"And at once I knew I was not magnificent..."

August 20, 2011 7:01 PM

Bon Iver has released a video for the second single from their new eponymous album: Holocene (Vimeo / Youtube.) Background. (Previously)

Band's official site (autoplaying video.)

More: NPR has audio from four concerts and two studio sessions, as well as several articles.

Additional music:
* I Can't Make You Love Me (a cover)
* Calgary
* Flume
* Skinny Love (On Letterman)
* Skinny Love (On Jools Holland)
* Calgary (On the Colbert Report, includes an interview)
* Blood Bank (Studio Version - Audio Only)

La Blogotheque: Bon Iver. A Take Away Show in Montmartre, Paris (Part 1) and Abbesses, Paris (Part II).
Article: 1, 2
1) Lump Sum
2) Flume
3) For Emma, Forever Ago
4) Flume (Second Take)
5) Wolves (Act I and II)
6) Skinny Love

posted by zarq (26 comments total)

Sorry. The link for Calgary got cut off.
posted by zarq at 7:03 PM on August 20, 2011

By the way... for anyone inclined to click the band's official site link, be forewarned that the autoplaying video is large, plays in the background when you go to other areas of the site (thus using both bandwidth and processor power,) and the pause button for it is in the upper right hand corner of the screen. Took me a moment to find it.
posted by zarq at 7:13 PM on August 20, 2011

Beautiful, as much as I feel like using Icelandic landscapes is almost cheating.

(I was a little surprised when he drank from the stream - it looked pristine, but I would have been all, "HELL NO, GIARDIA." But maybe they don't have that in Iceland.)
posted by en forme de poire at 7:16 PM on August 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Ugh. Forgot one more link, the Via.

(So... amusingly enough, Iceland's tourist board has a Vimeo account, and a channel entitled, "Videos with me, Iceland, in them", where I first spotted Holocene. Oh, and another channel called "Good music by nice Icelandic people." Plus a related site: "Iceland wants to be your friend." And a blog. All of which were going to be in their own FPP until I saw the Holocene video.) :D

Sorry, I'll shut up now.
posted by zarq at 7:27 PM on August 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

I love seeing Richmond's Own, Reggie Pace, playing with Bon Iver in that Colbert clip That guy is in about sixty billion bands, including mine.
posted by emelenjr at 7:27 PM on August 20, 2011 [4 favorites]

Beautiful, so well done.
posted by webshow at 7:33 PM on August 20, 2011

I'm so glad you shared this, zarq. Iceland is so beautifully lonely. It looks the way Bon Iver's music sounds to me.

Is there a name for the crazy organ pipe type rock formation at about 5:06 in the video?
posted by millions of peaches at 7:46 PM on August 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

All of which were going to be in their own FPP until I saw the Holocene video.

We've already had an FPP about that.
posted by Nomyte at 7:49 PM on August 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Nomyte: " We've already had an FPP about that."

Ha! Good thing I got distracted then! Thanks for pointing it out.
posted by zarq at 7:50 PM on August 20, 2011

Is there a name for the crazy organ pipe type rock formation at about 5:06 in the video?

List of places with columnar jointed volcanics
posted by stbalbach at 7:51 PM on August 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

The waterfall is Svartifoss. The scene at 5:06 appears to be the Beach at Reynisdrangar (can see the cave to the right in the video, but head on in this link).
posted by stbalbach at 7:57 PM on August 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

Gorgeous song, but I still prefer this certain classic music video of wistful children wandering magical Icelandic lands.
posted by stroke_count at 8:52 PM on August 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I have nothing to add other than Blood Bank gets my vote for best short story of the year in 2009. Very few songs can create such an atmosphere and narrative in three verses.
posted by 1f2frfbf at 9:19 PM on August 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

The patches of snow on the green hills at 1:45-1:50 look like an abstract Uffington Horse.
posted by Devils Rancher at 9:33 PM on August 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Just gorgeous.

I'm also enjoying this cover of Holocene that I dug out of the related videos.
posted by sugarfish at 9:39 PM on August 20, 2011

For some reason Bon Iver's new album has really gotten me going, it's hipster bait, but this one is so lonely, so elegant, so fucking sad, that i can let fashion go.
posted by PinkMoose at 10:00 PM on August 20, 2011 [2 favorites]

This is such a great FPP - thanks for posting. I'd never heard of Bon Iver before, so I think I'll go down to Ditch Records on Johnson Street and buy his CD!
posted by KokuRyu at 10:16 PM on August 20, 2011

Huge Bon Iver post featuring La Blogotheque and Iceland. You rock zarq.
posted by sweetkid at 10:39 PM on August 20, 2011

I recently returned from vacation in Iceland, and now a lot of my friends have added it to their bucket list after seeing my photos (though before I left, I had gotten a lot of, "Why are you going to Iceland??"). I think this will just seal the deal. The crazy thing is that it is truly as breathtaking as the Holocene video indicates (+/- a few tourists). Beautiful video and awesome post!
posted by cucumberfresh at 10:48 PM on August 20, 2011

Gorgeous. Their performance of "Holocene" on Jimmy Fallon awhile back was also excellent. Actually almost prefer it to the album version - more symphonic or something somehow.
posted by gompa at 11:05 PM on August 20, 2011 [3 favorites]

it's hipster bait

I resisted Bon Iver for a long time for this exact reason. In retrospect, that was a pretty silly thing to do.
posted by millions of peaches at 1:29 AM on August 21, 2011

Holocene is the name of an okay venue in Portland
posted by Joseph Gurl at 1:38 AM on August 21, 2011

That was beautiful. It brought tears to my eyes and I am not even sure why. The little boy just seems so grounded and so in touch with what is really important. But then again, I am a bit of a sap.
posted by Seymour Zamboni at 10:08 AM on August 21, 2011 [3 favorites]

"You laid waste to Halloween" is a killer lyric, especially in a song that does not mention its title, Holocene...but I don't want to turn this thread into a BonIver myspace wall.

Anyhow, if you are shopping for somewhat isolating, yet captivating Icelandic landscapes with a boy running through them, I present to you Noi Albinoi.
posted by obscurator at 6:45 AM on August 22, 2011 [1 favorite]

Holocene is the name of an okay venue in Portland

I think he's actually said that's where the name of the song came from.
posted by kingbenny at 8:39 AM on August 22, 2011

Holocene is the name of an okay venue in Portland

I think he's actually said that's where the name of the song came from.

Yeah, he did, sorta. It was in an interview with NPR (a great interview, but only if you listen to the whole thing...the clips that actually made it to the air really made him seem like an artsy douche, instead of a pretty down to earth dude). They asked him where Holocene was, since all the names of the tracks on Bon Iver are places, and he said "it's a bar in Portland."

It is an *okay* venue. I will say though that on Fridays, they have delicious and FREE food during happy hour. Like tiny pulled pork sandwiches. Mmmmmm.

Also, the Bonnie Raitt cover makes me FUCKING WEEP it's so so good.
posted by Lutoslawski at 11:25 AM on August 22, 2011