Björk - Thunderbolt (music video)

[Video Link]

Boing Boing is proud to present an exclusive debut: the video for Björk's "Thunderbolt," from her new album, Biophilia.

Björk tells us:

Am playing live shows in reykjavik at the moment. Here comes a recording of thunderbolt live. Please please, do me a favour and use headphones or proper speakers when you listen.

warmth,

Björk."

You can buy the new record here. Tour dates here.

VIDEO CREDITS: Director: thirtytwo. Producer: Dan Bowen. Production Company: Pulse Films.

(Editor's Note: The record label has geo-blocked the video. They explain that this is because they do not have worldwide rights to the content. This is a bummer. Depending on where you are in the world, you may have problems viewing. We apologize. There are crafty workarounds.—XJ)

• [chris arkenberg]

  Love it! Especially the beat-driven tesla coil. And the fro, of course.

• [jeligula]

  Bjork is the most wonderful weirdo our planet has to offer.  And very brave, wearing that hair that close to electrical discharges.  I have the Logitech Z313 speaker system with a subwoofer and Realtek digital audio drivers.  I hope that will satisfy her.

  • [elevatedprimate]

    It looks like that Tesla coil is inside a Faraday cage. Otherwise, it might have electrocuted Bjork and the entire choir along with her.

• [Jamie Sue]

  It’s got a nice sci-fi feel to it.  

• [nosehat]

  The record label has geo-blocked the video. This is a bummer.

  Perhaps this is a naive question, but why can’t Boing Boing make “not geo-blocked” a requirement for the music videos that you negotiate to promote?

  PS:  Thanks for bringing us this one!

• [Aaron Swain]

  I heard she was using a Tesla coil in conjunction with the arpeggios in live performance. I was just expecting one a bit…..bigger.

• [SSKomik]

  Kinda dumb to have a video aimed at promoting something international, then not letting most of the world see it.

  I guess Bjork wasn’t planning on selling anything in Canada, then.

  • [media_lush]

    and the UK…… a bit of a Boing Boing fail!

• [digithed]

  “THE VIDEO YOU ARE TRYING TO WATCH CANNOT BE VIEWED FROM YOUR CURRENT COUNTRY OR LOCATION” – Lame!

• [johngoad]

  Great Song … I like it even better that it is an exclusive at my favorite blog thingy.

• [Aaron Swain]

  Leave it to Björk to bring back the disco wedge.
  Take that, Diana Ross!

• [Blinde Schildpad]

  The video you are trying to watch cannot be viewed from your current country or location.

  But I am on the internet, goddammit.

• [awjt]

  You know Bjork personally???  Christ, that’s just plain awesome.

• [Dale]

  Still operating on the outer edges of the musical frontier….thankfully…… 

  • [Tedhealey]

    Yet utterly backwards with distribution!

• [mattxblack]

  By the time they’ve un-geoblocked the video I’ll have doubtless forgotten about this it and will never get to see it.

• [Nathan Hornby]

  I agree with a poster above, it would be nice if BoingBoing would only host non geo-locked content (at least music videos, it’s more understandable for some video content).

  At least tell us where it isn’t geolocked so we can circumvent it with minimal effort.

  Although I don’t like Bjork, so this is a bit of an unjustified rant…

• [manicbassman]

  ah yes… Geo-Blocking… that is so last century thinking from these dinosaurs…

  They just don’t get it do they…

• [benher]

  Geo-cock-blocked. Again. Boo!

• [wildemar]

  How is this rant unjustified because you don’t like Björk? Surely you’re not trying to say that region blocking of content is OK for things you don’t like. ;)

  Also: Boo! Most uncool. This might have been the video that made me buy the album. Too bad I couldn’t watch it (Germany), so we’ll never know.

  edit: This was meant to be a reply to Nathan Hornby above. Not sure why that didn’t take.

• [Neil Bruder]

  While I completely agree it’s incredibly lame to geo-block it’s also trivial to circumvent so there’s no reason anyone should miss seeing this just because they’re not in the US.

• [Michael Valera]

  Bjork gets a lot of grief for being weird (when is that ever really a bad thing as an artist?), and i find her songs to be beautiful, unique and meaningful. There are a lot of amazing artists from her side of the world that share a lot of these same qualities, whenever i’m having a tough day i listen to Bjork and the like (:

• [gunblade_09]

  who cares about the block just watch the vid somewhere else !STFU this about the song not the blocking ! the artist not the label!

  • [MrWednesday7]

    So you’re in the US then.

• [Aeryche]

  For those that don’t mind bending the rules, Tunnelbear will get you access to the video. just download it and click the “i’m in the US” slider. your web browser will think you’re in the US and can see this video. http://www.tunnelbear.com

• [Susan Carley Oliver]

  I’m glad BoingBoing made the decision they did.   This way at least some of us can experience bjork’s latest efforts.

  Craving miracles over here.

• [Marc Wirbeleit]

  Geoblocking happens on different levels. Just one example: If you’re in Germany, you can’t watch Garbage’s videos on their own YouTube channel, not because the band or the record company don’t want you to watch the videos but because Gema, a German publishing rights organization, has blocked them after YouTube refused to pay Gema 1 cent per playback AND hand over a detailed list of every playback of every song played back to a German IP.

• [yahoo-GB6LRM55ZGFN44RU5NH52236EI]

  Had to go back and listen to Sugar Cubes “Birthday”. A couple of times. Icelandic version too.

• [Donald Petersen]

  Is that an Icelandic thing, to offer “warmth” as a salutation?  It’s nice and all, but it seemed especially poignant coming from, y’know, an Icelander.  Kinda like hearing “stay cool” from a Phoenician.

• [Teller]

  Not her best effort. But she continues to have a stunning voice.

• [Guido]

  Greetings from Chile, where I can’t see the video either.

