Vespertine
Encyclopedia
Vespertine, is the fifth studio album by the Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

ic recording artist Björk
Björk
Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

, released on 27 August 2001. On this album, Björk creates a quiet, introverted world of microbeats and personal lyrics. On the cover she can be seen wearing the swan dress
Swan dress of Björk
The swan dress of Björk or the Björk swan dress refers to the famous white "swan" dress worn by the Icelandic artist Björk at the 2001 Academy Awards on March 25, 2001...

 (designed by Marjan Pejoski) that caused a stir at the 2001 Academy Awards
73rd Academy Awards
The 73rd Academy Awards honored the best films of 2000 and was held on March 25, 2001. It was the last Academy Awards to take place at the Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium...

.

The album yielded the singles "Hidden Place
Hidden Place
"Hidden Place" is a song by Icelandic recording artist Björk, taken from her fourth English language , Vespertine . It was written by Björk, Guy Sigsworth and Mark Bell and produced by Björk...

", "Pagan Poetry
Pagan Poetry
"Pagan Poetry" was the second single from singer Björk's album Vespertine. The single peaked at number 38 in the UK and number 12 in Canada. It was written and produced by Björk with additional production by Marius De Vries and mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent...

" and "Cocoon". The album's lead single, "Hidden Place", is the only single from the album to have charted in the United States.

Album information

Björk uses an array of sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...

 objects to create beats and soundscapes in a number of songs on Vespertine, including shuffling cards on "Cocoon" and "Hidden Place
Hidden Place
"Hidden Place" is a song by Icelandic recording artist Björk, taken from her fourth English language , Vespertine . It was written by Björk, Guy Sigsworth and Mark Bell and produced by Björk...

"; snow being walked upon on "Aurora", and ice being cracked and smashed on "Frosti". Vespertine is Björk's longest album, at 55:33. Hidden Place
Hidden Place
"Hidden Place" is a song by Icelandic recording artist Björk, taken from her fourth English language , Vespertine . It was written by Björk, Guy Sigsworth and Mark Bell and produced by Björk...

", "Pagan Poetry
Pagan Poetry
"Pagan Poetry" was the second single from singer Björk's album Vespertine. The single peaked at number 38 in the UK and number 12 in Canada. It was written and produced by Björk with additional production by Marius De Vries and mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent...

" and "Cocoon" were released as singles from the album. "It's Not Up to You" may have been meant to be the fourth single—a sticker on the CD case proclaims "features ‹Hidden place› and ‹It's Not Up to You›"—but never made it to release, presumably because of the birth of Björk's daughter Isadora.

The lyrics to "An Echo, a Stain" are based on Sarah Kane
Sarah Kane
Sarah Kane was an English playwright. Her plays deal with themes of redemptive love, sexual desire, pain, torture — both physical and psychological — and death. They are characterised by a poetic intensity, pared-down language, exploration of theatrical form and, in her earlier work, the use of...

's play Crave
Crave (play)
Crave is a one-act play by British playwright Sarah Kane. It was first performed in 1998 by the theatre company Paines Plough, with which Kane was writer-in-residence for the year, at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh...

. Björk adapted the lyrics of "Sun in My Mouth" from the poem "i will wade out" by E. E. Cummings
E. E. Cummings
Edward Estlin Cummings , popularly known as E. E. Cummings, with the abbreviated form of his name often written by others in lowercase letters as e.e. cummings , was an American poet, painter, essayist, author, and playwright...

. The word "sea-girls" is changed to "seagulls", and the last few lines of the poem are omitted. The instrumentals in "Heirloom" is a song by Console entitled "Crabcraft". Several CD track naming programs, such as Gracenote
Gracenote
Gracenote, Inc., formerly called CDDB , is a company that maintains and licenses an Internet-accessible database containing information about the contents of audio compact discs and vinyl records. It provides software and metadata to businesses that enable their customers to manage and search...

