Björk "Cirkus Björk"

Track-list: "Le petit chavalier/Headphones", "Army of me", "The modern things", "Human behaviour", "Isobel", "Venus as a boy", "I go humble", "The anchor song", "Hyperballad", "Enjoy", "I miss you", "Crying", "Violently happy", "5 years", "It's oh so quiet", "Big time sensuality"

All tracks recorded live 1995.

This live-documentation of Björk's visit to Gothenborg in Sweden during the "Post"-tour in 1995, starts with a pre-recorded à cappella-version of the traditional French children's song "Le petit chavalier", assisted by the restless audience, crying for the Icelandic singer. When Björk finally comes on stage, she opens surprisingly, by performing the sparse, electronic lullaby "Headphones". An act aimed to set the audience in the right mood before the crashing drum-sounds of "Army of me". Björk brought an Asian accordion-player on the tour, who successfully replaces all of the original string- and brass-arrangements in her songs, and makes these live-versions sound quite different from the album-versions. She surprises the audience by performing the harpshicord-version of "Venus as a boy" and a beautiful accordion-version of "The anchor song". Otherwise these songs are more based on the drum-programming than the original versions and the accordion creates a very interesting contrast to the softly distorted electronics. "Enjoy" sounds completely smashing, with church-organ-like keyboards creating an eery atmosphere while mixed with the Over the edge-like drum-programming. The definite high-light is the early version of "I dare you", sounding a lot darker and noisier than the version that ended up on "Homogenic". It's followed by a completely amazing accordion-based(!) take on "It's oh so quiet", where Björk is playing and experimenting a lot with her voice. She closes the set with a very beautiful remake of "Big time sensuality", assisted by a single organ, which allows the listener to focus more on her incredible vocalizations, adding lots of improvised Gibberish phrases. Overall, this is an outstanding live-documentation catching a cheerful, energic Björk having a good time with her songs. A recommended listen!