ShortFormBlogbon iver Archives

I was literally in the back room rolling a spliff with Rick Ross talking about what to do on the next part of a song. It was astonishing.
Justin “Bon Iver” Vernon • Discussing the surreal experience of working on Kanye West’s new album. One of the tracks, “Lost in the World” (which samples Vernon’s auto-tuned cathedral “Woods”) seems likely to be Kanye’s next single. Which is just insane. Is Vernon about to become a next-tier pop star? It’d be pretty awesome. Bon Iver is one of our favorite bands. source

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1. We admit that we’ve been quite excited about Monsters of Folk, mostly because of our boy M. Ward. (Nothing against Conor Oberst, but he seems to have lost his edge lately.) The leadoff track, “Dear God (Sincerely M.O.F.),” certainly doesn’t scream folk, but there’s certainly a lot more going on here than an indie equivalent of the Traveling Wilburys.
2. What if you took the most experimental part of Bon Iver’s “For Emma, Forever Ago” and built a whole album around it? You’d have Volcano Choir‘s “Unmap,” which features frontman Justin Vernon with Milwaukee’s Collection of Colonies of Bees, proving that he’s not the only interesting musician currently coming out of Wisconsin.
3. Lots to love here. The Big Pink’s “A Brief History of Love” has at least one killer chorus in the form of “Dominos,” which gives a nice sheen to their best shoegaze intentions.
4. Rain Machine, a.k.a. TV on the Radio’s Kyp Malone, had one of the year’s most-highly-anticipated releases. The album itself isn’t nearly as amazing as the billing, but the vocal theatrics of the otherwise-simple “New Last Name” certainly live up to the pedigree.
5. On “Higher than the Stars,” The Pains of Being Pure at Heart seem to be ready to cut back the massive amounts of guitar distortion that defined their earlier releases. Even without it – relying more on a cheery synth instead – the formula still works.source

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Forget that Taylor Swift’s at No. 1 again. The real story is Andrew Bird (with Noble Beast) at No. 12. And Animal Collective (with Merriweather Post Pavilion) at No. 13. And Bon Iver (with the Blood Bank EP) at No. 16. All three are career bests. And all three albums are pretty well-reviewed, too. Some music blog jerk somewhere is thinking that this is a sign of the commercialization of indie. We want to tell that guy to shut up and just enjoy the moment for what it is, OK? source

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Blood Bank certainly dispels concerns that Vernon’s accomplishment was somehow environmental – that For Emma’s poetic circumstances, and not its contents, were responsible for its success.
Amanda Petrusich • reviewing Bon Iver’s new Blood Bank EP, which features an a capella track built around auto-tune. She gave it a 7.9. Bon Iver, the Justin Vernon-led indie-folk band, has been gaining significant traction on the Billboard charts in recent weeks. • source

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By the numbers … … Metacritic says African duo Amadou & Mariam’s Welcome to Mali is the top-rated album of the year. They scored a worldwide popular-consciousness coup in 2006 after recording that year’s World Cup song, “Celebrate the Day.” source

By the numbers … … Metacritic says African duo Amadou & Mariam’s Welcome to Mali is the top-rated album of the year. They scored a worldwide popular-consciousness coup in 2006 after recording that year’s World Cup song, “Celebrate the Day.”
The critics, though … … have definitely taken a liking to Fleet Foxes’ self-titled debut, with that album topping a number of year-end lists. TV on The Radio, Portishead and Bon Iver are right behind, though. Our favorite? Deerhunter’s Microcastle. source

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14 Aug 2010 15:33