Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago (LP)

Bon Iver's debut album "For Emma, Forever Ago" made big waves in critical circles after an early pre-release CD from the artist and a couple of impressive performances at CMJ in October 2007. The New York Times called it "irresistible," and Pitchfork gave his early review of the album a "Recommended" tag. For those of you hiding in your own hovels, it's time to hear the story and, more importantly, the music. Bon Iver (pronounced: bohn eevair; French for "good winter" and intentionally misspelled) is a greeting, a celebration and a feeling. It's a new statement from an artist moving forward and laying the foundation for a lasting career. For Emma, Forever Ago is the debut of such a series of songs. As a whole, the record is cohesive throughout and remains centered around a certain aesthetic that is conditioned by the time and place for which it was recorded. Justin Vernon, the driving force behind Bon Iver, seems to have pushed his limits to the extreme and in doing so has managed to break free from any preconceived or ready-made molds. This was not planned. The goal was to go into hibernation. Vernon moved to a remote cabin in the woods of northwest Wisconsin at the onset of winter. He lived there alone for three months, filling his days with splitting wood and other chores around the land. During this solitary time, a new, bold and uninhibited musical focus slowly developed. The days slowly evolved into nights filled with twelve-hour recording blocks, interrupted only for tractor rides into the pines to cut and haul firewood or for frozen sunrises high up in a deer enclosure. All his personal problems, his lack of prospects, his heartache, his longing, his love, his loss and his feelings of guilt, which had accumulated over the last six years, were suddenly processed in the form of songs.