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| | Blood Bank | | | Music Artist : | | Bon Iver | | Music Style : | | General | | Record Label : | | Jagjaguwar | | Release Date : | | 2009-01-20 | | Store Price : | | $10.98 | | Artistopia's Price: $10.98 | | Usually ships in 24 hours | | |
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CD Tracks/Songs
Disc 11. Blood Bank
2. Beach Baby
3. Babys
4. Woods
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Other Artist Albums
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Customer Reviews of This Album/CD |
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 A Great Follow Up EP
Submitted on: 2009-11-24 |
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| Listening to "Blood Bank" is very much like reading an appendix to Bon Iver's "For Emma...Forever Ago". The wonderful melodies and meloncholy lyrics are here along with an additional rawness that was not as apparent on the debut release. These could have easily been added on to "Emma" and they do play perfectly if listened to back to back. From the playful yet moody title track to "In the Woods" which is the most haunting track to date from this gifted artist. "Blood Bank" is a wonder. |
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 Sweet Album
Submitted on: 2009-03-27 |
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| Short and sweet, just the way to make a great album. Blood Bank is a great title track and good enough to enjoy over and over again. |
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A Reach Into the Future and an Appreciation for the Path Taken
Submitted on: 2009-03-19 |
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Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago was one of 2008's biggest critical darlings. On that album, Mr. Vernon kept things at their absolute most basic. He recorded in solitude on what he described as "a very light set-up" with the intent of distributing the recordings as demos to be shopped to the labels. In the end, he created a timeless piece that was driven by simplicity and emotion.
Often a fear for both artists and labels is the sophomore effort. Will the fans be as receptive? Does the artist have another glittering prize in their pocket? It's called the sophmore slump for a reason. Fortunately, Bon Iver's Blood Bath EP picks up where For Emma, Forever Ago left off and takes small paddles into a bigger sea.
Track by Track:
"Blood Bank" (4:45)
It sounds like a track that could have easily been on For Emma but with a bit more polish. Don't fear, is still simple and beautiful. It's just slightly cleaner in sound. Vernon also drags out his "Iiiiiiiiiiiiii...know it well" to the point of striking a Coldplay pose. Don't let it deter you, Vernon has a lovely voice and the softness of these lines underscore a great song.
"Beach Baby" (2:40)
This is a short song starting with just Vernon and his acoustic guitar. He quickly paints the picture of lost love's despair and even borders on sarcasm. The first line says it all with "When you're out, tell your lucky one...to know that you'll leave." After his brief acoustic reflection, the song closes with a haunting slide guitar.
"Babys" (4:43)
"Babys" is broken into thirds. The first 1:25 of this song is repetitive piano chords that evoke mental imagery of a snowfall and sounds like a cross between a George Winston track and Animal Collective's "My Girls". At the 1:25 mark, Vernon chips in his vocals and the song fully develops for about two minutes before closing the last 1:30 with the same piano chords and Vernon chanting repetitively about making babies - "Summer comes, to multiply. To multiply!"
"Woods" (4:45)
An absolutely gorgeous song that is just layered vocals and vocoder. The lyrics are simple but one gets the impression that the meaning is deep. He's "up in the woods...slowing down the time". Maybe he's savoring his successes. Maybe he's just trying to live as fully as possible in the fleeting moments of life. Either way, this is a stunner that borders on soul music in both emotion and sound.
I read comments by another critic that Bon Iver is "one-dimensional". I took that to mean that he has one sound and in time he'll become repetitive. While I could see that as a possibility if Vernon rested on his laurels and recorded 5 consecutive For Emma's, I found the last two tracks on Blood Bank to be experimental and a sign of what's to come. And I must say, I couldn't be happier about it. Blood Bank is an EP that avoids the sophomore slump by reaching *just a bit* out into the darkness of what Bon Iver may be on future albums while using the first two tracks to appreciate the path taken to get here. |
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Fan-tastic follow-up
Submitted on: 2009-02-21 |
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| Fans of Bon Iver's "For Emma" album will enjoy this LP as a great follow-up to the album. The musicality & themes of "Blood Bank" are close cousins of his first, but with this small group he takes a few surprising, successful risks that hopefully, dare we say, indicate what's yet to come...? If you are new to Bon Iver as an artist, though, I do recommend starting out with "For Emma" as an introduction. |
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 good songs to follow up For Emma but $10.98 for 4 songs???
Submitted on: 2009-02-02 |
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| First, let me say the songs are good - the title track is very good. But I just cannot get over the pricing on this one. You can buy the full album (cd), For Emma Forever Ago for $10.99 and this FOUR (4) yes, FOUR!!! song EP costs $10.98. Am I the only one who thinks this is absurd? |
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