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Well, first of all, Bon Iver, Bon Iver is 10 times the album For Emma, Forever Ago is. Secondly, we've heard three tracks, one of which can already stand with his best. So pipe the fuck down cunts.
 
Has it ever been established what the name of the last album was? One "Bon Iver" or two?
 
cobl04 said:
Well, first of all, Bon Iver, Bon Iver is 10 times the album For Emma, Forever Ago is.
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Strongly disagree.
Stacks is one of the best tracks ever, Skinny Love, Blindsided, Creature Fear, Flume, etc are all outstanding. I love both albums a lot and it's very close, but I give For Emma the slight edge.
cobl04 said:
Secondly, we've heard three tracks, one of which can already stand with his best. So pipe the fuck down cunts.
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For real.

How about a Bon Iver Rushmore?
Stacks
Holocene
Blindsided
Heavenly Father


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Flume
Skinny Love
For Emma
Re: Stacks

For Emma is his best work by miles. It's not that I dislike the self-titled, it's very good, but For Emma is a masterpiece.
 
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LemonMelon said:
The self-titled is his best work by miles. It's not that I dislike For Emma, it's very good, but the self-titled is a masterpiece.
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Fixed.

Bon Iver, Bon Iver is a step forward in terms of everything, from sound to production to songwriting. For Emma has the iconic tracks, and the other surrounding them are all at the least quite good, but the self-titled is a fully-realised masterwork. It is an album's album; to this day, despite how much I love it and how many times I've listened to it, I can't even tell you off the top of my head what Holocene or half the other tracks sound like, because it is just the most perfectly constructed album.
 
cobl04 said:
So pipe the fuck down cunts.
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Yes. Everyone should like anything they want to like, and we all should be happy to hear about how much they like it. Seriously, way too much negativity on the internet these days, especially about music. I remember the days when we all used to try out albums and bands for no reason other than the fact that someone we thought was a good poster was into them.

Too much of the internet douche culture as come through in music forums, I wish people kept their annoying opinions to themselves and stop trying to constantly try to rain on peoples' parades. We all know what it's like to be extremely excited about a song, band, or album. I wish we all could stop being assholes to each other and let others be happy with how they feel. Seriously. Music fucking rules.
 
A step up in songwriting? Couldn't disagree more. I've heard BIBI at least 20 times and can only bring to mind maybe half the songs (Perth, Calgary, Holocene, Beth/Rest...I remember liking Michicant a lot...I think?) Too much of it is pleasant background music that establishes atmosphere without sticking in my head.

Meanwhile, For Emma's tracklisting has been pillaged for nearly a decade as one song after another has been used for film and television or found its way onto the radio (granted, Holocene has been used in every drama released since 2011). It's loaded with memorable tracks, which is astonishing for such a modest and emotionally exhausting album, a debut no less. That's a testament to its fantastic songwriting. Hooky AND emotionally devastating is a rare and potent mix and those songs made him a star.

The followup is a delightful listening experience though. The production is excellent, the sequencing was clearly thought through and there are some interesting new avenues explored (the cinematic post-rock feel of Perth, the sophisti-pop of Beth/Rest). It's really good. But it is an album's album, a crafted artistic statement that, sadly, doesn't move me to anywhere near the degree For Emma did. It's like he perfected his aesthetic but ran out of topics that really engaged him. Even the less developed songs on For Emma are performed with such conviction that they can bring me to tears (Creature Fear specifically).

Hoping for the best from the new album. It's not Vernon's fault that he's picked a direction that makes me roll my eyes. Folk artists discovering electronic music never works for me outside of, I don't know, Beck? And that's going way back. Vernon has hung around with some gifted producers though, so maybe he's picked up some good ideas.
 
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u2popmofo said:
Yes. Everyone should like anything they want to like, and we all should be happy to hear about how much they like it. Seriously, way too much negativity on the internet these days, especially about music. I remember the days when we all used to try out albums and bands for no reason other than the fact that someone we thought was a good poster was into them.

