Monday, August 17, 2009

Bjork Biography


Name : Bjork

Profession : Musician, songwriter, producer, actress, fashion model 

Birth Details : born November 21, 1965 in Reykjavík, Iceland 

Genre(s) : Electronica
Alternative
IDM
Trip Hop 

Instrument(s) : Vocals, keyboards, piano, flute 

Voice type(s) : Soprano 

Label(s) : One Little Indian, Elektra, Atlantic, Polydor, Mother, Smekkleysa 

Associated acts : The Sugarcubes, Thom Yorke, Tappi Tíkarrass, KUKL

Björk Guðmundsdóttir IPA: /'pjœr̥k 'kv�?ðm�?nstoʊhtɪr/, (born November 21, 1965 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is an Icelandic singer/songwriter and composer, (formerly the lead singer with The Sugarcubes) with a great expressive range and an interest in many kinds of music including popular, trip-hop, alternative rock, jazz, ambient music, electronica, folk, and classical music. 

Björk's musical career began at the age of eleven, when she began studying classical piano in elementary school. One of her instructors submitted a recording of Björk singing Tina Charles' song "I Love to Love" to Radio One, an Iceland radio station. The recording was aired nationally; upon hearing it, a representative of the record label Fálkinn contacted Björk with a record contract offer. With the help of her stepfather, who played guitar, she recorded her eponymous debut in 1977. 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. It became a smash hit in Iceland, though it was virtually unknown elsewhere. Punk music began to have an influence on Björk; at the age of 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 the age of fifteen, and in 1981, she and Exodus bassist Jakob Magnússon formed another band, 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 Goth music. Björk began to show indications of what would become her trademark singing style, punctuated with howls and shrieks. KUKL toured Iceland with UK anarchist 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. In the summer of 1986, several members of KUKL went on to form a band called Pukl but soon changed the name to The Sugarcubes.

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