A song a day: Bon Iver - Brackett, WI

There has been a lot of Bon Iver hate on my blog of late but I stand by my review of his new album - I find it appalling and the uncritical pandering of most music websites reveals more about music criticism today than I care to think about. With that in mind, I thought I'd mention my favourite Bon Iver song which is Brackett, WI. I must confess that even though I know the lyrics and sing along often, I have absolutely no idea what this song is about. Progress, death, relationships, axes - who knows but what I do know that as a mood piece it is brilliant. There is something mind altering about his vocals matched with the bass here and when the shimmering guitar enters towards the end - sheer bliss. I could listen to this song all day long over and over again - and I often do.

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Pitchfork gives Bon Iver 9.5

If ever there was a test, this was it. If ever there was a shark to be jumped, this was it. Un-fucking-believable.

Bon Iver - Calgary

For Emma, Forever Ago took a while to grow on me. On first listen, although I liked it, I found it almost impenetrable. By the third listen, I was suddenly overcome by the beauty of that record and it transformed into something much more tangible while maintaining its initial ethereal majesty. I’m not sure if it’s the familiarity with Bon Iver or the song itself, but Calgary seems much more accessible. As with the best of his work, the song is based around the voice which sounds as unique as ever. As soon as Justin Vernon opens his mouth you know this is a Bon Iver track. This is a good thing here as too often these low key tracks that start with just vocals and keyboards can end up sounding like indie versions of Phil Collins’ In the Air Tonight. Thankfully, Bon Iver has some pretty tight quality control so what could have been a pretty banal song about a man laying with his lover is beautiful and haunting. Once the drums and guitars kick in about half way through it’s impossible not to love this song. As with the best of Bon Iver’s work, this song creeps up on you until it’s embedded in your heart.

Updated: I was so wrong about this track and album. The horrifying truth is here.

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