The Voice of the Woods

Unmap - Volcano Choir

Collaboration from Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Collections of Colonies of Bees gives us Volcano Choir. Beautifully Bizarre.

Mixed opinions on this one. I love that Justin is as ambitious as he is but the heavily instrumental and sparse arrangements leave much to be desired for me. It sounds more like a small collection of songs strung together with outtakes from studio sessions given the ‘alone in the woods’ treatment Bon Iver has now mastered. I enjoy minimalism in music but get lost when I feel the intent is to push listeners past a point of focus and trail off with no intent to retain or draw back. Thom Yorke explores as well as anyone as we have been reminded again this year, but he never loses me despite what I take to be some of better attempts.

"Island, IS" comes as a hands down winner and is among my favorite songs of the year. If more of the tracks had this kind of direction I feel the overall project would be more of a success had the outfit followed a more structured approach. Some can argue that the point of this project was to explore new soundscapes, I can’t argue, but I’ll leave exploring soundscapes to Califone.

Rating:

Music on the Verge

> Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah is prepped to release his first solo outing via ANTI. The album, Mo Beauty, was recorded in New Orleans and features an all-star supporting cast. One of my favorite drummers Stanton Moore (Galactic etc.) will be on skins and Robert Walter, George Porter Jr. and a who's who of New Orealns trendsetters are all a part of the party. Certainly a break from the CYHSY days, but so far I am impressed and intriqued.

ALEC OUNSWORTH This Is Not My Home (After Bruegel) and Holy, Holy, Holy Moses

> The preppy boys that are long in the tooth and quick to the hop, Vampire Weekend, are readying a new album for the first of next year. The material is more advanced than the afro-american punk pop of the self titled rookie release, but promising all the same. Download the first single from: CONTRA, it's called Horchata, after a drink presumably.

> Finally, I am scanning through the material from the latest Thom Yorke unleashing, featuring several new tracks of solo material, Radiohead tunes and the sounds/sights of recent gigs from his new group that features FLEA on bass, Nigel and the drummer for Beck/REM. Not too shabby, eh!