Michael gets a new diva

Michael and I did not get to see the Leonard Cohen documentary this weekend because he is ill (Michael, not Leonard). Now we are aiming for next weekend.

Michael listened to the LC mix I made him and found, not surprisingly, that it was not his cup of tea. He did appreciate the effort I put into making it for him, though, and appreciated that I was sharing with him something important to me personally.

This morning, Michael was showing me some old yearbooks from his goofy-looking-adolescent years when he found a Cher tour souvenir book. He proceeded to gawk over several dozen pages of costumes that collectively cost more than the Apollo program. Then we discussed the baffling phenomenon of gay men and their divas. I acknowledged that I collect divas, too, albeit ones that aren't necessarily as obvious for the part as Cher.

I was astonished to find that, though he knew of her, Michael had never heard any of Björk's music. I went online and showed him a few videos, including the one for "All Is Full of Love", directed by Chris Cunningham. Michael got goosebumps. He watched it five times in succession. He loved the video, but he also loved the music! I should have known that the best way to expose Michael to good music was through a diva!

I have made Michael a CD of some of my favorite Björk tracks. Like LC, I left out some great songs, partially because I only wanted to use one CD-R and partially because I want Michael to be able to discover great tracks on his own, if he so chooses. I also did not include any material from The Sugarcubes, Kukl, or any of her bands before her most recent solo albums. I didn't include any tracks from her eponymous 1977 album of children's songs because I have never been able to find an affordable bootleg of it.

Here is the tracklist:

1. All Is Full of Love (single version)
2. Hyper-Ballad (Brodsky Quartet version)
3. Scatterheart
4. Jóga
5. Enjoy
6. Oceania
7. Human Behaviour
8. The Modern Things (Family Tree version)
9. Domestica
10. Bachelorette
11. Come to Me
12. My Spine (Evelyn Glennie version)
13. Unravel
14. In the Musicals
15. Desired Constellation
16. Immature
17. Triumph of a Heart
18. The Anchor Song