Listening Priority: High
It's fascinating to see the products of artistic intersections. Sometimes it's just a blog-buzz-baiting move, but other times it's something more. Volcano Choir, a collaboration Collections of Colonies of Bees'/All Tiny Creatures' members and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, falls squarely in the second category. All Tiny Creatures and Bon Iver are groups whose music I find enjoyable, but - with Bon Iver's deeply personal/possibly nonsensical/opaque lyricism and All Tiny Creatures' tendency to get a little too lost in spacey jams - I can't claim to love them. After their first album, Unmap, allowed the group plenty of room to experiment and go off the rails, Repave finds them focusing their energies and creating dense but catchy songs. The album's A-side sees them rocking out a bit, putting voices together in a way that lives up to the band's name, before ending with the "Byegone" hook of "Set sail." The album's B-side does just that, letting Justin Vernon's voice roam along constantly shifting seas before pulling it all back together with the finale of "Almanac." The instrumentation works wonderfully - giving the interesting All Tiny Creatures tones direction and giving the Bon Iver sound a bit more of an edge - while Vernon also has the opportunity to use his voice as well as Kanye has used it in the past (No offense to previous Volcano Choir and Bon Iver efforts, but the usage of Vernon's voice on tracks like "That's My Bitch," "I'm In It," and "Hold My Liquor" takes his vocals to another level). On a lyrical level, Repave is full of the lyrics that are either brilliant poetry or meaningless space-fillers, but it's got hot lines that grab listeners' attention ("I won't beg for you on acetate / I won't crawl on you to validate," "With enough keif / You can really bore someone," "We were gonna hit every mark in stark / But that sutra didn't suit you that long day in the park") while they sort out the rest of the lyrics' phrasing and meaning. Repave, full of great sounds and lyrics that require deeper consideration, is an excellent album from a band that promises further evolution.
It's fascinating to see the products of artistic intersections. Sometimes it's just a blog-buzz-baiting move, but other times it's something more. Volcano Choir, a collaboration Collections of Colonies of Bees'/All Tiny Creatures' members and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, falls squarely in the second category. All Tiny Creatures and Bon Iver are groups whose music I find enjoyable, but - with Bon Iver's deeply personal/possibly nonsensical/opaque lyricism and All Tiny Creatures' tendency to get a little too lost in spacey jams - I can't claim to love them. After their first album, Unmap, allowed the group plenty of room to experiment and go off the rails, Repave finds them focusing their energies and creating dense but catchy songs. The album's A-side sees them rocking out a bit, putting voices together in a way that lives up to the band's name, before ending with the "Byegone" hook of "Set sail." The album's B-side does just that, letting Justin Vernon's voice roam along constantly shifting seas before pulling it all back together with the finale of "Almanac." The instrumentation works wonderfully - giving the interesting All Tiny Creatures tones direction and giving the Bon Iver sound a bit more of an edge - while Vernon also has the opportunity to use his voice as well as Kanye has used it in the past (No offense to previous Volcano Choir and Bon Iver efforts, but the usage of Vernon's voice on tracks like "That's My Bitch," "I'm In It," and "Hold My Liquor" takes his vocals to another level). On a lyrical level, Repave is full of the lyrics that are either brilliant poetry or meaningless space-fillers, but it's got hot lines that grab listeners' attention ("I won't beg for you on acetate / I won't crawl on you to validate," "With enough keif / You can really bore someone," "We were gonna hit every mark in stark / But that sutra didn't suit you that long day in the park") while they sort out the rest of the lyrics' phrasing and meaning. Repave, full of great sounds and lyrics that require deeper consideration, is an excellent album from a band that promises further evolution.
Key Tracks: "Tiderays," "Acetate," "Comrade," "Byegone," "Alaskans." Not to diss the album's B-side, but the first five tracks are killer.
Side Notes
While Justin Vernon apparently didn't write the music for this album, it sounds remarkably similar to Bon Iver's second record.
Having seen the band touring immediately after the release of this album, it was amazing how much they seemed to be a completely functioning live band rather than a cobbled together/just for kicks side project. Some of the new (post-Repave) songs that they played hinted at more excellent music to come.
Side Notes
While Justin Vernon apparently didn't write the music for this album, it sounds remarkably similar to Bon Iver's second record.
Having seen the band touring immediately after the release of this album, it was amazing how much they seemed to be a completely functioning live band rather than a cobbled together/just for kicks side project. Some of the new (post-Repave) songs that they played hinted at more excellent music to come.