Post by Lauren Curtis on Dec 17, 2006 4:57:15 GMT -5
Björk's musical career began when she was eleven, studying classical piano in elementary school. One of her instructors sent a recording of Björk singing Tina Charles' song "I Love to Love" to RÚV, then the only radio station in Iceland. The recording was broadcasted on radio nationally; after hearing it, a representative of the record label Fálkinn contacted Björk with a record contract offer. She recorded her eponymous debut in 1977, at the age of 11, with the help of her stepfather, who played guitar. This album featured several Icelandic children's songs and covers of popular songs such as the Beatles' "The Fool on the Hill", sung in Icelandic. The album went platinum in Iceland, and is now a highly sought-after collectors item.
Punk rock started influencing Björk in her teens; at fourteen, she formed the all-girl punk band Spit and Snot, shortly followed by a jazz fusion group called Exodus in 1979. In 1980 she graduated from music school, at fifteen, and in 1981, she and bassist Jakob Magnússon formed another band called Jam-80, which became Tappi Tíkarrass (which means "Cork the Bitch's Ass" in Icelandic), and released an extended single, "Bítið Fast í Vítið" in the same year. Their album Miranda was released in 1983.
Björk next collaborated with Einar Örn Benediktsson and Einar Melax from Purrkur Pillnikk, and Guðlaugur Óttarsson, Sigtryggur Baldursson and Birgir Mogensen from Þeyr. After writing songs and rehearsing for two weeks, they (under the name KUKL which means "sorcery" in Icelandic) found they worked well together, and decided to continue, developing a sound that some have described as resembling Gothic rock. Björk began to show indications of what would become her trademark singing style, punctuated with howls and shrieks.
KUKL toured Iceland with anarchist UK punk band Crass, and later visited the UK in a series of performances with Flux of Pink Indians. The band produced two albums as a result of these collaborations: The Eye in 1984, and Holidays in Europe in 1986, both on Crass Records.
The band was eventually dissolved, in part due to the closure of Gramm, their label. In the summer of 1986, several members of KUKL and the surrealist group Medusa got together to create the arts collective Smekkleysa (Bad Taste). They created a musical division, a band called Pukl but soon changed the name to The Sugarcubes. Smekkleysa and the Sugarcubes were officially started on the same day as the birth of Björk's son Sindri.
[edit] Mainstream success
[edit] The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes' first single, "Ammæli" (or "Birthday" in English), became a surprise hit in the UK after Melody Maker declared it single of the week. The Sugarcubes were immediately signed up by One Little Indian, the new bedroom label set up by the former Bass Player of Flux of Pink Indians, Derek Birkett. They gained a significant cult following in the US and UK, and calls from larger record companies began coming in. They rejected all these offers, choosing complete creative control over vast sums of money and sticking with their friend Derek Birkett. Even today, Björk remains on One Little Indian. The Sugarcubes also signed a distribution deal with Elektra Records in the United States, and recorded their first album, Life's Too Good, in 1988. The album propelled them into international stardom — the first Icelandic rock band to achieve such popularity. While with the Sugarcubes, Björk participated in a number of side projects. She recorded Gling-Gló, a collection of popular jazz and original work, with the jazz group Trio Guðmundar Ingólfssonar (an octogenarian jazz group), released in Iceland. Björk also contributed vocals to 808 State's album Ex:el, a collaboration which cultivated her interest in house music. The song "Ooops" was released as a single in the UK and was later included on 808 State's best of, "808:88:98".
[edit] Solo career / Debut
Album cover of Debut (1993).By 1992 The Sugarcubes dissolved as different members of the band had realised they all had different ambitions; Instead of risking their friendship, the band went on an indefinite hiatus. They remain friends to this day and are all still involved in the management of Smekkleysa/Bad Taste. Björk moved to London and began thinking about a solo career; to this end, she began working with producer Nellee Hooper, who had produced for Massive Attack, among others. Their partnership produced Björk's first international solo hit, "Human Behaviour". Her solo debut album, Debut, was released in June of 1993 to positive reviews; it was named album of the year by NME, and eventually went platinum in the United States. At the 1994 Brit Awards Björk won the awards for Best International Female and Best International newcomer. [1] Debut was a mix of songs Björk had written since she was a teenager as well as newer lyrical collaborations with Hooper.
