Bon Iver - don't believe the hype (For Emma Forever Ago - Bon Iver)

Member Name: Neenawneenaw

Product:	For Emma Forever Ago - Bon Iver
Date:	12/12/08 (42 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Not actively irritating - OK in the background

Disadvantages: Nothingy and over-rated

There's been a copy of this floating about the flat for a few months now but I ignored it till this week, as Mr Neenaw buys a lot of CD's on a whim and a fad, sticks them on his iPod and I'm never bothered by them again.

However, since seeing this show up at number 1 on several publications' top CD's of 2008 I thought I'd give it a go and... what a disappointmenet!

It's not bad, it's not annoying (I almost wish it was!) it's just mildly pleasant and a bit nothingy.
The sound, achieved by one-man-band Justin Vernon holing up in a cabin in Wisconsin for a winter is gentle Americana (as if someone had holed up in a cabin in Wisconsin for a winter...). Vernon plays all instruments, it's acoustic-guitar based with occasional electric guitar and horns on the periphery. Vocals are muted with quite nice harmonies and frequent forays into falsetto (which actually works OK).

I'm clearly missing something here, but I just don't see how anyone could care about it enough to put it anywhere near their top 10 of anything. But at least it doesn't make me want to drown things like Coldplay...

Summary: Inoffensive folksy Americana that's left me wondering what all the fuss is all about