My Favourite Albums of 2016: #2 Bon Iver - 22, A Million

The first time I heard Bon Iver’s 22, A Million was sitting on a double decker bus as it slowly weaved its way through the congested streets of central London. Importantly, I was listening on headphones; because this is a real ‘headphones album’ and one that suits a journey through the busy city – a time where you can sit, watch the world go slowly by and immerse yourself in Justin Vernon’s weird, messy, experimentally brilliant work.

Back in 2009 I named For Emma, Forever Ago my album of the year. It’s important to stress that this record bears very little resemblance to that one.  Whereas Bon Iver's debut was organic sounding, 22, A Million is a highly synthetic piece with lots of weird production tricks, sonic manipulation, moments of distortion and glitchy electronics. There’s nothing as straightforward as a simple song here, although underneath the wired tangential and broken structures there is still the essence of a singer-songwriter lurking beneath the surface, with some beautiful vocal harmonies and little snatches of melody (often with  incomprehensible lyrics) that can float into the brain. (Take a listen to 33 "God" below - notice how the intro sounds remarkably like a Tom Odell song before it warps off into another dimension).

22, A Million is no doubt a Marmite album. There are lovers and haters. Even the track listing, with its ridiculous titles such as ___45____ and 29 #Strafford APTS seems designed to infuriate as much as it does pleasure, but for me, there’s a huge amount of beauty within. In a year when much of the so called alternative scene seems bereft of ideas, relying on repeating the same old same old, Bon Iver throws them around as if he has more than he can handle. This is what makes 22, A Million such a fascinating and rewarding listen. Find yourself a bus ride, put on your headphones and let this take you to another place.

Bon Iver - 33 "God" (Video)

New Music: Bon Iver - 33 "God"

In 2008 Bon Iver released For Emma, Forever Ago and it became my favourite album of the year. It’s one that has also very much stood the test of time and regularly finds a place on my listening device of choice. Since that time Justin Vernon’s status has continued to increase with many a music aficionado, but for me nothing has got close to that record. With a new album imminent however, new song 33 “God”, released today, gets close.

Starting with a piano refrain that sounds like the intro to a Tom Odell song, 33 "God" soon diverts into more experimental territory, but (and here’s the important thing for me) underneath the raw electronics and weird effects there’s still a beautiful tune. “I find god and religion too, staying at the Ace Hotel,” he croons in falsetto. Well at least it’s not at the Travelodge. One to lose yourself in.

Bon Iver - 33 "God"

Summer Sundae 2009 - Part 3

Day three of Summer Sundae continued where the other two left off. More good weather and more diverse music. The highlight of the day, if not the whole festival, was the Israeli band Monotonix. Yet we have to admit we weren’t there. We missed them, instead choosing to watch indie rockers Flashguns. So how do we know they were the highlight ? Quite simply after they had played, everyone who saw them was talking about them. There was a complete buzz around the festival about their performance. Yet hardly anybody mentioned the music. You need to read about Monotonix first hand, so please check out Rullsenbergrules Blog and the Safe Concerts review and watch the video clips of the balcony escapades here to get an idea of what went on. There, see what we mean ?

So what of the acts we experienced ? Well, under spinning glitter ball lighting Woodpigeon bring softly sung acoustic bliss with loving delicate organ and keyboard sounds. The highlight of their set was a gorgeously idyllic and emotive cover of the Abba song Lay All Your Love On Me with Beth Jeans Houghton providing additional backing vocals whilst dressed in a frightful blonde afro wig and tiny mini dress. The band made the song their own, but unfortunately their self penned compositions can’t compare with the cover, although they are gracious and charming enough.

Whilst Monotonix are tearing up the De Montfort Hall four young men from Brighton step up to the Rising stage. “The name of this band is Flashguns,” lead singer Samuel Felix Johnston states confidently. With a Weller / Bragg type lad look, dressed in denim, Johnston is blessed with a strong voice, competent indie guitarmanship, a neat line in twitchy bent leg dancing and the sweat and passion of a man who utterly believes in what he is doing. The band have yet to write any distinguishing songs but their snarling indie growl certainly has some promise if they can continue to develop. St George is one of their best moments, it finds an atmospheric misty broodiness amongst the spunky indie rock.

Next up is Micachu And The Shapes. The newly blonded up Micachu has received some critical acclaim, but on this performance we see no justification for it. Her scuffed experimental tunes and droaning vocal lack any sort of charisma. There are moments when a riff or a rhythm will jump out for a nano second, but then scuttle away back into a hole. We applaud Mica Levi’s attempt to be innovative, but the messy random nature of her songs sits too far to the left for Breaking More Waves to enjoy.

