For Emma, Forever Ago [Vinyl]

Bon Iver's debut full-length For Emma, Forever Ago has been making major waves in critics circles based onthe strength of an early artist-pressed advance cd and a couple awe-inspiring sets at CMJ in October 2007.The New York Times called it ''irresistible'' and Pitchfork stamped its early review of the album with aRecommended tag. For those of you hiding away in a cabin of your own, it's time that you hear the story,and more importantly, the music.Bon Iver (pronounced: bohn eevair; French for ''good winter'' and spelled wrong on purpose) is a greeting, acelebration and a sentiment. It is a new statement of an artist moving on and establishing the groundworkfor a lasting career. For Emma, Forever Ago is the debut of this lineage of songs. As a whole, the record isentirely cohesive throughout and remains centered around a particular aesthetic, prompted by the time andplace for which it was recorded. Justin Vernon, the primary force behind Bon Iver, seems to have tested hisboundaries to the maximum, and in doing so has managed to break free from any pre-cursing or finishedforms.It wasn't planned. The goal was to hibernate. Vernon moved to a remote cabin in the woods of NorthwesternWisconsin at the onset of winter. He lived there alone for three months, filling his days with wood splittingand other chores around the land. This solitary time slowly began feeding a bold, uninhibited new musicalfocus. The days slowly evolved into nights filled with twelve-hour recording blocks, breaking only for tripson the tractor into the pines to saw and haul firewood, or for frozen sunrises high up a deer stand. All of hispersonal trouble, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss and guilt that had been stock piled overthe course of the past six years, was suddenly purged into the form of song.TRACKLISTING:FlumeLump SumSkinny LoveThe Wolves (Act I and II)BlindsidedCreature FearTeamFor Emmare: stacks

It's hard to believe that For Emma, Forever Ago is the work of one man. But when Justin Vernon's old band split he hauled himself (and presumably plenty of instruments and recording equipment) to his dad's hunting cabin in the woods of Wisconsin for the coldest season and worked through his issues in musical form. (The name comes from the French for "good winter"--"bon hiver"). By the start of the spring thaw he had recorded the bulk of this stunning debut, originally self-issued to acclaim last year in the USA and now picked up for a British release. Vernon's voice grabs the ear from the start, switching easily into a smooth falsetto (and unusually for a white indie lad, without the slightest intent of emulating Prince). The formula is straightforward. He layers his vocal harmonies, while a gently strummed acoustic rhythm guitar just about holds the centre. All else from horns to slide guitar is mere detail. The quality is rough and ready but the effect is strangely similar though to the slick vocal confections of European women like Bjork and Camille, all mystery and distance. It's the musical equivalent of reading someone else's diary. In code. Through a dirty window. Enigmatic songs like the elegantly stumbling "Creature Fear" with its rowdy horn parts, the resolute opener "Flume" and the evanescent "Team" are just so pretty they seem to glide by without leaving a mark in the snow. Vernon is apparently a straightforward and friendly guy, but For Emma, Forever Ago genuinely sounds like something from a far off place. --Steve Jelbert