, label the song "Heirloom" as "Crabcraft" when the album is placed inside a computer. The lyrics of "Harm of Will" were written by Harmony Korine
Harmony Korine
The story is told from the perspective of a young man suffering from untreated schizophrenia, played by Ewen Bremner, as he tries to understand his deteriorating world. Julien's abusive father is played by Werner Herzog...

 and are allegedly about Will Oldham
Will Oldham
Will Oldham , better known by the stage name Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, is an American singer-songwriter and actor. From 1993 to 1997, he performed and recorded under variations of the Palace name, including the Palace Brothers, Palace Songs, and Palace Music...

.

The last track on the album, "Unison", uses a sample of St Paul's Cathedral Choir singing a segment of Patrick Gowers
Patrick Gowers
William Patrick Gowers is an English composer mainly known for his film scores.-Film music:Gowers' works include the following music scores: Comic Act , Forever Green , The Hound of the Baskervilles , The Sign of Four , Whoops Apocalypse , Anna Karenina , Smiley's People , I remember...

' Viri Galilaei recorded in 1994. The initial title for the album was Domestika. A song titled "Domestica" (originally titled "Lost Keys") was included as a B-side on the "Pagan Poetry
Pagan Poetry
"Pagan Poetry" was the second single from singer Björk's album Vespertine. The single peaked at number 38 in the UK and number 12 in Canada. It was written and produced by Björk with additional production by Marius De Vries and mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent...

" single. Björk has stated that she decided to call the album "Vespertine" instead of "Domestika" because the new title dealt with the prayer aspect of the album, which she wanted to note, while she felt that "Domestika" dealt too literally with the domestic element.

On 22 August 2008, Björk wrote an open letter
Open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally....

 on her official website correcting a long-standing mistake—that Valgeir Sigurðsson
Valgeir Sigurðsson
Valgeir Sigurðsson is an Icelandic record producer, mixer, composer, engineer and musician.-Biography:Coming from a musical background Valgeir's fascination with recording technology lead to a job in a small recording studio at the age of 16. He studied classical guitar and graduated with a...

 has over the years been credited with writing the instrumentals for the album. She explained that, in fact, he had been only an engineer
Audio engineering
An audio engineer, also called audio technician, audio technologist or sound technician, is a specialist in a skilled trade that deals with the use of machinery and equipment for the recording, mixing and reproduction of sounds. The field draws on many artistic and vocational areas, including...

 and programmer
Programming (music)
Programming is a form of music production and performance using electronic devices, often sequencers or computer programs, to generate music. Programming is used in nearly all forms of electronic music and in most hip hop music since the 1990s. It is also frequently used in modern pop and rock...

 on some of the tracks on the album and speculated that the reason for the mistake was either due to sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...

 in the music industry, ignorance between the roles of engineers and programmers or because herself nor Sigurðsson had ever bothered to correct it.

Early leaked versions

Early versions of the album were leaked onto the internet with some differences to the final release. Tracks were in a different order, the song "It's in Our Hands
It's in Our Hands
"It's in Our Hands" was a single released along with Björk's Greatest Hits CD in late 2002. The song was previously heard during her Vespertine Tour in 2001. The song relies heavily on a sample taken from To Rococo Rot's song Die Dinge Des Lebens from the album The Amateur View...

" was originally included (replaced by the instrumental "Frosti" on the final version), the song "It's Not Up to You" was not included, and some tracks appeared under different titles, including "Pagan Poetry" ("Blueprint"), "Cocoon" ("Mouth") and "Heirloom" ("Crabcraft" or "New"). Also, a remix of "An Echo, a Stain" was included

The original track listing was:
  1. "Aurora"
  2. "Pagan Poetry"
  3. "Heirloom"
  4. "An Echo, a Stain"
  5. "Harm of Will"
  6. "Hidden Place"
  7. "It's in Our Hands"
  8. "Cocoon"
  9. "Sun in My Mouth"
  10. "Undo"
  11. "Unison"

Hidden artwork

The CD inlay card contains drawings on both sides. Since the back of the CD jewel case is made of white plastic (with a sticker listing the tracks), only the inner side drawing is visible. To look at the other side's drawing, the CD packaging must be disassembled.

