12/15/2023 0 Comments Bjork debut quality imageThe band's patient approach and blend of Eastern folk and jazz suits the holding out for hope of "One Day" and a harp-boosted "Like Someone in Love", although slowed versions of "Big Time Sensuality" and "Human Behavior" drag and seem a bit clenched and stiff. Instead, a multicultural band that includes a pre-fame Talvin Singh on tabla, longtime Björk collaborator Guy Sigsworth, and the underrated Leila Arab take center stage. (The only absent Unplugged track is "Atlantic".) The set is mostly a muted affair in which the newly solo Björk seems hesitant to be the focus. Most of Debut Live is constructed from the aforementioned Unplugged- the holdout is the much-circulated and elegant harpsichord version of "Venus as a Boy", from a 1995 appearance on Later with Jools Holland. For Björk, it's an appropriate approach because each phase of her solo career has had a distinct personality, look, and sound. The titles are perhaps misleading- each disc isn't a replication of an album in a live setting they're simply named to correspond with each tour. (Let's face it, most hardcore Björk fans were going to buy the live box regardless of what it contained.) The individual releases allow Björk's more fervent fans who held out rather than re-purchase those recordings to collect the albums they don't already own while presenting the less-devoted with the opportunity to pick and choose from among the selections without committing to purchasing an entire box. In some cases, those "best available" recordings are either frequently bootlegged or have appeared on DVD, most notably Björk's Unplugged session and her Post-era Shepherd's Bush Empire set. Originally released last year as a four-disc box (one that included a five-track DVD and a 32-page booklet), Björk's Live series collects the best available recordings from each support tour for her four studio albums. Ironically, then, a quartet of previously released records- some of which contain material that has also already appeared on DVD- is worth the attention of Björk's non-devotees. The much-beloved chanteuse seems to release a new box set, compilation, DVD or multi-part single every other month- and although none of these new products carry malicious intent or are lazily conceived, the eccentricity of some of her releases (particularly the perverse object-fetish box set Family Tree) still seems to have cost her a tiny bit of goodwill. Where that line is drawn is essentially the decision of each individual listener and consumer, but in recent years, a sizeable number of people have no doubt determined that Björk has crossed it. There's a fine line between providing a wealth of material for your fans and exploiting their loyalty and devotion.
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