The Sugarcubes

作为流行音乐圈中音域最为宽广的歌手之一，Bjork Gudmundsdottir（既是Bjork）把主要的精力都花在创作一些艺术和实验性很强的音乐，来跟主流音乐抗争。 大多数人都以为她一直一个人做音乐， 故而当得知她1993年单飞前曾经和三个不同的乐队合作发行过专辑时显得很惊讶。 事实上，这个古怪精灵的天才自从16岁开始就有自己有关名声荣誉的判断尺度。
出生在冰岛的Reykjavik时，没有任何明显迹象表明某天 Bjork将成为世界知名的冰岛音乐家。 还是一个孩子的时候，她就开始练习长笛、钢琴和声乐。1979年，加入了第一个乐队。 十五岁时，她组建了Tappi Tikarass这个组合，一个受 Siouxie and the Banshees强烈影响的post-punk乐队。1982年，乐队的两首歌收入到一个叫Rock in Reykjavik的冰岛New Wave运动的记录片里，结果， Bjork很快就被认定为这个领域内最有希望的天才。
1983年，Bjork和其他一些冰岛New Wave明星被邀到一起，组成一个超级组合来做一个特别的电台节目。 她和其他几个成员（里面有Eina Orn和Sigtryggur Baldursson）相处得非常好。这样到了这年的秋天，他们组成了一只名为Kukl的新乐队。 到1983年Tappi Tikarass第二张也是最后一张专辑出来时，Bjork已把自己的主要精力都投放到Kukl上了。 接下来的两年里，她和乐队发行了共发行了两张传辑，在欧洲作巡回演出，开始形成一种带爵士味的政治性post-punk的风格。但到了1986年中，Kukl却解散了。
Bjork跟她的吉他手丈夫Thor Eldon在1986年6月8日有了一个儿子Sindir，于此的同一天， 她组建了一个新乐队，除了这对幸福的新父母之外，还有几个Kukl的旧成员。 到了年底，他们最终确定了乐队的名字Sykurmolanir，用英文来说是Sugarcubes。 乐队梦幻般的单曲"Birthday"的冰岛语版在1987年获得了巨大的成功， 也给他们带来了一份跟Elektra公司的合约。1988年秋季， 他们的首张专辑"Life is Too Good"在美国发行， 获得了极好的评论。 除"Birthday"之外，喧嚣刺耳或者有点让人迷惑的"Motorcrash"也受到些许青睐。 乐队的第二张CD，"Here Today Tomorrow Next Week"，却没有以前那么幸运了。1990年， Bjork抽出一些时间录制了"Gling Glo"，这是张传统冰岛爵士唱片。
尽管Sugarcubes 1992的第三张专辑"Stick Around for Joy"还附带了一张合乎适宜的命名单曲， 乐队在年内迟些时候解散了。之前，乐队的麻烦主要集中在Bjork身上； 她单飞的倾向越来越明显。Sugarcubes的天鹅绝唱"It is it" 在1992年发行，后来又发行了一张舞曲重混专辑，它也预示了Bjork的单飞。
与Thor分手后， 1993年Bjork带着儿子来到了伦敦。这次迁居让她可以跟不列颠舞曲界的许多制作人合作。当中非常优秀的一个（Nellee Hooper）为她首张个人专辑"Debut"掌舵制作。 专辑定音鼓、采样机和吉他贯穿始终的单曲 "Human Behaviour" 发行量巨大。在此帮助下， Debut受到了差异巨大的评价，被Rolling Stone视为垃圾却又为其他许多乐人所称颂。数字叙述了事实：Debut的销售量最终确定了Bjork在美国的地位。
1995年，Bjork推出了更富忧郁色调的"Post"。它没有获得像Debut那样的销量，尽管推出了大型娱乐性的Busby Berkeley风格的Video"Blow a Fuse(It is Oh So Quiet)"，Bjork做了一个爵士大乐团一样狂妄的尝试。 1997年早期，"Telegram"开始发行，其中几乎每首Post里的歌要么被重新混缩，要么被重新录制， 合作者也包括Dillinja、Deodato和Brodsky四重奏等许多人。
进入崭新的世纪以后，Bjork的艺术生命中如今了电影的因素，她主演的影片《黑暗中的舞者》获得了业内人事的称赞。 前不久它的最新专辑问世，这一切都让我们看到， 这位乐坛的常青树仍然具有了非常灿烂的艺术生命......
The Sugarcubes were the biggest group ever to emerge from Iceland, which helps explain their off-kilter sense of melody. Their 1988 debut, Life's Too Good, attracted terrific reviews and became a college radio hit, but they never were able to recapture that sense of excitement.
According to group legend, the Sugarcubes formed on June 8, 1986, the day that vocalist Björk (born Björk Gundmundsdottir) gave birth to her son. Prior to that day, the members of the group had been a variety of Icelandic bands. Björk had the longest career out of any of the members. When she was 11 years old, the vocalist had recorded a children's album. In her late teens, she joined the Icelandic post-punk band Tappi Tikarrass, who released two albums before splitting in 1983. Drummer Siggi Baldursson (born Sigtryggur Baldursson, October 2, 1962) was a member of þeyr (aka Theyr), whose most prominent international moment came in 1982, when they recorded with Youth and Jaz Coleman of Killing Joke. At the same time Theyr was popular within Iceland, Einar Benediktsson and Bragi Olafesson formed a punk band called Purrkur Pillnikk, which released records on Benediktsson's own label, Gramm. By 1984, Björk, Benediktsson, and Baldursson had joined forces, forming K.U.K.L. with keyboardist Einar Mellax. K.U.K.L. -- which means witch in Icelandic -- was an noisy, artsy post-punk band that released several singles on the independent British record label Crass. In 1986, K.U.K.L. evolved into the Sugarcubes, adding Björk's then-husband Thor Eldon on guitar and Bragi Olafesson on bass.
In late 1987, the band signed to One Little Indian in the U.K., Elektra Records in the U.S. The Sugarcubes released their debut album, Life's Too Good, in 1988 to critical acclaim in both the U.K. and the U.S. "Birthday," the first single from the album, became an indie hit in Britain and a college radio hit in America. In particular, Björk received a heap of praise, which began tensions between her and Benediktsson. By the time the group recorded its second album, Thor had divorced Björk and married Magga Ornolfsdottir, who became the group's keyboardist after Einar Mellax left. Furthermore, Olafesson divorced his wife -- who happened to be the twin sister of Baldursson's wife -- and married Benediktsson, making their union the first openly gay marriage in pop music.
Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!, the Sugarcubes' second album, was released in 1989. The album featured a greater vocal contribution by Einar, which was criticized in many of the record's reviews, which were noticeably weaker than those for Life's Too Good. After the release of Here Today, Tomorrow Next Week!, the band embarked on a lengthy international tour. At the conclusion of the tour in late 1990, the bandmembers pursued their own individual interests. Stick Around for Joy, the band's third album, was released in 1992; before the record appeared, a collection of remixes called It's-It was released in Europe. Stick Around for Joy received better reviews than Life's Too Good, but the album failed to yield a hit single. Following its release, the Sugarcubes disbanded. In 1993, Björk launched a critically acclaimed and commercially successful solo career that was based in dance music.