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Bon Iver

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Bon Iver
Bon Iver performing in Stockholm, Sweden (2011)
Bon Iver performing in Stockholm, Sweden (2011)
Background information
OriginEau Claire, Wisconsin, United States
GenresIndie folk, indie rock, folk rock
Years active2006–present
LabelsJagjaguwar, 4AD
MembersJustin Vernon
Michael Noyce
Sean Carey
Matthew McCaughan
C.J. Camerieri
Michael Lewis
Colin Stetson
Greg Leisz
Rob Moose
Reginald Pace
Websiteboniver.org

Bon Iver (/[invalid input: 'icon']boʊn iːˈvɛər/ Bone ee-VEHR) is an American folk band founded in 2007 by indie folk singer-songwriter Justin Vernon. In addition to Vernon the band includes Michael Noyce, Sean Carey and Matthew McCaughan. Vernon released Bon Iver's debut album, For Emma, Forever Ago independently in July 2007. The majority of that album was recorded while Vernon spent three months in a remote cabin in northwestern Wisconsin. Bon Iver won the 2012 Grammy Award for Best New Artist and Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Album for their self-titled album.[1][2][3] The name Bon Iver is derived from the French phrase bon hiver (French pronunciation: [bɔn‿ivɛːʁ]), meaning "good winter" or "have a good winter".[4]

Live performance

Justin Vernon is joined live by Sean Carey (drums, vocals, piano), Michael Noyce (vocals, baritone guitar, guitar) and Matthew McCaughan (bass, drums, vocals). Noyce was Vernon's guitar student during high school.[5]

Carey approached Vernon during one of the first Bon Iver shows, telling him he could play and sing all the songs. Thereafter, the two played a number of them together.[5] McCaughan and Vernon met while on tour with indie-rock band The Rosebuds in May 2007.

From left to right: Noyce, Carey, and Vernon performing at The Fillmore in 2009

Because of the extensive use of vocal harmony on the songs of For Emma, Forever Ago, Vernon was concerned that there would not be enough voices to duplicate the sound of the songs on the album in a live setting. To compensate for this problem in early performances, Vernon passed out lyrics for some songs to the audience to sing along to. In an interview with Pitchfork, Vernon described this dilemma. "I don't want to be the guy with an acoustic guitar singing songs, because that's boring for the most part. The song actually needs 80–500 people singing or whatever the vibe is of that room, it needs that fight".[5]

Bon Iver performed at Lollapalooza 2009. Bon Iver has also performed at Austin City Limits Music Festival, Bonnaroo, Glastonbury, Coachella, Øyafestivalen, Way Out West and Sasquatch!, among others.

After the release of Bon Iver's sophomore album, the live performances underwent a great deal of change. With older performances consisting of Vernon playing guitar, while Noyce, Carey, and McCaughan varied instruments, the concerts following Bon Iver, Bon Iver involved a much larger, full band. The new lineup consisted of the original four musicians, and included Rob Moose on violin and guitar (Antony and the Johnsons, The National), Mike Lewis on bass (Andrew Bird, Happy Apple), and a horn section including Reginald Pace, Colin Stetson (Tom Waits, Arcade Fire) and C.J. Camerieri (Rufus Wainwright, Sufjan Stevens) as well.[citation needed] On 2 February 2012 Sasquatch! announced Bon Iver as a headliner for their 2012 festival.

For Emma, Forever Ago

After the breakup of the band DeYarmond Edison, a relationship, and a bout with mononucleosis,[6] Vernon left Raleigh, North Carolina, and moved back to Wisconsin to spend the oncoming winter months at his father's cabin in Medford, Wisconsin. According to Vernon, it was during this time that the "Bon Iver" moniker first entered his mind; while bedridden with mononucleosis, he began watching the television series Northern Exposure on DVD. One episode depicts a group of citizens in Alaska, where the show is set, emerging from their homes into the first snowfall of the winter and wishing one another a "bon hiver" (French for "good winter"). This was initially transcribed by Vernon as "boniverre"; however, when he learned of its proper French spelling, he elected not to use it, deciding "hiver" reminded him too much of "liver", the site of his illness at the time.[6]

Vernon performing with Bon Iver in Shepherd's Bush, London, UK.

