I’m reminded of something else. A while ago I bought the fifth season of 24 with Kiefer Sutherland (who actually came to Iceland fairly recently). In the bonus material there is an interview with the guy who composed the music (I have forgotten his name). To explain how the music is used in 24 he plays the scene where Jack Bauer sees his former girlfriend for the first time in a year. He sees her through a window at CTU - a simple enough scene. In the interview the scene is played three times, each time with a different type of music. As a result it means three totally different things.
Now, atonal music of the kind composed by some modern composers is almost never heard in film. When it does, it signifies something particularly outlandish, or perverted. You can hear such music in the scene in 24 when The Evil and Corrupt American President is kissing his wife. His wife doesn’t know his true nature, but YOU know. And the music underlines it.
In my version of the harpsichord accompaniment to Venus As a Boy, there are some dissonant chords. I put them there to create tension and have to admit that I was very pleased with the outcome. Until someone, who was at one of our concerts, wrote in his comment here that “I had messed up” in Venus As a Boy. I listened to the recording, but no, I didn’t mess up. The dissonance just sounded like I had messed up.
After that I began to wonder if maybe I were bringing too outlandish musical language to Björk’s world. Maybe, because of what dissonant music seems to generally MEAN to the population at large, people were reading something totally different to what I intend into Venus As a Boy. I even mentioned this to Björk, asking her if I should change my accompaniment.
Her answer: NO!
She is right, of course. One should always be true to one’s artistic vision.
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June 12th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
I don’t know a lot of music, but is that what happen with Glóra, for example?
I love your version of Venus as a Boy.
June 13th, 2007 at 6:14 am
hey - if people want to hear it exactly like on the albums, maybe they should just listen to the albums?
wellwishes
.lina
June 13th, 2007 at 8:46 am
She’s right, don’t even think of ‘dumbing’ down the music, just because of these reactions.
Björk uses dissonants a lot (how about the end organ-chords in ‘Unravel’) on her albums.
June 13th, 2007 at 8:50 am
It is unbelieveable that Björk, as a very popular, certainly not indie artist, which sold tens\hundreds of millions of records, and have so much expectations from her crowd - Follows her artistic vision with no regards to any expectations. That is sacred and unbelieveable.
It goes well with a sentence that Gabriel Garcia Marquez once said: “There are two possibilites to create art. One, to relegate yourself and your art to the level of the public. Two, try and make the people elevate themselvs to you”.
Needless to say that he, like our beloved Björk, is in favor of the 2nd option.
And if you have that kind of back from one of the most phenomenal musicians of our times, Jónas, then you are lucky as hell.
June 13th, 2007 at 8:53 am
Off topic: I haven’t watched “24″ (although I intend to do so) but I am pretty sure that the lead actor is Kiefer Sutherland.
June 13th, 2007 at 8:55 am
Oops, sorry… Will correct that one!
June 13th, 2007 at 8:56 am
I’m getting Kiefer Sutherland mixed up with Gilbert and Sullivan!!!
June 13th, 2007 at 8:56 am
Who is Glóra, BTW?
June 13th, 2007 at 9:28 am
Glóra is a an early (dissonant) song from Björk, to be found on the ‘Family Tree’ collection.
June 13th, 2007 at 9:31 am
why, of course you don’t dumb down your music even though a few people don’t appreciate it. I’m pretty sure the majority of Björk’s fans won’t mind a few “weird” notes here and there.
(btw, that’s how my own music’s sometimes described, tonal/modal with some weird notes thrown in for good measure)
June 13th, 2007 at 11:00 am
***NEVER*** dumb your art down!!!!
when one dumbs their art down, one loses respect for themselves & resents the audience they are aiming for.
thats one of my favorite things about Björk; she never dumbs it down. she says “here’s the journey. here’s the emotion, you are welcome to learn it with me”. she has the respect for people to approach it as, “either you are open to the experience, or there are plenty of other records you can buy”.
i think its wonderful that you bring your own context to the music; its exciting!
one could even think of it as a little Angelo Badalamenti influence filtering into VENUS AS A BOY; back to the concept of worlds & realities overlapping!
June 13th, 2007 at 11:08 am
Jonas,
I think that if you are not classically trained or haven’t been exposed to dissonance it may sound really weird initially. I’ve noticed Bjork goes into some dissonant chords(especially noticeable on the live in cambridge DVD as Mark Bell has a “what the fuck” look on his face..haha) during human behaviour. For me though, it just sounds more exciting and yes, it creates a feeling of “tension”
June 13th, 2007 at 11:31 am
I actually noticed this at the New york show and it sounded good. I think if you are not classically trained and have never had exposure to these sounds then naturally your ear won’t handle it initially. I especially enjoy the live in cambridge dvd when Bjork sings human behaviour and goes into some very obvious dissonance and you see mark bell in the background look up with a quizzical look on his face…haha.
June 13th, 2007 at 12:50 pm
when musicians throw in a bit of dissonance, it’s like receiving a surprise gift. it invigorates phrasing and creates a moment of beautiful chaos — and when order is restored, what follows sounds even sweeter (or sadder), as if it had been charged with new meaning.
there’s an atonal moment waiting to happen everywhere — on a street corner, in a department store, in outer-space (all those beeping satellites), even in your gulrótakökustykki — it’s true. one of my favorite songs by sykurmolarnir has lots of tension — “taktu bensín, elskan,” and it’s very short, and i’ve always loved it.
but anyway, we must not fear the dissonance — it’s asking us to listen, and what it may say could turn out to be delightfully absurd (or devastating).
