Last week, Björk concluded a nine-show, fully sold-out residency in her hometown of Reykjavik, Iceland. The concerts, at the brand-new Harpa Concert Hall, featured music from her new album, Biophilia, and were described as "pitch-perfect" by New York magazine and "a magical evening" by the Wall Street Journal. Nonesuch teamed up with Icelandair to offer two fans tickets to last Monday's closing-night performance, along with round-trip airfare and accommodations in Reykjavik. The winners, Justin Allan and Adam Spencer of Seattle, Washington, got to enjoy all of that and a few welcome surprises along the way. You can read all about their Icelandic adventure in Justin's recounting of it all below.

It was recently announced that Björk would headline a few festivals next year: Open'er, which takes place on the Baltic coast of Poland July 4-7, 2012 (tickets on sale December 1); Primavera Sound, which runs May 30 through June 3 in Barcelona, Spain; and Optimus Primavera Sound in Porto, Portugal, the following week, June 7-10. Biophilia residencies in the US will be announced shortly.

Björk has helped The New Yorker's Alex Ross kick off a new "My Favorite Records" feature on his blog, The Rest Is Noise. Ross, in his introduction to her list (which includes Steve Reich's Tehillim), writes: "She is amazing." Read more at therestisnoise.com.

To pick up a copy of Biophilia, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD and vinyl orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s of the album; MP3s and FLAC lossless files are also available to purchase.

Here's what contest winner Justin Allan had to say about his trip with Adam Spencer to see Björk perform Biophilia:

The whole Icelandic adventure was pretty damn amazing, from beginning to end. It's proving quite a challenge to "return to life as usual"; in fact, I'm still waking up at 4:30 in the a.m., half expecting to be whisked away to some crazy destination. The time we spent seems almost a dream. We both are missing Iceland terribly and can hardly wait to return.

The show was ah-mazing. Our seats were incredible (third row center), so we got to see Björk's every expression and were completely enveloped in all the stage spectaculars. I'd only read a little about the live show before we arrived, so I did not expect that all her custom-made instruments were going to be part of the show. I knew we were in for a treat when the show started with "Thunderbolt" and the two Tesla coils started spitting out giant arcs. And then there was the gravity harp, which was pretty much a little music nerd's dream machine.

Björk's performance was spot on, and she seemed to enjoy every moment. Particularly enjoyable were the big dramatic songs, like "Thunderbolt," "Náttúra," "Declare Independence," "Mutual Core." The bass vibrated through my entire body. She also did a version of "Vertebrae by Vertebrae" that was intense; just her and the gameleste. It took me a while to figure out what song she was singing; by the time I did, she was passionately ripping into the climax of the song.

By the end of the show, we were completely amped. Had we just gone back to the hotel, I would have felt entirely satisfied. Imagine my surprise and delight when Björk's manager appeared and whisked us backstage. The opportunity to meet Björk is something I have been dreaming about ever since I was bopping around to Sugarcubes' "Birthday" as a teen. I admire her groundbreaking music and her vision; she is light-years ahead of any other musician. I just wanted to say "thank you for making music."

Of course, dreaming about meeting one of your heroes and actually doing so are two different things. In the moment, I'm sure I panicked and stood there, grinning like an idiot. I probably squeezed out an inarticulate "thanks," mouth dry and hands clammy. Before I had any time to kick myself, she said, "So you're coming to the party?" Suddenly, we found ourselves in the back of a cab, on our way to the Botanical Gardens.

I must describe the weather this evening. Apocalyptic is the best descriptor; tremendous gusts of wind that threatened to knock you over and driving, pouring rain. How the little cab made it through the streets without being blown into the sea—a miracle. At the Botanical Gardens, we found ourselves in a little greenhouse, being buffeted by the tumultuous weather. The building's creaking and groaning added to the strangeness and drama of the whole affair.

Both Adam and I are terribly shy. And we didn't want to be those sycophantic, spazzy fans. So, for most of the party, we sat of to the side and just watched, marveling in the strangeness of the day. Fly to Iceland, see Björk, meet Björk, end up at a private afterparty. A couple of strong drinks, about 36 hours with no sleep, and we figured we'd packed as much into the day as we possibly could. But before we could sneak out, Björk addressed the party, made a toast, and called the rest of the choir to the front. We were treated to an impromptu mini concert of traditional Icelandic songs, including an amazing a cappella version of "Vísur Vatnsenda-Rósu."

And that was all we could take. The day was perfect, the night was done. Time to sleep.

Before we knew it, it was Wednesday and we were on the plane home. Back to Seattle, life as usual. Just like magic.

Again, our sincerest thanks for this amazing opportunity. The entire adventure went off without a hitch. It will be hard to top this experience and we will surely draw inspiration from it for a long time.

Finally, when the show comes to the States, you must make every effort to see it. It was truly amazing and spectacular, in every sense of the word. Those Icelanders really know how to throw a show!

—Justin and Adam