Bon Iver Bon Iver

3.5 stars out of 5 -- "'Hinnom, TX' sets off brass and static bursts like distant fireworks; 'Minnesota, WI' blends what sounds like banjos with gnarly brass swells and R&B horns..."
Ranked #21 in Rolling Stone's '50 Best Albums Of 2011' -- "Vernon's private world is a soft-rock heaven of the mind."
"Once again, he cultivates an enchanted atmosphere, with gorgeous melodies, unique textures, and beautiful singing..."
Ranked #14 in Spin's 'The Top 40 Albums Of 2011' -- "[I]magine a nice, cozy room full of ambitious friends boldly molding an inscrutable art-folk masterpiece."
"[A]n emboldened Vernon achieves a beautiful fantasy all his own, backed by a full band and buoyed with horns and pedal steel." -- Grade: A-
Ranked #4 in Entertainment Weekly's 'The Top 10 Albums Of 2011' -- "[H]is passion for gentle synth jams comes through so clearly, he makes Auto-Tune sound sincere."
Ranked #9 in Uncut's '50 Best Albums Of 2011' -- "BON IVER was ambitious, fanatically detailed, but still warm and poignant..."
4 stars out of 5 -- "[B]eautiful and heartrending. It's something far too busy and layered to be labeled as mere indie folk..."
Ranked #13 in Magnet's '20 Best Albums Of 2011' -- "It manages to be both sweeping and widescreen, yet intimate and inviting..."
"This is the sound of a man awake in the world and reaching outward, and it'll make you want to wrap your arms around the entire human race."
Paste (magazine) - "It retains the beautiful melancholy of FOR EMMA, but in nearly every way, it's just more. More layered, more diverse, more interesting."
4 stars out of 5 -- "[A] glorious celebration of -- and experimentation with -- sound....This is a luxurious record, with Vernon's simple songs filtered and engorged at every turn."
Clash (Magazine) - "[W]hile 'Holocene' and 'Calgary', for example, retain the same spectral beauty of the first album, they're multi-dimensional compositions rather than songs."