Events - Details
| when: |
Tue 07 October |
|
| Event title |
Bon Iver |
| Where: |
Tripod
- Dublin |
| Category: |
Gigs |
| |
BON IVER
Tuesday October 7th
Tripod – Old Harcourt St. Station – Dublin 2.
Doors – 7.30pm
Tickets €22.50 / 27.50 (inc. booking fee) available from Ticketmaster, Road Records, City Discs, Sound Cellar and usual outlets.
www.virb.com/boniver
www.myspace.com/boniver
BON IVER BIOG.
Every album is a product of time and place, but this one more than most. Bon Iver (an intentional mis-spelling / adaptation of 'Bon Hiver', French for 'Good Winter') is the work of Justin Vernon, who spent three months alone in a log cabin in Northeast Wisconsin, living off the land, splitting wood, and hunting for food - a voluntary exile. And although this wasn't the archetypal spell in the wilderness that many artists seek out, a deliberate scheme to create a "masterpiece", some very special music was born out of the experience. For Emma, Forever Ago is the unexpected, triumphant result.
Vernon, a former member of Wisconsin quartet DeYarmond Edison, moved into the cabin after the break-up of his former outfit in 2006. He took with him very little of the equipment accumulated in that previous life - just a couple of microphones, a baritone guitar, two drums, a horn, a reverb pedal. These few items, when combined with enough space - physical and mental, allowed the songs that form this record to become far more than the sum of their parts.
Vernon explains : "I recognize that the record is enigmatic and special in a strange way. I can't take full credit for it, and I was the only one there." Time spent with a complete absence of outside cultural influence somehow enabled him to hear an inner voice; he was somehow, amongst the skeletal trees and the purple sunsets, he found himself able to filter out the distractions of a sprawling city, and all its trends and opinions.
Like the surrounding environment, the words that are intertwined right into the fuzzy threads of the album grew naturally. "I just started playing the guitar and humming melodies and sounds that eventually turned into words. I didn't even really know where it was going. I was going back and finding amazing things that meant something to me using that process. I was able to access deeper, darker and even happier shit just by this sort of subconscious way of doing it."
As these demos and ideas were spreading, sometimes in twelve hour blocks of recording, a simple life of self-sufficiency still had to continue. Vernon moved into the cabin in the last moments of autumn, and the following months were to be continually sub-zero in temperature. Recording would be stopped so he could take the tractor into the forest to chop trees, which he then split to use as firewood. Food came in the shape of two deer shot in the forest - used carefully, these provided enough meat for the full three months of his stay. This was hunting as it was meant to be - not a hobby or a trophy sport, but a means of subsistance. One cut of shoulder meat was traded for a necessary guitar repair.
And once you're aware of the environment in which these recordings were made, it becomes almost audible. The shadows cast by the burning firewood flicker across a nervously shaky guitar part; the crackle from the logs is amplified in the tape buzz; a Wintry shiver down the spine can be heard the tones of Vernon's voice.
And what a voice. Vernon sings almost entirely in a spectral falsetto (at its most poignantly fragile on the closer, 're: Stacks'), which opens up a whole new set of associations. It's a genuinely soulful sound - Vernon admits that he appreciates Sam Cooke, Mahalia Jackson, Nina Simone and Prince just as much as any Americana or alt-folk artist. The range of comparisions shows the reach of this music – for some, the vocal timbre calls to mind Tunde Adebimpe (of TV On The Radio); for others, the imagery-rich narratives, suggesting so much from so little are reminiscent of Iron & Wine's The Creek Drank The Cradle.
Although the choral arrangements that appear throughout the album – most beautifully in the hymnal opening of 'Lump Sum' and 'The Wolves (Act 1&2)' – are simply the gorgeously hazy product of endless overdubs, there are actually a couple of collaborative moments. The first is on album opener 'Flume' where Christy Smith of the band Nola adds drums and an icily ethereal backdrop of layered flute. The second is in "For Emma", where Boston musicians John DeHaven and Randy Pingrey add simple, beautiful horn parts.
For Emma, Forever Ago was originally self-released in late 2007 in a run of 500 copies and sold out instantly. Now, having been picked up by Jagjaguwar in the USA and by 4AD in Europe, the most captivating debut of 2007 will be available to a wider audience. Meanwhile, taking shape amidst the ever-expanding touring plans, is the new studio that Vernon is building up in the woods - hands on measuring, grinding, sawing, smashing until everything fits. He's also writing more original material, and mixing and producing various records - including the new Land Of Talk album.
Bon Iver is one of the voices of this or any other year.
FOR EMMA
Every record comes out of a specific time and place, but that's more true of this one than most. At the end of 2006, Bon Iver's Justin Vernon spent 3 months alone in a log cabin in Northern Wisconsin, seeking silence, simplicity and solitude. The intention was to fill the time with physical chores - splitting wood, gathering food - but out of this period of isolation and contemplation, music started to emerge. The unexpected, triumphant result was an album of singular beauty.
Adopting the nom-de-plume Bon Iver (a deliberate mis-spelling / adaptation of "Bon Hiver", French for "Good Winter") Vernon self-released "For Emma, Forever Ago" last year. He didn't expect a great deal to happen - only 500 copies were made - but word of mouth spread fast, and the initial pressing quickly sold out. Now the record is to receive a richly-deserved wider release through Jagjaguwar in the USA and 4AD in Europe.
These songs transcend the limited means - a couple of microphones, a baritone guitar, two drums, a horn and a reverb pedal - that Vernon had at his disposal. They unfurl with the quiet force of Spring, expanding beyond their hushed beginnings, throwing off vibrant colours. "I recognize that the record is enigmatic and special in a strange way," says Vernon. "I can't take full credit for it, and I was the only one there".
|
| |
| Venue |
Tripod |
| Homepage: |
http://www.pod.ie/about_tripod.php
|
|
| Street: |
Harcourt Street |
| ZIP: |
|
| City |
Dublin |
| Country: |
IE |
|
| |
The idea behind Tripod was simple - to create a multi-functional club
and live music venue within an original shell structure that was
forward thinking. Something that wasn't to a prescribed formula,
something unique and inspiring, fusing architectural styles and live
and electronic music.
The whole space is pierced with a central architectural core around
which the building functions. Off this are three venue spaces that can
be used for live performances, DJ shows, circulation space and also
includes a VIP bar within the core. With versatility a prime objective
Tripod caters for standing shows or fully seated shows, running in
conjunction with the club space or independently.
The aesthetic is one that plays on the fusion idea and the notion of
'industrial chic', with the shell being a celebration of the original
building and the new architectural insertions juxtaposed with this.
Two and a half years in the planning, the live music venue boasts a
perfect line of sight from every point in the venue including - most
importantly - the bar! It's size is idyllic, it packs a vast crowd yet
due to its layout retains a very intimate atmosphere.
|
| |
|
|
Forum
You have to register before you can post on our forums or use our advanced features.
Forum Statistics:Threads: 62,946 Posts: 1,056,266
|