• [Hirsty]

  Bjorkblocked!

• [spejic]

  In protest, I am purposefully listening to the song on improper speakers.

• [Daniel]

  The costumes, beats, and stage dressings change, but the melodies stay the same.
   
  Björk: rehashing since 1989.

  • [freemoore]

    Everyone creative ever: rehashing everything that went before all of them since forever.  I’m sure I’ve read your comment before somewhere.

• [Terry Border]

  Waited patiently for everyone to pull off the skin that covered their heads like in “Beneath the Planet of the Apes”. Didn’t happen. :(

  Still like her though.

• [Improbus Liber]

  Is she a vampire?  She doesn’t seem to have aged in 20 years.

• [millie fink]

  Good stuff, but maybe she spent too much time with Matthew Ritchie?

  I’d love to see Bjork get back in touch with her growling howling sensuality.

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1jIrDFluos

  • [anwaya]

    Sure it would – but there has to have come a point where her wish to keep performing for another 20 years or more overcame her desire and ability to keep  shredding her vocal cords.

  • [frankieboy]

    growling howling sensuality is good, but howling with laughter is OK too

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hW7KwR8kYw&feature=related

• [10xor01]

  I’m convinced Bjork is part Fairy.  Iceland is still remote enough that there may be a few of the fair folk hanging on.

• [Mike Marlett]

  What? Rosanna Rosanna Danna can sing?

• [James C.]

  There are no words!  Here’s to Bjork and her message of love!  I can’t wait to see her around CA, USA! No!  I really can’t!  Really!!!  :)

• [digideth]

  WOW I can not wait till she comes to St. Louis and performs this live in front my two eyes. WOW!

• [bombastinator]

  I would like to caption this photo “HELP!  I’m trapped in the ass of a musk ox!”

• [Amelia_G]

  THANK YOU! One of the great benefits of the internet is that you can watch Björk videos now. Well I remember listening to my bright green Sugar Cubes cassette over and over, wondering.

• [JhmL]

  Music of the Universe – but not in Finland, among other places on Earth, I see.  *snicker*

• [Guest]

  This one works for me:

  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJG7E41esDU

  • [Tribune]

    “Björk – Thunderbo…”
    This video is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Warner Music Group.Sorry about that.

  • [Just_Ok]

    http://www.youtube.com/user/bjorkdotcom?blend=1&ob=4

• [kongcarlos]

  Why does this have to be blocked in Scandinavia…

• [scotchmi_st]

  Hey kids! Don’t stress out about the geo-blocking. Just use a proxy or a vpn. The internet views censorship as damage, and routes around it.

  I was at one of the Manchester concerts where (I’m guessing) this was recorded. It was utterly magical. Thunderbolt is a beautiful song. One of my favourate of her’s.

• [cassandra]

  Beautifle as always.

• [ndrake]

  Is there a way to watch this fullscreen?

• [Lobster]

  Bjork has assimilated Carrot Top!

• [serpent]

  THE AUDIENCE YOU ARE TRYING TO GAIN CANNOT BE REACHED BY YOUR CURRENT DISTRIBUTOR OR MARKETING

  • [benher]

    I see wut u did thar!

• [Marina]

  Cannot be watched from France …… :-(

• [Carlos Ayala]

  Not available for my country. =(

• [Christopher Patrick Lembke II]

  While I’ve been on a BJORK, YOUR RECENT CATALOG IS NOT FUN OR ENTERTAINING I WANT HAPPY POPPY TRACKS kinda tirade lately, THIS IS an amazing adventure in Audiophilia!!!!! I’m an Audiophile on a low budget, and this sounded BRILLZ on my Koss Port-a-pro headphones! <3 

• [hogan]

  i like bjork… have for many years.
  would have liked seeing the boingboing exclusive debut!
  but i’m in canada.
  i think boingboing shouldn’t post stuff like this. if we all can’t access it then no one should.
  there. i said it. off my soapbox.

• [dculberson]

  I have to admit that I disrespected her wishes at first and listened to it on my laptop.  It was enjoyable.  Then I realized my mistake and hooked it to my Klipsch system with 15″ subwoofer.  Holy hell that is amazing.  Thank you Björk!

• [arteyephoto]

  First requirement of The Enlightened Boing Boing Reader’s Code of Useful Things / Easy Hacks to Know: just spoof your ISP using FoxyProxy to pretend you’re where you’re needed to be, in order to view whatever you wish to see.  Love this vid.  Signed, Canadian Guy whom the Internet Thinks He’s in Burbank, CA, via 64.71.138.95, port 80.

• [illicitizen]

  Holding out for a SugarCubes reunion tour.

• [gardenburger]

  Interesting. Can’t view it in Canada. *Sigh*… tired of these virtual borders.

• [flyingmonkey]

  I love Bjork. However, given BB’s politics and vehement opposition to digital locks, geoblocks and other restraints to the sharing of work like this, BB really should no endorse geoblocked products. And neither should Bjork for that matter. I am pretty sure she is not in favour.

• [paulj]

  This has been up for three days, and no love for the Biophilia iPhone app? You should use good headphones for that too. It’s the full album, plus lyrics, scores and games that go along with the songs. The game that comes with Thunderbolt is really cool. You can play along with the song by adding your own arpeggiated thunderbolts and electrical static percussion. Time it right, and you’re playing in a Bjorkian version of Rock Band. If that doesn’t seal the deal for you, the introduction to the album is narrated by David Attenborough.

• [Hamish Robison]

  Watch another version here: http://www.nonesuch.com/journal/bjork-unveils-thunderbolt-video-wins-digital-genius-award-mtv-o-music-awards-2011-11-03

• [oswarez]

  Come on! I’m from Iceland and I can’t watch an Icelandic artist? FIALZ!