Bon Iver is the work of Justin Vernon. He isolated himself in a remote cabin in Wisconsin for almost four months, writing and recording the songs on For Emma, Forever Ago, his haunting debut album. A few parts (horns, drums, and backing vocals) were added in a North Carolina studio, but for the majority of the time it's just Vernon, his utterly disarming voice, and his enchanting songs. The voice is the first thing you notice. Vernon's falsetto soars like a hawk and when he adds harmonies and massed backing vocals, it can truly be breathtaking. "The Wolves (Acts I & II)" truly shows what Vernon can do as he croons, swoops, and cajoles his way through an erratic and enchanting melody like Marvin Gaye after a couple trips to the backyard still. "Skinny Love" shows more of his range as he climbs down from the heights of falsetto and shouts out the angry and heartachey words quite convincingly. Framing his voice are suitably subdued arrangements built around acoustic guitars and filled out with subtle electric guitars, the occasional light drums, and slide guitar. Vernon has a steady grasp of dynamics too; the ebb and flow of "Creature Fear" is powerfully dramatic and when the chorus hits it's hard not to be swept away by the flood of tattered emotion. Almost every song has a moment where the emotion peaks and hearts begin to weaken and bend: the beauty of that voice is what pulls you through every time. For Emma captures the sound of broken and quiet isolation, wraps it in a beautiful package, and delivers it to your door with a beating, bruised heart. It's quite an achievement for a debut and the promise of greatness in the future is high. Oh, and because you have to mention it, Iron & Wine. Also, Little Wings. Most of all, though, Bon Iver.
All Photos by Scott ChernisIt seems only trivial that the bigger the venue, the larger the audience, the less intimate the performance, but Bon Iver isn't trivial. Playing to a sold out crowd of approximately 2,300 at Oakland's new Fox Theater, Bon Iver and opener Megafaun created one of the most memorable performances I've seen to date. His self-released debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, cat...
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Sometimes an album is more the recording of a cataclysmic life event than an amalgamation of in studio bursts of creativity. The much written about, much discussed Bon Iver debut, For Emma, Forever Ago, is just that. Just as you've probably heard, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon holed himself up in a cabin in the remote wilderness of Northwestern Wisconsin and lived a simple existence, mostly for the ...
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Before we probably ever knew of a musician from Wisconsin named Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and his amazing debut ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’, another record was taking form. A collaboration between Justin Vernon and Milwaukee band Collections of Colonies of Bees, ultimately created Unmap (Sept 22nd, JagJaguwar) under the name Volcano Choir.Its been three years [...]
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Team noize pick through our first batch of the albums of 2008 and reminisce about why they made our musical mouths water in '08. BON IVER - FOR EMMA, FOREVER AGO Sometimes an album comes completely out of nowhere and blows your socks off. This is one of those albums. Resonating with the bold hues of a breakup from misery and fury to regret and desperation, 'For Emma, Forever Ago' was borne o...
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Alas, there's no new music on here, but what it does have is four of his best tracks: For Emma, Flume, Lump Sum and Blindsided , all reworked in a session for myspace. This EP sounds fantastic, and it gives his music a subtle new sound that is just as good. They're not unrecognizable, but ... different. Best of all, the entire EP is up for a free download, here . Blindsided (Myspace Tran...
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a. If you can watch THIS, you'd be blown away. If you can't watch it look HERE.b. Spike Lee shoots Nas HERE, my guess it was cause someone dropped the N Bomb.c. some geek is selling every SNES game ever made HERE, some geek (me) would secretly love to buy them.d. If google street view ever drove by my apt on a friday night at like 5am, THIS is probably what you would see.e. Chris Lighty i...
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I'm going to try this out - an album in motion. Each song from a particular album, from what I can find on youtube:Bon Iver - Skinny Love (Live at Later... with Jools Holland..Bon Iver -- Re: Stacks @ The Canopy Club..Bon Iver - Flume..Bon Iver - For Emma (live at Lee's Palace)..Bon Iver - Team..Back On Stages #2 Bon Iver - BlindSided - Live in SF..Bon Iver -- Lump Sum..Better Version of "Wolve...
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For those who have not seen Bon Iver live, let me just say - you must! The show was fantastic. Bon Iver blew me away past my expectations. Justin Vernon's voice is majestic.Bowerbirds opened. They reminded me of a 3-piece, more stripped down folkier version of Beirut - guitar, percussion, accordian, violen. The singer has an enticing voice and the melody of songs such as "Dark Horse", "Mar...
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I give this a big thumbs up. Bon Iver's story is amazing, but aside from that, his entire album is absolutely solid. It will be playing for years and years... probably stuff that I will be playing as my kids grow up (I don't have kids).I was fortunate enough to have seen Bon Iver at the Independent in San Francisco. Unfortunately, the crowd cleared out after him and the headliners that night...
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Isolation and creativity is a marriage known to artists for centuries. From Rainer Maria Rilke, who holed himself up in a castle on the Adriatic to produce his Duino Elegies, to The Bachelorette, the Kiwi keyboardist who shut herself in a small cabin on the coast of New Zealand's north island; artists know that removing yourself from civilization for months on end leads to inspiration and, some...
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Category: Soft, Acoustic, Folk, BeardsRating: 9.4Maybe it's the air, the weather, the cold... maybe it's something internal, some deep broken piece that never quite healed right... regardless, the newest album from Bon Iver hits like a quiet, gentle punch to the heart.Honestly, without reservation, as far as acoustic, high-pitched, threadbare folk goes - this is the best new song i've heard al...
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You might know a lot of artists by one or two songs of theirs that you like a lot. Sometimes it takes me a while to really dig into an artist's full catalogue. Sometimes I never do, and I'm sure there's a lot of music that I'm missing out on because of it. So here are some great songs by artists that some people may only know for one or two singles. That's Bon Iver in the pic. Bon Iver - Fl...
