir, Roger Garland, Wilfred Gibson, Perry Mason, Jim McLeod, Perry Montague-Mason, Peter Oxer, Maciej Rakowski, Una Sveinbjarnardottir, Sif Tulinius, Gavyn Wright – violins
Roger Chase, Hrund Hardardottir, Bill Hawkes, Peter Lale, George Robertson, Moeidur Anna Sigurdardottir – violas
Sigurdur Bjarki Gunnarsson, Paul Kegg, Helen Liebmann, Martin Loveday, Jon R. Ornolfsson, John Tunnell – cellos
Howie B – programming, production, mixing
Danny Joe Brown Band – programming, mixing assistance
Richard Brown – programming
Kirsten Cowie – mixing assistance, assistance
Eumir Deodato – arrangements, orchestration, transcription
Marius de Vries – programming
Markus Dravs – programming, production, engineering, drum programming, crew
Jason Groucott – mixing assistance, assistance
James Loughrey – mixing assistance, assistance
Sie Medway-Smith – mixing assistance, assistance
Rob Murphy – mixing assistance, assistance
Nilesh Patel – mastering
Russel Polden – mixing assistance, assistance
Steve Price – engineering
Guy Sigsworth – production
Tony Stanton – copying
Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing, crew
Rebecca Storey – mixing assistance, assistance
Paul Walton – mixing assistance
Jason Westbrook – mixing assistance, assistance
Alexander McQueen – art direction
Nick Knight – photography
Katy England – styling

Credits

“Discord & Rhyme (theme),” composed by the Other Leading Brand, contains elements of:

Duran Duran - Hungry Like the Wolf
Amon Düül II - Dehypnotized Toothpaste
The Dukes of Stratosphear - What in the World?? ...
Faith No More - Midlife Crisis
Herbie Hancock - Hornets
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Talking Heads - Seen and Not Seen
Björk - Hunter (this episode only)

You can buy or stream Homogenic and other albums by Björk at shop.bjork.com, your local record store, or the usual suspects such as Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, and Amazon. Follow Discord & Rhyme on Twitter @DiscordPod for news, updates, and other random stuff. Editing is by Rich Bunnell, and special thanks to our own Mike DeFabio, the Other Leading Brand, for production and original music. See you next album, and be ever wonderful.

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