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QUOTE |
Interview by David
Hemingway. Reprinted by kind permission
of Record Collector. |
I guess the
microbeats were from me getting heavily into my laptop and just trying
to enjoy the music from its speakers. The songs on Vespertine are
introvert. I tried to make it frozen, winterlike. It's an inside
album, a domestic album, I had loads and loads of beats for 'Hidden
Place' but it still wasn't up enough. Matthew Herbert came for a visit
in the studio and offered to do it. He ran away to his studio and came
back after a few hours later with a DAT. |
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QUOTE |
CDnow, July 27
2001 |
I guess 'Hidden
Place' is sort of about how two people can create a paradise just by
uniting. You've got an emotional location that's mutual. And it's
unbreakable. And obviously it's make-believe.
So, you could argue that it doesn't exist because it's invisible, but
of course it does. And it's sort of a one-nil situation. Or, if you
believe in something high enough - I mean, maybe at first when you
mention it, and you talk about it and it doesn't exist. It might be
artificial, but you just keep on believing in it and it grows strong.
It'll become real, you know. And I guess that's something, sort of the
human spirit conquering the dullness and boredom. |
|
INTERVIEW |
M/M (Paris)
reservocation.com, #06 november 2001 |
Is the "Verspertine" CD package and video your first project for
Björk?
Our collaboration with her started in 1998, when she commissioned us
together with photographers Inez Van Lamsweerde and Vinoodh Matadin
for the sleeve of her compilation of videos, "Volumen". A year later
she asked us again to think about her book project "Björk" as
designers/editors, which is soon to be published by Little-I in the UK
and Bloomsbury in the US. Then came the video, which was originally
planned for a song from the "Dancer in the Dark" soundtrack. She was
cherishing the project, but decided to postpone it a bit as she was
writing new material she felt would fit even better with our initial
ideas. It then became the video for "Hidden Place", the first single
from "Vespertine". At the very end, she decided to ask the four of us
to do the sleeve, as well.
How do you approach a project like this?
Like any other project--same involvement, same interest. Our
collaboration with her has been growing naturally and with mutual
confidence over the years.
Did you deal with Björk directly or did art direction come from
Elektra, the record label?
Elektra is only the licensed label for the U.S. She commissions
everything by herself, and is very instinctive... no control freak.
What was she like to work with?
Genius, genuine, generous, and above all, trustful.
What was it like co-directing the video for "Hidden Place"?
Spending four days in an empty, frozen 10,000 square foot studio
shooting close-ups of a face and some liquids pouring over a mask was
an unforgettable experience. Then spending days and days and days in
some dark rooms looking at ever-changing-color-balance TV monitors in
the back of an operator. Eating bad sandwiches, crisps and sushi.
Where did the idea come from to shoot the video for "Hidden Place"
without any cuts? Close-up shots panning around the face fit in very
nicely with the theme of the song, as well.
We always wanted to get as close to her as we could, as we all felt
she had never been portrayed as the "real" and beautiful woman she is.
This is somehow taboo, to observe a pop star with no makeup from a
distance of half an inch. Then the idea of the liquid works as a
visualization of all possible emotions pulsating and circulating in
her very busy brain. The loop idea was a main point for us as well,
trying to extend the usual time frame of pop video super-fast editing,
to make it hypnotising, mesmerising and irritating, like an eternally
burning fireplace.
Did any good stories come out during the making of the project?
She cooks good pasta with cream and caviar and sing-a-long Boney M
tunes.
|
|
REVIEW |
NME |
The return
of pop's last white witch throws up no great surprises, which is just
fine. The chief new flavour here appears to be Björk's full immersion
in some nebulous prog-folk realm of fairies and pixies. Breathless
with wild-eyed wonder, the Icelandic one sings of finding solace and
sanctuary in secret hideaways and pagan forests. Even the florid
sleeve draws from the same fertile hinterland of ripe imagery, looking
like it was scribbled by a team of stoned goblins in about 1873. The
tune, you say? Who needs an actual tune when the birth of
Wicca-tronica is upon us? Burn the witch! Burn the witch!
full article
|
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REVIEW |
live4now |
Not so
long ago, the government of Iceland gave Bjork her own island in
recognition of her services to music – and the ethereal landscape
seems to have affected her rather. This is ethereal. Seriously fairy.
What little percussion there is isn’t at all normal and is subdued
almost immediately by very spooky, female-Yorke-esque vocals and just
general weirdness. As a chill-out tune it’s superb. As casual
listening it’s lacking something, i.e., casualness, but hey. It’s
perfect Bjork, really, and the best work she’s done since the Dancer
in the Dark soundtrack. Pretty good, actually, once you relax enough
to let it penetrate…
full article
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through the warmthest cord of care
your love was sent to me
i'm not sure what to do with it
or where to put it
i'm so close to tear
and so close to -
simply calling you up
and simply suggesting
we go to that hidden place
now, i have been slightly shy
but i can smell a pinch of hope
to almost have allowed once fingers
to stroke
the fingers i was given to touch with
but careful careful
there lies my passion hidden -
there lies my love
i'll hide it under a blanket -
lull it to sleep
i'll keep it in a hidden place
he's the beautifullest -
fragilest - still strong
dark and divine
and the littleness of his movements
hides himself
he invents a charm
that makes him invisible
hides in the hair
can i hide there too?
hide in the hair of him
seek solace
s a
n c
t u
a
r y
in that hidden place |
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|
|
aug
2001.
cd in
jewelcase
01. hidden place
- edit
02.
generous palmstroke
03.
verandi |
|
aug
2001. cd in
jewelcase
01.
hidden place - acapella
02.
mother heroic
03.
foot soldier |
|
aug
2001. reg0 dvd in
jewelcase
01.
hidden place - edit
02.
generous palmstroke
03.
verandi
features music video |
|
REVIEW |
rottentomatoes.com |
One adjective that can never be used to described Icelandic pop
musician Björk is "predictable." Constantly altering her sound and
collaborating with cutting-edge artists, Björk is always looking
toward the future of music. This is very apparent when watching HIDDEN
PLACE, her music video directed by Inez van Lamsweerde, Vinoodh
Matadin, and M/M. In addition, this release includes audio-only
versions of "Generous Palmstroke" and "Verandi." |
|
REVIEW |
rottentomatoes.com |
’Hidden Place’ is about love in a cold climate,
about retreating from it all with a certain someone: “I’m simply so
close / to calling you up / I’m simply suggesting / we go to that
hidden place”. she purrs over gentle, sweeping, skittering electro. So
fresh and so clean, the music is like a cool, sharp breath of fresh
air. Spacious like empty, ice-blue Icelandic skies; pretty like tiny,
brightly colourful tundra flowers. A song, a wish to shut the door
against the snow and the howl of the outside and to wrap up snugly
together. A Venus and a boy in furs. Drifting into a private world
whilst snowflakes melt on eyelashes. And, at last, freedom. |
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