The sister duo of First Aid Kit are much better. They are from Sweden but their music sounds like it has come from Kentucky. With just simple acoustic instrumentation, warm mesmerising harmonies and some of the most beautiful songs we hear all weekend, they prove that Swedes can do far more than the upbeat pop of Abba and Alphabeat. It’s almost worrying how two girls who are still in their teens are singing such world weary and heavy songs at such a young age, we wonder what their parents are like. Tangerine is the sad tale of an affair told from the perspective of the person left behind at home “Another business trip, another reason to stay away,” they gasp mournfully. They show that they haven’t lost all of their young innocence yet though, dedicating their cover version of Fleet Foxes Tiger Mountain Pleasant Song to “the blonde boy sitting on the barrel,” with a cheeky mischievous grin. Towards the end of their set another cover comes in the form of Donovans Universal Soldier, which as the girls explain was written by Buffy Sainte-Marie. Its theme of individual responsibility for war is as relevant today as it was when it was originally written, and First Aid Kit give it a more modern context by changing some of the words to suit the year we find ourselves in. It hushes the whole audience and receives rapturous applause at the end.

The haunting and slow folk vibe continues on the main stage with Bon Iver. Justin Vernon has been pedalling his trademark falsetto vocal and simple acoustic instrumention across the world for some time now, and as wonderful as Breaking More Waves favourite For Emma, Forever Ago is, his set is just starting to become a little bit tired now, being not that different from when we were first astounded by its performance a year ago at the End Of The Road Festival. The treble drumming Skinny Love, engrossed beauty of Re:Stacks and the gently rocking Blood Bank with its lyrics of “As the moon waned to crescent, we started to kiss,” are all wonderful, but the announcement that this is their last show in Britain for some time seems well timed. Not everyone seems hugely impressed with Bon Iver however, a significant number of the audience disappearing halfway through the set to go and watch The Lightning Seeds.

It’s left to headliners The Zutons to close Summer Sundae 2009. Its been a difficult time for the Liverpool band having been dropped by the record label following the poor sales performance of their last album, and at first it’s easy to see why the record didn’t sell. Songs such as Always Right Behind You sound like a horrible mix of Status Quo and ZZ Top; swine flu seems almost preferable. But as their set progresses memories are jogged as to why The Zutons were once the toast of the town and picked up a Mercury nomination for Who Killed The Zutons? Songs such as You Will You Won’t and the much extended crowd pleasing Zuton Fever are expert pop tunes with a hint of soul, and sometimes we need reminding that Valerie is actually a Zutons song and does not belong to Ms Winehouse. The band are also cheesy enough to give the audience plenty of fun, from encouraging them to wave their arms side to side Take That style to shouts to “get involved,” over their old school grooviness. “Can you understand a word I’m saying?” Dave McCabe asks the audience in his broad accent. It doesn’t matter if they can’t, The Zutons do their job well.

So Summer Sundae 2009 was a success. It’s a very well run and organised festival, with good infrastructure, and the most friendly and helpful stewards / security that Breaking More Waves has experienced at such an event. With its well planned running times enabling punters to skip between the main stage and smaller stages without missing anything on the main stage and a huge range of diverse music that mixes older established bands with bright young new things and more obscure acts, its claims of being ‘a musical treat’ are exactly right. Breaking More Waves highly recommends it as excellent value for all discerning music fans.

This chap seemed to be enjoying himself as well......

Camp Bestival 2009 - Part 3

Saturday. After some early non musical fun and games we head for our first musical adventure on day two. In the Big Top Alessi's Ark are incredibly late, having got stuck in traffic. They arrive just fifteen minutes before their allocated time finishes, set up in what must be the fastest time ever and then race through a very short set. Alessi is full of apologies, apologising for being late and apologising for clashing with Alela Diane on the Castle Stage. The brevity of the set means that the band never really get the chance to settle as they quickly tiptoe through songs such as The Dog and Asteroids Collide, Alessi’s face animated in her expressions, her voice adding a sugar coating to her soft country rock sound.

To display Camp Bestivals musical diversity we jump from Alessis’s Ark to Goldie Lookin' Chain. From chart success with Guns Don’t Kill People Rappers Do, to celebrity Big Brother shenanigans, you could easily be forgiven for thinking that Goldie Lookin’ Chain were no longer a going concern having faded into obscurity. However it seems that Adam Hussain, Maggot, Eggsy and crew are still one big gang, bringing their energetic stage stalking track suited comedy hip hop to a big appreciative crowd. Funny and as puerile as ever GLC tackle everything from Michael Jackson “He’s dead now - he did do some bad things though,” to farting “I put farting powder in Adams coffee,” as they race through a set of tracks old and new. Their tongue in cheek lyrics, colourful leisure wear and comic banter go down well with the audience, with plenty of hands raised in the air (see picture above) Hit singles may now be a thing of the past, but Goldie Lookin’ Chain can probably make some money from a career out of festival appearances such as this for some years to come.

