2012 Grammy Winner:
• Best New Artist
• Best Alternative Music Album
Stereophile Recording of the Month, August 2011!
Four stars for Performance and Four stars for Sonics!
Bon Iver, Bon Iver is Justin Vernon returning to former haunts with a new
spirit. The reprises are there – solitude, quietude, hope and desperation
compressed – but always a rhythm arises, a pulse vivified by gratitude and grace
notes. The winter, the legend, has faded to just that, and this is the new
momentary present. The icicles have dropped, rising up again as grass.
“Bon Iver is often equated with just me,” says Vernon, “but you are
who surrounds you, and for Bon Iver, Bon Iver I wanted to invite those voices as
musical catalysts.” Thus on the track “Beth/Rest” and throughout the album,
we hear the pedal steel of Greg Leisz (Lucinda Williams, Bill Frisell), the
uniquely layered low end of Colin Stetson’s (Tom Waits, Arcade Fire) saxophones,
the riffing of Mike Lewis’ (Happy Apple, Andrew Bird) altos and tenors, and the
lush horns of C.J. Camerieri (Rufus Wainwright, Sufjan Stevens). Bon Iver
regulars Sean Carey, Mike Noyce and Matt McCaughan contributed vocals, drums and
production, Rob Moose (Antony and the Johnsons, The National) helped with
arranging and added strings, and fellow members of Volcano Choir, Jim
Schoenecker and Tom Wincek provided processing.
"Despite the importance of the other musical talents on Bon Iver, it's Justin
Vernon and the potential inherent within his journey - musical, spiritual, sonic
- that's marked him as a clever, gifted artist who has many moods and
meditations yet to be explored." - Robert Baird, Stereophile Magazine,
August, 2011, pg. 107
"Wisely, when it comes to songwriting, (Justin) Vernon sounds here as if he
was content hitting singles and doubles this time out, rather than swinging for
the fences and trying to top For Emma's forest of hooks. The stark, spare
musical vibe heard on his previous LP and EP is back, albeit in more relaxed
form, more elaborately arranged, and not nearly as mournful as that heard on
For Emma. From the opening tracks, "Perth" (cities and states are a mini
theme on this album), which opens with a field recording of ships in Perth
harbor, it's clear that the overall idea has been to deepen the craft evident on
the landmark first album." - Robert Baird, Stereophile Magazine, August,
2011, pg. 107
Bon Iver, Bon Iver was recorded and mixed over the course of three years at
April Base Studios, a remodeled veterinarian’s clinic located in rural Fall
Creek, Wisconsin.
Features:
• Vinyl LP
• Re-issue of 2007 release
• Gatefold jacket
• Includes digital download
Musicians:
Justin Vernon
Greg Leisz, pedal steel
Colin Stetson, saxophones
Mike Lewis, alto, tenor
C.J. Camerieri, horns
Sean Carey
Mike Noyce
Matt McCaughan
Selections:
1. Perth
2. Minnesota, WI
3. Holocene
4. Towers
5. Michicant
6. Hinnom, TX
7. Wash.
8. Calgary
9. Lisbon, OH
10. Beth/Rest
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