Track listing

Sample credits
  • "Hidden Place" samples "Transfigured Night, Op.4" by Arnold Schoenberg
    Arnold Schoenberg
    Arnold Schoenberg was an Austrian composer, associated with the expressionist movement in German poetry and art, and leader of the Second Viennese School...

    .
  • "Unison" samples "Aero Deck
    Systemisch
    Systemisch is a 1994 album by the glitch band Oval. The track Aero Deck was sampled by Bjork in 2001 for her song Unison, in album Vespertine.1. Textuell2. Aero Deck3. The Politics Of Digital Audio4. Schoner Wissen5. Catchy DAAD6. Mediation7. Tonregie...

    " by Oval.
  • "Undo" samples "1% In 2/3 Speed", in "While You Were Sleeping" by Opiate (Thomas Knak
    Thomas Knak
    Thomas Knak is a Danish electronic musician, producer, film composer and DJ. He lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. Jack of all trades, he makes music for commercial , for various radio and TV programmes, for theatre plays, for choreography and films.He started in 1999 under the name Opiate...

    )

Critical reception

Vespertine was widely acclaimed by music critics. Both Keith Phipps of The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club
The A.V. Club is an entertainment newspaper and website published by The Onion. Its features include reviews of new films, music, television, books, games and DVDs, as well as interviews and other regular offerings examining both new and classic media and other elements of pop culture. Unlike its...

and David Fricke of Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...

magazine named Vespertine Björk's best album to date. Allmusic stated that "Vespertine isn't merely lovely; it proves that in Björk's hands, intimacy can be just as compelling as louder emotions", while Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...

 said the album is "nothing short of brilliance." Ian Wade also praised the album awarding it 9 stars out of 10. A more lukewarm review came from Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 who thought that "While undeniably beautiful, Vespertine fails to give electronic music the forward push it received on Björk's preceding albums" and that the album "is riddled with sameness."

At Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100, Vespertine currently holds a rating of 88/100, indicating universal acclaim. The album is also ranked No.55 on Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...

's 200 best-reviewed albums. It was also nominated for Best Alternative Album at the 2002 Grammy Awards. Recently music webzine Drowned in Sound
Drowned in Sound
DrownedinSound.com or DiS is a UK based music webzine financed by artist management company Silentway . The site is an editorially independent music website.-History:...

 named Vespertine the number-one album of the last six years not to garner press attention. Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine
Stylus Magazine was an online music and film magazine launched in 2002. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, a number of different podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog....

 placed it 36th on their 'Top 50 Albums: 2000–2005'. Vespertine was also selected as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die is a musical reference book edited by Robert Dimery, first published in 2005. The most recent edition consists of a list of albums released between 1955 and 2010, part of a series from Quintessence Editions Ltd...

. The record was also rated by Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...

 as the 3rd best of the 2000s.

Online music magazine
Online magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...

 Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 placed Vespertine at number 92 on their list of top 200 albums of the 2000s.

The album peaked at number eight on the UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

 and at number 19 on the U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

 with sales of 75,000 copies. It also reached number one in Spain, France and Norway and had sold two million copies by the end of 2001.

The album was placed at number 67 on the Rolling Stone magazine Best 100 Albums of the decade released at the end of the year in 2009.

Samples

Comments by Björk about Vespertine

Personnel

  • Björk
    Björk
    Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

     – producer, programming, beat programming, basslines, string arrangements, choir arrangements, harp arrangements, music box arrangements, vocal editing
  • Valgeir Sigurðsson
    Valgeir Sigurðsson
    Valgeir Sigurðsson is an Icelandic record producer, mixer, composer, engineer and musician.-Biography:Coming from a musical background Valgeir's fascination with recording technology lead to a job in a small recording studio at the age of 16. He studied classical guitar and graduated with a...

     – programming, beat programming, ProTools, engineer
  • Martin Gretschmann aka Console
    Console (musician)
    Console is an electronic music project by Martin Gretschmann, the lead programmer for German band Notwist. Relying heavily on elements of electronic music, Console's music is reminiscent of some electro bands, such as Ladytron and Miss Kittin....

