With appearances on Letterman and just about everyone’s best of 2008 list, there’s no doubt that Justin Vernon and Bon Iver have been on one hell of a roll lately. And if the name wasn’t already fresh in your head, he’s got another release (the 4 song Blood Bank EP) due out on January 20th. Here, Vernon tries a few different tricks (guitar feedback, pedal steel, plinking piano, and severely autotuned vocals) but essentially gives Bon Iver fans more of the cold and chilly atmospheric folk found on his stellar debut For Emma, Forever Ago. It is (again) a perfect winter album.
Now (without question) the most talked about song on this EP is going to be “Woods” with it’s autotuned harmony vocals. It’s not like this is “Love Lockdown” or anything like that, but I still find it totally gimmicky. But even so, it manages to be affecting and soulful even though it’s fucking annoying far before the song is over. All in all, nothing here rivals For Emma… but it’s just an EP, right?
MP3 | Bon Iver – Blood Bank Blood Bank EP
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I haven’t listened to Bon Iver yet. After all the 2008 lists I downloaded something, but haven’t given it a chance yet.
What is auto tuning of vocals? And how can one tell if vocals have been auto tuned? It sounds nice to my untrained ears.
peace