The Daily Spin, December 16
Bon Iver | For Emma, Forever Ago
Welcome back to the Daily Spin, the series in which I review 365 albums during 2023.
Each album will be given a rating on a scale from 0 to 10. You can look at the entire set here. Additionally, you can check out a list of my favorite songs from each album right here.
Album: For Emma, Forever Ago (2008)
Artist: Bon Iver
Link:
I’ve spoken at length of my perception of Justin Vernon’s genius.
We’ve seen it twice before in this series - first, with the ethereal wonder of 22, A Million, this venture into synthetic isolation, so far from anything familiar yet covered in the warm embrace of home. Then, it was i,i, an album where Vernon took the concepts explored in 22 to the next level - those same through lines of interpersonal connections a web woven into a synthetic framework unlike anything I’d listened to before.
As we move backwards, though, to his first venture, it becomes clear that Vernon has always possessed this ability to grasp at the tiny threads and tug those into unraveling the grander schemes - it just takes a more acoustic form within this record.
It’s this beauty that persists through every strum of the guitar, every lonely falsetto note, every gently calling melody - this is Vernon’s hallmark, and it is so strong now that it’s a wonder that I ever thought he didn’t possess it.
Rating: 9.3/10
Best Tracks: Re: Stacks; Flume
Worst Tracks: Creature Fear