2005DRAWING RESTRAINT 9

01  Gratitude
02  Pearl
03  Ambergris March
04  Bath
05  Hunter Vessel
06  Shimenawa
07  Vessel Shimenawa
08  Storm
09  Holographic Entrypoint
10  Cetacea
11  Antarctic Return

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GRATITUDE

July 13, 1946

Dear General MacArthur,

With your permission
I offer wishes of good health,
During this heat
That burns anything.

The words I slowly put together
Do not flow easily, they only fill my heart

Recently, fulfilling
Your heart’s desire
You removed the whaling
Moratorium.
Your gesture brings
A much needed food
To our community
And families,

The words I slowly put together
Do not flow easily, they only fill my heart

A million year old fossil
I send to you.
This comes from my family
And the ancient sea.
A prehistoric impression
Of the modern krill,
She feeds the noble whale,
And offers you longevity

The words I slowly put together
Do not flow easily, they only fill my heart

Finally, please take good care in the heat.

Sincerely yours,
Shizuka		  

 

SONG INFO

Vocal: Will Oldham.
Celeste: Jónas Sen.
Harp: Zeena Parkins.
Programming: Valgeir Sigurðsson, Björk.
Keyboard: Nico Muhly.
Arranging & editing: Björk.
Written by Björk and Matthew Barney.
Produced by Björk.

"In the film's moving opening sequence, we hear Will Oldham sing in English the text of a letter from a Japanese citizen to General MacArthur thanking him for lifting the U.S. moratorium on whaling off the nation's coasts; this text was adapted by Matthew Barney and set to music by Björk for harp, here played by Zeena Parkins. Its delicate delivery acknowledges the folk-culture roots of whaling, while it also subtly flags the barbed history and politics surrounding its source text."
Press release written by Drew Daniel.

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PEARL

(throatsinging)		  

 

SONG INFO

Sho: Mayumi Miyata.
Throat singing: Tagaq.
Arranging, editing & programming: Björk.
Written & produced by Björk.

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AMBERGRIS MARCH

(instrumental)		  

 

SONG INFO

Harpsichord: Guðrún Óskarsdóttir.
Crotales, glockenspiel: Samuel Solomon.
Beat programming: Mark Bell, Valgeir Sigurðsson, Björk.
Arranging & editing: Björk.
Written by Björk.
Produced by Björk, Mark Bell & Valgeir Sigurðsson.

"on Ambergris March, Bell fashions a rubbery bassline out of a pattern provided by Björk and based on a traditional Japanese folkdance to celebrate the arrival of the liquid vaseline tanker into the harbor."
Press release text by Drew Daniel

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BATH

(Icelandic lyrics)		  

 

SONG INFO

Vocal: Björk.
Piano treatments: Akira Rabelais.
Arranged & edited by Björk.
Written by Björk & Akira Rabelais.
Produced by Björk.

"Bath sets Björk's lonely voice against the shivering processed textures of Akira Rabelais' computer music to produce a tactile equivalent to the film's bathing sequence"
Press release text by Drew Daniel

Björk sings over an existing song by Akira Rabelais, called 'Aposiopesis'.

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HUNTER VESSEL

(instrumental)		  

 

SONG INFO

Percussion: Samuel Solomon.
Programming, keyboards: Valgeir Sigurðsson.
Brass & woodwind arrangement: Björk.
Written & produced by Björk.

^

SHIMENAWA

(instrumental)		  

 

SONG INFO

Sho: Mayumi Miyata.
Harp: Zeena Parkins, Björk.
Arranging, programming & editing: Björk.
Written & produced by Björk.

^

VESSEL SHIMENAWA

(instrumental)		  

 

SONG INFO

Programming, keyboards: Valgeir Sigurðsson
Brass arrangement: Björk
Written & produced by Björk.

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STORM

(Icelandic/improvisation)		  

 

SONG INFO

Vocal: Björk.
Programming: Leila.
Arranging & editing: Björk.
Written by Björk & Leila.
Produced by Björk.

Previously performed as "Nameless" on the Greatest Hits tour.

"on Storm Leila encrypts a virtual chorus of Björks in a dense and terrifying sheet of distorted processing which musically models the ship's malfunctioning electronics as they are short-circuited by the creeping flow of vaseline."
Press release text by Drew Daniel

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HOLOGRAPHIC ENTRYPOINT

(japanese chanting)		  

TRANSLATION

Vessel, host, occidental guests,
Figure and field, both, carrier, carried.
Holographic paradigm,
The whole in every part.

Warm, viscous body, cooling
In marine air embrace.
Curing, skinning over
A still molten core.

Vessel, host, occidental guests,
Skin seascape in suspension.
Holographic entrypoint,
Each part reflects the whole.

Skin slit, consensual knife,
She cuts his figure, he flenses her field.
External resistance freeing,
Internal relation emerging.

Vessel, host, occidental guests,
To pattern, comes blood, giving form.
Holographic condition,
The whole in every part.

Warm blood, terrestrial guests,
Take to the southern sea, breathing.
Antarctic host and vessel, proud,
Cetacean guests returning.		  

SONG INFO

Noh score and voice performance: Shiro Nomura.
Percussion, chanting: Shonosuke Okura.
Written by Matthew Barney.
Produced by Björk.

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CETACEA

into pattern
flowing blood
giving form

in every part
the whole you see

into pattern
flowing blood
giving form

from the moment of commitment, nature conspires to help you
from the moment of commitment, nature conspires to help you
from the moment of commitment, nature conspires to help you

nature conspires to help you		  

 

SONG INFO

Celeste: Jónas Sen. Harp: Zeena Parkins.
Crotales: Samuel Solomon.
Percussion, chanting: Shonosuke Okura.
Programming: Björk, Valgeir Sigurðsson.
Arranging & editing: Björk.
Music by Björk.
Words written by Björk& Matthew Barney

^

ANTARCTIC RETURN

(instrumental)		  

 

SONG INFO

Sho: Mayumi Miyata.
Written & produced by Björk.