Bon Iver

Here's a review by Stephen Duesner of a really great album I recently ran across.

Bon Iver ( Justin Vernon) is originally from Eau Claire, WI.

Review (Pitchfork Media):

The biographical details behind the creation of an album shouldn't matter when it comes to a listener's enjoyment, but For Emma, Forever Ago, Justin Vernon's debut as Bon Iver, exudes such a strong sense of loneliness and remoteness that you might infer some tragedy behind it. So, to skirt the rumor mill, here are the particulars, as much or as little as they might apply: In 2005, Vernon's former band DeYarmond Edison moved from Eau Claire, Wisconsin, to North Carolina. As the band developed and matured in its new home, the members' artistic interests diverged and eventually the group disbanded. While his bandmates formed Megafaun, Vernon-- who had worked with the Rosebuds and Ticonderoga-- returned to Wisconsin, where he sequestered himself in a remote cabin for four snowy months. During that time, he wrote and recorded most of the songs that would eventually become For Emma, Forever Ago.

As the second half of its title implies, the album is a ruminative collection of songs full of natural imagery and acoustic strums-- the sound of a man left alone with his memories and a guitar. Bon Iver will likely bear comparisons to Iron & Wine for its quiet folk and hushed intimacy, but in fact, Vernon, adopting a falsetto that is worlds away from his work with DeYarmond Edison, sounds more like TV on the Radio's Tunde Adebimpe, not just in his vocal timbre, but in the way his voice grows grainier as it gets louder.

Vernon gives a soulful performance full of intuitive swells and fades, his phrasing and pronunciation making his voice as much a purely sonic instrument as his guitar. In the discursive coda of "Creature Fear" he whittles the song down to a single repeated syllable-- "fa." Rarely does folk-- indie or otherwise-- give so much over to ambience: Quivering guitar strings, mic'ed closely, lend opener "Flume" its eerily interiorized sound, which matches his unsettling similes. "Lump Sum" begins with a choir of Vernons echoing cavernously, which, along with that rhythmically rushing guitar, initiates the listener into the song's strange space.

For Emma isn't a wholly ascetic project, though. A few songs benefit from additional recording and input after Vernon's initial sessions: Christy Smith of Raleigh's Nola adds flute and drums to "Flume", and Boston-based musicians John DeHaven and Randy Pingrey add horns to "For Emma"; surprisingly, their company doesn't break the album's spell of isolation, but rather strengthens it, as if they're only his imaginary friends. Vernon turns the cabin's limitations into assets on "The Wolves", layering his falsetto, tweaking his vocal tones to simple yet devastating effect, and piling on clattering percussion to create a calamitous finale.

That passage contrasts nicely with the simple intro to the next track, "Blindsided", which builds from a single repeating note into a halting chorus melody that sells his skewed Walden imagery: "I crouch like a crow/ Contrasting the snow/ For the agony, I'd rather know." Vernon's lyrics are puzzle pieces that combine uneasily; his nouns tend to be concrete, yet the meanings slippery. On "Flume", the lines "I am my mother's only one/ It's enough" form a strong opener, but the song grows less and less lucid: "Only love is all maroon/ Lapping lakes like leery loons/ Leaving rope burns-- reddish ruse." It's as if he's trying to inhabit the in-between spaces separating musical expression and private rumination, exposing his regrets without relinquishing them. His emotional exorcism proves even more intense for being so tentative.

Be well,

JS

The Return

After several weeks of down time (so to speak), I am back at the business of blogging.

In truth, however, I have been quite busy. Moving back to Grand Rapids, arranging a new apartment, negitioting a new job--all of these things take time and energy. Even though it's something of a truism, I feel exhausted. But, life is calming down, finally. And, I'm finding myself getting back into a real schedule. Biking around town and to and from school and work has proven really rewarding. However, it's taken some time for my legs to get back into the game.

Because I've returned to Grand Rapids, the tone of my blog will change. I'll, rather than reporting on new and exciting discoveries around the UK, be bringing to readers attention decidedly more mundane occurrences. Yet, my hope is that what I have to say now will be stimulating in a different and sometimes in a similar way.

Stay tuned for much more.

Be well,

JS

Edinburgh and the winds of change...!

After another stress free week last Friday, we took our final class trip. This time the destination was blustery Edinburgh in order that we might get a feel for northern Britain.

Of all the cities I've visited, though, while here in the UK, Edinburgh was the most enjoyed.

