you pinned me with your black sphere eyes;
I. Bon Iver's new album, "Bon Iver", was released yesterday. Find a brief review of it under the cut, and preview the album here.
I’m quite certain everyone here is familiar with this situation:
A favorite music artist promotes an upcoming album for months, you get yourself all pumped up an excited, a single is released, which induces more excitement, the album is finally released, aaaaaand...
It is either terrible, decent but in a completely different style than what you initially fell in love with about the artist, disappointing due to your high expectations, or a combination of all three.
Thankfully, and to my great pleasure, this was not the case with Bon Iver’s new album “Bon Iver” (at least in my opinion).
I fell in love with “For Emma, Forever Ago” just over a year ago. I adore all of it to death. I listened to this album every morning for three months driving to work (little music is more appropriate at 5am in the Northwoods than Bon Iver).
Like most people, the draw to me for "For Emma" comes from the rawness of the lyrics and the music, and the spirit and location in which it was composed. This album has special meaning to me, considering I can personally associate it with northern Wisconsin.
Bon Iver's EP album "Blood Bank" was similar in raw and haunting nature, as was "Bracket, WI", a track released on the compilation album "Dark Was the Night", and "Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)", released on the compilation album "Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows".
So I have been PUMPED for this album. PUMPED. In one short year Bon Iver made his way right into my top five artists, potentially even my top three, and I crave more of his work like I do caffeine.
While I love the new album, it is not as raw as "For Emma, Forever Ago" was. The album contains varying styles in each track. I do not love the new album as much as I do the rest of his work - yet! I usually takes a while to build that familiarity. However, I have listened to the new album six times through now, and it definitely grew on me.
While the style of some of the tracks are different, some are not. "Holocene", for example, reminds me very much of the tracks on "For Emma, Forever Ago", while "Perth" is far more upbeat, but still enjoyable.
I know the album has received some criticism because to a lot of people it can't live up to "For Emma" - maybe it can't. That's fine. I think this album has plenty to be appreciated for entirely different reasons, and I'm glad for that. It wouldn't be possible to replicate the first album, and I'm not sure I would have wanted that to happen anyway - there's something to be said for appreciating both albums separately.
So yes, I do think Bon Iver lived up to their potential, I think the album is very good, and I like that they kept to their style - mostly, with some experimentation that was successful.
Sorry for the rambling, but SERIOUSLY, I frakking love Justin Vernon. A lot.
II. Apparently campus internet hates LJ. I am repeatedly logged off for no reason, and the "remember me" option doesn't work, among other things. This frustrates me greatly, though it is slightly amusing - it's like the CNR knows that I'm using LJ to profusely procrastinate.
III. Has anyone here used Tumblr at all? Is it worth signing up? Will I stop using it after two weeks? Will it be Twitter all over again? (I have a twitter, I use it, I follow people, and yet, to be honest, I'm still not quite sure why. I enjoy getting score updates from the Blackhawks and the Cubs, but beyond that, I'll admit it's kind of pointless).
IV. I've been considering changing my LJ username/journal name for a while now, but I can't seem to come up with one I like. I'm too picky about naming, I suppose.
V. Last night I had one of those good, old-fashioned, "stayed up until 2am reading fanfic" nights. It was glorious, even three hours later when I woke up early for a morning workout. I regret nothing.
[EDIT] Oh good lord, sorry for the brief double-posting as well as the posted entry earlier this morning that was obviously unfinished. I had thought the entry had simply been lost, as it wasn't showing up at all after posted, until I re-did the entry which also didn't show up. When I switched from Firefox to Chrome, they were both there. Oy.
I’m quite certain everyone here is familiar with this situation:
A favorite music artist promotes an upcoming album for months, you get yourself all pumped up an excited, a single is released, which induces more excitement, the album is finally released, aaaaaand...
It is either terrible, decent but in a completely different style than what you initially fell in love with about the artist, disappointing due to your high expectations, or a combination of all three.
Thankfully, and to my great pleasure, this was not the case with Bon Iver’s new album “Bon Iver” (at least in my opinion).
I fell in love with “For Emma, Forever Ago” just over a year ago. I adore all of it to death. I listened to this album every morning for three months driving to work (little music is more appropriate at 5am in the Northwoods than Bon Iver).
Like most people, the draw to me for "For Emma" comes from the rawness of the lyrics and the music, and the spirit and location in which it was composed. This album has special meaning to me, considering I can personally associate it with northern Wisconsin.
Bon Iver's EP album "Blood Bank" was similar in raw and haunting nature, as was "Bracket, WI", a track released on the compilation album "Dark Was the Night", and "Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow)", released on the compilation album "Broken Hearts and Dirty Windows".
So I have been PUMPED for this album. PUMPED. In one short year Bon Iver made his way right into my top five artists, potentially even my top three, and I crave more of his work like I do caffeine.
While I love the new album, it is not as raw as "For Emma, Forever Ago" was. The album contains varying styles in each track. I do not love the new album as much as I do the rest of his work - yet! I usually takes a while to build that familiarity. However, I have listened to the new album six times through now, and it definitely grew on me.
While the style of some of the tracks are different, some are not. "Holocene", for example, reminds me very much of the tracks on "For Emma, Forever Ago", while "Perth" is far more upbeat, but still enjoyable.
I know the album has received some criticism because to a lot of people it can't live up to "For Emma" - maybe it can't. That's fine. I think this album has plenty to be appreciated for entirely different reasons, and I'm glad for that. It wouldn't be possible to replicate the first album, and I'm not sure I would have wanted that to happen anyway - there's something to be said for appreciating both albums separately.
So yes, I do think Bon Iver lived up to their potential, I think the album is very good, and I like that they kept to their style - mostly, with some experimentation that was successful.
Sorry for the rambling, but SERIOUSLY, I frakking love Justin Vernon. A lot.
II. Apparently campus internet hates LJ. I am repeatedly logged off for no reason, and the "remember me" option doesn't work, among other things. This frustrates me greatly, though it is slightly amusing - it's like the CNR knows that I'm using LJ to profusely procrastinate.
III. Has anyone here used Tumblr at all? Is it worth signing up? Will I stop using it after two weeks? Will it be Twitter all over again? (I have a twitter, I use it, I follow people, and yet, to be honest, I'm still not quite sure why. I enjoy getting score updates from the Blackhawks and the Cubs, but beyond that, I'll admit it's kind of pointless).
IV. I've been considering changing my LJ username/journal name for a while now, but I can't seem to come up with one I like. I'm too picky about naming, I suppose.
V. Last night I had one of those good, old-fashioned, "stayed up until 2am reading fanfic" nights. It was glorious, even three hours later when I woke up early for a morning workout. I regret nothing.
[EDIT] Oh good lord, sorry for the brief double-posting as well as the posted entry earlier this morning that was obviously unfinished. I had thought the entry had simply been lost, as it wasn't showing up at all after posted, until I re-did the entry which also didn't show up. When I switched from Firefox to Chrome, they were both there. Oy.