Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago - mp3 review
February 4th, 2008 r8e8rcom
Justin Vernon, the primary force behind “Bon Iver” (pronounced: bohn eevair; French for “good winter” and spelled wrong on purpose), is no stranger to the world of indie-folk. His endeavors with former band DeYarmond Edison and his contributions to the Rosebuds and Ticonderoga have earned him the respect, if not attention, of indie-folk fans. I’ve never considered myself a fan of folk music, be it indie or otherwise. That is not to say that I think every folk song is bad, I can appriciate a good troubadour as much as the next guy, but I’ve always felt the genre itself drew too heavily on lyrical story telling alone, often dulling an otherwise tantalizing story with repetitive guitar parts and unimaginative song structures, trying to make up for it by offering some kind of proverbial message. But Justin has managed to create a folk record that’s more passion than proverb. With lyrics that are minimalist, and at times perhaps enigmatic, Justin paints a visceral image from his subconscious rather than telling us a story. These are songs about doubt, dissolution, and helplessness. There are the ‘Iron and Wine’ comparisons floating out there amuck the barrage of reviews. Then there are the obvious ‘TV on the Radio’ comparisons due to Vernon’s heavy use of layered vocals, which can ultimately be thrown back to Peter Gabriel. But I was glad to see the genre listed as “Neo Soul” on Bon Iver’s myspace page, which tells me either a) he has a sense of humor; b) he doesn’t care to concern himself with genres; or c) he prefers to think of his music as soul rather than folk.
“For Emma, Forever Ago” was initially self-released in July of 2007. A culmination of four months time spent writing and recording in isolation in his father’s hunting cabin in the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin. A blitz of blog buzz and media hype followed with both sides of the industry fence gushing with accolades, from pitchfork to the New York Times. The unexpected surge fueled interest from a slew of indie labels as the initial run of self-released albums ran out of print. A re-release is now scheduled on 2/19/08 on Jagjaguar records.
-mark
