Vespertine
Sixteen years before Björk sang of “two music nerds obsessing … sending each other mp3s,” the Icelandic producer created the first love album for the Napster age. She spent three years embroidering the “microbeats” behind *Vespertine*—flickering, sinewy sound beds comprising samples of domestic life—intending for it to sound good even at pirated bit rates. It was a revelation both human and technical, as Björk welcomed the world into her and her lover’s “hidden place.”
Vespertine is the fourth studio album by Icelandic recording artist Björk. It was released on 27 August 2001 in the United Kingdom by One Little Independent Records and in the United States by Elektra Entertainment. Production on the album began during the filming of Dancer in the Dark, which was characterized by conflict between her and director Lars von Trier. Vespertine's sound reflected Björk's newly found interest in the music of artists such as Opiate and Console, who were also enlisted as producers.
So this is it. The great follow-up to Homogenic we've anticipated\n\ since that overcast late-September afternoon in 1997 ...
After cathartic statements like Homogenic, the role of Selma in Dancer in the Dark, and the film's somber companion piece, Selmasongs, it's not surprising that Björk's first album in four years is less emotionally wrenching.
Born of the Napster era, Björk’s Vespertine might just be the first commercial D.I.Y. electronic album.
<p>Björk returns as an enchantress, and Laurie Anderson plays an enigmatic soothsayer - plus the rest of this week's new pop.</p>