My first exposure to Bon Iver (pronounced bohn eevair - French for "Good Winter" - the band is the song writing project of Justin Vernon) was "skinny love" and I didn't come away all that impressed. It was one of two tracks available on his myspace page and when the song reached its refrain the vocals wandered a little close to whiny territory for me and I moved on. Yes, I was premature to judge and when when I came across his video for "The Wolves (Act 1 & 2) " some weeks later it piqued my interest enough to dig a bit deeper. I then came across "For Emma" and was floored. The rhythm of the guitar seemingly captures a single instant while Justin Vernon paints a scene through sparse conversation; conveying more by what is left unsaid. After pulling you into the picture he rewards the listener with a stunning flurry of cascading horns in the spirit of Neutral Milk Hotel(lite) while occasional bursts of white noise are overcome by a soaring falsetto creating an inviting contrast and life to the music. It may be the recent 10 year anniversary of "In the Aeroplane Over the Sea" and my ears are a bit more attune to its sound but this song just seems to hit the right spot.
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