Biophilia

Björk | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 11, 2011)
• Original Release Date: 2011
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Nonesuch
• ASIN: B005ELQVGW
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (82 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,968 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

"What I always wanted to do was to reconnect musicology with nature," Icelandic composer and performer Björk recently told the New York Times. "I always wanted to make bass lines behave like gravity."

Biophilia is the Icelandic singer and composer's most ambitious undertaking in a 20-year career distinguished by continuous innovation and artistic evolution. The album title refers to a love of all living things, and in every aspect of this game-changing multi-media effort, Björk brilliantly connects nature, music, and technology.

In addition to the music itself, this project will offer interactive iPad apps, designed by the industry's most creative minds, that feature games, music, and editorial content-allowing listeners to explore more deeply the concepts and sounds of each of Biophilia's 13 songs.

The artistic and technological reach of Biophilia is nothing short of visionary. As New York Times critic Jon Pareles has put it, "Biophilia is a possible paradigm for the 21st-century album, one that welcomes the interactivity of the Internet and harnesses the power and flexibility of devices that incorporate video, audio and user control far beyond the play button." Media artist and chief Biophilia apps designer Scott Snibbe, enthuses, "To me, it feels like the birth of opera or the birth of cinema."

At the core of this groundbreaking project, of course, are Björk's sonically brilliant and emotionally stirring new songs, akin to the magical, otherworldly, atavistic hymns of her acclaimed 2001 disc, Vespertine. On Vespertine, Björk rhapsodized about a new romance; here, she attempts nothing less than to retell the story of the creation of the universe in her own compellingly idiosyncratic voice.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

59 of 63 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Intersection October 25, 2011

By Douglas King VINE™ VOICE

Format:Audio CD

When Bjork released her first adult solo album, "Debut", in 1993, Bjork's ecstatic voice and unique songwriting offered a refreshing take on dance-pop music. Since then, Bjork has released seven more albums, most of which towed a fine line between highly creative pop music and experimental, even otherworldly songs.

Bjork's new album, "Biophilia" is her most ambitious, intuitive, and non-commercial album to date. (And considering Bjork's catalog, that's really saying a lot.) If you are looking for catchy, easily digestible pop music, than this is not the album for you. Even for a hardcore Bjork fan like me, it took a few complete listens to start to wrap my head around this album. At first listen, it seemed amelodic, difficult, and inaccessible. But once I gave in to it, the songs began to slowly reveal themselves to me. And I found myself in a strange, beautiful, and yet somehow familiar world.

"Biophilia" is an intersection. Thematically, the entire album is about science. With "Vespertine" (my all-time favorite Bjork album), Bjork explored the human condition through music about intimate human relationships. With "Biophilia", Bjork explores the human condition through the context of our place in the natural world. "Biophilia" exists at the intersection between science and music, between human beings and our environment, between classical music and modern electronica, between emotion and instinct.

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars DR9 Meets The Universe November 1, 2011

By jameswho

Format:Audio CD

At last Björk has mananged to make something lasting. This is her "Night of Hunters"; in many ways, it harks back to "Homogenic" (her masterpiece), but it also forges new ground. The brass of "Volta" makes an appearance, but it also has some of the more pensive and... well, different elements of "Drawing Restraint 9". Yes, some of the same things appear in "Volta", but they just managed to make the album feel uneven, like it didn't quite know what it wanted to be. On here, everything works towards the common goal.

"Moon" is probably one of the most wonderfully realised songs she's written in a long time, and a perfect introduction to the feeling of the album. And then you listen on and WHAM: "Virus", "Sacrifice", and "Mutual Core". These three are perhaps among the best songs she's ever written: "Virus" is outstandingly beautiful, "Sacrifice" starts off unassuming and then hits you, and "Mutual Core" just blows you away.

We seem to forget how few albums Björk has actually made; "Volta" was a fun album, with a dark edge, and yes it was uneven, but it was right after "Medulla", which probably her most interesting album, if also slightly uneven.

And then she produced this. "Biophilia" is her most modern and accomplished work. She's back, not that she ever really went away. Brilliant.

18 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Bjork at her best October 15, 2011

By J. D.

Format:Audio CD

I really cannot understand why this Cd has been reviewed so highly by critics and so poorly by customers. Well, I have to agree with the critics: This is a great album, some of Bjork's best, and one of the only modern music that is worthy of some attention. All tracks are masterpieces. Moon is minimalistic, but is all about Bjork's voice. The other stand-outs are, in my opinion: Cosmogony, Mutual Core and Sacrifice. All great. I hope the rating gets higher with time. Admittedly, as it often happens with Bjork, this album needs time to grow, but when it does, it becomes wonderful.