Björk - 1995 - Post

After Debut's success, the pressure was on Björk to surpass that album's creative, tantalizing electronic pop. She more than delivered with 1995's Post; from the menacing, industrial-tinged opener, "Army of Me," it's clear that this album is not simply Debut redux. The songs' production and arrangements -- especially those of the epic, modern fairy tale "Isobel" -- all aim for, and accomplish, more. Post also features Debut producer Nellee Hooper, 808 State's Graham Massey, Howie B, and Tricky, who help Björk incorporate a spectrum of electronic and orchestral styles into songs like "Hyperballad," which sounds like a love song penned by Aphex Twin. Meanwhile, the bristling beats on the volatile, sensual "Enjoy" and the fragile, weightless ballad "Possibly Maybe" nod to trip-hop without being overwhelmed by it. As on Debut, Björk finds new ways of expressing timeworn emotions like love, lust, and yearning in abstractly precise lyrics like "Since you went away/I'm wearing lipstick again/I suck my tongue in remembrance of you," from "Possibly Maybe." But Post's emotional peaks and valleys are more extreme than Debut's. "I Miss You"'s exuberance is so animated, it makes perfect sense that Ren & Stimpy's John Kricfalusi directed the song's video. Likewise, "It's Oh So Quiet" -- which eventually led to Björk's award-winning turn as Selma in Dancer in the Dark -- is so cartoonishly vibrant, it could have been arranged by Warner Bros. musical director Carl Stalling. Yet Björk sounds equally comfortable with an understated string section on "You've Been Flirting Again." "Headphones" ends the album on an experimental, hypnotic note, layering Björk's vocals over and over till they circle each other atop a bubbling, minimal beat. The work of a constantly changing artist, Post proves that as Björk moves toward more ambitious, complex music, she always surpasses herself.



1 Army of Me Bjork, Massey 3:54
2 Hyper-Ballad Bjork, Gudmundsdottir 5:21
3 The Modern Things Bjork, Massey 4:10
4 It's Oh So Quiet Lang, Reisfeld 3:38
5 Enjoy Bjork, Tricky 3:56
6 You've Been Flirting Again Bjork, Gudmundsdottir 2:29
7 Isobel Bjork, De Vries, Hooper, Sjón 5:47
8 Possibly Maybe Bjork 5:06
9 I Miss You B., Bjork 4:03
10 Cover Me Bjork, Gudmundsdottir 2:06
11 Headphones Bjork, Tricky 5:40

¡Aquí!

Komputer - 1997 - The World Of Tomorrow

Consciously retro in an electro-pop kind of way, The World of Tomorrow succeeds because the group doesn't try to sidestep their obvious debt to Kraftwerk. The analog synthesizers, vocoderized singing, and lockstep beats all point to the godfathers of techno, and Komputer does a good job of it. They even manage to push the envelope a bit farther, with commentary -- albeit superficial -- on tracks like "Bill Gates" and "More Automation." As a tribute LP, The World of Tomorrow is delicious fun; as a standalone work, however, it fails to add much to the Kraftwerk legacy.

1 The World of Tomorrow Komputer 4:11
2 More Automation Komputer 5:07
3 Bill Gates Komputer 4:26
4 Valentina Komputer 4:53
5 Looking Down on London Komputer 4:14
6 Terminus Interminus Komputer 7:40
7 Singapore Komputer 4:50
8 The Perfect Pop Band Komputer 4:09
9 Komputer Pop Komputer 5:17
10 Motopia Komputer 3:04
11 Valentina [Phobos Mix] Komputer 7:15
12 Valentina [Probe Mix] Komputer 6:03
13 Looking Down on London [Metroland Mix] Komputer 8:19

¡Aquí!

VA - 1999 - Electro Lounge

Electro Lounge features a meeting of the finest musical minds in the electronica and lounge circles, and celebrates the best of both genres. Classic lounge and vocal jazz cuts by artists like Martin Denny, Yma Sumac, Dean Martin, Julie London, Louie Prima and John Barry are remixed and reworked by contemporary electronic acts like Utah Saints, Gus Gus, Meat Beat Manifesto and Uberzone; the results bring together music's past and future today.