The success of Debut enabled her to collaborate with other artists on one-off tracks. She worked with David Arnold on "Play Dead", the theme to the 1993 film The Young Americans (which appeared as a bonus track on a re-release of Debut), collaborated on two songs for Tricky's Nearly God project, appeared on a track on the 1997 album Not For Threes by Plaid, which was released on the cult Warp Records label, and wrote the song "Bedtime Story" for Madonna's 1994 album Bedtime Stories.
[edit] Post
Album cover of Post (1995).Björk returned to the studio during 1994 to work on her next solo album with Nellee Hooper, Tricky, Graham Massey of 808 State, and electronic music producer Howie B. The album, Post, contained songs based on Björk's relationships and songs about love (one of her favorite subjects), as well as some angry and confrontational material. Like "Debut," it was a collection partly made up of songs she had written in past years.
She wrote the song "Bedtime Story" for Madonna's 1994 album Bedtime Stories (parts of which Björk reused in her own song "Sweet Intuition", released as a b-side on the 'Army Of Me' single) and performed on MTV Unplugged during this time. By 1995, the new album Post was ready; it was released in June, reaching number two on the UK's album charts, and also went platinum in the United States. The album was boosted further by the success of the single It's Oh So Quiet, a surprise Christmas hit which sold 400 000 copies in the United Kingdom and spent 15 weeks on the chart. [2] January of 1997 saw the release of Telegram, an album of uncharacteristic previously-released remixes of songs from Post and a non-LP song "My Spine".
[edit] Homogenic
Album cover of Homogenic (1997).Later that year, the chaotic, electronic album Homogenic was released and marked a dramatic shift from her earlier "pixie" image cultivated on the Debut and Post albums. Björk worked with producers Mark Bell of LFO and Howie B on the album, as well as Eumir Deodato; numerous remixes followed. Homogenic was her first conceptually self-contained album and is regarded as one of Björk's most experimental and extroverted works to date, with enormous beats that reflect the landscape of Iceland, most notably in the song "Jóga", which fuses lush strings with rocky electronic crunches. The emotionally-charged album contains a string of memorable music videos, several of which received airplay on American MTV, especially the epic "Bachelorette" directed by frequent collaborator Michel Gondry and "All is Full of Love", which was directed by Chris Cunningham and became an alt-rock hit in 1999. The album eventually reached gold status in the States in 2001 and platinum in 2006. In 2000 Björk played the role of Selma, a blind factory worker in Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, and subsequently recorded the soundtrack, simply named "Selmasongs".
[edit] Vespertine
Album cover of Vespertine (2002).In 2001 the album Vespertine was released. This album saw Björk creating an introverted, internal, personal world of microbeats and tiny rhythms. The album featured chamber orchestras, choirs, very hushed vocals and personal, vulnerable themes. She collaborated with experimental sound manipulators Matmos, a DJ from Denmark Thomas Knak, and the experimental harpist Zeena Parkins for the album. Lyrical sources included the American poet E. E. Cummings and the American independent filmmaker Harmony Korine. To coincide with the album's release, Björk released a coffee table book of loose prose and photographs titled "Björk". [3] Björk embarked on a tour of theatres and opera-houses in Europe and North America in support of the album, accompanied by the musicians Matmos, Zeena Parkins and an Inuit Choir, whom she had held auditions for on a trip to Greenland prior to the tour. [4] At the time Vespertine was Björk's quickest selling album ever, having sold 2 million copies by the end of 2001. [2]
Vespertine spawned three singles: "Hidden Place," "Pagan Poetry," and "Cocoon." America's then-more independent and artistic music video channel, MTV2, played the album's first video, "Hidden Place," pretty heavily, which was subsequently released as a DVD single. However, the next video, for "Pagan Poetry," brought Björk to an even higher level of controversy with the channel. The song's video features graphic piercings and Björk's exposed nipples, as well as distorted images of sexual acts, which included vaginal penetration and fellatio. As a result, the clip was initially rarely shown by MTV, and certain parts (for example, Björk's breasts) were censored out during the rare occasions when it was played. In 2002, the clip finally enjoyed unedited American airing as part of a late night special on MTV2 entitled Most Controversial Music Videos. The video for "Cocoon" also featured a seemingly naked Björk, (actually wearing a close fitting bodysuit) this time with her nipples secreting a red thread that eventually enveloped the singer herself in a cocoon. The video was directed by Japanese artist Eiko Ishioka, and was not aired by MTV.