June 13th, 2007 at 1:27 pm
when musicians throw in a bit of dissonance, it’s like receiving a surprise gift. it invigorates phrasing and creates a moment of beautiful chaos; and when order (or the semblance of order) is restored, what follows sounds even sweeter (or sadder), as if it had been imbued with new meaning.
there an atonal moment waiting to happen everywhere — on a street corner, in a subway station, in a vacant lot, in outer-space, even in your gulrótakökustykki — it’s true. one of my favorite little tunes by sykurmolarnir is heavy with tension: “taktu bensín, elskan.”
but anyway, we must not fear the dissonance. it’s asking us to listen, and what it may say could turn out to be delightfully absurd (or devastating).
June 13th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
definitely don’t change it….it adds a level of unpredictability to the whole thing. and who knows - maybe something sinister could be there in venus as a boy and none of us ever saw it?
also, off topic: i freaking LOVE 24 and remember that little bonus feature!
June 13th, 2007 at 3:40 pm
I saw your show in Chicago and thought Venus As A Boy along with the entire show was wonderful. I do however have a question. Why does your version of Venus contain dissonant chords and what made you want to create that tension? Or maybe the real question is what did you hear in the original song that made you want to take it in that direction?
Again don’t worry, from what I heard in Chicago and what I’ve been reading online your vision and playing is right on. Thanks again for the show and the time you are taking with the blog.
June 13th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
(By the way, my friend and I were entranced by what you did with Venus as a Boy at the Red Rocks concert!) Speaking of creepy atmosphere and dissonance, I just listened to a recording of “singing icebergs.” Apparently, scientists have discovered that icebergs that get stuck in one place can produce harmonies with up to 30 overtones. They say that the sounds range from sounding like an orchestra warming up, the swarming of bees, to the eerie sounds of a horror movie. (They are inaudible to the human ear unless the recordings of them are speeded up.) The sound is caused by water being forced through crevasses in immoble icebergs. I wonder if anyone has sampled the recordings for use in film or music yet……The ones I heard were pretty eerie but I’d like to hear examples of the orchestral ones. Apparently sandunes can sing too.
You can listen to an example of the phenomenon at:
http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn8374
June 13th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Glóra, as rudidejong said, can be found in the first disc of Family Tree. I think it’s also tension - tension - tension, but i’m not sure if that dissonance is the same as in your Venus as a Boy version.
June 14th, 2007 at 12:52 am
Glóra is actually an Elgar Sisters recording (Guðlaugur í“ttarsson, Björk Guðmundsdóttir, et.al.) from the mid-1980s circa Kukl-era and the formation of Smekkleysa. The recordings were done over several sessions. An album was never released, although three recordings made an appearance as ‘Debut’ b-sides, 1993.
June 14th, 2007 at 5:45 am
It is wonderous to imagine some of Bjork’s songs made arranged into sheet music and made available for piano/vocal. “Dull Flame Of Desire” could be really popular if transposed for duet (or even solo) singing with piano accompaniment. The only other Bjork work offically available is “I’ve Seen It All” and that plays well on solo piano. I think a lot of misconceptions about her musicality would disappear if some of her more melodic works were visible in notation. The creativity in this version of “Venus As A Boy” being published is just such an inspiring thought.
June 14th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
I think its wonderful you got to put your own touch on Björks classics, That is what makes her concerts so rewarding and moving experience. I don’t feel that you should try and dumb it down for us both you, Björk and everyone on the tour is knowledgeable about many forms of music so thats something people to discover. I have to say part of the wonderful thing about being a Björk fan is discovering all types of new and amazing artist. Also I find it very cool your thoughts on music in film and how much that brings up specific emotions and images, I know with me guitar with lots of reverb makes me think of the ocean how this came to be is intersting to find out and see what sticks out to other people. Hope you and everyone on tour is having a wonderful time, glad you got to see your daughter, give everyone on tour a smile from me.
~jordan
June 15th, 2007 at 10:58 am
I can’t imagine Björk ever trying to keep another artist from expressing him/herself fully in collaboration. She’s got too much class as an artist herself to behave in such a way.
Peace and blessings,
Kevin
—
http://prisoner-of-gravity.blogspot.com/
June 15th, 2007 at 12:44 pm
Iceberg symphony? That’s amazing!
June 17th, 2007 at 4:59 pm
you shouldn’t worry about what people say about you when you make music. if you really thought about it too much you might just end up in a practice room the rest of your life. it’s okay to not be safe. if Bjork were trying to be safe, she wouldn’t be on tour with musicians who were interpreting her music or improvising a little on the spot. don’t over-analyse so much. just play in the full sense of the word.
June 22nd, 2007 at 4:45 pm
oh gosh — i know this is a few days late, but Jónas, when I first heard your version of Venus as a Boy with Björk… I nearly had a fit ! It was the most gorgeous thing I had ever heard !! Everything about it was perfect… I actually got so overwhelmed I couldn’t open my eyes (they just wouldn’t open). the dissonance was quite appropriate. so THANK YOU for what you’ve done with it… I’m with you and Björk on this one all the way.