1 Prologue 0:11
2 Hypnotique [Uberzone Remix] Denny 7:07
3 Lonesome Road [Mu-Ziq Remix] Elliott 4:20
4 Watermelon Man [Remix] King Curtis 5:44
5 Tutotial 0:15
6 Sway [Remix] London, Martin 4:45
7 The James Bond Theme [Remix] Holmes 4:45
8 Jump, Jive, An' Wail [Remix] Prima 4:33
9 The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly [Oldskool Gusgus Mix] Holmes 5:29
10 Tutorial 0:10
11 Do It Again [Wagon Christ Remix] Holmes 3:34
12 Seance on a Wet Afternoon [Omni Trio Remix] Barry 5:27
13 Gopher Mambo [Q-Burns Abstract Message Remix] Sumac 5:21
14 Staccato's Theme [Happening at Waldo's Mix] Bernstein 5:16
15 Epilague 0:10
16 Caravan [Eat Static Remix] Buzon 5:47

¡Aquí!

Tobin, Amon - 1997 - Bricolage

Amon Tobin's jazz-jungle fusions as Cujo (for upstart label Ninebar) earned him many props, but that began to change with his debut for Ninja Tune. Blurring the already vague line that separates jungle's rhythmic meditations from those of the hottest jazz (Elvin Jones, say, or Jaco Pastorius), Bricolage manages a difficult hybrid of heart, soul, atmosphere, and brain-bending plunderphonics that loses neither perspective nor direction over the course of the albums. Like his preceding EPs Creatures and Chomp Samba (from which a few of Bricolage's cuts derive), the album mixes fast and slow but maintains a solid focus on innovation without sacrificing a sense of purpose. Somehow, Bricolage manages to be both consistent and consistently engaging, a feat few drum'n'bass LPs seem able to manage.

		1		Stoney Street	Tobin	5:53
		2		Easy Muffin	Tobin	5:02
		3		Yasawas	Tobin	5:24
		4		Creatures	Tobin	5:21
		5		Chomp Samba	Tobin	6:07
		6		The New York Editor	Tobin	4:56
		7		Defocus	Tobin	5:10
		8		The Nasty	Tobin	4:35
		9		Bitter and Twisted	Tobin	5:05
		10		Wires and Snakes	Tobin	5:27
		11		One Day in My Garden	Tobin	5:43
		12		Dream Sequence	Tobin	7:19
		13		One Small Step	Tobin	6:11
		14		Mission	Tobin	7:08

¡Aquí!

VA - 2004 - Wider Horizons

		1		Shodan	Tripswitch
		2		Fractal Tonic	Drum Druid
		3		Swimming with Sharks	Nada
		4		California Sunshine	United States of Love
		5		Rodeo Driver	Kumba Mela Experiment
		6		Ground Beat	Ott
		7		Totally Degradable	Nada
		8		Speechle (Big Circle Flat Plain)	Pitch Black, Youth

¡Aquí!

DMX Krew - 1997 - Ffressshh!

This is cheesy bubblegum dance music for high school new wavers, but released ten years too late. The sound of DMX Krew here is tall on hardcore white-boy attitude and dry keyboard riffs, but it's comparatively lacking in dynamics and production value, opting instead for a rather raw sound without much soul behind it. Early in the disc comes a remix from Richard James (Aphex Twin) on the track "You Can't Hide Your Love," which, compared to the remaining 11 tracks that follow, seems like a premature high point. To be fair, some of the cuteness and naïve quality of the disc is the very thing that keeps it from being a complete flop. One track that exemplifies this is "Bonkers Goes Back to School"; a carefree, day-in-the-life snapshot of summertime abandon for an ice cream eating, lemonade drinking British lad, bouncing down the street to a breakdancer's soundtrack, it's got a catchy hook and becomes the guilty pleasure of the album. There are a few others along the way that will bring an embarrassed smile to the lips, like the after-school graffiti gruff of "We Are Gonna Make You Move" and the feigned danger of "SPACE PIRATE!," a silly piece of video game abandon. For some it may prove worth keeping around, just to have something to roll your eyes to. If it's all a joke, then perhaps the joke is on the listener, and nothing from Ffressshh! is to be taken so seriously. Whatever the case, this particular sense of humor isn't enough to carry the weight of an entire album, and it shows.

