Selmasongs: Dancer In The Dark (2000 Film)

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Inspired by the film Dancer in the Dark's Broadwayesque emotional sweep, Björk stretches herself with orchestral mood swings and a darker, more experimental palette. The result is the most difficult record she's made since her Sugarcubes days, but a few listens reveal the thrilling heart of a truly multifaceted and immensely brave composer. --Matthew Cooke

In Dancer in the Dark, Björk plays Selma, a Czech mother who labors furiously in order to save her son from an inherited disease that will cause blindness. In the midst of all her hardship, the one thing that keeps her spirits up is musicals. Here lies the premise of the Selmasongs EP. The seven tracks sound like something straight out of a Gene Kelly movie but with one major addendum: Björk's wildly imaginative, postmodern songwriting. The movie's theme of fantasy coexisting with urban industrial bleakness is represented in two recurring elements: mechanical friction (expressed rhythmically in the sounds of train tracks, car engines, chains, and even chalk) and dreamy escapism (manifested in enormous orchestral swells of strings, harp, and other fanciful instrumentation). "Cvalda" is typical of the EP's duality. Industrial noise bleeds into Björk's scatting "Clatter! Crash! Clack! Rattle!" then dives head first into a wonderful tap-dancing-on-a tin-roof, big-band cacophony. The EP's showstopper, the rousing "In the Musicals 1 & 2," sounds like it was conducted with a magic wand. Beginning with Aphex Twin-inspired beats bouncing like a ball bearing dribbled hard on pavement, the intricate rhythmic choreography tromps, flits, and changes direction with seamless angularity. These aren't just songs to dance to, these are songs that dance. --Beth Massa