aaamusic | On 11, Mar 2012

On April 16th One Little Indian Records is set to release the first in an eight-part series of remixes of tracks from Björk’s Biophilia. Available on 12” vinyl as well as CD and digital download, the first entry in the series features the Current Value remixes of “Crystalline” and “Solstice.” The series will go on to feature a new collaboration every two weeks with artists 16-bit, King Cannibal, Death Grips, El Guincho, Matthew Herbert, Hudson Mohawke, Alva Noto, and These New Puritans. Each entry in the series will also be made available in a 500-piece limited edition deluxe package designed by m/m with special blue mineral papers and embossed foil lettering consisting of a 12” LP and CD.

The Biophilia 10-track album, out now on One Little Indian/Nonesuch Records, is available digitally, in CD format and on vinyl. Additionally, each of the 10 songs also is available as a special feature of the Biophilia App for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch. App tutorials have been created and can be viewed on youtube HERE

Biophilia was named one of 2011’s Best Apps by Apple and landed on year-end best-of lists from NME, Mojo, The Observer, and Uncut, among others. Fast Company recently named Björk one of the top five most innovative companies in music.

Björk has collaborated with app developers, scientists, writers, inventors, musicians, and instrument makers to create a unique multimedia exploration of the universe and its physical forces—particularly those where music, nature, and technology meet.

The project is inspired by and explores these relationships between musical structures and natural phenomena, from the atomic to the cosmic. The New York Times raves, “the new songs juxtapose hovering textures of choir and organ with sparse pointillism and sudden eruptions of breakbeat drumming, all set against Björk’s idiosyncratic melodies: pithy or sustained, pausing unexpectedly and then snaking upward and opening out to a banshee wail.”

The critically acclaimed Biophilia live show premiered this past summer at the Manchester International Festival (MIF) in England in what The Wall St. Journal called a “magical evening,” followed by a sold out residency in Björk’s hometown of Reykjavik. Björk recently brought the show to New York for a residency at the Roseland Ballroom and New York Hall of Science, where the latter hosted a three-week-long Biophilia education series featuring interactive science and music workshops for middle-school children. Dan Wempa of The New York Hall of Science said of the education series: “Everyone at NYSCI is proud of the great collaboration with Björk and her team to make the Biophilia Education Series a huge success. Together, we gave 60 middle schoolers from Queens and Manhattan an opportunity to learn science, nurture their musical creativity, and get a behind the scenes look at tesla coils, pendulum harps and other instruments they’ve never seen before. An experience the kids won’t forget anytime soon! Congratulations and good luck, Curver, Björk and the entire Biophilia team!”

Initially commissioned by MIF, the intimate performance finds Björk accompanied by a set of unique musical instruments created by a team including an Icelandic organ builder and a graduate of the MIT Media Lab. Among these creations are four 10-foot pendulum-harps, a MIDI-controlled pipe organ celeste re-fitted with bronze gamelan bars, and twin musical Tesla coils. The performance also features an award-winning 24-piece Icelandic female choir and visuals from the Biophilia Apps with app developer Max Weisel performing on stage alongside Björk and musicians Manu Delagu and Zeena Parkins. David Fricke of Rolling Stone called the New York show “Even more immersive than the Biophilia show I saw in Reykjavik last fall…unearthly in its range and force, yet absolutely natural and frank in its ardor and hope, [Björk’s voice] is the vital human tissue connecting everything else.” A version of the program will also tour to major European festivals including Roskilde, Oyez and the iTunes Festival in London.