Björk: Vulnicura

In “History of Touches,” Björk reveals, “Every single fuck, we had together / Is in a wondrous time lapse.” Through lush orchestrations and electric beats, Björk opens up her emotional vulnerabilities in her 2015 Vulnicura. It’s a concept album that must be experienced from start to finish. Breakup was a loss for her, but a gain for us.

Björk: Biophilia

I tried to give my kids a taste of Björk, but they all disliked her. No crime in that. Not everybody can enjoy Björk’s creative genius. I have been immersing myself into the world of Biophilia, Björk’s 2011 release, at late nights and I just wanted to whirl around the mysterious, wondrous “Cosmogony,” in which she explains, “ And they say back then our universe was a cold black egg / Until the god inside burst out and from its shattered shell / He made what became the world we know.” From “Solstice” to “Sacrifice,” the concept album is a satisfying experience. If I have to pick one track from this album, it has to be “Hollow.” It’s a masterwork of orchestration and modernization.

Björk: Volta

Björk’s 2007 Volta kicks off with the militant marching of “Earth Intruders,” a Timbaland production, in which he incorporates African kora into the mix. “Innocence” sounds as if Street Fighter sound effect is weaving into hip-hop big beat. “I See Who You Are” is slow and mesmerizing with a wicked Asian vibe supplied by Min Xiao-Fen’s spellbinding pipa. “Hope” turns up the Latin groove a notch with pumping bass line. “Declare Independence” makes both personal and political statements. The electro-punk beat hits hard; her voice hits harder. Now, more than ever, we need to raise our flag and fight against authoritarianism. Volta is a masterwork of resistance.

Björk: Medúlla

Björk’s 2004 Medúlla is the art of vocalization. On “Where Is the Line,” beat-boxing combined a-cappella-singing provides an irresistible orchestration to back her up. “Who Is It (Carry places to My Joy on the Left, Carry My Pain on the Right)” has a fascinating mix of human voice and electronic beat. She pushes the concept of vocalization further on “Ancestor.” Her voicing starts off so damn seduction, like having sex, but gets growling, like an animal. It is one of the weirdest yet wondrous pieces of music I have ever heard. “Desired Constellation” is a beautiful ballad until you hear her sings, “It’s tricky when you feel someone / has done something on your behalf / It’s slippery when your sense of justice murmurs underneath / And is asking you: How am I going to make it right?”

Björk: Vespertine

Right off the opening track on Björk’s 2001 release, Vespertine, she takes us to her “Hidden Place” that is solace and sanctuary. The beat suggests somewhere out in space and yet fills with romance. “Cocoon” continues with love, “Who would have known / That a boy like him / Would have entered me lightly / Restoring my blisses?” The production is made of crackling sound from a fire pitch. On “Pagan Poetry,” the string intro works so well with the electronic white noise. Yet, the most fascinating part is when she nakedly repeats “I love him” eight times. All the way to the album closer, “Unison,” Vespertine offers a cohesive listening experience. Be patience with this album and you’ll find its quiet beauty. It’s such a romantic album without saturation.

Björk: Homogenic

Björk’s 1997 Homogenic pushes her creativity and eccentricity further out. She has such a damn fine ear for her beats. Once again, the production for her album opener, “Hunter” is eerie yet catchy. The drum pattern on “All Neon Like” is throbbing and pounding. “Alarm Call” is the only explicit track. She claims “I’m no fucking Buddhist / But this is enlightenment.” My personal favorite on here has to be “5 Years.” The production is just fucking bananas. The distorted, scratching record is out of this world. Björk was away ahead of her time. It is such a joy rediscovering her visions and innovations almost three decades later.

Björk: Post

I love Björk’s 1995 release Post. The beat on the album opener “Army of Me” takes me back to the cyberpunk area, especially The Matrix. I just can’t resist the magnetizing club beat on “I Miss You.” Of course, jazz adds another layer of texture to the mix. My personal favorite has to be “It’s Oh So Quiet.” It’s the most idiosyncratic flavor of jazz swing I heard. Her screams are dramatic yet hysterical. This is a Björk album I have been returning to again and again from start to end.

Björk: Debut

I have been spending quite a bit of time with Björk starting with her 1993 Debut. The lead-off “Human Behavior” kicks open the electric door with bouncy rhythm and organic sounds. “Venus as a Boy” is a fascinating combination of electronic rhythm section and string orchestration. My personal favorite is the slow-smoking “Like Someone in Love.” The harp adds a soothing, Eastern vibe to her voice. The album is not coherent as a whole, but definitely worth listening to.

A Tribe Called Quest: People’s Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm

A Tribe Called Quest’s debut is an archetypal of an old school hip-hop album. The beats are banging. The lyrics are witty. The deliveries are engaging. On top of all, no cuss words were needed. The album opens with “Push It Along” and the hook is just addictive. The jazz horn samples are just so savory to the ears. The beat on “Lucky of Lucien” is so damn tuneful and you gotta love the wordplay from Q-Tip, “If you go to jail, then who will pay the bail? / Deport you back to France on a ship with a sail / Escargot, Lucien, you eat snails.” And of course the classic, “Bonita Applebum—you gotta put me on” with rhymes like, “38-24-37 / You and me, hun, we’re a match made in Heaven.” We need to get back to the good old rhymes sans the misogyny.

A Tribe Called Quest: The Low End Theory

For some odd reasons, I never paid much attention to A Tribe Called Quest until recently, particularly its 1991 release, The Low End Theory. “Excursions” kicks off the album with a hypnotic baseline. Q-Tips rhymes virtuosically, “You could find the Abstract listening to hip-hop / My pops used to say, it reminded him of be-bop / I said, well daddy don’t you know that things go in cycles / The way that Bobby Brown is just ampin’ like Michael.” Ali Shaheed Muhammad has an ear for jazz and he brilliantly connects jazz and hip-hop together and his signature sound is more pronounced on the next track “Buggin’ Out.” The baselines hits even harder against hip-hop backbeat. Phife’s straightforward rap contrasts nicely with Q-Tip’s fluid flow. On “Jazz (We’ve Got),” the muted horn sample, reminiscent of the Miles Davis sound, flows over the beat like ghost. Now! That’s a classic jazz-hip-hop album.

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