The northern territories tend to feel like totally different regions of the world. London differs greatly from Scotland and York stands in stark contrast to Cardiff. And this is what interests me about Britain. That is, for such a small country, one wouldn't expect much topographical diversity. But, the UK has it. And it's great.

I kept trying to liken Edinburgh during our time there to places I've visited in the past. I concluded tentatively that it felt very Norwegian--from the hilly terrain to the strong ethnic pride.

Getting past the Kitsch of the place was a little difficult at first, though. With a bag-pipe on every corner, the city began to feel like a caricature of itself. But I suppose such civic ego keeps Edinburgh unique. It keeps it like few places I've been before--uniquely charming and subtly bent on preserving a rich history.

Be well,

JS

It's Warm Outside...

After the snow leaves and cabin fevers subside, it's nice to get outside and breathe.

Apart from the running I do during the spring, I tend to take walks in the afternoon when the sun blinds your eyes. But I like that feeling--to be surrounded by light. Spring in the UK can be lovely.

So soon enough, though, my time here will be finished. The semester has gone amazingly quickly. And sometimes I feel like I'll miss out on good things in the future. Not because I won't seek opportunities but that I'll not be around when something great happens.

In reading John Keats, I've come across some real chestnuts; but none as aesthetically dignified as his sonnet When I Have Fears which expresses these anxieties really well:

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;--then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

A good poem can open up new conceptual space. And this is what's nice about Keats; he's able to express certain sentiments in ways that are new and inventive.

Be well.

JS

David Klinghoffer and the trappings of "Intellectual Freedom"

So I've "pasted" a short essay here that has been born out of a recent intellectual skirmish centered around Orthodox Jewish author David Klinghoffer. I've tended to think lately that the author of the piece that follows is correct in calling Klinghoffer out on several issues (including, primarily, a sociological one pertaining to eugenics). But, I (perhaps more importantly) also wish for the end of these sorts of debates. Each side tends to beg all of the important questions and unintentionally or not move farther and farther from progress (however much of a non-starter "progress" may seem to be).



Here ya go. Read carefully:

If you can’t argue for your position on intellectual grounds, try politics. If you can’t succeed with legitimate political argument, resort to ad hominem attacks. That’s what the Intelligent Design (ID) movement has been reduced to, especially in Expelled. ID creationists have produced no credible argument against the theory of evolution, let alone positive evidence for design, a point to which I’ll return. Politically their fortunes have been devastated ever since the 2005 Dover, Pennsylvania court decision in which a George W. Bush-appointed Church-going judge found ID to be religious dogma that cannot legally be introduced in public school science classes. So now we are presented with a new line of attack: because natural selection was invoked by the Nazis in support of genocide, the theory of evolution must be false. To this, David Klinghoffer adds a new twist: if you believe in the theory of evolution, you are an anti-Semite.

That evolutionary theory, especially natural selection, has been abused by various groups for nefarious political ends is old and well-worn history. In the United States it inspired Social Darwinism in the late nineteenth century which was used to justify the greed of the robber barons and the appalling conditions in which the poor were forced to live. In many regions of the world it was used to promote eugenics, including the involuntary sterilization of the “unfit.” In the United States, such sterilization continued until 1981. And, yes, natural selection was invoked by the Nazis.

What this history tells us is that science does not occur in a socio-political vacuum.We Have Moral Faculties *Because* We Evolved Them The results of science may be abused, just as they may be used to benefit society. Biology is particularly prone to such use and abuse because its domain includes humans. Scientists should recognize their moral responsibility to guard against the misuse of their work. By and large, biologists have acted responsibly in this respect. In the 1930s, the great British evolutionary biologist, J.B.S. Haldane exposed the fallacies of eugenics and anti-Semitism in his brilliantly argued Heredity and Politics. In the 1980s, Not in Our Genes, by Dick Lewontin, Steve Rose, and Leon Kamin, played the same role after illegitimate political claims began to be reintroduced in the name of behavioral genetics and sociobiology. When the Human Genome Project was initiated in the early 1990s, biologists took care to ensure that adequate resources were deployed to address its ethical, legal, and social implications.

Returning to the theory of evolution, there is no “inner logic” of natural selection that leads to any moral or political implication. It is value-neutral. We have evolved a mind and, with it, culture as well as moral capacities and what we think of as free will. Some biologists think that this was all due to natural selection. Others suspect that a variety of natural mechanisms were involved in mental evolution. This is one of the exciting unresolved issues in evolutionary biology, and the subject of ongoing research. Biology may constrain our physical and mental capacities but, in normal individuals (those whom the courts would consider as “legally competent”), biology has never been shown to determine moral choices. We are responsible for our actions. For instance, if we choose to use our religious or political dogmas to harm science education for children, we must bear the moral responsibility that entails.

