2011 albums of the year : #3

3. bon iver, bon iver bon iver jagjaguwar, june 21, 2011 "calgary"

shredding the mythology of the cabin in the woods, justin vernon returns with an album of surpassing beauty, both in its clarity of vision and the muscular confidence with which it is presented. lyrically abstract and sonically dense, the album seemed to evolve even as it is constrained to a silver plastic disc, shape-shifting and folding in on itself to reveal unheard sounds, unseen visions, and unfelt emotions. during a period in my life that was tumultuous and completely opaque, i found myself returning again and again to bon iver, bon iver, always with a different feeling and sometimes within the very same song ("calgary" comes to mind: "you know that all the rope's untied", then "the demons come, they can subside", then "there's a fire going out / but there's really nothing to the south"). in some ways it was tortuous, and it seems a shame to associate something so beautiful with a period so painful. but that's what it--music--is for me, and for that i know that bon iver, bon iver will always hold a special place inside.