Bon Iver (Self Titled)

So this review started as a conversation with a co-worker about the new Bon Iver Album. She was kind enough to inform me it's up on NPR (pre-release) so check it out. After a first listen, I can say I am disappointed. Everything I like about Bon Iver's first album is gone. This should have been my first clue.

When listening to songs like "Calgary" and "Hinnom, TX" the phrases "overproduced" and "disappeared up his own..." come to mind. Really it's just too much synth and not enough of that underwater warm acoustic sound that permeated the first album. Apparently no one told Vernon that Beirut has the market cornered for non-guitar indy albums.

To be fair (and less snarky), my issue is I had a grand vision of where the guy was going and he totally went the other way. When I heard the first album and follow up EP, I thought “give it bit more percussion and do a few more up tempo songs to mix with some of the slow and this guy is gonna have it.” Sadly Vernon instead decided to create an electronic soundscape background album.

Don’t get me wrong, I sorta like the new album, and I completely respect artist that venture in new directions, I am just expressing my disappointment for what could have been. It’s like going to Paris and ordering “un sandwiche avec beaucoup de jambon et une tasse de vin” and getting grilled cheese with a coke... You’re still in Paris, right?

I tried for a while to find songs that I like on the new album. I did so because I want to talk positively about this guy because of how good his first album is. There are bits of "Minnisota, WI" that I dig, namely the arpeggiated guitar sounds (ahem... stereo hp eargasm), but I can't get past the horns and Phoneix style synths. "Towers" is also kind of cool, but the slide guitars and country drum beats feel out of place with the rest of the album.

Truth be told, none of the songs are terrible, and I will probably still buy the album. I just hope that album three will be more too my liking. BTW if you don't have anything from Bon Iver, start with "For Emma, Forever Ago." It's one of my favorites.

As an interesting post-script, I did not read the NPR review until after finishing my own, and find it interesting that we both called the guy out for that odd performance on Jimmy Fallon...