Instant Expert
1 Bjork was born November 21, 1965, in Reykjavik1, Iceland. The road to becoming Iceland's most well known musician does not come without hard work. Young Bjork started her musical training by studying the flute2, piano and voice. Bjork was no stranger to rock music; her stepfather was also a member of a rock band in Iceland.
2 Bjork recorded her first album3 at the age 11, which made her a star in Iceland. She bought a piano with the $4000 she made from the record.
3 As a child she was involved in several bands, such as Spit & Snot4 and Exodus5. Later, as a teenager, Bjork was involved with several bands of considerably6 more merit7: Tappi8, Kukl9 and Sugarcubes10. She released two albums with each of these bands, but neither undertaking really got anywhere11.
4 It wasn't difficult for Bjork to pursue a successful solo12 career, since she was undeniably13 the star of the Sugarcubes. On her own after having broken up with14 her husband, Bjork moved to London with her son in 1993, ready to begin her solo career.
5 Bjork took home the Best Actress award at the 53rd Cannes15 Film Festival, for her role in Dancer in the Dark16. Playing a factory worker in the film, she also wrote and performed the film's score17.
6 Bjork composed the song “Oceania18” and performed it at the Opening Ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. The single was included in her 2004 album Medulla19. “I am incredibly honored to have been asked to write a song and sing it at the Olympics. The song is written from the point of view of the ocean that surrounds all the land and watches over20 the humans to see how they are doing after millions of years of evolution. It sees no borders, different races or religion, which has always been at the core of these games.”
Why we like her?
We're big fans of her music, and we love interviews with her. She's not the world's most beautiful or glamorous21 woman, but she's one of the best singers around, and she can always make us laugh.
Why she is famous?
The most popular musician to come out of Iceland, Bjork's career has soared22 from her Kukl and Sugarcubes days, to become part of the music industry's New Wave and a tremendously23 successful solo artist. Bjork is one of the world's most eccentric24 women. Her songs are a reflection of her character: crazy, New Age, exuberant25, and funny.
Interview
What music do you consider quintessentially26 Icelandic?
I would say that Icelandic choral27 music is pretty typically Icelandic. First of all, we didn't get modernized until fifty years ago. We were a colony, and we were really, really poor. Iceland was, like, medieval28 until 1944. Concert houses, or even just pianos or guitars or violins, were sort of unheard-of here. We would have harmoniums29 in the churches, and that would be about it. And the other thing that probably comes across in our choral music is that in Iceland there was no hierarchy30. No aristocrat31, middle class, lower class—everyone was just sort of poor. So the voices are not trained; anyone can sing those songs. It's really down-to-earth32 and honest.
What do you listen to when you're trying to catch positive33 energy?
Part of me just wants to have fun and dance around and listen to Justin Timberlake34. And then I seem to have totally the opposite—like the scientist who is searching for a secret. I like to go into secondhand shops and look over all the piles of records and CDs and find the one thing that you just know is going to save your week. You need to have loads of35 time, and you just go in the shop and let go.
What's the first musical sound you remember hearing?
I used to stay with my grandparents. And my granddad used to take care of me on Sunday morning, because that was the morning that my grandmom could sleep in36. So he would first make me porridge37, and then he would take me down to the harbor and we would look at the boats and eat ice cream. I was, like, five years old, and I remember hearing the horns of the ships and thinking that it sounded gorgeous38. That was one of the first times when I felt everything was music and everything was wonderful.
Do you have an ipod39?
Yeah, but I don't use it that much. I'm so clumsy40. I keep dropping things on the floor, and iPods are really fragile41. When I'm DJ'ing at my friend's bar, I take my iBook42 and DJ from that.
