Artist – Album: Bon Iver – Bon Iver
Released: 17th
June 2011
Sounds Like: Now we are old
My legs are grey. My
ears are gnarled. My eyes are old and bent... Increasingly as I get older, and
especially as it was just my birthday yesterday, I look at what other people in
the world have done and wonder what I’ve done with my life. I mean, granted, I do
have a decent job, a nice flat in a great city and a great little rickety old car,
and I have seen all of the films in the imdb top 250 movies of all time, but in
comparison to some of my peers, that really ain’t all that.
On the other hand, it’s not yet too late to really achieve
something special. Back in 2006 Bon Iver founder, singer and chief songwriter
Justin Vernon was my age now. His band DeYarmond Edison (now that’s a rubbish
name) had just dissolved and, even better, he and his girlfriend also broke up.
He probably wasn’t feeling particularly great. He decided to run away to a
cabin in Wisconsin, lock himself up and record all his thoughts on his
failings, his heartache, his love and his loss. ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’, the result, is now one of the most widely
acclaimed records of the 21st century and one of the all time great
breakup albums. So, clearly, that sort of success isn’t quite beyond me yet...
Presumably life picked up a bit for Vernon following that surprise
hit, so the next big dilemma must have been what to do next. It’s commendable
that he didn’t just try to live off the remembered depression and release ‘For Emma’ #2. Instead, he expanded on
their sound and left his little log cabin to explore the wider world (check out
the amount of songs with cool place names in the title), bring on a change of
sound which reminds me of John Martyn’s One World. It’s like the album artwork
itself depicts – the little cabin is now away in the background, colour has
been splashed all over and there’s a variety of different pastoral locations on
display. ‘Perth’, ‘Towers’ and ‘Holocene’ are the best examples of the
extraordinary outcome, dense with atmospheric synths, electric guitars and his
beautiful voice. I’m looking forward to bringing out my own similarly awesome
album in 5 years time.
Albumaday... rating:
8/10
1. Perth
– 4:22
2. Minnesota,
WI – 3:52
3. Holocene
– 5:37
4. Towers
– 3:08
5. Michicant
– 3:45
6. Hinnom,
TX – 2:45
7. Wash.
– 4:59
8. Calgary
– 4:10
9. Lisbon,
OH – 1:33
10. Beth/Rest
– 5:17
Listen to ‘Perth’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bo6lKQYVUBU
Also released on the 17th June:
2003: Drive-By Truckers – Decoration Day
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Also released on the 17th June:
2008: Tilly and the Wall – O
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