it's funny how i'm listening to all these songs about heartbreak.
i wanna talk about bon iver's album.
for emma, forever ago.man, i'm finding it hard to find the words. but i'll try.
some musicians sound more impressive with a stage and an audience to work with, with dazzling lights and awesome sonic acrobatics and stuff. i'm thinking cinematic orchestra here.
yet i can't imagine justin vernon playing a live show to top his recordings. his songs will chill you to the bone, leave you breathless. it demands your full attention.
because here is an album that is as much about the story behind it as it is about the quivering falsetto, the emotions and the atmosphere. "Justin Vernon secluded himself to a cabin in northwestern
Wisconsin for three months planning to "hibernate." Three months of solitude resulted in the creation of
For Emma, Forever Ago. "All of his personal trouble, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss and guilt that had been stock piled over the course of the past six years, was suddenly purged into the form of song."
From his
interview:
Pitchfork: You don't strike me as the type of person that would be sick of it, but the cabin. I'm sure everybody talks about it.
JV: Everybody. That's the first question most ask.
Pitchfork: Are you thinking eventually in the future it's not going to be such a hot topic?
JV: Well, I don't know. Maybe. It makes sense that that's part of the story and everything, but that's part of any story of any record-- where was it record and how long and what were the people doing. I think people want to know where these events are made. That's why I like the word "record." I'm quoting Jackson Browne quoting Leonard Cohen, but it's a record of events. That's why they call it a record. And I like that because it's like it's what it is man-- it's a collection of songs, but it's not just the songs. Fleetwood Mac--
Rumours . Everyone was having sex with each other and doing cocaine-- a part of that made the record. I think that's an important part for people to understand-- the internal back story. But I'm over it. I just lived there [in the cabin]. It's not a big deal.
which is a bit sad, because it seems unlikely that justin will ever 'record' songs as haunting as 'flume', 'lump sum', 'the wolves', 'blindsided', 're:stacks' or 'skinny love'.
would you really rush out, for me now?i do hope rachael yamagata proves me wrong. about the making the quiet heartfelt heartbreak songs work well live thing. cuz i don't like her louder stuff on the new album.
isn't it funny how this is just turning into a music blog? pretty.
