Bjork - MTV Unplugged

I am completely in awe of Bjork. Words are not enough, and I fear I gush too much when I talk about personal idols. The respect I have for her talent, her musical sensibilities, and her voice borders on that perilous edge of unhealthy obsession that has sent men sturdier than myself to madness. (Sorry about that last line, I think I have been reading too much Lovecraft lately.)

I have been lucky enough to listen to Bjork’s discography in the order in which she released her albums. Except for her earliest stuff, the rare Gling Glo single that I got only through the Greatest Hits box set, and the collaborations with Graham Massey and 808 State. I generally like to keep abreast of whatever new Bjork-related material is released – I am the kind of guy who remembers her discography on Wikipedia by heart. Which is why I was extremely surprised to find a link to a download of her MTV Unplugged concert. I never even knew Bjork had appeared on MTV unplugged.

From the tracklist, it’s quite apparent that this session was just after her first international album ‘Debut’; all the unplugged songs are from that album. There were also some live renditions of songs from ‘Post’ included in the package, which were obviously not from the same set. In order, the tracks are: Human Behaviour, One Day, Come To Me, Big Time Sensuality, Aeroplane, Someone In Love, Crying, The Anchor Song, Violently Happy, Army of Me, I Miss You, and Hyper Ballad. Spent quite sometime last night listening to the album, and boy oh boy, I am still gasping for breath.

You see, Bjork is known for doing crazy things with her songs. Recently, there was this Army of Me remix album she released; the album features cover versions of her song (duh!) ‘Army of Me’ by various artists. And these cover versions push the limits, really. From a growling death-metal rendition to chilled-out acoustic covers, various bands reinvent the song their own way. And of course, they miss out on the most vital ingredient, Bjork’s own voice.

MTV Unplugged is like Bjork’s own reinventions of her songs from Debut, with sparseand very eclectic instrumental accompaniment. For instance, the first song ‘Human Behaviour’, with one of the catchiest bass-lines ever has the same riff played on a harpsichord. The moment when it segues from its baroque intro to the familiar loop of the original  - you have to hear it to believe it. ‘Big Time Sensuality’, one of my favourite Bjork songs – and one of which I have heard versions ranging from fast dance to bubblegum pop – becomes a song backed only by the organ and tabla. Yes, the tabla, played by I don’t know who, but I am hoping it’s Talvin Singh, who collaborated with her on ‘Debut’. The song becomes slower, the tabla is given enough breathing space, and at a point of time it becomes a duel between Bjork and the percussionist, her voice alternating between growls, shrieks and whispers.

‘The Aeroplane Song’ is completely backed by the horn section, a tuba, a trumpet, and a saxophone, the tabla kicking in after a while. Reminded me initially of the sax quartet from the Cowboy Bebop OST. This, and ‘One Day’ is the probably the only song in my life I’ll hear a xylophone-tabla duet in.  Or was that tubular bells on ‘One Day’? ‘Violently Happy’; uber-violent in its original avatar, is de-percussionised to a great degree. Probably the only song that resembles the original version is ‘Someone in Love’, beautifully sung with a harp providing the counterpoint to her voice.

The remaining live songs are not much different from the album versions, but damn, it’s always exciting to hear the original beat-laden version of ‘Army of Me’.

All in all, what an album!