This week's person is Justin Vernon.
I was first introduced to this amazing songwriter through Bon Iver, the multi-man manifestation of his weepy Wisconsin compositions. Being a huge fan of sorrowful, brooding singer/songwriters already, it was not difficult to win me over. But past his catchy, wanton "Skinny Love," Vernon offers us poetry at the speed of sound. The sweet rhymes of back, racks and stacks ("Re: Stacks") pings off of walls softly, as if in a snow-covered cabin shut off to the outside world. "For Emma, Forever Ago" is an examination of what it means to persist in solitude.
"I crouch like a crow
Contrasting the snow
For the agony I'd rather know."
-Blindsided, Bon Iver
Vernon travels through his own intimate thoughts, finding solace in his decided isolation. Daytrotter's Sean Moeller tells it like it is in a beautifully written article about the band.
"The rebuilding begins surprisingly quickly and there's new strength that the broken man can call upon... He and his live band of Mike Noyce and Sean Carey perform a ritual every time they open their mouths, spilling out that winter that it took to endure this, reenacting the wood smoke that was likely pluming from the chimney stack of the cottage that Vernon holed up in, frosting up the winters that we were trying to look out of and forcing us to just be there, in that time, again, with him, as sad and lovely as it was back then. We come to believe that it was lovely. He makes us and we're damn thankful."
In an interview with online music magazine Treble, Vernon and music blogger Dustin Allen thoroughly discuss the record's journey. Allen interestingly relates Vernon's cabin stay to Thoreau's experience at Walden Pond, and compares the album to Sub Pop's release of Sam Beam's home-recorded songs. (Iron & Wine)
One of the most fascinating things about this record is that there was no planning on Vernon's part to create it. Here's an excerpt from the interview:
"I packed up a U-Haul and my car, my Honda, with all my stuff – everything I own, basically. That's all I had ... my computer, my four-track stuff, my microphones were probably in my car for two weeks before I brought it in. So I mean, I always have it around; I'm always working on music. But the reason I went up there, first and foremost, was really out of necessity. It was kind of a rushed decision. I didn't go up there thinking, "Alright, I gotta make a record."
-Justin Vernon
Another incredible quality that this and only a few other records possess is their homemade, electronically unaltered quality. While electro-voice alterations can be heard on "Woods" and "The Wolves (Act I and II)," the compositions remain thoroughly humble. As an aspiring songwriter whose only recording equipment is the computer I'm typing on, home-grown recordings hold a special place in my heart.
Other intimate recordings worth checking out:
Ani DiFranco - Ani DiFranco
Iron & Wine - The Creek Drank The Cradle
Volcano Choir (Justin Vernon's new project) - Unmap
Fruit Bats - Spelled In Bones
Azure Ray - Azure Ray
Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning
Elliott Smith - XO
Cat Power - You Are Free
Various Artists - Dark Was The Night (contains "Big Red Machine" by Justin Vernon and Aaron Dessner)
Love,
Rachel
EDIT: Forgot to post this! Bon Iver made it on to NPR's 50 Most Important Recordings of the Decade, along with Arcade Fire, The Decemberists, Death Cab, Iron & Wine, Bright Eyes, The Swell Season, Radiohead, and Sufjan Stevens. Check it out.
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