Too much of the internet douche culture as come through in music forums, I wish people kept their annoying opinions to themselves and stop trying to constantly try to rain on peoples' parades. We all know what it's like to be extremely excited about a song, band, or album. I wish we all could stop being assholes to each other and let others be happy with how they feel. Seriously. Music fucking rules.
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I don't mind it so much, I'm absolutely guilty of it (shit I was in the same boat before 33 God appeared :lol:) but I get where you're coming from. I certainly miss the days of trying out albums for no reason other than the fact someone we thought was a good poster was into them, as you say, as well :)

LemonMelon said:
A step up in songwriting? Couldn't disagree more. I've heard BIBI at least 20 times and can only bring to mind maybe half the songs (Perth, Calgary, Holocene, Beth/Rest...I remember liking Michicant a lot...I think?) Too much of it is pleasant background music that establishes atmosphere without sticking in my head.

Meanwhile, For Emma's tracklisting has been pillaged for nearly a decade as one song after another has been used for film and television or found its way onto the radio (granted, Holocene has been used in every drama released since 2011). It's loaded with memorable tracks, which is astonishing for such a modest and emotionally exhausting album, a debut no less. That's a testament to its fantastic songwriting. Hooky AND emotionally devastating is a rare and potent mix and those songs made him a star.

The followup is a delightful listening experience though. The production is excellent, the sequencing was clearly thought through and there are some interesting new avenues explored (the cinematic post-rock feel of Perth, the sophisti-pop of Beth/Rest). It's really good. But it is an album's album, a crafted artistic statement that, sadly, doesn't move me to anywhere near the degree For Emma did. It's like he perfected his aesthetic but ran out of topics that really engaged him. Even the less developed songs on For Emma are performed with such conviction that they can bring me to tears (Creature Fear specifically).

Hoping for the best from the new album. It's not Vernon's fault that he's picked a direction that makes me roll my eyes. Folk artists discovering electronic music never works for me outside of, I don't know, Beck? And that's going way back. Vernon has hung around with some gifted producers though, so maybe he's picked up some good ideas.
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That isn't a bad thing though - there's boomers out there who can't name all of the songs on Dark Side of the Moon, despite it being their all-time favourite album, because it's a suite of songs, really. An album's album.

And as I say, cueing it up now, off the top of my head I think I can only recall Perth, Michicant ("and at once I knew / I was not magnificent" - but I've probably got that mixed up with Holocene or something), Hinnom, Wash and Beth/Rest. Doesn't make it any less of a great piece of work. In fact it impresses me more, that whenever I come back to the album, from the moment those depressing guitar riffs start up in Perth, I know I'm going to be immersed totally for 40 minutes. They drift in and out of one another. Honestly, it could be one long track and I'd love it all the same. It is absolute genius.

Having never written a song, perhaps I can't extol the values of the songwriting on Bon Iver, Bon Iver vs For Emma, Forever Ago. I guess what I'm getting is that all the individual songs on the self-titled, to me, are incredibly well-made. Each song has several layers, parts, sections that just continuously blow me away with their attention to detail, how different instruments come together to form a wonderfully atmospheric whole. Take Minnesota, WI, which I'm listening to now and no one has ever talked about - in the space of a minute it goes from a gentle, downtrodden Sufjan-esque "never gonna break", and then his voice changes and some hard synths come slamming in. There's just so much going on. It's immersive. Whereas with For Emma, all its secrets are laid bare straight away. And that's okay, because they're awesome secrets. But it isn't the immersive experience the self-titled is, in my opinion. The lyrics are tremendous - and for the most part you can actually make out what he's saying, on the self-titled he might as well be singing a made-up language - but I am moved by every element of Bon Iver Bon Iver and the whole they make up, as opposed to just the heartbreaking lyrics of his debut and the acoustic guitar that accompanies it. The songs on For Emma range from all-time (as you can see, two of its songs are my top two Bon Iver songs) to very good, but for the most part, there isn't anywhere near enough for me to grab onto as there is on the self-titled. Thoughts on my thoughts? Do you get where I'm coming from? Anyone?

I'm really interested to hear the new album.
 
cobl04 said:
I don't mind it so much, I'm absolutely guilty of it (shit I was in the same boat before 33 God appeared :lol:) but I get where you're coming from. I certainly miss the days of trying out albums for no reason other than the fact someone we thought was a good poster was into them, as you say, as well :)
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I likely (definitely) had too much to drink and turned into a damn hippy again when I wrote this. I still think it's true though, music is freaking awesome, and the idea of raining on anyone's musical parade is awful.

I think the new song is great too, I've been enjoying it.
 
