10 Perfect Music Albums That Defined The 90s
9. Bjork: Post (1995)
The Icelandic enigma, Bjork, came to represent popular electronic music at its best. UK based groups like Massive Attack and Portishead had helped bring underground trends to the mainstream. Trip-hop was becoming popular and acid-house, and rave culture were rampant. Bjork incorporated all of these trends into her second album, Post.
She capitalised on the emerging trends, to create experimental pop music, whilst helping inform and develop them. The similarities to Massive Attack's early work was there to be noticed, but it's no surprise considering Tricky helped produce several tracks. But there was all manor of influences in her work. Bjork was living in London at the time, soaking up the musical culture. The result was a pop album that felt like an underground take on industrial-disco, fused with pop-centric vocal melodies. It's a record that feels both unhinged, while staying completely in control.
Even today this album sounds bizarre and futuristic. You have elements of acid house on tracks like Hyberballad. But Bjork also laced the album with a number of jazz pieces, notably, a cover of Betty Hutton's, It's Oh So Quiet. It's a strange juxtaposition, when set next to all the industrial-inspired trip hop, but it balances the record out. Post serves as both, an enjoyable piece of pop music, and a captivating piece of art-electronica.