Family Tree (Björk album)

Family Tree is a boxed set of musical material by Icelandic singer Björk. The set consists of a book of lyrics entitled "Words", five 3-inch compact discs of rare and previously unreleased material, and a regular-sized compact disc of "Greatest Hits" selected by Björk herself. Family Tree was released in November 2002, concurrent with the release of Björk's Greatest Hits album, in which the tracks were selected by her fans.

Family Tree
Box set by Björk
Released	4 November 2002
Length	141:09
Label	One Little Indian
Producer	Various
Björk chronology
Greatest Hits (2002) Family Tree (2002) Live Box (2003)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Blender	[2]
Entertainment Weekly	C+[3]
Pitchfork	(3.6/10)[4]
Stylus Magazine	A−[5]

Information

The five 3-inch compact discs include: "Roots CD 1", which features songs recorded before Björk's "second solo debut" (i.e. previous to her 1993 album Debut). This compact disc features songs by her previous bands: Kukl, the Elgar Sisters, and the Sugarcubes. "Roots CD 2" features b-sides and alternate versions of album tracks; "Beats", which focuses on both new and old songs with a heavier electronica influence; and finally "Strings", CDs 1 and 2, which feature live and studio recordings of Björk with the Brodsky Quartet through 1999 and 2000.

The artwork on the CD was designed by M/M Paris in collaboration with Icelandic contemporary artist Gabríela Friðriksdóttir. The cover consists of a tree with letter on the upper part.

A music video for the song Nature is Ancient, directed by Lynn Fox, was released in November 2002 to promote the compilation, even though the song was originally released in 1997.[6] Originally, it was a B-side to the "Bachelorette" single, but it was later included on Family Tree. The video was also released on the compilation Greatest Hits - Volumen 1993–2003.

Björk's notes for the project, as featured on the individual CD artworks, reveal that "Immature" and "My Spine" were initially considered to feature on the compilation, as well as track(s) recorded with British composer John Tavener.

Track listing

Disc 1 — Roots

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Síðasta Ég" (performed by the Elgar Sisters)	Björk Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson Þór Eldon	Björk	3:00
2.	"Glóra" (performed by the Elgar Sisters)	Björk	Björk	1:42
3.	"Fuglar" (performed by Kukl)	Kukl	Kukl	3:00
4.	"Ammæli" (performed by the Sugarcubes)	Sugarcubes	Ray Schulman Derek Birkett	3:55
5.	"Mamma" (performed by the Sugarcubes)	Sugarcubes	Schulman Birkett	2:57
Total length:				14:05

Disc 2 — Roots

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Immature" (Björk's version)	Björk	Björk	2:53
2.	"Cover Me" (Cave version)	Björk	Björk Nellee Hooper	3:07
3.	"Generous Palmstroke" (live at the Santa Cecilia di Academia, Rome, 10 November 2001)	Björk Zeena Parkins	Björk Mark Bell	4:42
4.	"Jóga" (Strings and Vocals)	Björk Sjón	Björk	4:42
5.	"Mother Heroic"	Björk Guy Sigsworth		2:44
Total length:				17:28

Disc 3 — Beats

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The Modern Things" (Demo version)	Björk Graham Massey	Björk Massey	4:11
2.	"Karvel"	Björk Massey	Massey	4:30
3.	"I Go Humble"	Björk Bell		4:47
4.	"Nature Is Ancient"	Björk Bell	Björk Bell	3:40
Total length:				16:28

Disc 4 — Strings

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Unravel" (with the Brodsky Quartet)	Björk Sigsworth	3:38
2.	"Cover Me" (with the Brodsky Quartet)	Björk	2:50
3.	"Possibly Maybe" (with the Brodsky Quartet)	Björk	4:55
4.	"The Anchor Song" (with the Brodsky Quartet)	Björk	3:44
5.	"Hunter" (with the Brodsky Quartet)	Björk	4:31
Total length:			18:18

Disc 5 — Strings

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"All Neon Like" (with the Brodsky Quartet)	Björk	5:07
2.	"I've Seen It All" (with the Brodsky Quartet)	Björk Sjón Lars von Trier	5:59
3.	"Bachelorette" (with the Brodsky Quartet)	Björk Sjón	5:09
4.	"Play Dead" (with the Brodsky Quartet)	Björk David Arnold Jah Wobble	3:25
Total length:			19:00

Disc 6 — Greatest Hits as Chosen by Björk

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Venus as a Boy"	Björk	4:41
2.	"Hyperballad"	Björk	5:23
3.	"You've Been Flirting Again"	Björk	2:29
4.	"Isobel"	Björk Nellee Hooper Marius De Vries Sjón	5:23
5.	"Jóga"	Björk Sjón	5:04
6.	"Unravel"	Björk Sigsworth	3:18
7.	"Bachelorette"	Björk Sjón	5:17
8.	"All Is Full of Love"	Björk	4:46
9.	"Scatterheart"	Björk Sjón von Trier	6:39
10.	"I've Seen It All"	Björk Sjón von Trier	5:29
11.	"Pagan Poetry"	Björk	5:14
12.	"It's Not Up to You"	Björk	5:08
Total length:			59:25

Notes

• "Mother Heroic" contains lyrics taken from the poem "Belgium" by E. E. Cummings.

Charts

Chart (2003)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums	6[7]
France	100[8]
Denmark	39[9]

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Blender review Archived October 24, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
3. Feliciano, Kristina (18 November 2002). ""Family Tree"; "Greatest Hits" Review". Entertainment Weekly. p. 106. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
4. "Pitchfork review". Pitchfork.
5. Stylus Magazine review Archived January 17, 2008, at the Wayback Machine
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-02-09. Retrieved 2010-07-24.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. "EDM Music & Dance Albums Chart".
8. http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?key=36221&cat=a
9. Danish Charts

External links

• Family Tree mini site
• Björk official website