Feb 20 2009
Bon Iver - Blood Bank EP
In January, Bon Iver released a four song EP called the Blood Bank EP.
The first song, Blood Bank, is one of the most emotionally moving songs I’ve heard in a long time. The clean guitar tone is exquisite, and the subtlety of the percussion is extremely tasteful.
If you’re not touched by this song, you must be a robot of some sort who is incapable of feeling. Amazing song.
Song number two, Beach Baby, isn’t as impressive as the first. There’s acoustic guitar, there’s the vocals…all in all I just couldn’t get into this song no matter how hard I tried. It’s not nearly as captivating as the previous song.
Up next is an interesting song called Babys. This song starts off with some spooky sounding piano before the vocals begin. The highlight for me is near the ending when the piano begins to build up into an epic finish. The first time I listened to it, I was floored. Unfortunately, (much like abusing heroin) the feeling wasn’t quite the same the second time.
This is where things get weird. The final track, Woods, is made up entirely out of layered auto-tuned vocals. It’s oddly reminiscent of Imogen Heap’s Hide and Seek. This song is interesting to listen to at first, but would I listen to it again? Probably not.
Even with a few weak spots, Bon Iver has created a magical collection of songs. If you do anything after reading this review, go to myspace.com/boniver and listen to Blood Bank.
Sincerely,
BW.
