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In the past few years, Bon Iver mastermind Justin Vernon has gone from cabin-ridden loneliness to Hawaii with Kanye West to some of the biggest stages in the world, and it’s been his unique voice that paved the path. "Calgary," the first single off the second Bon Iver LP, the double self-titled Bon Iver, Bon Iver out June 21 on Jagjaguwar, finds his songwriting at a new peak.
For some reason unbeknown to such peewee brains as my own, there is nothing quite like a good session by an artist you love. Whether it’s by a band whose album you know better than the way you subconsciously know the drunken stumble home when you go into autopilot at the end of a heavy night or a by a band you’ve never, ever heard of before- there’s definitely a lot of fun to be had by getting down with a session. A great session can provide a new, paradigm shifting perspective on old favourites as well as presenting a nice doorway to the realm of a particular, previously undiscovered band. Sessions can also make you go from pulling a face of mild contempt towards a song you think is just a bit shit to looking like Augustus Gloop with a Wonka bar in his mouth because of the same- albeit differently recorded- song.
Glastonbury Festival 2009
After a Thursday night spent tragically missing East 17, wondering from field to field in the rain, catching great sets my Kap Bambino and Metronomy and having the news of the King of Pop’s ™ death gradually filtering through from “blatant festival rumour” status to a full on “Oh Shit!” reaction (through the haze, I somehow remember sitting at the Stone Circle at about 5am adamant that it is actually a fake death by MJ to escape the crippling debt, child molestation accusations and massive workload of the O2 residency…seriously, mull it over! Well, it sounded ok at the time….)….ANYWAY, after all that and much more besides, it’s time for the festival proper to kick off with the full music schedule.
‘Dark Was The Night’ is a double compilation in support of the Red Hot Organization - an international charity dedicated to raising funds and awareness for HIV and AIDS. If you take away the obvious reason for buying this album and concentrate on the actual music, you come away with a decent round up of the current of cream of the US indie/alt scence. A 31 track album is always going to vary in quality but contributions from Dirty Projectors with David Byrne, Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Kronos Quartet, Blonde Redhead + Devastations and Bon Iver easily outweigh any lesser moments.
At the beginning of 2k8, I made a post about bands I did not listen to in 2k7. Now it is 2k9, and I will make a list of bands that I did not listen to in 2k8. It is important to understand that you are a consumer in a wide open marketplace. You allegedly have tons of options, with lots of music 2 listen 2. However, it is important 2 recognize that u usually ‘judge a band by itz name’ kinda like how u ‘judge books by their covers.’ If a book has a zany/boring/confusing cover, you will not buy it. The same theory applies to band names.
Photos from a recent FOE gig - a friend of our friends Hold Your Horse Is - she’s gonna be big!!! Read the gig review after the jump.
Shots of North Carolina’s folk-rocking Avett Brothers’ stop in Glasgow - 22.08.11
Read the review of the gig here.
Take a look at the acts and art on offer at this year’s Latitude Festival in Suffolk. Included are the likes of Fight Like Apes, Lykke Li, Sea of Bees and Seasick Steve. Photos from our own...
Good time with Bad Guys. Photos from the May 29th gig at the Old Blue Last. Read the review by the Bad Guy himself, Stuart London after the jump.
Artrocker.com exclusive: for fans of White Lies and Crocodiles we’ve got some fresh pictures from their UK show at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire earlier this month, courtesy of Alessandro...
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