[edit] Family Tree / Greatest Hits / Live Box
Album cover of Family Tree (2002).2002 saw the appearance of the CD box set Family Tree containing a "these-are-my-roots" retrospective of Björk's career, comprising many previously unreleased versions of her compositions, including some very quiet work with the Brodsky Quartet. Also released alongside Family Tree was the album Greatest Hits, a retrospective of the previous ten years of her solo career as deemed by the public: the songs on the album were chosen by Björk's fans through a poll on Björk's website. Both releases sold poorly, most likely due to lack of promotion as Björk was pregnant at the time. A DVD edition of the CD was also released; it contained all of Björk's solo music videos up to that point. The new single from the set, "It's In Our Hands", charted in the UK at number thirty-seven. The video, directed by Spike Jonze, features a heavily pregnant Björk.
In 2003 Björk released a box set called Live Box, consisting of four CDs containing live recordings of her previous albums and a DVD featuring a video of one track from each CD. Each of the four CDs were later released separately at a reduced price.
[edit] Medúlla
Album cover of Medúlla (2004).2004 saw the release of Björk's Medúlla, in late August. Medúlla had been more of an impromptu piece of work after the two concept albums, but in the midst of production Björk decided the album would work best as an entirely vocal-based album. The majority of the sounds on the album are created by vocalists (although these sounds are often electronically distorted). Björk used the vocal skills of throat-singer Tagaq, hip hop beatboxer Rahzel, Japanese beatboxer Dokaka, avant-rocker Mike Patton, Soft Machine drummer/singer Robert Wyatt, and several choirs; she again appropriated text from poet E. E. Cummings for the song "Sonnets/Unrealities XI." Medúlla has a raw, guttural, and ancestral feel. Medúlla became her highest ever charting album in the USA, debuting at number 14.
In August 2004 Björk performed the song "Oceania" (from her Medúlla album) at the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. In typical Björk style, her performance was one of the more unusual ones of the event. As she sang, her dress slowly unravelled to reveal a 10,000 square foot (900 m²) map of the world, which she let flow over all of the Olympic athletes. The song "Oceania" was written especially for the occasion and features the vocals of Shlomo, a Leeds based beatboxer, and a London choir. An alternate version of the song began circulating on the internet with additional vocals by Kelis. Though some were confused as to the authenticity of this collaboration, Björk's camp confirmed its legitimacy. It originally appeared on the promotional "Oceania" single released to radio stations and later became available to the public as a b-side of the "Who Is It" single, which charted at number twenty-six in the UK. This was followed in early 2005 by "Triumph of a Heart," charting at number thirty-one. A video for the potential next single, "Where Is the Line?", was filmed in collaboration with the Icelandic artist Gabríela Fridriksdóttir in late 2004, and was released exclusively on the "Medúlla Videos" DVD.
