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For Emma, Forever Ago

Bon Iver

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iTunes Review

Fans of Little Wings, Will Oldham, and Devendra Banhart are discovering Bon Iver, the musical id of Justin Vernon, who recorded the basic tracks for this solo debut at his father’s hunting cabin, deep in the Wisconsin woods. Camped out with a guitar and a desire for isolation and clear-eyed focus (plus “a few microphones and some aged recording equipment”), Vernon emerged after several snowy months with a batch of intimate and melancholy works that will warm any chilled heart (drums and the occasional horn and flute were added later). The sound of Bon Iver (pronounced as would the French for “good winter”: “bohn eevair”) isn’t too far from the path Vernon forged with DeYarmond Edison, his previous band, although the bare-bones nakedness of Bon Iver’s songs somehow seem warmer than the bare-bones songs of the band’s. The opening choral segment on “Lump Sum” is startlingly lush, enveloping the listener in an ambient haze. “The Wolves” also builds up to a surprisingly epic feel, but tracks like the beautiful “Flume” and “Skinny Love”,  with their unadorned acoustic guitar and simple vocals, put the listener right there in the North woods of Wisconsin, deep into a snowy winter.

Customer Reviews

the ultimate break-up album, beautifully crafted

Ok so 'For Emma, Forever Ago', if you didn't know, is the ultimate break-up album. Recorded in isolation, in a cabin under the snow in a three month period, blah blah blah. It's all very heartbreaking and it does indeed make the album all the more fascinating but in truth what makes Bon Iver's masterpiece what it is is quite simply the musical excellence that doesn't exactly hide itself beneath the record's tear-jerking story. Not one single song on this record is a direct love token. The record's devotee may be feeling warm and regretful but not one single song cries out "I loved you, I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you". It's instead the sound of bitter becoming beautiful. And Justin Vernon's addiction to this woman that left such a gap in his life is evident more so than you could ever imagine. Musically though, no human being deserves such a tribute. 'For Emma, Forever Ago' isn't sealed with a kiss and most certainly isn't stylishly thought out - it's instead the sound of one broken heart giving away its last ounce of love - whether Bon Iver was ever going to make such a record via. Eau Claire prior to this break-up will be a much debated detail but he was always capable of it. For those of you who are new to Bon Iver, like I was prior to a listen of this record, all you need to picture is a thousand closing scenes to your favourite American TV Drama - when the tears are on the brink of shedding themselves, out comes Bon Iver to encourage it all. 'Skinny Love' is beautiful, 're:Stacks' equally so, opener 'Flume' almost exceeding it all. The world doesn't need Coldplay's 'Fix You' or any Sigur Ros to encourage a few heartbreaks anymore. From now on, we're utterly sorted. I haven't yet cried yet to this record. I'm sure many have. Maybe it's reluctance, maybe I'm trying to be "all man". Nevertheless this record has touched me, made me specifically, feel special, in another world completely. Never-ending bus journies have never been so enjoyable, getting to an easy sleep has never been such a simple task. How this record affects you though is entirely down to what perspective to enter into it from. Whether you dive into it via. the sentimental, heartbroken route of Vernon or whether you are simply curious because of the countless stellar reviews it's been receiving - it will do something to you within only a couple of listens that much is for sure. It's hard to pick out individual sections that make your body sink more than others. The closing few seconds of 'The Wolves' are particularly moving. But as is the whole 5 minute period in which 'Blindsided' weeps. Once Bon Iver asks " Would you really rush out for me now?" though, the lump in your throat appears and you're more vunerable than ever before in the listening period. This isn't just the ultimate break-up record, it's a record which you pretend you've just broken up to, it's the ultimate tear-shedding record. This review probably reads like an endless gushing of drivel but no other record warrants it so.

Its like he grabs your heart and squeezes it.

Every time I listen to this it just makes me stop. Absolutely beautiful and heartbreaking and haunting, you feel like you know him and what he has been through. The whole thing is perfectly composed but not at all monotonous. I'm actually in love with it. Skinny Love, Re:Stacks and Blindsided are perhaps ever so slightly more favourites but its a slim margin. Just get it.

Pure Pleasure

Ten songs, all performed with tenderness, all delivered with convincing emotion and all with the power to bewitch the listener. Bon Iver has crafted an album that cuts straight to the heart. A haunting voice combined with gentle melodies that grow and grow until your whole head is filled with hazy wellbeing. Best songs are Skinny Love, Flume and The Wolves (Act 1 & 2), but do yourself a favour, buy the whole album.

Biography

Formed: 2007 in Eau Claire, WI

Genre: Alternative

Years Active: '00s, '10s

Justin Vernon began recording under the nom de band Bon Iver following the breakup of DeYarmond Edison, an indie folk group similar in tone and manner to Iron & Wine, Little Wings, and — to a certain extent — Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Vernon's solo project took DeYarmond Edison's introspective, folky sound and embellished it with squinchy, quirky orchestral touches that nodded to Sparklehorse and the drifty optimism of the Flaming Lips. Vernon moved back to Wisconsin the winter following...
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