Listen to Björk's Great, Woman-Vocalist-Propelled DJ Set
EntertainmentOn Friday, Björk played a surprise DJ set inside a converted basement on Wall Street in New York, wearing a full crystalline face mask that made her look like a very pretty alien/banshee.
The occasion was the Red Bull Music Academy-supported, fifth anniversary of Tri-Angle Records, an innovative, beat-oriented label based in New York and London, which is associated with somewhat dark-sided artists like Haxan Cloak, Fatima al Qadiri, Evian Christ, AlunaGeorge and more. Björk is a perfect fit for the label’s outré sensibilities—The Haxan Cloak helped produce her last album, Vulnicura—and as her DJ set shows, she’s as interested in new sounds and pushing boundaries as she ever was, dropping a moody set centered around woman vocalists and how their tone and intent can change based on the beats behind them.
The set, which the New York-based Icelander posted today, begins with the sound of Pakistani Sufi musician Abida Parveen, augmented by tommy-gun beats by Rabit and industrial clamor over Kate Bush and Portuguese icon Amália Rodrigues. Björk also played tracks by Berlin’s Lotic—who also DJ’d the night—and Los Angeles’ Total Freedom, two of the most interesting male DJ/producers in the entire world, whose sets very frequently seem to warp the fabric of time. So, you know, she has good taste.
On her Soundcloud, Björk wrote:
i would like to wish tri angle label an incredibly sublime birthday and thank for having been invited to dj at their party . couldnt possibly been more honoured than to play in that company !!! the mix i played was my present to them : merging together some of my fav beats last year with some of my fav vocalists doing some of their best songs :
!!! this is my tune-tinder !!!
warmthnesss björk
the musicians in the mix are :abida parveen/rabitkate bush/lotic/vesselamelia rodriguez/rabit chilean flutes/the haxan cloak/lotic john tavener/haxan cloak abida parveen/bloomhans reichel/sudanimc.z./virtua mimashut up and dancehanzcut handsdeath gripsdavid hykeskate bush/rabitlung/lotic remixkramphaftjeremihtotal freedombrandy
Listen below, prepare to transform and get weird.
Image via AP
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