The Icelandic queen of strange pop; the untouchable Björk Guðmundsdóttir released Biophilia last year and with her finger on the pulse of the electronic underground invites a series of the current cool of those pushing electronics forward in their own way.

The plan is to release a new EP of remixes from Biophilia every month, and whilst I wait with salivated breath for the King Cannibal / Alva Noto versions I’m more than content with Death Grips unique take on the unique singer’s tracks Sacrifice and Thunderbolt.

First track for the remix treatment is Sacrifice. Whilst the original is a serene piece of classic Bjork (I will just fail in trying to describe her way with song writing and her singing which it sort of is singing but sort of not like a narrative fairytale. It’s Bjork for crying out loud) together with some stabs of frantic drum work.

Death Grips take things into a more paranoid space, fractures of stuttered drum, reversed glitch edits and a feeling of dread beneath the serene vocals. If anything this remix is a taster of the full workout the Californian crew give Thunderbolt.

So Thunderbolt. Well, the original is, beautiful.

Sections have her voice multi layered up into a swirling wave of sweet twisted fantasy. Writing words about it won’t do it justice. Listen. The Death Grips take on it is more Death Grips than their Sacrifice remix.

Fractured, sporadic, deranged even. The bass sub throbbing early in into skittering rising synth pads. It feels restrained a tad, like the Death Grips boys could have got full crazy, but that would distract from the splendor of Björk’s work. They’ve found a balance of their manic derangement against her fantastical narratives.

Excellent work.

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Björk – Sacrifice (Death Grips remix)
Björk – Thunderbolt (Death Grips remix)