Musical journeyman Frank Turner returns to the UK from touring the States with The Offspring to bring some good old fashioned singer songwriter ideals to the Camp Bestival main stage. Frank seems to spend his whole life incessantly touring, building up a loyal fan base from it. New single The Road, played with jaunty enthusiasm seems to celebrate this fact with its lyrics of fear of staying in one place and the irony of “only being shackled to the road can ever I be free.” Turner is a troubadour with strong principles and his heart on his sleeve, a man who seems like he's grown wiser after taking some kicks, but getting back up again. On the eloquent Long Live The Queen he sings the words of someone who he has lost “You’ll live to dance another day, it’s just now you’ll have to dance for the two of us.” It's poignantly beautiful. There are hints of Billy Bragg in Frank Turner, if Billy if had decided to play acoustic punk rock with a folk twist. Turner is obviously a grafter, and we’re sure that this will pay dividends for him in the long run.

Last year at End Of The Road Festival Bon Iver played the most absorbing and enchanting set we witnessed in 2008. A year on and Justin Vernon, who effectively is Bon Iver has become more accustomed to playing to big crowds, and as a result his set loses some of the humble magic that made it so special a year ago. With a slightly smoother sound and a little bit of chat Bon Iver play through tracks from For Emma, Forever Ago, our album of the year last year, plus a rockier version of Blood Bank and a cover of Yo La Tengo’s I Feel Like Going Home. Skinny Love finds Justin on scratchy guitar and three drummers driving the song home, whilst on Re:Stacks he plays solo, the music meshing with the lyrics to portray exactly how the song sounds “it’s the sound of unlocking and lifting away". Creature Fear ends wrapped in warped noisy derangement and final song Wolves (Act I and II) sees Vernon using the crowd as backing vocals, gradually building in volume as they sing “What might have been lost,” over and over again. It’s good, but it lacks the emotion and awe that we have seen before, although the audience give rapturous applause after every song.

The evening is then left to PJ Harvey to play her headlining set in the Big Top. Earlier this year Harvey astounded us in Brighton (review here). At Camp Bestival she performs a totally different solo show which she states will consist of her own personal favourite songs, performed stripped down, the way they were originally written. From the stunning gutsy blues of opening song To Bring You My Love to the stark ending of Silence the performance feels more like a recital than a euphoric festival set, but it works perfectly. The audience are very respectful listening in almost near silence as Harvey performs everything from well known tracks such as Down By The Water to B Sides such as Nina In Ecstasy which Polly described as “a very small quiet song.” Some songs are played on piano, others on guitar. A new track samples the old tin pan alley song Istanbul (Not Constantinople) by fifties group The Four Lads, looped whilst Polly sings with a bizarre musical minuture harp type instrument. It's an odd yet intriguing piece.

The set confirms Harvey as a major and unique talent, her voice ranging from an unsettling girlish tone to a powerful strong woman. This show had a feel of being something rather special. It may not have been right for those who want a big singalong, clapalong, lowest common denominator headlining set, but for those who want something born out of pure integrity and quality PJ Harvey ticked all the right boxes. A superb way to end a great day.

Camp Bestival Announcement

It’s that time of year when we are deluged with announcements concerning summer festival line ups. Each day we hear more news of the artists and attractions that are going to be performing their hearts out to a sun kissed or rain drenched field somewhere in the UK this summer. Here at Breaking More Waves we find this all very exciting, but for some this bombardment can become a rather wearing process, each announcement leading to a gradual state of apathy.

So it’s good to see one festival organiser do something a little different to combat that apathy, and maybe raise a smile on your face. Summer is coming campers, and Rob Da Bank and his Bestival crew are getting into the Hi De Hi spirit again at their family orientated Camp Bestival, with this fun video announcement of their line up. It certainly makes a change from just sending out a press release. With Breaking more Waves favourite Bon Iver who produced our album of the year from 2008, Marina and the Diamonds, one of our ones to watch for 2009 plus the fabulous PJ Harvey all set to grace the stage, Camp Bestival is shaping up very nicely. If the organisers manage to sort out the camping and parking problems from last year it promises to be a great weekend for young and old. Breaking More Waves will see you there.

