Bon Iver EP "Blood Bank"

Bon Iver's "For Emma, Forever Ago", was a good album, a solid album and a special album. But it was nothing exciting that demanded anymore than the usual attention to future Justin Vernon releases. However, like most things from Wisconsin, his recently released EP, "Blood Bank," is solid and wholesome. A skinny set of 4 songs, "Blood Bank" takes the form of an interpose, keeping the Iver fan's appetite whetted for a future full length.
As much as this is a short set, it is a satisfying one. The songs are cleaner and some of the harmonies are reaching new heights of beauty in ways that "Emma" was only beginning to touch. For example, the last song of the four, "Woods", is a slow building and lush a capella collection of Vernon's voice being overdubbed and electronically manipulated, harmonizing the shit out of himself, using what seems at times to be 15 to 20 different versions of his voice. But what's different about this song, than other harmonizing male singers such as Phosphorescent, is that he's just got a little more soul and a little less country.
All in all, I would recommend any of these songs for a mixed tape, but there is no reason to rush out and buy it.

Lastly, one more thing about "Woods": it almost sounds like an indie N*SYNC boy band harmonizing towards its end. Don't believe it? Check it.

km

Review: Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - "Lie Down in the Light"

It has been about 21 years since Will Oldham co-starred in the classic film Matewan, which details a 1920s coal-miners' strike in West Virginia, but nevertheless, on his superb new musical release under his familiar moniker, Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, it seems as though little has changed from this early influence on this work.

Like a black and white photograph, "Lie Down in the Light" (Drag City, Palace Records), Oldham's first studio release of original songs since 2006, again carries us through the dust, the smoke and the peril of a spiritual Appalachia. However, unlike Oldham's earlier classic, "I See a Darkness," "Lie Down in the Light" is more of a mature voice leading through and from the darkness to, well, into the light. Oldham has grown up from the young preacher he depicts in Matewan, to become a wiser spiritual philosopher, depicting a man who has learned from his experiences and has grown from his past musical collaborations as a songwriter.

Like most Bonnie 'Prince' Billy records, Oldham is again accompanied by a list of talented veteran musicians who add a professional clarity and assuredness to Oldham's fantastic, almost implausible tenor. Never fear though, even with an orderly produced sound, "Lie Down in the Light" remains remarkably faithful to Oldham's lo-fi roots.

To come clean, "Lie Down in the Light" is an indie folk album, one full of vocal harmonies, acoustic guitars and warm Nashville twang, with only the smallest bit of percussion to beat. In addition, however, there are also wonderful moments of electric guitar solos and horns in these tunes, cleverly serving as precise evolutionary functions, helping to shift away from the slow inaugural air of some songs. But mainly, "Lie Down in the Light" is simply beautiful, soulful and quiet, with a flicker of unique excitement out of each piece helping to avoid monotony.

Obviously, this album can be rather melancholy and even disturbing at times, because of Oldham's explicit lyrical maturity and humanism, but what moves you through these songs is the potential for a musical crescendo or moment. A moment where the musicians, Oldham and his words figure something out: a type of musical epiphany, which they then realize for one sweet moment, recognize it, smile, and fade away. This is ever so evident on the third track "So Everyone," which build and grows to a fruition of perfectly produced instruments and harmonies, and Oldham, in beautiful juxtaposition, singing, "...Oh lady, show how you want me. And do it so everyone sees me. Sees that you love me."

In other words, "Lie Down in the Light" is a great album to impress chicks (joke).

Disco,

km

Notable tracks for stealing: "Easy Does It," "So Everyone," "You Want that Picture" and "I'll be Glad".

(Drag City - Loose Fur, Stereolab, Silver Jews, smog, Joanna Newsom, Mick Turner)