Other than these few performances, no concerts or tours were arranged to promote Medúlla. Björk said in numerous interviews that this was because she wished to immediately continue writing and recording yet another new album. She spoke to Rolling Stone in June 2004: "Every album I've done, the minute that it's done, I feel really lubricated and, like, 'Wow, now I can write an album in five minutes'... And I just want to find out if that's just a fantasy or if it's true." [5]
[edit] Army of Mixes
Album cover of Army of Me: Remixes and Covers (2005).After the disastrous tsunami which struck Southeast Asia in late 2004, Björk began work on a new project, Army of Mixes. This project recruited fans and musicians from around the world to either cover or remix the 1995 track, "Army of Me". From over 600 responses, Björk and her co-writer Graham Massey, picked the best twenty to appear on the album. The album was released in April in the UK and in late May 2005 the US. It peaked at number fourteen on the dance albums chart in the UK. [6] By January 2006, the album had raised around £250,000 to help UNICEF's work in the south east Asian region. [7] Björk visited Banda Aceh in February 2006 to view some of UNICEF's work with the children who were affected by the tsunami. [8]
] Drawing Restraint :
On July 25, 2005 in the UK and on August 23 in the U.S., Björk released the album Drawing Restraint 9. It is a soundtrack to her boyfriend Matthew Barney's movie of the same title; Björk explores traditional Japanese music styles to complement the experimental film, in which two lovers find themselves on a whaling ship and cut off and eat pieces of each other's legs, before making love, turning into whales, and swimming away.
On July 2, 2005 Björk took part in the historic Live 8 series of concerts, headlining the Japan show with Good Charlotte and McFly. She performed eight songs with Matmos, a Japanese string octet and Zeena Parkins. [9]
Surrounded:
Released June 27, 2006, Björk remastered in 5.1 surround sound her first three solo studio albums (Debut, Post, Homogenic) and her two soundtrack albums (Selmasongs and Drawing Restraint 9) in 5.1 surround sound for a re-issue in a new box-set titled (____surrounded):. Vespertine and Medúlla were already available in 5.1 as either DVD-A or SACD but are also included in the box set in repackaged format. The dual discs were also released separately. [10].
During the era, Björk earned another BRIT Awards nomination for Best International Female Solo Artist [11]. Also, signifying her status as one of pop music's true originals and one of the most daring, innovative, and idiosyncratic artists of the last two decades, Björk was awarded the prestigious Inspiration Award at the Annual Q Magazine Awards in October 2005, accepting the prize from Robert Wyatt, with whom she collaborated on 2004's Medúlla album.
Punk rock started influencing Björk in her teens; at fourteen, she formed the all-girl punk band Spit and Snot, shortly followed by a jazz fusion group called Exodus in 1979. In 1980 she graduated from music school, at fifteen, and in 1981, she and bassist Jakob Magnússon formed another band called Jam-80, which became Tappi Tíkarrass (which means "Cork the Bitch's Ass" in Icelandic), and released an extended single, "Bítið Fast í Vítið" in the same year. Their album Miranda was released in 1983.
Björk next collaborated with Einar Örn Benediktsson and Einar Melax from Purrkur Pillnikk, and Guðlaugur Óttarsson, Sigtryggur Baldursson and Birgir Mogensen from Þeyr. After writing songs and rehearsing for two weeks, they (under the name KUKL which means "sorcery" in Icelandic) found they worked well together, and decided to continue, developing a sound that some have described as resembling Gothic rock. Björk began to show indications of what would become her trademark singing style, punctuated with howls and shrieks.
KUKL toured Iceland with anarchist UK punk band Crass, and later visited the UK in a series of performances with Flux of Pink Indians. The band produced two albums as a result of these collaborations: The Eye in 1984, and Holidays in Europe in 1986, both on Crass Records.
The band was eventually dissolved, in part due to the closure of Gramm, their label. In the summer of 1986, several members of KUKL and the surrealist group Medusa got together to create the arts collective Smekkleysa (Bad Taste). They created a musical division, a band called Pukl but soon changed the name to The Sugarcubes. Smekkleysa and the Sugarcubes were officially started on the same day as the birth of Björk's son Sindri.