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a. If you can watch THIS, you'd be blown away. If you can't watch it look HERE.b. Spike Lee shoots Nas HERE, my guess it was cause someone dropped the N Bomb.c. some geek is selling every SNES game ever made HERE, some geek (me) would secretly love to buy them.d. If google street view ever drove by my apt on a friday night at like 5am, THIS is probably what you would see.e. Chris Lighty i...
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Not much new [worth posting], so here's a few that have been sitting on my desktop including a radio rip of the new Fall Out Boy/Lil' Wayne collabo. You'll also find a new Carlito and D12 joint, a Justice style dance track from The Bloody Beetroots, and an awesome version of "Flume" by Bon Iver done in the MOKB studio. Also a graph. Check out this site if you need rap songs represented as gr...
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--- - |- Holy shit, what a team up...Bon Iver & Bowerbirds cover Sarah Siskind's Lovin's for Fools at the Bowery Ballroom, New York, on July 29, 2008. Here is another view for the same song/event.Bon Iver - Flume (live in the MOKB studio)The Bowerbirds - My Oldest Memory (live in the MOKB studio)The Bowerbirds - Dark Horse (live in the MOKB studio)The Bowerbirds - Slow Down (live in ...
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I'm going to try this out - an album in motion. Each song from a particular album, from what I can find on youtube:Bon Iver - Skinny Love (Live at Later... with Jools Holland..Bon Iver -- Re: Stacks @ The Canopy Club..Bon Iver - Flume..Bon Iver - For Emma (live at Lee's Palace)..Bon Iver - Team..Back On Stages #2 Bon Iver - BlindSided - Live in SF..Bon Iver -- Lump Sum..Better Version of "Wolve...
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Holy Moly MOG. Listmania is on steroids. Check out just some of the lists MOG's got going. Jules09 and jameson offer their top 10 or 30 favorites, while Amber indulges her favorite '08 shows. There's even a shout out to our fellow Candians in there...Jules' Top 10 of 2008Listmania: My Top 30 Albums in 2008Last of the best of 2008Fuchs' best of 2008Top 10: EP's of 2008Top Ten: amber style. My fa...
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I thought I'd take this strange time* as an opportunity to talk about the last lyricist to hex me. Or, let me be the two hundred sixth Mogger to say that I am a Bon Iver believer. Or, here is a post where I don't bring up my own shit, for a change.I did not care for Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver until I got a Broken Social Scene sort of vibe off his Blood Bank EP last year, and then it hit me that...
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BON IVERMidday, songster Bon Iver, i.e. Justin Veron, caused an ethereal acoustic shivers through the crowd. The good kind. Gifted with a husky, emotive falsetto, Bon Iver is a pleasure to watch perform- no strings attached, no masks or glittering costumes necessary. His music? Hints of chamber music harmonies that melds with deep, pensive acoustic strumming. The result? The simple guitar-and-m...
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Here we go. 14 albums that took me through a cold winter, Coachella, a great summer, a beautiful autumn, a perfect birthday and what seems to be a fair christmas. 14 - The Breeders - Mountain Battles 13 - Lambchop - Oh (Ohio) 12 - The Accidental - There Were Wolves 11 - Girl Talk - Feed the Animals 10 - Sun Kil Moon - April 9 - Mates of State - Re-Arrange Us 8 - Damien Jurado - Caught I...
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Are you having a good winter? Justin Vernon (who named his musical project "good winter" in French) is...with the surprise success of his new album For Emma, Forever Ago Here's my interview with Justin Vernon of Bon Iver which was posted today at Popmatters. Isolation Songs: An Interview with Bon Iver's Justin VernonBon Iver's Justin Vernon holed up in the north Wisconsin woods to try to get...
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It's beautiful out and I want you to join me. First, put on your headphones and hit play. Of course we have a sound track ! I have my ipod with me and we're in this together. The air is cold; the kind of cold that makes you feel thirsty but still makes you want to spit…go ahead and spit. I'll look the other way so you aren't embarrassed, or maybe I'll spit first. Are you cold? Here's my .
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Justin Vernon reportedly made his new album called For Emma, Forever Ago and out early February on Jagjaguwar, in near total isolation, in a remote cabin in northern Wisconsin, surrounded by snow and trees. I've been listening to it late at night mostly, and it's really wonderful, high and ghostly and filled with otherworldly harmonies, folky maybe, but also somehow like choral church music. ...
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My latest, greatest obsession, Bon Iver and their song 'Skinny Love'...its beautifully understated and a little haunting I think...a gorgeous tune
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All Photos by Scott ChernisIt seems only trivial that the bigger the venue, the larger the audience, the less intimate the performance, but Bon Iver isn't trivial. Playing to a sold out crowd of approximately 2,300 at Oakland's new Fox Theater, Bon Iver and opener Megafaun created one of the most memorable performances I've seen to date. His self-released debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, cat...
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I've never done one of these before, but Anna "seemed pretty adamant about it, so here goes. Sorry if some are difficult, there were a few songs that I haven't listened to in ages.Happy Guessing! 1. Well you've got the perfect disguise and you're looking okay 2. Ten by ten, three by three, was the house that buried me (Yay Anna!) 3. Let me take you to the movies, can i take you to the show? (...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Flume |
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| 2 Lump Sum |
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| 3 Skinny Love |
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| 4 The Wolves (Act I and II) |
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| 5 Blindsided |
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| 6 Creature Fear |
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| 7 Team |
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| 8 For Emma |
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| 9 Re: Stacks |
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Click to purchase…
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 "For Emma, Forever Ago")