     – producer, programming
  • Jake Davies – programming, ProTools, engineer
  • Matthew Herbert
    Matthew Herbert
    Matthew Herbert , also known as Herbert, Doctor Rockit, Radio Boy, Mr. Vertigo, Transformer, and Wishmountain, is a British electronic musician...

     – programming
  • Leigh Jamieson – ProTools
  • Thomas Knak
    Thomas Knak
    Thomas Knak is a Danish electronic musician, producer, film composer and DJ. He lives and works in Copenhagen, Denmark. Jack of all trades, he makes music for commercial , for various radio and TV programmes, for theatre plays, for choreography and films.He started in 1999 under the name Opiate...

     – production, programming
  • Jan "Stan" Kybert – ProTools
  • Matmos
    Matmos
    Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore signed to the Matador Records label. M. C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances, including...

     – programming, beat programming
  • Vince Mendoza
    Vince Mendoza
    Vince Mendoza is a music arranger and composer.Mendoza was born in Connecticut and studied guitar as a child, influenced by classical music, soul and jazz. He then took up the trumpet, which he continued to play throughout his time at Ohio State University, where he played in the Jazz Ensemble and...

     – string arrangements, choir arrangements, orchestration
  • Zeena Parkins
    Zeena Parkins
    Zeena Parkins is a harpist active in rock music, free improvisation and jazz. Parkins plays standard harps, as well as several custom-made one-of-a kind electric harps; she also plays piano and accordion...

     – harp, harp arrangements
  • Jack Perron – adaptation to music box
  • Guy Sigsworth
    Guy Sigsworth
    Guy Sigsworth is a U.K. based composer, producer and songwriter. In his career to date he has worked with many famous artists, including Seal, Björk, Goldie, Madonna, Britney Spears, Kate Havnevik, Bebel Gilberto, Mozez, David Sylvian and Alanis Morissette...

     – programming, beat programming, celeste, celeste arrangements, clavichord, clavichord arrangements, choir arrangements
  • Mark "Spike" Stent – mixing
  • Damian Taylor – programming, beat programming, ProTools
  • Caryl Thomas – harp
  • Marius de Vries
    Marius de Vries
    Marius Van Wyk de Vries is an English music producer and composer. He has been behind some of the key albums and soundtracks of recent times, gathering five Grammy nominations, two BAFTAs, and an Ivor Novello award along the way.-Music Producer:...

     – producer, programming, beat programming
  • M/M (Paris) – art direction, design and illustration
  • Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin – photography
  • Patrick Gowers
    Patrick Gowers
    William Patrick Gowers is an English composer mainly known for his film scores.-Film music:Gowers' works include the following music scores: Comic Act , Forever Green , The Hound of the Baskervilles , The Sign of Four , Whoops Apocalypse , Anna Karenina , Smiley's People , I remember...

     – Composer of Vocal and Organ Arrangements on Unison
  • St. Paul's Cathedral Choir, conducted by John Scott
    John Scott (organist)
    John Gavin Scott LVO is an English-born organist and choirmaster. He directed the Choir of St. Paul's Cathedral in London from 1990 to 2004. He now directs the Choir of Men and Boys of Saint Thomas Church on 53rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York City...

     – Choir on Unison

Charts

Country Peak
position
Australia 9
Austria 5
Germany 3
Spain 1
Canada 2
Finland 3
France 1
Italy 2
Japan 6
New Zealand 32
Norway 1
Poland 6
Sweden 7
Switzerland 3
UK Albums Chart
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

8
U.S. Billboard 200
Billboard 200
The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists...

19
U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums
Top Electronic Albums
Dance/Electronic Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated June 30, 2001. It originally began as a fifteen-position chart and has since expanded to twenty-five...

1


Certifications

Region Provider Certification(s)
Canada CRIA
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...

Gold
France SNEP
Syndicat National de l'Edition Phonographique
The Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique is the inter-professional organization which protects the interests of the French record industry...

Gold
United Kingdom BPI
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...

Silver


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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