Probably not a hot take but I think drums and percussion are the main instrument or whatever on about half or more of the songs on that record. Perth and Minnesota are the most obvious but it’s all throughout—like when they come in and out in Holocene, even the slow simple, like classic power ballad style beat on Beth/Rest etc etc
Every time a storm rolls in on a warm spring night, I still think of this album. Maybe my most memorable first listen ever. Wrote about it five years ago. Can't believe this thing is almost 15. Bon Iver – Bon Iver, Bon Iver
Yeah I absolutely remember hearing it for the first time lying in my teenage bedroom, home from college for the summer. I feel like I got the leak in the morning and may have been hungover. I felt like Mitch Kramer at the end of Dazed and Confused.
I remember driving to work every morning that summer at 7 am listening to that record with my windows down.
Some of my favorite memories as a human on this planet involve listening to that album on repeat driving around in northern New Mexico where I was living that summer. I remember one time I was driving with a friend from the mountains down into the high desert just as a thunderstorm broke the sky open around us and we were listening to it and a little stoned (drive sober kids would never do that now) and it was so fucking cool Still put it on anytime I'm on a pretty drive or on a plane with a window seat and it's a clear day
I also vividly remember listening to the leak for the first time. I instantly called a couple of my friends over and we listened to it all evening. We were mind blown and no first listen of an album has ever or will ever come close. shit I still remember the Perth teaser clip that was on facebook for months leading up to it. could not believe how cool the snippet of the riff was (and still is)
First listen of "Repave" 2 years later hit like crack too tbh because at the time nobody was sure if we were ever going to hear from him again.
Man, I am deeply envious of this. I'm fascinated by the desert, being a New Englander. I have dreams of flying into St. Louis, renting a car and driving to like Big Sur.
well if you ever go through with it say hi while you’re in St. Louis haha—although even the Great Plains don’t start until west of Kansas City really
do it. I'm from the Southeast and take every opportunity to go out West and every single time, it's totally worth it. I'd say start in Denver though, not STL. Perfect scenery for a JV discography run.
https://www.hitsdailydouble.com/news/live/brian-loucks-caa-2026-06-25 “Is there a more recent client that has been an unexpected surprise? Several years ago, I started working with the film composer Nicholas Britell. He’s been nominated for three Academy Awards. I took him and his wife to see Stereophonic and he was like, the arguments between artists are so realistic! I’ve had all of those. Maybe 10 months later, he calls and says, 10 years ago, Bon Iver gave me a book, and I’m calling Justin [Vernon] right now because I want us to make it into some kind of theater musical. Justin loved the idea. I introduced Nick to one of our theater agents and we got him a great playwright and director. Dede Gardner [of Brad Pitt’s Plan B] is producing. They're writing the music right now. I've also introduced him to a number of contemporary pop stars that could write title songs with him for movies.”
I was interning at a public radio station in Philly when BI, BI came out. I helped produce on the morning show, which meant I had a fully outfitted DAW studio to myself at 5:40am. I’ll never forget the feeling of “Perth” booming over those speakers for the first time… shook me to my core.