''Gling-Gló'' is the only studio album by
Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar
Björk Guðmundsdóttir & tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar was an Icelandic jazz music band. The band formed in 1990 when singer and songwriter Björk, who at the time sang for The Sugarcubes, joined the tríó Guðmundar Ingólfssonar with pian ...
, consisting of
Björk Guðmundsdóttir on vocals, Guðmundur Ingólfsson on piano, Guðmundur Steingrímsson on drums, and Þórður Högnason on bass. The album's title "Gling-gló" is the
Icelandic equivalent of the English
onomatopoeia
Onomatopoeia is the process of creating a word that phonetically imitates, resembles, or suggests the sound that it describes. Such a word itself is also called an onomatopoeia. Common onomatopoeias include animal noises such as ''oink'', '' ...
"ding dong", referring to the sound that a
bell
A bell is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be made by an inte ...
makes.
Most of the songs were recorded on 1 September and 3 September 1990 at Stúdio Sýrland, except for two tracks, which were recorded on 23 August 1990. It was produced by Tómas Magnús Tómasson, the bassist of Stuðmenn. The album was released in October 1990 by
Smekkleysa. It received mixed reviews by critics.
Background and recording
Most of the songs were recorded on 1 September and 3 September 1990 at Stúdio Sýrland. "Ruby Baby" and "I Can't Help Loving that Man" were recorded on 23 August 1990 on Ríkisútvarpið (National Icelandic Broadcasting Service) for ''Djasskaffi'', a radio programme hosted by Ólafur Þórðarsson. It was produced by Tómas Magnús Tómasson, the bassist of Stuðmenn.
Composition
Most of the songs are sung in
Icelandic.
Several of these songs are covers of jazz standards translated and sung in Icelandic. Three are sung with a noticeably different musical arrangement: "Bílavísur" (originally "
The Blacksmith Blues"), "Ég veit ei hvað skal segja" (Theresa Brewer's "
Ricochet Romance") and "Pabbi minn" ("
O Mein Papa "" is a nostalgic German song, originally as related by a young woman remembering her beloved, once-famous clown father. It was written by Swiss composer Paul Burkhard in 1939 for the musical ' (''The Black Pike''), reproduced in 1950 as '' Das Feue ...
").
"Þad sést ekki sætari mey" is misattributed in the liner notes as a "
Rodgers & Hammerstein
Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...
" composition,
but is instead an interpolation of
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook.
Born in Imperial Russ ...
's "You Can't Get a Man with a Gun" from the musical ''
Annie Get Your Gun''.
Track listing
Personnel
*
Björk Guðmundsdóttir – vocals, harmonica
* Guðmundur Ingólfsson – piano, tambourine
* Þórður Högnason – bass
* Guðmundur Steingrímsson – drums, maracas, Christmas bells
* Tómas Magnús Tómasson – production, mixing
* Georg Magnússon – technician
* Óskar Jónasson – photography, cover
Credits adapted from the liner notes of ''Gling-Gló''.
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Notes
References
External links
Björk official websiteLyrics to ''Gling-Gló'' album songs
(in Icelandic)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gling-Glo
1990 debut albums
Björk albums
Jazz albums by Icelandic artists
Vocal jazz albums
Icelandic-language albums
One Little Independent Records albums