Vernon did not intend to write or record any music during the time but rather to recuperate from the events of the previous year. Eventually a record began to evolve during this cathartic time of isolation.[7] He had recently finished helping the band The Rosebuds do some recording and had with him some basic recording gear when he made his move to the cabin. Vernon played all the instruments during recording and each song was heavily edited with a large number of overdubs. Vernon wrote the lyrics for the album by recording a word-less melody and listening to the recording over and over while writing words according to the sound of the syllables of the melody.[8] In an interview, Vernon said: "Words like 'decision' and 'intention' aren't words that float in my head because I just went", Vernon explains. "I left North Carolina and went up there because I didn't know where else to go and I knew that I wanted to be alone and I knew that I wanted to be where it was cold".[9] In another interview, Vernon describes what he used to record the album: "I had a very light set-up, a basic small recording set-up: a Shure SM57 and an old Silvertone guitar. I had my brother drop off his old drums... some other small things – things I would make or find lying around."[10]

The record was almost not released and was originally intended as a group of demos to be sent out to labels and potentially rerecorded. But after getting very encouraging reactions from a number of his friends, Vernon decided to release the songs himself in their present state.[8] According to his manager Kyle Frenette, an initial run of 500 CDs were pressed.[11] The original CD release show took place at the House of Rock in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Justin played an earlier "all-ages" show and an evening 21+ show to release the original pressing of the album in its card stock CD case. Of the 500 copies issued, 17 were sent to press, mainly blogs.[11] The first significant attention the album received was from My Old Kentucky Blog in June 2007, after which point "it snowballed", according to manager Frenette.[11] Another further breakthrough came when, in October 2007, the album received a very positive review from influential indie internet publication Pitchfork. That exposure in turn led to a performance the same month at the industry showcase festival CMJ Music Marathon. The appearance attracted a lot of label interest and Frenette later told HitQuarters that they subsequently spoke to a lot of different record companies, both independent and major.[11] Out of all of them they decided to sign with the indie Jagjaguwar because their ideals were the closest match to their own.[11] The signing was confirmed on October 29.[12]

"For Emma, Forever Ago" was given an official release by Jagjaguwar.[13] Vernon has said that he will continue to make albums without engineers and producers because he is capable of doing it all himself.[8] During this time the album was streamed in full on the social media site Virb.[11]

Reception

Since being released by Jagjaguwar on February 19, 2008, For Emma, Forever Ago has garnered critical acclaim.[13] The album was released in the UK and Europe by iconic indie label 4AD on May 12, 2008.[14] When released in the UK, For Emma, Forever Ago received 5/5 and "Album of the Month" reviews in both Mojo and Uncut magazines. It was the seventh highest rated album of 2008 on review-aggregator site Metacritic, with accolades from publications including The Village Voice, The Hartford Courant and The A.V. Club.[15] Pitchfork Media gave the album 29th place in its "The Top 200 Albums of 2000s" list, while Stereogum placed the album at 11 on its "Best Album of the '00s" list.[16][17]

The digital download track "Skinny Love" was selected to be iTunes (UK) single of the week and was available for free during that time, as well as being featured as the track of the day on National Public Radio. Bon Iver was ranked number 8 on Last.fm's most listened to new music of 2008.[18] Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago was ranked number 29 in Rolling Stone's list of the Top 50 Albums of 2008. In an interview, Vernon said: "I'm really humbled by everything and am keeping things in perspective."[19] On May 19, 2008, "Blindsided" and "Flume" were featured in The CW series One Tree Hill.[20] On October 6, 2008, "Skinny Love" was featured in the NBC series Chuck (season 2, episode 3).[21][22]

On December 11, 2008, Bon Iver performed "Skinny Love" on the Late Show with David Letterman.[23] On January 26, 2009, "Skinny Love" was announced at #21 by the Australian national radio station Triple J in the annual Hottest 100 countdown of the previous year's best songs.[24] In July 2009, "Skinny Love" was announced at #92 in Triple J's Hottest 100 of All Time countdown.[25] Additionally, the track "Flume" has been used by the BBC to advertise their Jimmy McGovern-penned drama series The Street; the track "Blood Bank" was used in a 2009 episode of the NBC series Chuck (season 2, episode 18) and the track "Creature Fear" was used in another Chuck episode (season 2, episode 21);[26] the track "Skinny Love" was featured in another episode of Chuck (season 2, episode 3), as well as in the ABC drama Grey's Anatomy; "The Wolves (Act I and II)" was used in the first season of The United States of Tara; "Re:Stacks" was featured in the Fox drama House, as was "Flume" on May 16, 2011; "Re:Stacks" was also used for the closing sequence of the Silent Witness episode Death Has No Dominion, and "Woods" was used in the eighth episode of Skins' third series and appeared on the Series 3 soundtrack.[27]

In 2009 Bon Iver, along with St. Vincent, contributed the song "Rosyln" to the New Moon soundtrack.[28] Bon Iver also contributed "Brackett, WI" to the AIDS benefit album Dark Was the Night produced by the Red Hot Organization.