		1		Introduction	DMX	1:03
		2		You Can't Hide Your Love [Aphex Twin Mix]	DMX	4:12
Composed by: DMX Performed by: DMX Krew, Richard James
		3		Bonkers Goes Back to School	DMX	3:36
		4		Radio DMX	DMX	:12
		5		Body Rock	DMX	4:48
		6		Sound of the DMX	DMX	:35
		7		We Are Gonna Make You Move	DMX	4:16
		8		I'm All Alone	DMX	4:19
		9		SPACE PIRATE!	DMX	4:09
		10		Europa	DMX	3:26
		11		Ready to Roll	DMX	5:17
		12		Black Music	DMX	4:54
		13		Acknowledgment	DMX	:51

¡Aquí!

Brothomstates - 1998 - Kobn-Tich-Ey

¡Aquí!

We - 1999 - Square Root Of Minus One

Who says there's no good American drum and bass? We (a trio consisting of the eminent DJs Once 11, Olive and Loop) have changed all that. Now even the snobbiest hardcore, hardstep Anglocentric junglists have no excuse but to give the American drum scene its due: just about everything on We's second album gives the best of the U.K. crew a run for their money. Granted, Square Root of Minus One starts out weak, with the shapeless, beatless and tuneless drone of "Birimbau," but things pick up immediately with the frenetic breakbeats and kid vocal samples of "Diablos" and they basically never let up. Thrill to the slow and smoky "Caya's Kids," with its dubwise effects, to the cool ethnic percussion and backward bass on "You Gone?," and to the eerie electric piano and reggae-fied beat of "Hielo." Marvel almost as much to most everything else, too. Excellent.

		1		Birimbau		3:48
		2		12_Diablos		6:34
		3		Caya's Kids		5:29
		4		Modulana		3:45
		5		Back and Forth		6:38
		6		Ririka		7:13
		7		Thonk		:58
		8		El Mosquito		6:25
		9		'You Gone?		4:36
		10		Hielo		4:07
		11		Protons		6:05
		12		Intimines		4:01
		13		12_Diablos_Mix13		4:44
		14		Uabmirib		2:16

¡Aquí!

Björk - 1993 - Debut

Freed from the Sugarcubes' confines, Björk takes her voice and creativity to new heights on Debut, her first work after the group's breakup. With producer Nellee Hooper's help, she moves in an elegantly playful, dance-inspired direction, crafting highly individual, emotional electronic pop songs like the shivery, idealistic "One Day" and the bittersweet "Violently Happy." Despite the album's swift stylistic shifts, each of Debut's tracks are distinctively Björk. "Human Behaviour"'s dramatic percussion provides a perfect showcase for her wide-ranging voice; "Aeroplane" casts her as a yearning lover against a lush, exotica-inspired backdrop; and the spare, poignant "Anchor Song" uses just her voice and a brass section to capture the loneliness of the sea. Though Debut is just as arty as anything she recorded with the Sugarcubes, the album's club-oriented tracks provide an exciting contrast to the rest of the album's delicate atmosphere. Björk's playful energy ignites the dance-pop-like "Big Time Sensuality" and turns the genre on its head with "There's More to Life Than This." Recorded live at the Milk Bar Toilets, it captures the dancefloor's sweaty, claustrophobic groove, but her impish voice gives it an almost alien feel. But the album's romantic moments may be its most striking; "Venus as a Boy" fairly swoons with twinkly vibes and lush strings, and Björk's vocals and lyrics — "His wicked sense of humor/Suggests exciting sex" — are sweet and just the slightest bit naughty. With harpist Corky Hale, she completely reinvents "Like Someone in Love," making it one of her own ballads. Possibly her prettiest work, Björk's horizons expanded on her other releases, but the album still sounds fresh, which is even more impressive considering electronic music's whiplash-speed innovations. Debut not only announced Björk's remarkable talent; it suggested she had even more to offer.

		1		Human Behaviour	Bjork, Hooper	4:12
		2		Crying	Hooper	4:49
		3		Venus as a Boy	Bjork	4:41
		4		There's More to Life Than This	Bjork, Hooper	3:21
		5		Like Someone in Love	Burke, VanHeusen	4:33
		6		Big Time Sensuality	Bjork, Hooper	3:56
		7		One Day	Bjork	5:24
		8		Aeroplane	Bjork	3:54
		9		Come to Me	Bjork	4:55
		10		Violently Happy	Bjork, Hooper	4:58
		11		The Anchor Song	Bjork	3:32

¡Aquí!