As we relayed to you yesterday, Bon Iver and his bandmates played their last show together as a unit for an “indefinite” amount of time. The show came on the same day Justin Vernon was the honorary chair of AIDS Walk Wisconsin and took place at Milwaukee’s Riverside Theater. In case the news of the brief “hibernation” has you down, RadioMilwaukee broadcast the whole performance live. And we can now share the stream of the show with you thanks to the fine folks over there. Enjoy, or drown your sorrows, or do whatever it is you do. Regardless, click away.

Justin Vernon and his guitar-noodling buddies from Wisconsin known as Collections of Colonies of Bees are joining forces as Volcano Choir for an album called Unmap. The musicians have known each other since the days when Vernon was just a dude in a band unfortunately named DeYarmond Edison, and these songs originate from those days. After the jump you can see the album cover and tracklisting for Unmap along with video of
Collections of Colonies of Bees’ recent show in Tokyo.
Jagjaguwar will release the first project by Volcano Choir, Unmap, on September 22nd (21st in the UK), worldwide.

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So Bon Iver’s folk masterpiece For Emma, Forever Ago was our #3 album of 2008 and all-round really damn awesome. So it’s no surprise we’re anxious to keep you updated on lead songwriter Just Vernon’s various happenings: jamming with his high-school band, performing at charity benefits and rocking out on David Letterman. Now comes word of new material — both solo and now with a band.
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Ten years after he graduated, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon went back to his alma mater, Memorial High School in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, this weekend. It may not have been a reunion, but we would’ve voted him best dressed — Vernon (snazzy white suit and all) joined his former high school jazz band Sunday night for a benefit show to raise money to send the ensemble to a prestigious jazz competition.
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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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