Music Review: Unmap - Volcano Choir

Note: This will end up being an article for the first issue of my school newspaper, the Bulldog Bulletin, but it also serves as a new album review for "Unmap" by Volcano Choir.

In the winter of 2007, Justin Vernon retreated to an abandoned cabin in the middle of the Wisconsin woods to escape from the pile of stress that had engulfed his existence. The following spring, he emerged with what would become the band Bon Iver and one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2008. For Emma, Forever Ago was an explosion in the indie music scene because of its soul-bearing acoustic melodies and its ground-breaking multi-layered falsetto vocals. Within months of For Emma's release, Vernon became the new darling of indie music. Bon Iver followed up with another successful release, an extended play entitled Blood Bank. Now Vernon has released a new album with his old side project called Volcano Choir (in collaboration with Collections of Colonies of Bees) entitled Unmap as he tries to build on his current momentum.

In my opinion, Unmap picks up the seeds that were dropped by the Blood Bank EP and begins to plant a forest with them. In particular, Blood Bank's last track, "Woods", was a precursor to what Unmap represents, which is Vernon stepping in to the recording studio and going to town on every knob, lever, and button on the soundboard. He is truly revolutionizing the way artists can look at recording music, proving that production can be just as cool as performance.

The album starts at a slow pace with "Husks and Shells", however this album is certainly not a race, the listener who slows down and takes in every second and every note definitely comes out the winner. It's a great album for just slapping on the headphones, lying in bed, and digesting with the ears. Furthermore, this is an album that personifies the concept of whole-is-greater-than-sum-of-its-parts (a big plus in my eyes); it's difficult to cherry-pick because the tracks melt together well and no track noticeably outshines the others.

Many of the appeals of For Emma can be found on Unmap, including Vernon's soulful falsetto cries and his sporadic acoustic finger picking. But this album is definitely more about the harmonies and the instrumentation rather than deep lyrics and hooks. In fact, excluding "Island, IS', most of the sparse words that appear on the album are nearly indecipherable because they're buried under so many layers of sound or because they're shouted out at such a high-pitch. Instead, there is much more power in Vernon's multi-tracked hums or "ahh's". After a few listens, my favorite track so far would have to be "Still" because I thought the addition of instruments to the previously a-Capella "Woods" was really cool and brilliantly spooky.

To be clear: if you're into simple cookie-cutter modern rock songs or rap/R&B, then this album is most likely not for you. However, if you enjoy going a little unconventional with you're music and also like to give your ears an auditory work-out every once in a while, then I would definitely recommend checking it out, along with the Bon Iver catalogue. Unmap was not created to become a landmark album that will be a touchstone for indie music in the years to come, to put it simply it's really more of a musical experiment. But what ever it may be, I give a thumbs up to Justin Vernon. You can check out Bon Iver at www.myspace.com/boniver. Enjoy.