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| For Emma, Forever Ago | 
 enlarge | List Price: $14.98 (€11.83)
Buy New: $10.96 (€8.66)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (based on 49 reviews)
Sales Rank: 15
Category: Music
Artist: Bon Iver
Publisher: Jagjaguwar
Studio: Jagjaguwar
Manufacturer: Jagjaguwar
Label: Jagjaguwar
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.5
MPN: 115
UPC: 656605211527
EAN: 0656605211527
ASIN: B0011HF6GE
Release Date: February 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| • | Flume | | • | Lump Sum | | • | Skinny Love | | • | The Wolves (Act I and II) | | • | Blindsided | | • | Creature Fear | | • | Team | | • | For Emma | | • | Re: Stacks |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Album Description
Justin Vernon began recording as Bon Iver following the breakup of DeYarmond Edison, an indie folk group similar in tone and manner to Iron & Wine, Little Wings and, to a certain extent, Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Pronounced 'bohn eevair', it is French for "good winter" which is spelled wrong deliberately. This debut CD is centered around Justin Vernon, who is the primary force behind Bon Iver, as he moved to a remote cabin in the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin at the onset of winter, alone for three months. From this solitary time emerged a bold, uninhibited new musical focus of all his personal trouble, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss, and guilt that had been stockpiled over the past six years into songs. The NY Times called this record "irresistible", and it was given a "Recommended" rating by Pitchfork. 9 tracks. Jagjaguwar Records. 2008.
Amazon.co.uk
It's hard to believe that For Emma, Forever Ago is the work of one man. But when Justin Vernon's old band split he hauled himself (and presumably plenty of instruments and recording equipment) to his dad's hunting cabin in the woods of Wisconsin for the coldest season and worked through his issues in musical form. (The name comes from the French for "good winter"--"bon hiver"). By the start of the spring thaw he had recorded the bulk of this stunning debut, originally self-issued to acclaim last year in the USA and now picked up for a British release. Vernon's voice grabs the ear from the start, switching easily into a smooth falsetto (and unusually for a white indie lad, without the slightest intent of emulating Prince). The formula is straightforward. He layers his vocal harmonies, while a gently strummed acoustic rhythm guitar just about holds the centre. All else from horns to slide guitar is mere detail. The quality is rough and ready but the effect is strangely similar though to the slick vocal confections of European women like Bjork and Camille, all mystery and distance. It's the musical equivalent of reading someone else's diary. In code. Through a dirty window. Enigmatic songs like the elegantly stumbling "Creature Fear" with its rowdy horn parts, the resolute opener "Flume" and the evanescent "Team" are just so pretty they seem to glide by without leaving a mark in the snow. Vernon is apparently a straightforward and friendly guy, but For Emma, Forever Ago genuinely sounds like something from a far off place. --Steve Jelbert
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| Customer Reviews: Read 44 more reviews...
 LOVE January 6, 2009
I heard Bon Iver playing Skinny Love live on David Letterman before falling asleep and made a mental note to myself to find out more.
I loved this song so much that January 3rd I could remember the date that Bon Iver played (December 11th).
I bought the album without previewing the other songs.
This is one of those albums that can be played on repeat.
The lyrics and music are beautiful.
Bon Iver is a genesis.
This is the best work I have discovered in awhile! :)
Outstanding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 January 2, 2009
This album will knock you off your feet! Bon Iver has a unique sound. Pure Brilliance!
melancholy... December 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
...a gift from my son for Christmas. He has great taste. Somewhat reminiscent of Elliot Smith... remember him? Two masters with the same vision and intensity. Highly recommended!
 Entrancing December 19, 2008
Songwriter Justin Vernon showcases his beautifully unique talent with the release of "For Emma, forever ago." Utilizing a stripped, minimal soundscape of solo guitar, layered vocals and some electronics, Vernon creates a virtual diary of song that is moving, beautiful, and at times voyeuristic. This album seems devastatingly genuine, and painfully crafted.
Although a solo work driven mainly by guitar, Vernon avoids monotony through his selective use of voice layering, electronic accompaniment, and the support of choice vocalists. Each song on this album is capable of standing alone as a work, but that would do the album a disservice.
Vernon's work shows not only inventive songwriting, but also a poetic and meaningful lyricism imbued in every song. If nothing else, he will be regarded as a poet.
An Epic..... but not for Everybody December 17, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I can see why reaction to Bon Iver is so fragmented. There are those who hail it an instant epic, and others who think its pastoral nonsense. I'm somewhat in the middle - granted, these sorts of slow burner indie-folk albums aren't for everybody, but there is definitely something more special about this particular album - more so because its a concept album about that most universal of animals - lost love.
While the harmonies here are subdued and very, very slow-paced, the atmosphere of the entire album is what makes it work. There is a heady iciness to the entire venture, a sort of morbid sadness even, one that permeates every single track. Like Camille's "Le Fil" which had a drone running through each song (and for minutes after the last song played), this mood of sombre melancholy is present in spades on this album, and this also works for it.
The centerpiece is the two-suite "The Wolves" and the luminous "Team". None of these songs work especially well on their own. Like any good novel, each song blends into the other so that the album needs to be listened to in chronological order. Bon Iver's mastery of the sparse musical medium is astounding, and the way he makes every track here speak its' own unique brand of solitudinal longing, is a work of art waiting to be unraveled.
For many people who read this positive review, you might well buy this album and be shocked by the 'dull', 'slow' songs therein. This is in part true. It takes a while to 'get' what the artist is trying to accomplish here, but if you approach this as a rich experimental piece worth investing in, you just might reap some invaluable rewards.
Highly Recommended.
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