资料速递
1. 1965年11月21日，比约克出生于冰岛的雷克雅未克。要成为冰岛最著名的音乐人并没那么轻松。年幼的比约克要学习长笛、钢琴和声乐，由此开始了她的音乐训练。比约克对摇滚乐并不陌生，她的继父同样也是冰岛某摇滚乐队的成员。
2. 11岁时，比约克就录制了自己的首张专辑，使得她一跃成为冰岛的明星。她用该专辑赚得的4，000美元买了架钢琴。
3. 孩提时代，她就加入过好几个乐队，像Spit & Snot和Exodus。少年时期，比约克又加盟过几个档次较高的乐队：Tappi， Kukl和Sugarcubes。与每个乐队合作期间她都发行了两张专辑，但却没有一张是真正成功的。
4. 对比约克来说，谋求成功的单飞事业并不困难，因为她就是Sugarcubes乐队无可否认的明星。与丈夫分手后，比约克独自带着儿子于1993年移居伦敦，准备开始自己的独唱生涯。
5. 凭借《黑暗中的舞者》，比约克捧回了第53届戛纳电影节最佳女演员奖。她在影片中饰演一名工人，同时她还是电影主题曲的创作者和演唱者。
6. 希腊雅典2004年夏季奥运会的开幕式上，比约克创作并演唱了歌曲《海洋母亲》。这支单曲收录在她2004年的专辑《精髓》中，“难以置信，我竟有幸应邀写这样一首歌，还能在奥运会上演唱它。歌曲从围绕着陆地、关注着人类的海洋视角出发，看看人类经过数百万年的进化之后生活得怎么样。在它眼里，没有国界，没有种族或宗教之分，而这些也一直是体育运动的精髓。”
我们为什么喜欢她？
我们是她的超级歌迷，我们喜欢看有关她的访谈。她不是世界上最漂亮或最有魅力的女人，但她却是世界上最棒的歌手之一，而且她总能让我们开怀大笑。
她为什么出名？
比约克，这位来自冰岛最受欢迎的艺人，她的事业已经远远超越了她在Kukl 和 Sugarcubes的时候，成为音乐界新浪潮的一部分，她已是一位相当成功的独唱歌手。比约克还是世上最搞怪的女人之一，她的歌就是其性格的写照：疯狂、新潮、活力十足，同时妙趣横生。
访谈
你认为什么音乐才是真正具有冰岛本土特色的？
应该说冰岛的合唱音乐是具有典型冰岛特色的。首先，我们直到50年前才实现了现代化。我们过去是殖民地，并且的的确确很贫困。1944年以前，冰岛一直像个中世纪国家。音乐厅、甚至连钢琴、吉他和小提琴这里都没有听说过。教堂里或许还有脚踏风琴，但仅此而已。另一个形成我们合唱音乐特色的是冰岛没有等级制。没有贵族、中产阶级和下层阶级的分别，大家都一样穷，所以演唱者的嗓音都是未经训练的，任何人都可以唱这些歌。冰岛音乐真的很朴实无华。
当你想提劲儿的时候，你会听什么音乐？
有时我只想娱乐一下，跳跳舞、听听贾斯汀·廷伯雷克的歌。而有时我似乎又与此完全相反——就像是一个探秘的科学家。我喜欢去二手商店，在成堆的唱片和CD中搜寻，找到能让我一整周都过得很开心的东西。你需要大量时间，然后你只要走进商店，一切任其自然。
记忆里，你听到的第一声音乐是什么？
我过去常和祖父母在一起。祖父一般在星期天早上照看我，因为那个时间祖母都在单位值班。他会先给我煮麦片粥，然后带我去港口，我们在那儿一起看船、吃冰淇淋。那时我大概5岁，我还记得听到船上传来的汽笛声，感觉棒极了。那是我第一次觉得一切都是音乐，一切都那么美好。
你有ipod吗？
有，但不经常用。我很笨，总会把东西掉到地上，ipod又很容易摔坏。当我在朋友酒吧里做DJ时，我总是带上我的手提电脑，用它来做。
1. Reykjavik n. 冰岛首都，雷克雅未克
2. flute n. 长笛
3. album n. 唱片集，专辑
4. Spit & Snot 比约克加入的第一支乐队（1979年）。
5. Exodus 比约克在1980年组建的一支后朋克乐队。
6. considerably adv. 相当地
7. merit n. 价值
8. Tappi 比约克十五岁时组建的一个后朋克乐队，1983年解散。
9. Kukl 比约克与Eina Orn和Sigtryggur Baldursson于1983年组建的乐队，1986年解散。
10. Sugarcubes 冰岛的前卫流行六重唱乐队，比约克曾为该乐队主唱，于1992年解散。
11. get anywhere 有任何结果，有任何进展
12. solo n. 独奏；独唱
13. undeniably adv. 不可否认地
14. break up with 与…分手
15. Cannes n. 戛纳
16. Dancer in the Dark 《黑暗中的舞者》，比约克2000年与丹麦导演合作的一部电影。她凭此获得了第53届戛纳电影节最佳女演员，第13届欧洲电影奖最佳女演员和第13届欧洲电影奖最佳女演员观众奖等诸多奖项。
17. score n. 总谱
18. Oceania n. 大洋洲。此处指歌曲名。
19. medulla n. 骨髓，精髓
20. watch over 保护，照看
21. glamorous adj. 富有魅力的
22. soar v. 高飞，翱翔
23. tremendously adv. 巨大地，极度地
24. eccentric adj. 古怪的，怪异的
25. exuberant adj. 丰富的，活力充沛的
26. quintessentially adv. 本质上，基本上
27. choral adj. 合唱的，唱诗班的
28. medieval adj. 中世纪的；原始的
29. harmonium n. 脚踏式风琴
30. hierarchy n. 等级制度
31. aristocrat n. 贵族
32. down-to-earth adj. 实事求是的，现实的，诚实的
33. positive n. 确定的；正面的，积极的
34. Justin Timberlake美国流行小天王，原为'N Sync成员
35. loads of 大量的
36. sleep in 在工作场所住宿
37. porridge n. 麦片粥
38. gorgeous adj. (口) 宜人的，令人满意的
39. ipod: 苹果公司出品的MP3播放器
40. clumsy adj. 笨拙的，笨重的
41. fragile adj. 脆弱的，易碎的
42. iBook：苹果公司出品的一种手提电脑