Note, moreover, there was antisemitism before Darwin and it persists today in many religious fundamentalist circles which are entirely hostile to the idea of evolution. The theory of evolution is thus obviously not the source of antisemitism. Given the long history of Christian antisemitism, is particularly odd that apologists for Christianity, as most ID creationists are, should try to use disgust with antisemitism for their own rhetorical and political purposes. Note, also, that what inspired Hitler in Mein Kampf as much as biology was the example of the United States. By Klinghoffer’s logic, we should also reject much of our own heritage simply because it inspired Hitler.

The evidence for evolution is overwhelming and available from a wide variety of sources including the National Center for Science Education. ID creationism has presented no viable alternative. Its main argument has been that complex life forms could not have evolved. In response, biologists such as Jerry Coyne, Richard Lenski, Ken Miller, H. Allen Orr, and many others have routinely pointed out the variety of mundane mechanisms by which complex systems can emerge through natural selection. I have recently summarized these arguments in Doubting Darwin? Creationist Designs on Evolution. In fact, what has surprised most of us is how rapidly complexity can evolve: For instance, it took less than seventy years for bacteria to evolve resistance to some pesticides even though it required concerted changes in several different enzymes.

Worse, ID creationists have never laid out what their theory is supposed to be, besides vague mystical invocations of “design.” We have never been given an exact definition of design, or the laws it is supposed to obey. These creationists have not even been able to generate a research program. This is one of the reasons why the Templeton Foundation stopped funding the Discovery Institute.

Let us return one last time to the logic of Expelled (and Klinghoffer). Let us suppose for the sake of argument that the theory of evolution really led to some undesirable political consequence, which, as we have seen, is simply not true. From this assumption, it is supposed to follow that evolutionary theory is false and we should replace it with ID. Let us see where this takes us. From the usual rules of chemistry many nations, including the United States, have designed chemical weapons. From this, should we conclude that chemistry is false and we should replace it with Intelligent Alchemy? From the principles of molecular genetics, many of these same nations have designed biological weapons. Should we declare molecular genetics false and replace it with Intelligent Pangenesis? From quantum mechanics came the nuclear bombs that were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Therefore, quantum mechanics is false and should be replaced by Intelligent Ether Theory?

(Pursue this link for source material and more discussion).

Be well,

JS

Spring Break Series V: Nonicy Iceland...

Our trip to Norway concluded well.

Like I said earlier, we didn't do much beyond lots of relaxing. And we loved it. But we were ready to head off to another Scandinavian country. However, we first had to fly back to London. As part of the way in which we (poorly) planned our trip, all of our destination changes routed us through London, often times leaving us with overnight layovers. Normally I don't mind setting up shop in a hostel for a day or two. But, unfortunately, our hostel experience between Norway and Iceland left much to be desired. Perhaps we should have assumed the worst. Our search key on line was "cheapest hostel in London" and I think, in this case, the Internet delivered...with unnecessary vengeance. We arrived in London rather late in the evening ready for a meal and sleep. Both aspirations we difficult to materialize. Our meal consisted in 99 pence frozen pizza's from a local convenience store that were perhaps the worst collection of flour and sauce I've ever tasted. After we were (less than) satisfied, we left the crowded and muggy second floor kitchen and resolved to go to bed. This, as I said, was difficult. We were placed in a room of 16 other travelers (or "backpackers?"). The room smelled of mold and urine. My bunk was at the top. I climbed up after brushing my teeth and tried to sleep. But it turns out that I can't sleep through unbelievably loud snoring.

But I don't think I'm alone in that respect. I was kept up most of the night by a diabolical mixture of snoring and what I am assuming was some sort of mild sleep Apnea.

Fear not, it was all soon over. We were happy to leave. And, our silver lining was the beauty of a cheap room.

But more woes were secretly on our horizon. But here I'll turn to my travel partner for a description of what happened which, however unfortunate, was overshadowed by Iceland's charm:

"After withering away for two days in a horrible but cheap hostel in London, John and I discovered (really, it was my fault) a ridiculous and by far the most expensive mistake of our travel experiences thus far. We showed up at the airport a day after our scheduled flight, and had to pay a small fortune to make it to our rendezvous with Sean. But, we're here, and we are enjoying the city, the language, the people, but not so much the high prices. Thankfully, it's a bit more affordable than Norway, but that's not saying much. We've been eating cheap food from 7-11, 10-11, and 11-11, and Sean's been getting us cheap Skyr and bread from his friends that work at bakeries. We try to enjoy the free and affordable experiences, like browsing the records at 12 Tonar, sitting on coffee shop porches, and looking through galleries, boutiques, and of course, tourist shops."

