In this day and age when some artists have all but disappeared {Sufjan Stevens}, others continue to put out new albums that are, well, below par {Weezer, The Killers}, and yet others are on possible permanent hiatus {The Strokes}, it can be hard at times to be excited for new music. In fact it can be hard to be excited for music in general.
Fortunately for us all, in this modern desert economy, there exists one bright and shining star that has to date put out two brilliant slices of music for our enjoyment. The second album by Bon Iver, aka Justin Vernon, is an EP that has four songs that are each unique pieces of intricate craft work. After his debut album it was apparent that Bon Iver had some serious talent behind the music and this album, Blood Bank (amazon) (itunes), literally raises the bar to a ridiculously height. I wouldn’t be surprised if this EP made it into best of the year lists this time around.
mp3 : Bon Iver - Blood Bank
mp3 : Bon Iver - Babys
The title track, Blood Bank, sounds pretty much like what I expected from a Bon Iver album. What caught me totally by surprise were the three other tracks on the disc. I personally am going to say that Babys is influenced heavily by the sound of Sufjan Stevens and the closing track on the four track EP, Woods, could easily have been recorded with Imogen Heap {and all the vocoder goodness that goes along with that}. This is easily one of the best EPs I have heard in a long time.
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BLASPHEMER! the Strokes are NOT on permanent hiatus! they’re working on new material as I type this!
Excellent post. I was wondering when you were going to post something about Bon Iver.
I concur - What the heck is Sufjan up to? I feel like traveling up to Brooklyn and asking him myself.
from what i heard from what i consider to be a reliable source, that being John Richards of KEXP, the strokes are indeed on an indefinite hiatus. they’re all busy working on their own side projects. now that’s not to say that Julian isn’t working on something that will eventually become the strokes next album, but according to John they’re on a break.