Customer Reviews

Ice: The String Quartet Tribute to Bjork

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Ice is a tribute album unlike any other. This is a collection of some of Bjork's most moving and dramatic pieces presented in a innovative and beautiful way that makes you truly appreciate Bjork's unique vision of music.

This a purely an instrument album but the use of strings in place of vocals is so well done you barely notice the difference.

My personal favorites are "Venus as a boy" and "Bacholorette"

If you a fan of Bjork give this CD a listen you may be plesantly surprised.

This album is a string instrumental rendition of some of the best Bjork songs. What's so unique is that the violins actually capture the essence of Bjork's vocals, and recreate them on strings. The product is beautiful, but it doesn't work on a few songs, namely Big Time Sensuality. This is a must for the obsessed Bjork fan, but for one that has just started listening to Bjork, buy the actual albums and wait for this. A fun cd to listen to if you know Bjork well, but ultimately feels weird without her true voice singing to you.

For Bjork fans, this album may be a let down, because what they might ultimately really want to hear is HER, her voice, her presence, etc. I was wary to purchase "Ice: String Tribute to Bjork" for that reason, and also I was fearing utter butchery of nearly perfect music. However, I have actually enjoyed the album and I found its main use: throw it on when that (but don't tell anyone...) secret desire strikes to do some Bjork karaoke... however, even that is sometimes frusterating because the lead violin player doesn't play the melody exactly the way Bjork sings it, and this clashes with my fantastic shower voice. A bittersweet experience.

Anywho, it stands out as a solid instrumental work, Bjork hangups aside. I think it's possible I could have bought it even if I didn't know the music already, because the arrangements are respectable and the players are solid.

"Big Time Sensuality" is the track most unlike a Bjork original because the arrangers put a suedo-bluegrass twist to it, but hey, I think it's fun. The rest of the tracks are close to very close to the originals in a stripped down, barren kind of way. Ice describe it on their jacket as "stripping Bjork's sonic testaments to their bare essence, the symphonic arrangements that are the core of her music ." Ooooh. I just felt a chill.

Recommended to die-hard Bjork fans and fans of modern string music (not the elevator kind).

Being a big Bjork fan , I was very excited about this disc. I am also a classically trainedcomposer, and string quartet is one of my favorite mediums in which to write. When I bought this disc, I was thinking of a fabulous performance of "Hyperballad" by the Brodsky Quartet which appears on Telegram and as a B side to the single "It's oh so quiet." This recording is seriously lacking when compared to the recording of Hyperballad. The prodution on this disc is really rather weird. The artists make use of many 20th century performance techniques in their playing, but the performances were heavily manipulated later on in a computer. I would say if you are looking for something to throw on to keep in the background and not pay too much attention to, this disc is o.k. It is certainly not dinner music, nor is it relaxation music. (What do you expect; it's Bjork?) I would say that this disc belongs in the collection of a hard-core fan, just so you can say you have every recording. I don't know that I will play this disc a whole lot.....

Honestly as far as these String Tributes go (and there's more than 160 of them!), this one is not one of the worst and is actually listenable, much of Bjork's work really does lend itself well to classical interpretation. But if you fell in love with the Brodsky Quartet's version of Hyperballad on Telegram and want more, don't waste your time with this, get the real thing! A bootleg recording of Bjork with the Brodsky Quartet live at Union Chapel has been available for a while, and now 10 of those tracks can be found in the Family Tree Box set. The Brodsky Quartet are gifted musicians who bring a greater insight to the arrangements, taking more liberties while remaining truer to the original intent of the songs. Since it was an actual collaboration with Bjork, rather than a "tribute" you get a more interesting selection of songs as well as Bjork's incomparabale vocals.

Long story short? Skip this, and get the Family Tree Box set or the bootleg of the Union Chapel show (better yet get both!) but don't waste your time with this, even if you're a diehard Bjork fan.

This album is not bad at all. I didnt actually buy it, i listened to it from a friend's house who has almost every bjork cd in her bjork collection, lol. I would personally rather just have works of Bjork herself than on tribute albums, because something about tribute albums are either odd, weird, and very cheap and cheezy. However, this wasnt that bad, some of the songs actually captured the essence of Bjork's songs, which is a plus. The only downside is that many songs just don't work for strings, and it makes me wonder why they chose some of the songs that aren't necessarily appropriate for strings (such as Army of Me, which sounded horrible in the beginning, but okay along the way, You've Been Flirting Again, and Big Time Sensuality). But all in all this is an okay CD, its interesting... but why not have the real thing? I wouldn't really waste my money on this when i could just appreciate the essence of Bjork from Bjork herself.