«In disproof of the accepted wisdom that every gay college boy in the late 90s was fully under Björks spell, I once found myself engaged in an argument with the one who wasnt. A die-hard choir geek with a classically trained, unwavering tenor voice, my nemesis reacted to her Oscar-night performance of Dancer in the Darks Ive Seen It All with the dictum, You cant sing like that! While at the time I assumed he was arguing against any form of vocalization that wasnt delivered in full, round, blemish-free tones as aesthetically inferior, that creating emotional landscapes to him took a back seat to polishing all edges, the years have altered my take on the exchange to the point where Im willing to concede that he likely meant that Björks shrieks, wails, and epiglottal swoops would eventually take their toll, and eventually shed be left with nothing more than a throaty honk to go along with that swan dress. Now well into her third decade of performing, time has at least partially proven choir boy right. Björks instrument is an elaborate congregation of nodules and quavers, a nest of fragility where there once stood a fortress of dynamism. (...) (...) Featuring an Icelandic girl choir, one percussionist and a knob twiddler, the show (filmed at Londons Alexandra Palace) dwells within Biophilia for so long that the crowds relief at the opening chords of Hidden Place isnt just palpable. Its downright desperate. It takes a long while to peel back to that aforementioned level of vulnerability, and even then, its ultimately retracted when she closes the main program by urging her audience to dance and sing along to...nope, not Hyperballad or Violently Happy, but the 5/4 alt-fusion jam Náttúra and Declare Independence, Björks national anthem of atonal thrash. One day, it will happen. One day, it will all make sense, she croons during a gorgeous duet with a set of inverted steel drums. Maybe, maybe not. You could be a skeptic like that humorless tenor, or you could just continue submitting to the woman wearing a Bozo-Einstein wig and an Iris Van Herpen dress that looks like it was made out of squid breasts. And I think you know which choice will make you a happier person.» - slantmagazine/film/review/bjork-biophilia-live
Posted on: Tue, 21 Oct 2014 09:01:47 +0000
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