Two crucial factors skew my critical eye when writing on Bon Iver: For Emma, Forever Ago is my favorite album in recent memory and I really want to like everything Justin Vernon stamps his name on. After exorbitant listens, I find For Emma as compelling as my first and after reading countless interviews, I find Vernon, more and more, a deserving artist. So, as with other Bon Iver fans, the pertinent question asked of Blood Bank, would it convey the similar winter solitude to which we grew accustomed, or the fuller sound of Bon Iver’s live band? The answer is probably neither; yet, Blood Bank feels quintessentially like a Bon Iver record in its formula and sonic identity.
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Lo-fi, freak folk phenom Bon Iver’s tour-only vinyl EP Blood Bank will be made available to the rest of the world in a little less than two weeks via the fine people at Jagjaguwar. But for the next few days, Mr. Vernon is making it available for free.
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