In 2010 Bon Iver collaborated with Kanye West on the track "Lost In the World". The track begins with a sample of the Bon Iver track "Woods". He also contributed vocals to the West track "Monster". Both tracks are featured on West's album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.[29][2] Then in March 2011, Justin Vernon performed at SXSW with GOOD Music, later confirming that the band signed to the label.[30] This collaboration publicized him to a wider audience.[2]

Self-titled second album

Bon Iver, Bon Iver was released on June 21, 2011. On March 23, 2011, Justin Vernon told Rolling Stone that a follow up of For Emma, Forever Ago would be released in December 2011. Bon Iver's second album was rumored to be titled Letters for Marvin[31] but was later confirmed to be Bon Iver. The album is composed of 10 songs and takes a new musical direction: "I brought in a lot of people to change my voice — not my singing voice, but my role as the author of this band, this project," says Vernon, who hired well-known players like bass saxophonist Colin Stetson and pedal-steel guitarist Greg Leisz. "I built the record myself, but I allowed those people to come in and change the scene." The second album is described as an "ambitious musical departure" from the first.[32] Prior to the album's release, Vernon said that each song on the new album represents a place. The song "Perth" was described as a "Civil War-sounding heavy metal song," the song "Minnesota, WI" was described as featuring "finger-picked guitars, double bass drums and distorted bass saxophone," and the closing song "Beth/Rest" will be "horn heavy."[33]

The album was recorded in a remodeled veterinarian clinic in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, which was bought by Vernon and his brother in 2008. It was converted into April Base Studios, built mainly over the defunct swimming pool attached to the clinic. Vernon's reason for recording in the location was that "[it's] been a wonderful freedom, working in a place we built. It's also only three miles from the house I grew up in, and just ten minutes from the bar where my parents met."[34]

On April 20, Bon Iver announced details of the self-titled release through the official Jagjaguwar and 4AD websites.[35] The artwork for the album was also released, painted by the American artist Gregory Euclide.[36] Gregory also released two YouTube videos entitled the "Making of Bon Iver Album Art".[37][38]

Over one month before the album release date, the album was accidentally made available for purchase on the iTunes Music Store on May 23. Apple removed the item from the store, but not before a handful of users were able to purchase and download it. There was no comment from Apple, the artist, or his label.[39] However, the lyrics to the album were promptly uploaded to their record site.[40]

Josh Jackson reviewed Bon Iver for Paste, saying, "It retains the beautiful melancholy of For Emma, but in nearly every way, it’s just more. More layered, more diverse, more interesting. He brings in collaborators to do what they do best, but never at the expense of his sound and vision. It treads into new sonic directions without getting lost." He gave the album a score of nine out of ten.[41]

In late August 2011, critically acclaimed English post-dubstep musician and singer-songwriter James Blake uploaded a track called "Fall Creek Boys Choir" to his YouTube channel. The track was a collaboration with Bon Iver. The track was released as the first single from Blake's EP Enough Thunder and was also included on the deluxe edition of his self-titled debut album.[42]

On December 15, 2011 Pitchfork.com awarded Bon Iver, Bon Iver the number one album of 2011.[43]

On November 30, 2011 the band earned four nominations for the 54th Grammy Awards: Best New Artist, Best Alternative Music Album for their self-titled album Bon Iver, and both Song of the Year and Record of the Year for "Holocene".[44]

On February 12, 2012, Bon Iver won the Grammy for Best New Artist.[45] Bon Iver also won the Grammy for Best Alternative Album for Bon Iver, Bon Iver, beating out Radiohead, Death Cab for Cutie, Foster the People and My Morning Jacket.[2]

On February 15, 2012, a 5-song studio session was released featuring Justin Vernon and Bon Iver drummer Sean Carey performing piano renditions of the tracks. The recording took place at AIR Studio owned Lyndurst Hall in London. The tracks performed by the duo: 1. "Hinnom, TX" 2. "Wash." 3. "I Can't Make You Love Me" (Originally performed by Bonnie Rait) 4. "Babys" 5. "Beth/Rest" This session was released via YouTube and can be viewed on the official Bon Iver channel or at YouTube.

Discography

Main article: Bon Iver discography
Studio albums

Awards

Bon Iver awards and nominations
Totals[a]
Nominations7
Note
  1. ^ Certain award groups do not simply award one winner. They acknowledge several different recipients, have runners-up, and have third place. Since this is a specific recognition and is different from losing an award, runner-up mentions are considered wins in this award tally. For simplification and to avoid errors, each award in this list has been presumed to have had a prior nomination.
Grammy Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result
2012 Bon Iver, Bon Iver Best New Artist Won
Best Alternative Music Album Won
"Holocene" Song of the Year Nominated
Record of the Year Nominated
Brit Awards
Year Nominee / work Award Result
2012 Bon Iver, Bon Iver Best International Male Solo Artist Nominated
Best International Breakthrough Act Nominated
MTV Video Music Awards Japan
Year Nominee / work Award Result
2012 Holocene Best Rock Video Pending