Some early impressions of the new album:

Believe it or not, it's actually a fairly typical Justin Vernon release. This is both a best-case scenario for me and a mild disappointment. Sure, I found the early release tracks a bit gimmicky and undercooked, but something about the "it's his Kid A/Yeezus/Age of Adz!" hype kind of got me excited.

It's none of those things. The songs he released early are about as weird as this gets. It's actually a very moody, quiet collection of pretty good Bon Iver songs that got tweaked obsessively in whatever DAW Justin uses. There are lots of effects and production quirks that give off the impression of that it's a really weird album, but at its heart it's not that far from what we're used to. Woods is more radical than anything on here, if you ask me. The last few tracks actually blend together a bit because they're so slow, sad and typical for the project.

Despite its corny/edgy title (they're all pretty corny, honestly), my favorite song hands down is 666, which is absolutely mindblowing stuff. The way the bass and drums are used, very sparsely but with punch when they appear, creates powerful dynamics for the song and the arrangement itself is awesome. That song really brings the album to life. If the rest of the album stretched out so ambitiously I'd probably love it, but for now I'll stick with being largely pleased by what I'm hearing.

It's good stuff. But if you've heard Bon Iver and James Blake albums in the past, you'll be fully prepared for this. It sounds like a collaboration between the two artists. A lot of emotive indie folk, a lot of sparse instrumentation and pitch shifted vocals.
 
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Interesting thoughts.
How did you hear the album? I've seen a few low quality leaks floating around the Bon Iver sub forum on Reddit and obviously there's the Eau Claire bootlegs, but I want it hear it in high quality (and I've already pre-ordered it on Amazon), so I'll wait it out.
 
The leak I heard was fine, not great. It sounded like 160 transcoded to 320. Some minor compression when it got loud. I don't blame anyone for waiting, but it wasn't bad enough to preclude someone from making an opinion either.
 
I'm reasonably drunk, but I loved that. And I think when you love an artist you love their releases that little bit more, so I love it and think my love for it will grow. 33 god and 8 circle the picks of the bunch for mine on first listen. 666 upside down t also very good.
 
Looking forward to hearing this over the weekend. I was going to get tickets for his show here but ended up passing, which I'm starting to regret now.
 
Gets a 9 nine from Pitchfork lol. Not that I've heard it yet. My expectations are pretty low though.

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I just found out a high school friend of mine played in the saxophone ensemble on the album and at the Eau Claire festival. Neat!

Curious to hear this. Not sure what to expect.
 
nielsgov said:
Gets a 9 nine from Pitchfork lol. Not that I've heard it yet. My expectations are pretty low though.

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It is odd how people's interest in him seems to have dropped off so precipitously. I'm in the same boat - I can't be bothered to care about this album, but I really don't know why. Probably the obnoxiousness of the tracklisting is a piece of it.
 
I'm looking forward to hearing this again. My first listen was good but didn't leave me all that impressed.
 
I'm quite underwhelmed, to tell the truth. I admire the artistry in it, but the album leaves me pretty cold. It sounds like the intro to a much better album that never really starts, if that makes sense.


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gump said:
It sounds like the intro to a much better album that never really starts, if that makes sense.
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:lol: I can hear that, actually. This has to be the lowest stakes "artistic leap" I've ever heard. He somehow managed to make an album that ticks every beard folk box out there while doing just enough with the production to make people think it's some bold artistic statement.

My super hi-fi listen didn't go well either. I actually liked the leak more because it made the objectively bad mixing easier to tolerate. No idea what he was thinking with some of the ear-scraping noise he throws all over the place. This ain't Yeezus.

But regardless of what one thinks of the music, I think we can all agree that the song titles are fucking stupid. I can't even talk about the album properly because the tracklisting looks like a 6 year old set the font to Wingdings.
 
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Over Soon
Deathbreast
Creeks
33 God
Strafford
666 t
Moon Water
8 Circle
45
0 Million

What's so hard about that? Apex Twin has been doing it for years. Half his previous song titles were imaginary places.


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I know how to read them and can detect an obvious Richard D James influence, but they're still more of a distraction than another way of illuminating the meaning of these songs, which is what a title ought to do if It's not helpful in identifying the song. Titling the songs so obscurely ultimately draws attention to his electronic influences instead of the lyrics.

But hey, at least I didn't write off the album based on the song titles like people in The Other Place do every U2 album cycle. :up:
 
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