Good Winter

Here it goes again...

We've been inundated with snow in Northeastern Ohio so I decided to make a post dedicated to the cold darkness that is winter in Cleveland. Lately I've been listening a lot to Justin Vernon's latest effort, Volcano Choir's Unmap. Vernon burst onto the scene under the moniker Bon Iver, which is French for good winter. (Sorry for his misspelling of hiver, Peter) He recorded the tremendously depressing For Emma, Forever Ago in his father's cabin in Northern Wisconsin by himself in the dead of winter. The most well known track off Bon Iver's debut is "Skinny Love", but Peter Gabriel's cover of Bon Iver's "Flume" is also worth a listen.

After finding success on his own, Vernon teamed up with members of Collections of Colonies of Bees to form Volcano Choir. I really enjoy the first tune off the album, "Husks and Shells". The raw guitar definitely steals the show on this song.Vernon's falsetto voice is off pitch just enough as he makes indistinguishable noises that play as a back drop to the repetitive guitar riff. The most mainstream song on this album is probably "Island, IS". This album is more of listen as I read, study or fall asleep as opposed to getting pumped up to go out for a night of heavy drinking.

Another winter song I wanted to tell you about is Ra Ra Riot's "Winter '05". This song is off the band's 2008 near flawless effort, The Rhumb Line. This band is an interesting mix of power pop and classical music. They rely heavily on the feminine vocals of their male lead singer and their electric piano, but mix in a violin and an acoustic bass. I believe their best song to date is "Too Too Too Fast" or the Kate Bush cover, "Suspended in Gaffa". The creative mind behind much of their debut album was their drummer, the late John Ryan Pike. Pike wrote the haunting song "Ghost Under Rocks" and ended up drowning shortly after. It'll be interesting to see the direction they take in the future.

If you like Ra Ra Riot, check out The Virgins and Phoenix.

Just a side note here but how sweet is that electric version of an acoustic bass in the Winter '05 video? That's the first time I've ever seen anything like that. I'm sure Jocelyn will get a kick out of it. Also, Pete and Defrances both sent me some tracks today that I'm really looking forward to listening to. I'll let you guys know what I think.

Until next time....