References

  1. ^ Grammy Winners 2011
  2. ^ a b c d Wappler, Margaret (February 12, 2012). "Grammys 2012: Bon Iver wins for best new artist". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  3. ^ Judki, Maura (February 13, 2012). "Bon Iver's Best New Artist win confuses Grammy viewers". Washington Post. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  4. ^ Caramanica, Jon (June 3, 2011). "Who, What and Where is Bon Iver?". The New York Times. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  5. ^ a b c Nilina Mason-Campbell (May 27, 2008). "Bon Iver interview". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 15, 2012. Cite error: The named reference "pitchfork" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b Frere, Sasha (2009-01-07). "Into the Woods". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  7. ^ "Amble Down Records Bio". Ambledown.com. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  8. ^ a b c Allen, Dustin (February 11, 2008). "Out of the Bungalow: An Interview With Bon Iver". Treblezine.com. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  9. ^ Whibbs, Chris (March 2008). "Bon Iver's Good Winter". Exclaim!.
  10. ^ Capt. Obvious (November 18, 2007). "Interview: Bon Iver". Retrieved February 14, 2012.
  11. ^ a b c d e f "Interview with Kyle Frenette". HitQuarters. 25 July 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2011.
  12. ^ "Bon Iver signs to Jagjaguwar, plays MoB showcase". muzzleofbees.com. October 29, 2007. Retrieved 28 Jul 2011.
  13. ^ a b Maher, Dave [dead link]. "Bon Iver signs to Jagjaguwar".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ^ "Black Mountain, Bon Iver Kick Off Joint Tour Tonight". Pitchfork Media. February 19, 2008.
  15. ^ "Metacritic Music High and Low Scores". Metacritic. May 16, 2008.
  16. ^ By Pitchfork, October 1, 2009 (2009-10-01). "Staff Lists: The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2011-08-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ "Best Album Of The '00s". Stereogum. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  18. ^ "Best of 2008 –". Last.fm. 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  19. ^ http://www.reveillemag.com/features/artist-feature/bon-iver-believe-the-hype
  20. ^ Default (2008-05-19). "One Tree Hill Music". www.oth-music.com. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  21. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1185873/
  22. ^ "BON IVER: Anywhere From Here". Volume One magazine. December 4, 2009.
  23. ^ Letterman, David. "The Late Show Musical Guest Bon Iver 12/11/08 HQ Video" (video). Late Show with David Letterman. Retrieved 2011-08-29. {{cite web}}: More than one of |author= and |last1= specified (help)
  24. ^ "Kings of Leon top Triple J's Hottest 100". Courier-Mail. January 25, 2009.
  25. ^ "Countdown | Hottest 100 - Of All Time | triple j". Abc.net.au. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  26. ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3040583/
  27. ^ "Skins - Music in episode 8". E4.com. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  28. ^ "Twilight: New Moon Soundtrack Tracklist Finalized at Last". Pitchfork Media. 2009-09-21.
  29. ^ Adams, Gregory. "Bon Iver". Exclaim!. Retrieved September 29, 2010.
  30. ^ "Kanye & G.O.O.D. Music At SXSW Photos". Rap Radar. 2011-03-20. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  31. ^ Mighty Digital (2011-03-23). "Bon Iver "forgot how to write songs" while working on upcoming album | New Music". Aux.tv. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  32. ^ Meatto, Keith (June 9, 2011). "Good Winter, Great Summer – A Review of Bon Iver". Frontier Psychiatrist. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  33. ^ Serpick, Evan (March 23, 2011). "Why Bon Iver Had to Relearn Everything He Knows". Rolling Stone. Retrieved February 13, 2012.
  34. ^ Perry, Michael (June 21, 2011). "Bon Iver - Bon Iver". Jagjaguwar. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  35. ^ [1][dead link]
  36. ^ Euclide, Gregory. "Foto's van Bon Iver - Profielfoto's". Facebook. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  37. ^ Euclide, Gregory. "Making of Bon Iver Album Art - Part 1". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  38. ^ Euclide, Gregory. "Making of Bon Iver Album Art - Part 2". YouTube. Retrieved 2011-08-29.
  39. ^ Johnny Firecloud (23 May 2011). "Oops! iTunes Leaks Bon Iver's New Album". CraveOnline. Retrieved 23 May 2011.
  40. ^ "Bon Iver, Bon Iver: The Lyrics Blog". Jagjaguwar. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  41. ^ Rev. of Bon Iver[dead link]
  42. ^ "James Blake & Bon Iver - Fall Creek Boys Choir". YouTube. 2011-08-24. Retrieved 2012-01-03.
  43. ^ "The Top 50 Albums of 2011". Pitchfork. Pitchfork. Retrieved 17 December 2011.
  44. ^ Philipps, Amy (November 30, 2011). "Bon Iver Nominated for Four Grammys". Pitchfork. Retrieved December 1, 2011.
  45. ^ "Adele, Foo Fighters, Bon Iver Win Big at Grammy Awards". NME.
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