Bon Iver "I Can't Make You Love Me"

Like the sound of thunder arriving long after the lightning flash, I finally got the joke.

Last year, Justin Vernon appeared on late night TV, covering Bonnie Raitt, and I scratched my head.  "That's odd.  What possessed him to do that?"

Sometime this weekend, I finally heard it in my head.

Bon Iver.  Bonnie Raitt.

Bon EE-vare.  Bon EE-rate.

Justin Vernon must've heard that joke more than a few times since naming his band. 

But I just got it.

And it gave me a great idea.

If I ever decided to give up the whole husband-father-DJ-blogger thing, and run away to become a cross-dressing burlesque performer I have an awesome stage name:

Bon Irate.

(I means good anger!)

Bon EE-rate.

Say it in your announcer voice:

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome her to the stage, Miss Bon Irate!"

I'll give em something to talk about alright.



Hear the song on Youtube.

Bon Iver "Holocene"

Another Weekend Post ahead of our Grammy coverage tonight.

Bon Iver is nominated for Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best New Artist and Best Alternative Music Album.

How deliciously awkward (and potentially hilarious) it will be, if he gets a televised win and acceptance speech?

Here's a quote from The New York Times, pre-nomination:

"I don't think the Bon Iver record is the kind of record that would get nominated for a Grammy — I would get up there and be like, 'This is for my parents, because they supported me,' because I know they would think it would be stupid of me not to go up there. But I kinda felt like going up there and being like: 'Everyone should go home, this is ridiculous. You should not be doing this. We should not be gathering in a big room and looking at each other and pretending this is important."

While he backed away slightly from the quote, after his nomination, he again raised an eyebrow or two, by turning down a chance to perform at this year's Grammy ceremony.

So if he wins a Grammy, will he reference the above? Will he be sheepish and funny? Will he follow through (see his second pull-quote, from the first linked article), and hector the audience?

I want to him to win, because his music deserves it. But I double-want it, to see some entertaining, awkward television.

mvyradio will cover the Grammys live on our Twitter feed, Sunday at 8pm.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Kathleen Edwards "Change The Sheets"

It's always thrilling, and/or nerve-wracking when news of two artists with distinctive, realized sounds, decide to collaborate.

Like, remember when you heard about Robert Plant and Alison Krauss working together?

Did you, like me, say, "Well what the heck is that going to sound like?"

Previously, both artists had developed an instantly recognizable sound. And those two styles seemed to have nothing in common.

But it all worked out, didn't it.

I saw Robert Plant in concert last winter, and Kathleen Edwards was there. Edwards, like Plant, is on Boston's own Rounder Records, so she was in town to check in with her label folks, as she worked on a new record.

She told us that her new record was being produced by Justin Vernon of Bon Iver.

And I thought, "Wow, what is that going to sound like."

Some words I associate with Bon Iver: Wintry, plaintive, lush

Some words I associate with Kathleen Edwards: Direct, profane, rootsy

I was having a hard time in my head, mixing the two.

Would the new Edwards record, smother her emotional and lyrical directness in atmosphere? (Beautiful, beautiful atmosphere)

I'm glad to hear the fruits of this collaboration did nothing to round out Edwards' edges. "Change The Sheets" is still showcases songwriting that cuts through. And the production does bear the mark of Vernon, by being full and warm, drawing a natural line to Edwards' rootsy side.

Peanut butter and chocolate. Not chalk and cheese.


Hear the song on Youtube.

Bon Iver "Calgary"

It's part of mvyradio's DNA to have Folk music.

I mean, Bob Dylan and Carly Simon and Bruce Cockburn and James Taylor and Joni Mitchell are among our core artists.

So it's only natural to want to embrace the new artists from the "Folk music world" (whatever that means).

There are some pretty traditional sounding artists out there, strumming and singing, and we play young artists like that (Tallest Man On Earth, for example). And we also try to embrace the more progressive, indie, modern Folk artists.

I say "try" because sometimes the most interesting modern Folkies, are actually kind of hard for mvyradio to embrace.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a young Folk-leaning artist more lauded than Bon Iver, so it would seem obvious that we would want to add "Calgary" to our rotation.

But there's this thing about indie artists that I've never quite understood, particularly in the case of Folk indie artists.

Where's his voice?

The thing about folk music that made it so dangerous, so confrontational in its 50s and 60s hey-day, was the up-frontness of the vocals.

Stripped away were the strings and the horns and the percussion and the production of modern music. Folk music was about the voice and the words. They were up front, standing atop a strident strum of acoustic guitar. From that platform, the writer/singer could clearly ring out his/her message.

I don't know if its modesty or shyness or stylistic choice or atmosphere or an aversion to appearing strident, but many modern indie Folk musicians bury their voice in the mix. They put on echo or reverb. They deliver their words in more hushed tones.

It can be a neat effect. Someone like Daniel Lanois, on his solo material, can make the deep, lost voice part of an appropriate sonic landscape.

But on this track, I kinda want to say, "Sing up, Justin!"

The track sounds a little weird on the air, next to other mvyradio songs where the person who sings is the thing.

That being said, we're here to support bands like Bon Iver, so expect to hear this song on the radio, even if you can't really hear what he's saying.


See the video on Youtube.