[edit] Mainstream success
[edit] The Sugarcubes
The Sugarcubes' first single, "Ammæli" (or "Birthday" in English), became a surprise hit in the UK after Melody Maker declared it single of the week. The Sugarcubes were immediately signed up by One Little Indian, the new bedroom label set up by the former Bass Player of Flux of Pink Indians, Derek Birkett. They gained a significant cult following in the US and UK, and calls from larger record companies began coming in. They rejected all these offers, choosing complete creative control over vast sums of money and sticking with their friend Derek Birkett. Even today, Björk remains on One Little Indian. The Sugarcubes also signed a distribution deal with Elektra Records in the United States, and recorded their first album, Life's Too Good, in 1988. The album propelled them into international stardom — the first Icelandic rock band to achieve such popularity. While with the Sugarcubes, Björk participated in a number of side projects. She recorded Gling-Gló, a collection of popular jazz and original work, with the jazz group Trio Guðmundar Ingólfssonar (an octogenarian jazz group), released in Iceland. Björk also contributed vocals to 808 State's album Ex:el, a collaboration which cultivated her interest in house music. The song "Ooops" was released as a single in the UK and was later included on 808 State's best of, "808:88:98".
[edit] Solo career / Debut
Album cover of Debut (1993).By 1992 The Sugarcubes dissolved as different members of the band had realised they all had different ambitions; Instead of risking their friendship, the band went on an indefinite hiatus. They remain friends to this day and are all still involved in the management of Smekkleysa/Bad Taste. Björk moved to London and began thinking about a solo career; to this end, she began working with producer Nellee Hooper, who had produced for Massive Attack, among others. Their partnership produced Björk's first international solo hit, "Human Behaviour". Her solo debut album, Debut, was released in June of 1993 to positive reviews; it was named album of the year by NME, and eventually went platinum in the United States. At the 1994 Brit Awards Björk won the awards for Best International Female and Best International newcomer. [1] Debut was a mix of songs Björk had written since she was a teenager as well as newer lyrical collaborations with Hooper.
The success of Debut enabled her to collaborate with other artists on one-off tracks. She worked with David Arnold on "Play Dead", the theme to the 1993 film The Young Americans (which appeared as a bonus track on a re-release of Debut), collaborated on two songs for Tricky's Nearly God project, appeared on a track on the 1997 album Not For Threes by Plaid, which was released on the cult Warp Records label, and wrote the song "Bedtime Story" for Madonna's 1994 album Bedtime Stories.
[edit] Post
Album cover of Post (1995).Björk returned to the studio during 1994 to work on her next solo album with Nellee Hooper, Tricky, Graham Massey of 808 State, and electronic music producer Howie B. The album, Post, contained songs based on Björk's relationships and songs about love (one of her favorite subjects), as well as some angry and confrontational material. Like "Debut," it was a collection partly made up of songs she had written in past years.
She wrote the song "Bedtime Story" for Madonna's 1994 album Bedtime Stories (parts of which Björk reused in her own song "Sweet Intuition", released as a b-side on the 'Army Of Me' single) and performed on MTV Unplugged during this time. By 1995, the new album Post was ready; it was released in June, reaching number two on the UK's album charts, and also went platinum in the United States. The album was boosted further by the success of the single It's Oh So Quiet, a surprise Christmas hit which sold 400 000 copies in the United Kingdom and spent 15 weeks on the chart. [2] January of 1997 saw the release of Telegram, an album of uncharacteristic previously-released remixes of songs from Post and a non-LP song "My Spine".
