Icons of Pop Music: Björk by Nicola Dibben

Author: Dibben Nicola (a professor of musicology at the University of Sheffield in England)

Published: November 2008 / March 2009
Publisher: Indiana University Press / Equinox Press

Paperback
27 B&W Illustrations
Pages: 224 / 232
Price: £10.99

ISBN: 0253220653 (ISBN-10: 1845531841 / ISBN-13: 9780253220653)

Description:
This book provides the first music-based account of Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk's solo work to date. She is internationally recognized for her unique and innovative musical style, as well as her collaborative working relationship with artists, musicians, and engineers. Her work blurs boundaries between club and dance culture and "high art." Björk has won many awards, including Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in the film Dancer in the Dark, for which she also wrote and scored the music. Nicola Dibben presents an analysis of audio and video tracks, live performances, and recorded sound, viewed through the critical reception, fanzines, and interviews that surround Björk's music. This analysis reveals recurrent cultural themes: landscape and identity, the relationship between humans and technology, song as a vehicle for emotional expression, and female autonomy. Additional chapters on Björk's compositional process--with newly gathered interview material--and on the critical-musicological approach adopted in the book round out this original study.
Review of the Book by Bookslut
(September 2009)
Content Chapters of the book
Introduction
1. Biographical Overview of her life & career (with an interview with Derek Birkett of One Little Indian Label)
2. Nationalism
3. Nature
4. Technology
5. Sound
6. Emotion
7. Contribution
Discography & Filmography