Homogenic Live

Björk did not have soundboard recordings for her first two concert tours. When compiling material for those tours’ corresponding live albums,[1] she had to use audio taken from pre-mixed videotaped performances.

Beginning with the Homogenic Tour, she began collecting soundboard recordings with each section of her touring band mixed separately. During the Homogenic Tour, several microphones captured the Icelandic String Octet (as evidenced on the concert film, Live in Cambridge) while Mark Bell’s electronic equipment was fed directly into the mixer. This recording technique allows for a greater clarity of sound and a certain deal of control in the mixing process, allowing the audio technician to raise or lower the different elements, be they the performer’s vocals, the different sections of the touring band or even the crowd. Homogenic Live is Björk’s first live album to be mixed in such a way.

Critics praised Homogenic Live. Comparing it to Björk’s previous live albums, Scott Plagenhoef for Pitchfork complimented the stripped down strings and electronics setting, saying it “could have left (Björk) potentially vulnerable, but she fills the empty space with the full force of her voice… In the end, the renditions seem more assured and well-conceived…” than on both Debut and Post Live.[2] AllMusic wrote that “the relatively spare instrumentation allows Björk to take her songs down slightly different paths while retaining the heart of the studio recordings” and that “Björk’s voice shines throughout.”[2] PopMatters criticized the slew of releases Björk was putting out at the time but agreed that the live album was a historical record "of the beauty and majesty of Björk’s voice and her compositions," while ultimately concluding that as a companion project to its "landmark" parent album Homogenic, it "failed to offer any new insights into the inner workings of Björk and her live experience."[3]