new Bon Iver album
 

So, the new Bon Iver album has leaked.... any fans in here?

First of all, let me say that I am a HUGE Bon Iver fan and their debut album, "For Emma, Forever Ago," is a major contender as my favorite album of all time. Yes, folks-- competing with any Fleetwood Mac related record. It is simply perfect and I have never tired of it, even when I was playing it ten times a day for a good six month period.

Needless to say, I was apprehensive about the new album. I'm listening to the leak now and I honestly believe that this record has the potential to impact me as much as "For Emma" did. I want to hear other opinions!

For those interested: http://www.mediafire.com/?drv0c0q63b75vf5

For now i just heard "Calgary" and i think it's fantastic.
I'm a huuuuge fan of the first album, and just like you, it might be my favorite album of all time. So, so moving and perfect. And i'm in love with Justin Vernon.
Thank you very very much for the link, i'll listen to it, though i don't see how anything can be better than "For Emma, forever ago". Still hoping.

My personal favorites on the album so far are "Perth," "Minnesota, WI," "Holocene," "Towers" and "Wash." SO IN LOVE!

Well i was hooked the moment i heard "Michicant". It's the stand-out track for me. I love "Perth" and "Towers" too, and though the sound changed (i was shocked by the beginning of "Beth/Rest", sounds 80's to me), i'm slowly beginning to think that this is just as great as "For Emma". YAY !

Thank you again for sharing this, you made my day. I had no idea i'd have the chance to hear it this early.

I love "Michicant" too-- can't believe I didn't mention it! This album is just perfect from beginning to end. I love how he has some Beirut-inspired tracks.

I can't believe it leaked this early, too! But I am sooooooooo in love. And have you seen the lyrics to this record?!

http://jagjaguwar.com/blog/2011/05/b...er-the-lyrics/

I love Bon Iver. I've only heard Calgary so far and really, really liked it. I'm still trying to decide if I should listen to the leak or wait for the real release...

I'm booking my tickets for the Dublin gig tomorrow morning and now I'm so excited for it!

I love Calgary but I think there are better tracks on the record. You gotta listen-- I can't even imagine waiting until July!

I have a hard time understanding what he's exactly saying when he's singing, so thank you for the lyrics. God, even the word "sternum" sounds so poetic with him.

"I was unafraid, I was a boy, I was a tender age
melic in the naked, knew a lake and drew the lofts for page
hurdle all the waitings up, know it wasn’t wedded love
4 long minutes end and it was over it’d all be back
and the frost took up the eyes".

This is just perfection. Ok, Michicant, definitely my favorite.

Bumping this, but gotta ask a question. Have you ever been to a Bon Iver concert ? There's one in Paris in october, and i'm wondering if i should go, if it's worth it.

I went to one in Galway, Ireland, almost 2 years ago and it was fupping excellent. I hear he's got a 9 piece band with him last time and he only had 3 other people last time but if it's anywhere near as good as that one I think it'll be a great show. I traveled for 6 or 7 hours to the Galway one and I thought it was worth it.

Now that is useful, thanks :). I'll have to travel a bit for this, and to find a place to stay, but if you say it's worth it, i believe you. Being disappointed by a live performance of those two amazing albums would be a tragedy for me.
Wondering why he needs a 9 piece band though.

I saw him live in San Francisco in 2009 and it is possibly the best show I've ever attended. He was AMAZING and I highly encourage you to go.

Aaaand that's done. Just ordered the tickets. Going with my best friend :).
Can't wait, thank you guys for the helpful comments.

Let us know how it goes! He's not coming to the West coast as of right now so I need to live vicariously through you!

No problem !
I don't know what do you think, but now that i've listened to it a few times, i think i prefer this album to For Emma. On the first album, the songs were very obvious, kind of effective, you know : all those songs had the potential to be hits, to me. They were very melodic, and kind of straight-forward.
It's like comparing Rumours to Tusk (:P), you have the album with the hits, and then the atmospheric, weird one. And at the end of the day, though i prefer Dreams, as a song, to Sara, i listen to Tusk way more than Rumours.
It's so not obvious, and sometimes even complicated in its structure, that everytime that i listen to Tusk, i notice something new. It's some kind of a great exploration.
And though Bon iver is shorter than Tusk, i still get this discovering feeling when i listen to it (cause to me, it's even less pop, and even more complicated than Tusk).
Lump Sum is a better song than all the ones that are on Bon Iver. But when i hear Bon Iver, i feel like i'm in a new world, everytime.
Anyway (sorry for the ramblings), and in this perspective, Perth is my favorite today. "Still alive who you love" is a beautiful, beautiful lyric. So sad, but so comforting at the same time.

If you want to, tell me what you think about the album now that we have passed the euphoria of the first few listens, please. :)

Are we twins? Separated at birth or something?

"Lump Sum" is my favorite song on For Emma by FAR and I think the exact same way about comparing For Emma vs. this new record. There is something so unworldly about it.... I love "Perth," "Holocene," "Michicant" and "Wash." the most. I even love "Beth/Rest". I think the album is absolutely perfect from beginning to end and I can't say that about For Emma.

LOVE.

:) :thumbsup:, are we really?
I think that loving Lump Sum the most is completely natural : this song is phenomenal.
Yes, i love "Beth/Rest" too. Hell, even "Hinnom, TX" is great to me (i read a lot of bad reviews of this song). Not very accessible, but this kind of songs just stress this "unworldly" quality.
It really is a perfect album. i can't help but pick favorite songs ("Perth", "Holocene", "Michicant", and "Calgary"), but i appreciate this album really as a whole.

Thank you so much, again, for this, Danielle. I needed this album now. And i'm going to stop right there before i get sentimental, while listening to "Holocene".

"And at once i knew, i was not magnificient".

You and me both sister! :) I love him so much... let me know how your Paris show goes!


strayed above the highway aisle
jagged vacance, thick with ice
I could see for miles, miles, miles

:). He's the perfect guy, isn't he?
Can't wait for october. Groupie mode ON ! You have no idea how many scenarios were going through my head these last days.
And i'll think about you, for sure :).

I'm listening to the album for the first time on NPR's site... I'm just at Holocene now and so far it's just great!

My excitement for the concert has just tripled! :]

What an amazing show. Last night was just magical. I'm still a bit overwhelmed so i can't really talk about it.
(It was a festival so we watched other bands play, like this girl called Lykke Li, who's like a bad Stevie Nicks, that was disturbing.)
I was quite surprised by the almost "rock side" of the concert (with Perth, and Blood Blank, and guitar solos), and also the fact that even if his music tends to be depressing at times, it was a very happy moment of my life. The guy is incredibly funny, and the crowd was enthousiastic, which is, for French people, pretty unusual. People were huging each other, dancing, kissing, it felt like the 6O's all over again.
The only complain i have is that he didn't play "Michicant", which was dropped out of the set for some reason, and "Lump Sum", but i already knew that. People seem to love this song, i don't know why he doesn't bring it back.

The highlight of the night was when he asked us to sing "what might have been lost", louder and louder, on "The Wolves". You got the whole crowd singing with him, it was the ultimate "unite moment". I really felt like i was a part of something special.

Great, great memories. If you get the chance to go, go :)!