The 500 - #376 - Post - Bjork

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 376

Album Title: Post
Artist: Björk

Genre: Art Pop, Electronica, Trip Hop
Recorded: Six studios - Nassau, Bahamas, and London, England
Released: June, 1995
My age at release: 29
How familiar was I with it before this week: One Song
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Hyperballad - selected by my my teaching colleague Sandra Snooks

Post is the second studio release by Björk, pronounced Be-Yurk, not Be-York, which is how I've said it and heard it for decades. The Icelandic artist is well known for two events, neither of which has anything to do with her music. 

In March, 2001, she arrived on the red carpet for the Academy Awards in a "swan dress". The bold choice was "widely criticized as outrageous and outlandish", with film critic Emmanuel Levy calling it the "fashion faux-pas of the year". Meanwhile, Boston Globe reporter Jay Carr wrote that "the wraparound frock made her look like a refugee from the more dog-eared precincts of provincial ballet." Comedian Joan Rivers made a joke about Björk "spreading newspapers on the bathroom floor", before remarking that "the girl should be put in an asylum."

The "crazy" dress would dominate "water-cooler talk" for days and eclipse any conversation about the award winners that included Julia Roberts for Erin Brockovich and Russell Crowe for Gladiator, which also won picture of the year.

Then, in 2008, Björk attacked a photographer from the New Zealand Herald at the Auckland International Airport, falling to the ground awkwardly as she ripped the back of his shirt. This was her second violent altercation with paparazzi. In February, 1996, she grabbed television reporter Julie Kaufman and took her to the ground, banging Kaufman's head on the concrete floor.

New Zealand Reporter shows the
evidence of the confrontation with Bjork

Consequently, Björk earned the reputation for being "crazy" and "unhinged". It was unfortunate because it overshadows her immense talent. It also makes me wonder if the same behaviour from a male celebrity would be judged as harshly. 

The aforementioned Russell Crowe has had multiple altercations with paparazzi and media. Interestingly, the Wikipedia entry about his behaviour reports Crowe as having "a bad temper". A further Google search about Crowe's many conflicts is awash with descriptions such as "rowdy", "hot-headed", "nasty" and "violent".  Absent are the words "crazy" or "unhinged", which, it seems, are usually reserved for female performers who behave badly.

Crowe arrested in 2016 for an assault charge.

Recently, my wife and I watched Framing Britney Spears. This HBO documentary profiles the pop-singer's turbulent life, including her confrontations with paparazzi and the infamous "head-shaving incident". 

As I watched, I was troubled by the casual and cruel way Spears, now 39, was mocked while suffering through a public mental-health breakdown. Late night talk show hosts took easy and mean-spirited shots at her with jokes that any good comic would dismiss as "low-hanging fruit". 

She was even the punchline for a Family Feud question: "Name something that Britney Spears has lost." Contestants unsympathetically giggled out point-scoring responses that included, "her mind" and "her children".

I'll readily admit that I made both "Britney" and "Bjork" jokes in reference to some of the choices they made. This isn't an effort to virtue signal, I went for the same "low-hanging fruit" for the sake of a laugh, and I remained uniformed about the events that led to these choices. 

Consequently, I approached Bjork's Post with an open-mind and was delighted by what I discovered. Although I was familiar with the album's opening track Army of Me, the rest of the record was virgin territory.

Post was positively reviewed as "genre roulette" in The San Francisco Chronicle, a term which delighted me. I am a massive fan of artists who make every track on their record a surprise. Indeed, one of my favourite records of all time is Queen's 1975 record,  A Night At The Opera, #231 on The 500. 

Post is a record full of surprises, featuring industrial music, trip-hop, experimental sounds and even a big band jazz number. Listening to it reminded me of the famous saying (often erroneously attributed to Mark Twain) about the weather in New England: "If you don't like it, wait a few minutes and it will change". 

Speaking of change, attitudes toward the infamous swan dress have certainly shifted. It is now celebrated as "iconic" and was "re-imagined" by designer Valentino for the 2014 Paris Fashion Week, whose interpretation received high praise from critics.

I'll close with a quote from one of my favourite musicians, Geddy Lee of Rush. When asked about his listening habits in 2000, he said of Björk; 

"She's awesome. She is not for everyone's taste, but she is damn well for my taste, I love her. She is a real artist, she's deeply talented and her voice is as compelling as any voice I have ever heard."

Geddy Lee