[edit] Homogenic
Album cover of Homogenic (1997).Later that year, the chaotic, electronic album Homogenic was released and marked a dramatic shift from her earlier "pixie" image cultivated on the Debut and Post albums. Björk worked with producers Mark Bell of LFO and Howie B on the album, as well as Eumir Deodato; numerous remixes followed. Homogenic was her first conceptually self-contained album and is regarded as one of Björk's most experimental and extroverted works to date, with enormous beats that reflect the landscape of Iceland, most notably in the song "Jóga", which fuses lush strings with rocky electronic crunches. The emotionally-charged album contains a string of memorable music videos, several of which received airplay on American MTV, especially the epic "Bachelorette" directed by frequent collaborator Michel Gondry and "All is Full of Love", which was directed by Chris Cunningham and became an alt-rock hit in 1999. The album eventually reached gold status in the States in 2001 and platinum in 2006. In 2000 Björk played the role of Selma, a blind factory worker in Lars Von Trier's Dancer in the Dark, and subsequently recorded the soundtrack, simply named "Selmasongs".
[edit] Vespertine
Album cover of Vespertine (2002).In 2001 the album Vespertine was released. This album saw Björk creating an introverted, internal, personal world of microbeats and tiny rhythms. The album featured chamber orchestras, choirs, very hushed vocals and personal, vulnerable themes. She collaborated with experimental sound manipulators Matmos, a DJ from Denmark Thomas Knak, and the experimental harpist Zeena Parkins for the album. Lyrical sources included the American poet E. E. Cummings and the American independent filmmaker Harmony Korine. To coincide with the album's release, Björk released a coffee table book of loose prose and photographs titled "Björk". [3] Björk embarked on a tour of theatres and opera-houses in Europe and North America in support of the album, accompanied by the musicians Matmos, Zeena Parkins and an Inuit Choir, whom she had held auditions for on a trip to Greenland prior to the tour. [4] At the time Vespertine was Björk's quickest selling album ever, having sold 2 million copies by the end of 2001. [2]
Vespertine spawned three singles: "Hidden Place," "Pagan Poetry," and "Cocoon." America's then-more independent and artistic music video channel, MTV2, played the album's first video, "Hidden Place," pretty heavily, which was subsequently released as a DVD single. However, the next video, for "Pagan Poetry," brought Björk to an even higher level of controversy with the channel. The song's video features graphic piercings and Björk's exposed nipples, as well as distorted images of sexual acts, which included vaginal penetration and fellatio. As a result, the clip was initially rarely shown by MTV, and certain parts (for example, Björk's breasts) were censored out during the rare occasions when it was played. In 2002, the clip finally enjoyed unedited American airing as part of a late night special on MTV2 entitled Most Controversial Music Videos. The video for "Cocoon" also featured a seemingly naked Björk, (actually wearing a close fitting bodysuit) this time with her nipples secreting a red thread that eventually enveloped the singer herself in a cocoon. The video was directed by Japanese artist Eiko Ishioka, and was not aired by MTV.
[edit] Family Tree / Greatest Hits / Live Box
Album cover of Family Tree (2002).2002 saw the appearance of the CD box set Family Tree containing a "these-are-my-roots" retrospective of Björk's career, comprising many previously unreleased versions of her compositions, including some very quiet work with the Brodsky Quartet. Also released alongside Family Tree was the album Greatest Hits, a retrospective of the previous ten years of her solo career as deemed by the public: the songs on the album were chosen by Björk's fans through a poll on Björk's website. Both releases sold poorly, most likely due to lack of promotion as Björk was pregnant at the time. A DVD edition of the CD was also released; it contained all of Björk's solo music videos up to that point. The new single from the set, "It's In Our Hands", charted in the UK at number thirty-seven. The video, directed by Spike Jonze, features a heavily pregnant Björk.
In 2003 Björk released a box set called Live Box, consisting of four CDs containing live recordings of her previous albums and a DVD featuring a video of one track from each CD. Each of the four CDs were later released separately at a reduced price.
[edit] Medúlla
Album cover of Medúlla (2004).2004 saw the release of Björk's Medúlla, in late August. Medúlla had been more of an impromptu piece of work after the two concept albums, but in the midst of production Björk decided the album would work best as an entirely vocal-based album. The majority of the sounds on the album are created by vocalists (although these sounds are often electronically distorted). Björk used the vocal skills of throat-singer Tagaq, hip hop beatboxer Rahzel, Japanese beatboxer Dokaka, avant-rocker Mike Patton, Soft Machine drummer/singer Robert Wyatt, and several choirs; she again appropriated text from poet E. E. Cummings for the song "Sonnets/Unrealities XI." Medúlla has a raw, guttural, and ancestral feel. Medúlla became her highest ever charting album in the USA, debuting at number 14.
