For Emma, Forever Ago. Four Stars.
In 2006, having recently lost his band and relationship, Justin Vernon sped off to a hunting cabin in Northwestern Wisconsin and recorded this record over the winter. His nom de plume, incidentally, is an intentionally misspelled "bon hiver" (bohn ee-vair) which means good winter in French.
Once he got out of the woods in 2007, he did a little bit of extra recording, but this is mostly a one-man, one-time effort, and also a true indie album, as I've never heard of the publisher.
Flume sums up the entire style of Bon Iver. Driven by acoustic guitar and Justin's overlapping falsetto blurring an already vague, imagistic lyric. Neat effects in the overdub department, and a guest drummer.
Lump Sum pretty much repeats the formula, so one must accept the cohesiveness of the sound from song to song. What it lacks in variety is made up for with atmosphere. It forms a perfect compliment to a snowy day.
Skinny Love is the angriest track, one on which Justin ditches the falsetto to help accent the feeling. It's patched together and messy, like he'd only barely got the song together and then used the demo.
The Wolves (Act I and II) takes its sweet time, starting with repeated lines and pauses that reminded me of a gospel hymn. Then it stretches out into a long strummed refrain "what might have been lost don't bother me." With nowhere left to go, it eventually splinters apart, leaving just this little timid voice spouting an unfinished line.
Blindsided is more of the same; a confusing lyric married to a lovely melody with some interesting musical effects. Your mileage will vary. Heck, even mine does.
Creature Fear has a rousing chorus, but is in fact the most despondent, depressing song herein.
It blends seamlessly into Team, rendering the song by itself pointless. It's about a minute worth of drumming and a bass riff, with affects and whistling.
The almost title track, For Emma, is next. Feels like a hopeful finale, thanks to trumpet and trombone from the guest players.
But the last song is Re: Stacks. Longest, most coherent lyric settled on the least catchy melody by far. I always get lost on this song; it feels like a bonus track.
Well, I'm really rather ambivalent about this CD. I've been listening to it heavily this past week, trying to figure it out. Sometimes I think the whole thing's dull, at others it seems to possess a most extraordinary beauty. What is Justin Vernon trying to convey? It takes concentration for me to even begin to figure it out. I find that snow outside the window really helps the cause.
Oh, and a reviewer on Amazon recommended hearing it alongside Neil Young Live at Massey Hall. So I bought them both, and did just that. Yes, they do form a natural compliment to each other, sharing acoustics, falsetto and a predilection for loneliness.
Looking back, this does seem a tepid review. I simply don't know whether I like Bon Iver or not, let alone if anyone else would. The frost obscuring the window on the cover really tells you everything you need to know. Sometimes one accepts the obscurity with a philosophical nod; other times it's "get a windshield wiper and say what's on your mind already!"
Interesting review... won't see me running out to buy this but then I don't exactly shell out money for much music do I? Got enough in my head most of the time!
ReplyDeleteYour reviews are starting to paint a picture of the listener and the environment as they relate to the music. A symbiotic relationship between the artist and the listener.