I’m a big fan of Justin Vernon in his day job as Bon Iver. His is one of the freshest and most creative voices to emerge from the north woods in recent years. On the new album Unmap (Jagjaguwar Records) from Volcano Choir, Vernon has teamed up with several fellow Wisconsinites who are members of Collections of Colonies of Bees. Unmap very much has the whiff of side project about it, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t have its interesting moments in a Temple of the Dog-ish kind of way. These albums can be prone to arty pretensions, and this one is no exception, but there are enough sublime moments, mostly courtesy of Vernon, to balance those out.
The songwriting for Unmap goes back to 2005, before Vernon began his meteoric ascension as Bon Iver. The actual recording didn’t take place until November 2008 at Vernon’s studio in Fall Creek, WI. Of all the songs here, “Still” comes closest to finding that Bon Iver magic. It’s a remake of the song “Woods,” which appeared on the brilliant Bon Iver EP Blood Bank, which appeared earlier this year. If you didn’t think that a vocoder could be used tastefully, listen to Vernon’s stirring, emotional performance on this song.
Remember that pretension I spoke about? It’s painfully obvious on “Mbira In The Morass”. A series of bleeps and bloops, random kalimba stylings, and plucked piano strings, it sounds like Scott Walker’s worst nightmare, and that’s saying something. Not sure what the Choir was going for here, but I wish they hadn’t. “Mbira” is surely a candidate for my most un-favorite track of the year. I thought you’d enjoy hearing what I think sucks.
Among the remains, there are some hits, notably the Steve Reich-influenced “Seeplymouth,” and misses like the closing “Youology,” which sounds like film music from grade D ’50’s horror flick. I can’t quite write this album off, because there are a handful of wonderful moments that emerge after listening a few times. Haunting images remain long after the music has stopped. For now, I remain a fan of Justin Vernon, and I’m anxious to hear what he does next.
It’s no secret that tribute albums and charity compilations can be hit-or-miss affairs at best. In the case of the latter, all you can really do is be happy that you’re supporting a good cause, and hope that the music is more hit than miss. Two important charity albums have recently appeared, and when I say important, I don’t just mean for the causes they’re helping, but also for the virtual who’s who of contemporary indie artists that has contributed tracks to them. If you could somehow assemble all of the buzz that these artists have collected, you could light the universe. In other words, to the naked eye, it’s a music blogger’s dream.
The Red Hot Organization has been using pop culture to fight the good fight against AIDS since 1989. They have released 14 albums together with related television shows and media events, and have raised $7 million to date. Their most recent project is called Dark Was the Night (4AD Records). It’s an enormous 30-song effort that has been curated by brothers Aaron and Bryce Dessner of the National. In addition to a track from the National, contributors include Bon Iver, The Decemberists, Arcade Fire, Sufjan Stevens, Grizzly Bear, Andrew Bird, Feist, and a host of others.
Let me say right up front that apparently Bon Iver can do no wrong. From Justin Vernon’s nearly perfect debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago, to his recently released Blood Bank EP, and now, this album’s best track “Brackett, WI,” there have been few, if any, missteps. Vernon is also involved here in an intriguing collaboration with Aaron Dessner called “Big Red Machine.”
Sufjan Stevens’ contribution, “You Are the Blood,” reminds me that it’s been too long since we’ve had new music from him. Antony and Bryce Dessner duet on a beautiful version of the traditional “I Was Young When I Left Home.” Yes, Feist is here, combining with Ben Gibbard of Death Cab For Cutie on “Train Song,” and with Grizzly Bear on “Service Bell.” (more…)
Last year Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon blended his personal story, haunting melodies, and evocative lyrics on an album called For Emma, Forever Ago. The album found its way to almost everyone’s top-ten list at the end of the year, including mine. Considering the buzz, the normal backlash was fairly subdued — the music was that undeniable.
The story is pretty well known by now: Musician finds heartache after moving to North Carolina with his band. He decides to move back to his home state, where he isolates himself in his family’s hunting cabin in the woods of northern Wisconsin in the dead of winter. “I left North Carolina and went up there because I didn’t know where else to go, and I knew that I wanted to be alone, and I knew that I wanted to be where it was cold,” Vernon told exclaim.ca last year.
During the three months he was there, though it wasn’t his intention to do so, he wrote and made primitive recordings of the songs that would become For Emma, Forever Ago. Ostensibly recorded as demos, the performances were so powerful that Vernon decided to release them as they were. He called the project Bon Iver, a slight alteration of the French term for “good winter.” A good winter indeed.
I’m a big fan of Justin Vernon in his day job as Bon Iver. His is one of the freshest and most creative voices to emerge from the north woods in recent years. On the new album Unmap (Jagjaguwar Records) from Volcano Choir, Vernon has teamed up with several fellow Wisconsinites who are members of Collections of Colonies of Bees. Unmap very much has the whiff of side project about it, but that’s not to say that it doesn’t have its interesting moments in a Temple of the Dog-ish kind of way. These albums can be prone to arty pretensions, and this one is no exception, but there are enough sublime moments, mostly courtesy of Vernon, to balance those out.