In August 2004 Björk performed the song "Oceania" (from her Medúlla album) at the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. In typical Björk style, her performance was one of the more unusual ones of the event. As she sang, her dress slowly unravelled to reveal a 10,000 square foot (900 m²) map of the world, which she let flow over all of the Olympic athletes. The song "Oceania" was written especially for the occasion and features the vocals of Shlomo, a Leeds based beatboxer, and a London choir. An alternate version of the song began circulating on the internet with additional vocals by Kelis. Though some were confused as to the authenticity of this collaboration, Björk's camp confirmed its legitimacy. It originally appeared on the promotional "Oceania" single released to radio stations and later became available to the public as a b-side of the "Who Is It" single, which charted at number twenty-six in the UK. This was followed in early 2005 by "Triumph of a Heart," charting at number thirty-one. A video for the potential next single, "Where Is the Line?", was filmed in collaboration with the Icelandic artist Gabríela Fridriksdóttir in late 2004, and was released exclusively on the "Medúlla Videos" DVD.
Other than these few performances, no concerts or tours were arranged to promote Medúlla. Björk said in numerous interviews that this was because she wished to immediately continue writing and recording yet another new album. She spoke to Rolling Stone in June 2004: "Every album I've done, the minute that it's done, I feel really lubricated and, like, 'Wow, now I can write an album in five minutes'... And I just want to find out if that's just a fantasy or if it's true." [5]
[edit] Army of Mixes
Album cover of Army of Me: Remixes and Covers (2005).After the disastrous tsunami which struck Southeast Asia in late 2004, Björk began work on a new project, Army of Mixes. This project recruited fans and musicians from around the world to either cover or remix the 1995 track, "Army of Me". From over 600 responses, Björk and her co-writer Graham Massey, picked the best twenty to appear on the album. The album was released in April in the UK and in late May 2005 the US. It peaked at number fourteen on the dance albums chart in the UK. [6] By January 2006, the album had raised around £250,000 to help UNICEF's work in the south east Asian region. [7] Björk visited Banda Aceh in February 2006 to view some of UNICEF's work with the children who were affected by the tsunami. [8]
] Drawing Restraint :
On July 25, 2005 in the UK and on August 23 in the U.S., Björk released the album Drawing Restraint 9. It is a soundtrack to her boyfriend Matthew Barney's movie of the same title; Björk explores traditional Japanese music styles to complement the experimental film, in which two lovers find themselves on a whaling ship and cut off and eat pieces of each other's legs, before making love, turning into whales, and swimming away.
On July 2, 2005 Björk took part in the historic Live 8 series of concerts, headlining the Japan show with Good Charlotte and McFly. She performed eight songs with Matmos, a Japanese string octet and Zeena Parkins. [9]
Surrounded:
Released June 27, 2006, Björk remastered in 5.1 surround sound her first three solo studio albums (Debut, Post, Homogenic) and her two soundtrack albums (Selmasongs and Drawing Restraint 9) in 5.1 surround sound for a re-issue in a new box-set titled (____surrounded):. Vespertine and Medúlla were already available in 5.1 as either DVD-A or SACD but are also included in the box set in repackaged format. The dual discs were also released separately. [10].
During the era, Björk earned another BRIT Awards nomination for Best International Female Solo Artist [11]. Also, signifying her status as one of pop music's true originals and one of the most daring, innovative, and idiosyncratic artists of the last two decades, Björk was awarded the prestigious Inspiration Award at the Annual Q Magazine Awards in October 2005, accepting the prize from Robert Wyatt, with whom she collaborated on 2004's Medúlla album.