POP MUSIC REVIEWS : Focused Bjork Debuts Locally

When Bjork made her entrance at the Wiltern Theatre on Friday by scuttling quickly all the way from one side of the stage to the other, you figured you were in for more of the performance-art prankishness that cluttered things when she was with the Icelandic art-rockers the Sugarcubes.

But things quickly settled into a much more focused and straightforward approach as the doll-like singer made her local solo debut. She can be pretty oblique as an artist, but her independence, individuality and quirkiness have made her a budding cult heroine, and she paced her show demandingly, exploring her chosen moods rather than making it easy for the crowd.

On stage, her music lacked the exoticism and distinctive spaces it has on her recent solo album, but she still presents a unique package of dynamics and phrasing. The rhythm-oriented, instrumentation featured lots of percussion, two keyboards, reeds and flute and no guitar. The players set up richly textured grooves that settled somewhere between dance and trance, while Bjork launched notes that soared like thin flares, burning brightly and dimming quickly before the next round.

Enigmatic and disarming, the music evoked melancholy ache and odd ecstasies. Bjork didn’t do much as a performer, and the show pretty much stayed in one spot. But not a bad spot to be in for an hour.