Björk: 2012

Ed. note: Few artists captivated Rita Houston's imagination like Björk. Rita was an early fan, playing songs on the radio from every solo album, from Debut in 1993 onward (along with some Sugarcubes for good measure) — despite the polarizing feedback from listeners, who found the music either genius or unlistenable. Seeing Björk live is never an easy ticket to find, but Rita begged, borrowed and stole to get to all the New York shows she could, and her 2016 pilgrimage to Iceland to see a performance in Reykjavík was a lifetime concert highlight. In this interview, Rita sounds like her cool and professional self, but her mind was absolutely blown that she got to go to Björk's apartment for an interview, carrying recording gear downtown with butterflies in her stomach. Coincidentally, Rita interviewed Leonard Cohen that same week, and between the two events she was floating on air for a good long while. - LJF

From Rita:

As Biophilia visits New York City, I had a chance to visit the home of its creator, Björk, to learn more about the show and the album behind it — and to ask her for a few guest DJ picks.

[Recorded: 01/18/12]