3 posts tagged “bon iver”

Being a slave to all that is trendy and au courant, we here at Audiogram are on a "staycation" this week. What's a staycation, you ask? It's when you stay away from work for a week, but you don't go away. The staycation has been popularized by the media this summer (rising gas prices, bad economy), but I didn't realize it had been entered the popular lexicon until I passed the Calvert-Woodley wine store on Connecticut Avenue that displayed a "Your Staycation Begins Here!" sign.

I'm on a staycation this week for some reasons that have nothing to do with the economy. It's far sadder than anything Ben Bernanke could cook up. There will be time for those stories later. For now, the high and low-lights of a staycation:

High: Drinking whiskey sours at the bar based solely on the fact that it's in an Old 97's song.

Low: Dealing with the after-effects of said whiskey sours on a hot Wednesday morning after the power went out on my street, along with my AC, on one of the hottest days of the year.

High: The Old 97's played Stoned. Read here and here for full concert reviews.

Low: They didn't play Doreen.

High: Seeing movies and going to museums in the middle of the day.

Low: Dealing with the DC DMV, which has a hiring policy that says "only sadists need apply."

High: I've got tickets to the sold-out Bon Iver show tonight at the Black Cat. I feel pretty lucky about this. As Hot Rod reported, people are willing to show their tits to get in. And that, my friends, is the power of melancholy acoustic indie folk rock.

Lord, how I miss the Summer of Bill. Even if he doesn't remember that there was a Summer of Bill back in the early aughties, I do.

Bill never actually told me about the Summer of Bill. I think I heard about it first from Dabysan, later confirmed by HotRod. If I may take editorial liberties here, the Summer of Bill (or SOB as we'll call it) evolved as a way for Bill, a mild-mannered fellow with a faint Southern accent, to wrestle his life away from the clutches of the same old drinking routine at a notoriously skeezy townie/jar head bar called King Pepper. This is not to say that Bill wanted to quit drinking during the SOB. But he had other ambitions that summer. Ambitions such as: buy a motorcycle. I'm not sure what else was on the list. Probably get laid and ride coasters, if I were betting.

There were occasions that summer where the phrase "Summer of Bill" got invoked without much explanation. I didn't need to know more, really. It served as an elegant short-hand for someone wanting to change his life, seize the moment or at least tick off a list of fun shit to do in a summer. Bill didn't have to say it. We all knew it. And we all wanted that for him.

Bill eventually left town, moved to San Francisco, slimmed down and became quite the looker. Not sure if it was a result of the SOB, or that he'd long been itching to get out of the town he grew up in. Still, the SOB lives on in my imagination as a good way to get off your ass and reclaim the things you love.

The summer is nearly over, and I've attended zero shows. Time to rectify that. I'm invoking SOB. No time like the present. In the next two months, I'm seeing:

1. Old 97's, July 29th at the 9:30 Club

2. Bon Iver, Aug. 1 at the Black Cat

3. The Hold Steady, Aug. 14 at the 9:30

4. Liz Phair, Aug. 28, 9:30 Club

5. Bob Pollard, Sept. 28, Black Cat

6. Dressy Bessy, Sept. 30, Black Cat

 

The music I've been crushing on lately:

1. Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago

I can't get over what I've heard of this album, and I've been like a morphine addict for the title track since Saint Bob over at NPR played it a few weeks ago. This song is note perfect. I am beside myself every time I hear it. I want to approach strangers on the street and make them listen.

Bon Iver (or "good winter" if you say it in French) is Justin Vernon, who apparently tucked away for three months in a remote cabin in the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin to make this album after his band broke up. All isolation should sound this good. 

You can check out Bon Iver at the Rock and Roll Hotel on February 19th. In the meantime, listen to Skinny Love here.

2. Lucinda Black Bear: Capo My Heart and Other Bear Songs

Here's an anti-valentine, of sorts. The whole album is about a breakup. Think Neil Young, but darker. Listen here.

3. Vampire Weekend: Vampire Weekend

Am I going to be listening to this band in a year? Is this the next false prophet? Do I feel some shades of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah-hype and inevitable letdown coming on in this music? Yeah. Probably. A little twee, as Jason said. But I'll give the Columbia boys a break. And apparently, they put on a decent show at the Rock and Roll Hotel. Well played gentlemen, well played.

4. Superchunk: Seed Toss
Like a fine wine, this album has improved with age. It's well worth the price of admission for Brand New Love, which is a originally a Sebadoh song that's been covered countless times by other bands, including Death Cab for Cutie. But I like Superchunk's version the best. I can't post it here. So you'll have to settle for this:

Speaking of covers...

5. Eels: I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man (cover)

After a raging debate over on Jodi's blog on the merits of Little Red Corvette vs. I Could Never Take The Place of Your Man that divided the sexes, I went seeking answers. And I found this cover.