Yes, Iceland is a delight. In fact, on our last day with our friend Sean we shared a coffee shop with hipster string quartet Amiina. Not much else was able to top my experience in Reykjavik....except maybe the geothermal pools...yes, they were wonderful.

Spring Break Series IV: To Norway!

Paris was fun.

But, I had grown tired of the baguette and cigarette shops on every corner.

Fortunately, our trip was only half through. And from Paris it was off to Norway. This leg of our journey posed several logistical barriers. We had to wake up very early (0430) on the 26th, pack our bags, navigate our way to the Eurostar station, board the train, arrive in London, make our way through customs, hop on the underground to London/Stansted Airport, wait in line (for tickets to board what I once thought was a second rate courier), sit through an hour long flight, arrive in Sandefjord, navigate our way again through customs, claim our bags (which, suffice it to say, proved to be more difficult that I had anticipated) and wait for our ride to our lodgings for the evening. All of this had to be accomplished in one afternoon. It all turned out just fine. But the evening before we left Paris I was saying my prayers with extra vigour. I had visions of being stranded in any of the three cities we were to pass through. I thought we could have been robbed. Or, because of what I had been told about Ryan Air, I thought I might find myself floating amid the whales in the North Sea in the afternoon sun.

Never mind that that we were students on a budget. Indeed, we seemed to have forgotten this fact when planning our break. Norway (and later Iceland) are two of the most expensive countries in the world to visit. And we felt it. I anticipated costly items. Yet I had no idea how difficult it would be to visit Noreg. Locals find it quite manageable. They simply make more. And their incomes and taxes adjust with the consumer price index. We visitors, though, were hard pressed when it came to buying simple items like bread and Orange Juice.

Apart from temporary poverty, though, Norway was a delight.

We stayed with friends in Bergen, a former "European Capital of Culture" and all around charming spot nestled amid Norway's well-known fjords and rather graceful mountains. Our visit included a lot of relaxation (perhaps it is what we needed). Hiking and eating seemed to be what we most wanted to do. And with nationalized friends, said activities were splendid. Try the brown cheese...(Slice it thin and place it on warm bread). Would I recommend Scandinavia? Sure. Even if you're not independently wealthy, Norge is a place to see. And who knows, maybe you'll make it here (and if you do, get out of the car and take pictures...nice Volvo boat motor Susanna!)


Be well.

JS

Thursday it's off to Iceland!

Spring Break Series III: Lovely Paris

After the group's scheduled excursion in London ended, t was time for the great spring break diaspora. Most of us headed for then hitherto unvisited locales. for Ryan and I, the first stop was Paris.

So we climber aboard the lightening fast Eurostar and in before we could say " Je ne sais quoi" we were walking the Champs-Élysées and taking pictures like it was our vocation.

Paris is good for many reasons. But, what we found most enticing was the food. Coming from the UK was like emigrating from Ethiopia to Naples. We were finally able to put to our mouths items that hadn't been fried nor battered. And what a relief it was. We may have spent most of our time eating. But this I am not ashamed of. Crepes, Sushi, authentic Italian Pizza, banquettes and cheese were all on the list. And perhaps it's my perpetual hunger, but our Parisian food was splendid. If nothing else, Paris was a great spring break culinary pit-stop.

We didn't just eat, though.

Art was also one of our primary concerns. But when we arrived at Le Louvre and found it closing for the day, we needed to think quickly. Fortunately, our friends were aware of a fantastic modern art museum near by that fed our curiosity and desire for the Parisian art scene.

We indulged our latent touristic tendencies, too. Thanks to a whirlwind schedule (and a pretty efficient public transportation system) we managed to see most of the old stand-by's: Eiffel Tower, Champs-Élysées, Sacré-Cœur Basilica. Paris feels much different than London for many reasons. It's a more well planned city, certainly. It's well known "well and spoke" design makes for some pretty swell linear views (especially from the Champs-Élysées). It also feels like a city with a bit more culture behind it. And in this sense it almost feels a bit more Bohemian. At first I didn't, per se, like this about Paris. But, as I've had my fill of London, the Parisian charm is something I look back upon fondly.

Tuesday's post will cover our journey from Paris to Norway.

Be well.

JS