Vous voulez voir cette page en fran�ais ? Cliquez ici.

Quantity:

More Buying Choices

15 used & new from CDN$ 12.43

Have one to sell? Sell yours here

See larger image

Share your own customer images

For Emma Forever Ago

~ Bon Iver (Artist)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Price:	CDN$ 14.99 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
	o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o

In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca. Gift-wrap available.

13 new from CDN$ 12.43 2 used from CDN$ 43.91

Frequently Bought Together

Price For All Three: CDN$ 44.95

Show availability and shipping details

This item: For Emma Forever Ago ~ Bon Iver
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
Fleet Foxes ~ Fleet Foxes
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details
Dear Science ~ TV on the Radio
In Stock.
Ships from and sold by Amazon.ca.
Eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over CDN$ 39. Details

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Blood Bank

~ Bon Iver

4.0 out of 5 stars (1) CDN$ 9.99

Fleet Foxes

~ Fleet Foxes

4.2 out of 5 stars (4) CDN$ 12.97

Dear Science

~ TV on the Radio

4.7 out of 5 stars (3) CDN$ 16.99

Merriweather Post Pavilion

~ Animal Collective

3.0 out of 5 stars (2) CDN$ 16.99

Sun Giant Ep

~ Fleet Foxes

5.0 out of 5 stars (3) CDN$ 7.99

› Explore similar items

Product Details

Audio CD (Feb 19 2008)
Original Release Date: Feb 19 2008
Number of Discs: 1
Label: Sonic Unyon Records
ASIN: B0011HF6GE
In-Print Editions: LP Record

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)

Amazon.ca Sales Rank: #218 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)
Popular in these categories:
#9 in Music > Alternative Rock > Indie & Lo-Fi > Indie Rock
#18 in Music > Pop > Singer-Songwriters

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

1. Flume

2. Lump Sum

3. Skinny Love

4. Wolves (Act I and II)

5. Blindsided

6. Creature Fear

7. Team

8. For Emma

9. Re: Stacks

Product Description

Amazon.com

Bon Iver’s hermit indie-folk (story goes Justin Vernon recorded the album on his own during time spent secluded in the woods) delivers the kind of spare intimacy that only a home-recorded solo album can. For Emma, Forever Ago sounds a bit desolate, admittedly lonely, an enigmatic one-way communication. But, it’s awfully beautiful. Vernon’s disarming falsetto which sounds like Christopher Cross crossed with Antony Hegarty, oddball tape loops, distorted synthesizers, and nods to modern R&B (“Blindsided”) create nuance in otherwise straightforward songs. “Creature Fear” showcases Vernon’s imaginative songwriting--take the robust chorus that boldly appears seemingly out of nowhere and later, “For Emma” swells bolstered by a soaring slide-guitar, recalling the best of Calexico. To my ears, Bon Iver’s music is nearly an homage to great ‘70s AM-radio singer-songwriter staples like Seals & Crofts or America, just without the promise of ever whiling away a carefree afternoon driving a sun-drenched highway or sailing off into the sunset. --Gabi Knight

Album Description

Justin Vernon began recording as Bon Iver following the breakup of DeYarmond Edison, an indie folk group similar in tone and manner to Iron & Wine, Little Wings and, to a certain extent, Bonnie "Prince" Billy. Pronounced 'bohn eevair', it is French for "good winter" which is spelled wrong deliberately. This debut CD is centered around Justin Vernon, who is the primary force behind Bon Iver, as he moved to a remote cabin in the woods of Northwestern Wisconsin at the onset of winter, alone for three months. From this solitary time emerged a bold, uninhibited new musical focus of all his personal trouble, lack of perspective, heartache, longing, love, loss, and guilt that had been stockpiled over the past six years into songs. The NY Times called this record "irresistible", and it was given a "Recommended" rating by Pitchfork. 9 tracks. Jagjaguwar Records. 2008.

Suggested Tags from Similar Products

(What's this?)

Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product)

animal collective(1)

merriweather post pavillion(1)

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

	81% buy the item featured on this page: For Emma Forever Ago 5.0 out of 5 stars (4) CDN$ 14.99
	10% buy Fleet Foxes 4.2 out of 5 stars (4) CDN$ 12.97
	3% buy Sun Giant Ep 5.0 out of 5 stars (3) CDN$ 7.99
	3% buy Blood Bank 4.0 out of 5 stars (1) CDN$ 9.99

Explore similar items

Customer Reviews

4 Reviews

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

5.0 out of 5 stars (4 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars bon iver!, Aug 15 2008

By	T. Bigney (Nova Scotia, canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

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.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5.0 out of 5 stars Forever Ago, and Forever to Come, Aug 29 2009

By	momo_adachi (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)

I would regard Damien Rice's "O" as possibly the best debut album in the last decade. But I would place "For Emma, Forever Ago" as a close second.

We all know the story; Justin Vernon, who just so happens to have the ethereal, silvery voice of an angel, gets dumped by his girlfriend (maybe the craziest woman alive?) and faced other hardships like the breaking-up of his current band and a case of mononucleosis, retreats to a cabin in Wisconsin, and records this record. The story is enchanting, the record is even more so.

I can't quite put into words how real and raw this record is; it's not only vocally haunting but lyrically jaw-dropping and the songs are mellow and difficult and reflect the ultimate solitary consciousness. With his whispery crooning, Vernon manages to touch even the darkest of souls and demonstrates both himself, and exactly how it feels to be in a season of personal hardships. While some believe it is a myth that suffering breeds great art, in this case, it DEFINITELY did.

I can't recommend this album enough; it is cerebral and emotional and packed with sparse raw emotion, blood, sweat and tears. After you listen to this record, love and breakups will never be the same for you again.

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

5.0 out of 5 stars athentic and simple music that is beautiful, not sappy, April 3 2009

By	B. Keith (Windsor, Ontario) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

Great disc, stands out in this era of bloated,hyped, and inauthenic music... the best of modern folk.

My only significant criticism - too brief. (but that enhances the potency of what is offered)

Was this review helpful to you? Yes No (Report this)

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 4 customer reviews...

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Quite simply one of the most beautiful records ever
I simply can't stop playing it. The voice is haunting and my only complaint is the record is too short.

Published 15 months ago by Richard A. Crookes