Bon Iver - Blood Bank

Bon Iver's For Emma, Forever Ago was Breaking More Waves album of the year in 2008. Now in 2009 Justin Vernon and his contributors step out of the cold on 19th January with a new 4 track EP entitled Blood Bank. The songs continue a path set by the album but with a few subtle surprises woven in, both musically and lyrically.

The title track uses a rough weary guitar to soundtrack the warmth of love against a wintery background. Gone is the isolation of For Emma, replaced with the visual and poetic romance of desire and companionship in the lyrics. “Then the snow started falling, we were stuck out in your car, you were rubbing both my hands, chewing on a candy bar, you said ain’t this just like the present to be showing up like this, as a moon waned to crescent, we started to kiss.” It is as gorgeously compelling and wonderful as anything on the album. Nothing else on the EP gets anywhere near this perfect song, but then if they did we would be proclaiming this the EP of the year, and it's only January.

As for the other tracks, Beach Baby is a gentle strummed affair with added country steel pedal guitar. It feels a little like an out take from the album, a half finished idea that was left in the corner of the cabin. Babys sees Justin veering away from the formula that has served him so well up to now. As a waterfall like piano repeats and chimes in introduction, his familiar falsetto and harmonies ring out with joy “Summer comes to multiply, to multiply.” This leaves the most experimental track on the EP - Woods. Reminiscent of a slightly poor man’s Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap, it uses vocoder layering to produce an acapella choir, backed by more falsetto harmonies with the repeated lyrics “I'm up in the woods, I'm down on my mind, I'm building a still, To slow down the time.”

With the Blood Bank EP Bon Iver have challenged those who think they are just bearded acoustic guitar folkies. Not everything presses all the buttons, but enough are pressed to make it a welcome addition to a record collection.

As with any Bon Iver release there is no expensive pop video, but this unofficial slow, subtle, simple piece works well.

Album Of The Year 2008 #1 - Bon Iver - For Emma, Forever Ago

Breaking More Waves album of the year is For Emma, Forever Ago by Bon Iver. A remarkable debut, which divinely combines Justin Vernon’s haunting falsetto voice over simple but beautiful acoustic arrangements. Over the last six months this album, full of songs of solitude, has developed into the recording of the year. It is no surprise to find it perched at the top of a number of Album of the Year lists, including this one.

For the uninitiated, the well told tale of the creation of this album involves singer songwriter Justin Vernon imposing self inflicted exile on himself following a split with both his previous band and girlfriend. Living in an isolated cabin in the middle of a Wisconsin forest, he crafted and recorded these mellow melancholy songs assuming the name Bon Iver. From the very first notes, the listener can feel the sense of loneliness, the atmosphere of the surroundings permeating through the music, but also a thought that sometimes the most wonderful things come out of sad times.

This is a record that fully achieves the status of ultimate slow burner, an album that not only develops in your heart through the months, but also for Breaking More Waves has developed through experience. Probably never before has an artist played on the main stage of an outdoor music festival in the middle of the afternoon and completely silenced the audience in awe. As Justin said that day, it really was something special. From that moment, at this years End Of The Road Festival, For Emma, Forever Ago took on a whole new meaning for Breaking The Waves. It showed the power of music, not through heavy rock riffs or pumping beats but through the art of the subtlety of skilful song writing.

For Emma, Forever Ago is a musically perfect album, from the dull desolate thumping beat on Flume to Lump Sum where spacey choir vocals quickly dissolve into a pulsing cinematic acoustic sound. You can imagine this music being played over the opening credits of a film, the camera speeding above a vast ocean.

Lyrically it is obscurely personal and painful. Take Skinny Love where Justin sings “I tell my love to wreck it all, cut out all the ropes and let me fall.” On Re:Stacks “There’s a black crow sitting across from me; his wirey legs are crossed, and he’s dangling my keys, he even fakes a toss. Whatever could it be that has brought me to this loss?” It’s bleak stuff. Although the album may be a joy to listen to, it certainly hasn’t been created out of it. However, Justin finds hope at the end of The Wolves (Acts I and II) where his vocals repeat “What might have been lost,” to a gradually building cacophony, before finishing with “Doesn’t bother me.”

Words do not do this album justice, so instead Breaking More Waves asks you to listen to the music. There are no expensive record company financed videos available, as the songs breathe fully by themselves. So instead here is a film that sums up the album perfectly, a collection of images put together by a fan, to the wonderful song Blindsided.



So that was Breaking More Waves Top Ten Albums of 2008. To end here is a video of two of our top ten, Bon Iver and Lykke Li playing the Lykke Li song Dance Dance Dance. Enjoy. It’s almost time to look forward to 2009 as we gaze into our crystal ball, as well as slotting in the odd gig review before Christmas.