Note: This is a repost from my old site.
Last year, Wisconsin born-and-bred Justin Vernon (formerly of DeYarmond Edison) released, D.I.Y., his first album as Bon Iver. It sold out quick and is out of print, but I managed to hear a copy back in December, too late for my best of ’07 lists (although one commenter on the page did shame me for not including the album). But I did my research and found that Bon Iver had been bought up by the greatest indie label around, Jagjaguwar, and was set to release in February of 2008. So, I’ll have my chance to include the album on this year’s list.
And it’s pretty much a shoo-in. My first pick for one of the likely absolute best albums of 2008. (Above, if you click the link, you can find all the albums released this year that I think are worth your hard-earned cash.) It’s quiet, thoughtful, haunting, and vocally extraordinary indie rock/folk work that’s been embraced already by CMJ, big-time bloggers like Pitchfork, and reputable newsfolk like The New York Times. And now, this little amateur offers his two cents: It’s extraordinary. It’s also not the kind of album that’s easy to describe using simple words, so give a listen. Especially to Stacks. It’ll blow you away.
