Family Tree (Björk album)

Family Tree
Box set by Björk
Released November 4, 2002
Genre Electronica
Length 141:09
Label One Little Indian
Producer Various
Björk chronology
Greatest Hits
(2002)		 Family Tree
(2002)		 Live Box
(2003)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Blender [2]
Pitchfork Media (3.6/10)[3]
Stylus Magazine (A-)[4]

Family Tree is a boxed set of musical material by Icelandic singer Björk. The set consists of a book of lyrics entitled "Words", five 3-inch compact discs of rare and previously unreleased material, and a regular-sized compact disc of "Greatest Hits" selected by Björk herself.

Family Tree was released in November 2002, concurrent with the release of Björk's Greatest Hits album, in which the tracks were selected by her fans.

The five 3-inch compact discs include: "Roots CD 1", which features songs recorded before Björk's "second solo debut" (i.e. previous to her 1993 album Debut). This compact disc features songs by her previous bands: KUKL, The Elgar Sisters, and The Sugarcubes. "Roots CD 2" features b-sides and alternate versions of album tracks; "Beats", which focuses on both new and old songs with a heavier electronica influence; and finally "Strings", CDs 1 and 2, which feature live and studio recordings of Björk with the Brodsky Quartet through 1999 and 2000.

The artwork on the CD was done in collaboration with Icelandic contemporary artist Gabríela Friðriksdóttir. The cover consists of a tree with letter on the upper part.

A music video for the song Nature is Ancient, directed by LynnFox, was released in November 2002 to promote the compilation, even though the song was originally released in 1997.

Björk's notes for the project, as featured on the individual CD artworks, reveal that "Immature" and "My Spine" were initially considered to feature on the compilation, as well as track(s) recorded with British composer John Tavener.

Contents

Track listing

It is not recommended to insert any of the smaller discs (i.e. discs 1-5) into slot-loading CD/DVD drives, such as those found on Mac computers, as they may get stuck in the drive.

CD 1: Roots 1

Time length: 14:05.

  1. "Síðasta Ég" (The Elgar Sisters) - 3.00 (Originally released on the Big Time Sensuality single)
  2. "Glóra" (The Elgar Sisters) - 1.42 (Flute instrumental, originally released on the Big Time Sensuality single)
  3. "Fuglar" (KUKL) - 3.00
  4. "Ammæli" (The Sugarcubes) - 3:55 (First time on CD)
  5. "Mamma" (The Sugarcubes) - 02:57

CD 2: Roots 2

Time length: 17:28.

  1. "Immature" - 02:53 (Björk's version, originally released on the Jóga single)
  2. "Cover Me" - 03:07 (Cave version, originally released on the Army of Me single)
  3. "Generous Palmstroke" - 04:42 (Live, also appears on later release Vespertine Live album)
  4. "Jóga" (Strings & Vocals) - 04:42 (Originally released on the Jóga single)
  5. "Mother Heroic" - 02:44 (B-side, originally released on the Hidden Place single)

CD 3: Beats

Time length: 16:28.

  1. "The Modern Things" - 04:11 (Demo version, previously unreleased)
  2. "Karvel" - 04:30 (Originally released on the I Miss You single)
  3. "I Go Humble" - 04:47 (Originally released on the Isobel single)
  4. "Nature Is Ancient" - 03:40 (Originally released, titled as "My Snare", on the Bachelorette single)

CD 4: Strings 1

Time length: 18:18.

All the tracks are string version of the original songs.

  1. "Unravel" - 03:38 (Live at Union Chapel)
  2. "Cover Me" - 02.50 (Live)
  3. "Possibly Maybe" - 04:55 (Live)
  4. "The Anchor Song" - 03:44 (Live)
  5. "Hunter" - 04:31 (Studio)

CD 5: Strings 2

Time length: 19:00.

All the tracks are string versions of the original songs.

  1. "All Neon Like" - 05:07 (Live at Union Chapel)
  2. "I've Seen It All" - 05:59 (Live)
  3. "Bachelorette" - 05:09 (Studio)
  4. "Play Dead" - 03:25 (Studio)

CD 6: Greatest Hits as Chosen by Björk

Time length: 59:25.

  1. "Venus as a Boy" - 04:41
  2. "Hyperballad" - 05:23
  3. "You've Been Flirting Again" - 02:29
  4. "Isobel" - 05:23
  5. "Jóga" - 05:04
  6. "Unravel" - 03:18
  7. "Bachelorette" - 05:17
  8. "All Is Full of Love" - 04:46 (Video version)
  9. "Scatterheart" - 06:39
  10. "I've Seen It All" - 05:29
  11. "Pagan Poetry" - 05:14
  12. "It's Not Up To You" - 05:08

Booklet - Words

  1. "All is Full of Love" (Björk)
  2. "Aurora" (Björk)
  3. "Cocoon" (Björk and Thomas Knak)
  4. "Cover Me" (Björk)
  5. "Headphones" (Björk and Tricky)
  6. "Human Behaviour" (Björk)
  7. "Hyperballad" (Björk)
  8. "Jóga" (Björk and Sjón)
  9. "Pagan Poetry" (Björk)
  10. "Pluto" (Björk and Mark Bell)
  11. "Scatterheart" (Björk, Sjón and Lars von Trier)
  12. "The Anchor Song" (Björk)
  13. "The Modern Things" (Björk)
  14. "Unravel" (Björk)
  15. "Venus as a Boy" (Björk)
  16. "All Neon Like" (Björk)

"Nature Is Ancient"

"Nature Is Ancient" was a promotional song taken from the compilation. Originally, it was a B-side to the "Bachelorette" single, but it was later included on Family Tree. A music video for the song, directed by LynnFox, was released in November 2002 to promote the compilation, even though the song was originally released in 1997.[5] The video was also released on the compilation Greatest Hits - Volumen 1993-2003.

Charts

Chart (2003) Peak
position
U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums 6[6]
France 100[7]
Denmark 39[8]

References

  1. ^ Allmusic review
  2. ^ Blender review
  3. ^ Pitchfork Media review
  4. ^ Stylus Magazine review
  5. ^ http://unit.bjork.com/specials/gh/extra/index.html
  6. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=322&cfgn=Albums&cfn=Top+Electronic+Albums&ci=3048086&cdi=7948218&cid=01%2F11%2F2003
  7. ^ http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?key=36221&cat=a
  8. ^ http://danishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Bj%F6rk&titel=Family+Tree&cat=a

External links

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Family Tree · Live Box · Surrounded · Voltaïc
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