About a year ago, I began a very short (2 post?) history of blogging about music.  Believe it or not, I’ve actually had requests to pick that up again.  Awesome!  Thanks to those (two) of you who wanted to hear more.

Bon Iver (actually Justin Vernon) is the best way I could imagine kicking that off again.  From what I can gather, we can refer to him as a “him” not a “them” (kinda like Prince or Feist, not like Toto or Pearl Jam).  The album, For Emma, Forever Ago, is the result of a winter spent holed up in a Northern Wisconsin cabin.  That combination proved to be pretty magical and the album is incredible.

I first came across Mister Iver (a.k.a. Vernon) at SXSW.  I was in town for the first evening of the music conference (just as the interactive conference was wrapping up) and he happened to be on the roster for that night.  My badge wouldn’t let me into the show, but I listened through the door for about 15 minutes.  It was enough to leave me hooked.

The track below doesn’t really do the album justice, but no song really would.  It’s a complete experience and a definite top ten for this year.  Check it out.  If you’re in the mood for more sampling, you can get a free track (Skinny Love, another great one) here.