I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: anything Justin Vernon touches turns to gold.
Volcano Choir is the direct result of a collaborated group of brilliant artists including: Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), Mueller, Chris Rosenau, Jim Schoenecker, Daniel Spack and Thomas Wincek (Collection of Colonies of Bees). As we are all very familiar by now with (Bon Iver, For Emma Forever Ago, yada yada…) Boy in a cabin, in the woods with a beard. Enough already, its time for Volcano Choir!
These boys are in every aspect of the word ‘brothers’. Each of them neighbors in their home state of Wisconsin, and as proved on Unmap, quite compatible with their musical stylings’. That is to say the boys of Collections Of Colonies of Bees are not unfamiliar to Justin Vernon. In the days prior to the “Skinny Love” explosion, the boys toured with Justin Vernon’s now retired band DeYarmond Edison in 2005. At which point song-writing for Unmap began to emulate, and boy aren’t we all glad that those pages didn’t get lost in the shuffle of all the Bon Iver madness. Upon listening to the first track released ("Island IS") from Unmap; I was turned over, and kicked on. In utter disbelief that Justin Vernon could possibly pull it off again, by that I mean; change the lives of thousands of unsuspecting folk/indie fans across the world.
I was left content and feverishly excited from “Island IS”, but also skeptical and curious as to what could possibly follow such an amazing song. When I received Unmap, it was something compared to a 3 year old girl on Christmas morning. In grave anticipation to what lies before me, devoid of all precarious wrapping, wondering if I got exactly what I had hoped for all these weeks. I couldn’t get to the play button fast enough, but something happened proceeding the leveling of my listening device. Something amazing, something daring; it’s as if everything I had expected was dumped in the waste basket, and I had to start my musical expectations entirely from scratch.
From track one all the way down to track nine, the first word I use to describe all things Volcano Choir is instrumentation. Ingenious and provocative uses of instruments flush their way through every single song, creating a new-wave symphony throughout the room. A sound I clearly was not anticipating nor’ did I prepare myself for. Almost leveled from my swivel chair before my computer, I made no hesitation as I made damn sure that repeat was the notion well understood by my media player.
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