Back in early 2008, Bon Iver released their debut album For Emma, Forever Ago, a heart wrenching collection of songs that ranks up there in the pantheon on all-time great break-up records. Shortly after the album came out, Justin Vernon was on the road with his three-piece band when they pulled into Nashville for a gig at the Exit/In. Before every music website was seemingly recording bands playing stripped down performances for the web, the fine folks at It’s Hard To Find A Friend had Vernon play a pair songs for them for their Backstage Session. The now defunct site recently uploaded Vernon’s beautiful acoustic takes on Flume and Creature Fears. Let’s check them out…

Bon Iver – Flume

READ ON

The latest self-directed video (with Dan Huiting) from Bon Iver must’ve caught Justin Vernon in the midst of an Alphaville phase. Both the song and the content have heavy sentimental ’80s notes. In fact, if you’re bored, turn on the picture for this video while muting the sound, and then crank up the audio for Forever Young. It’s a dead ringer in the best way.

On Saturday, Bon Iver completed a four-night stand at the legendary Radio City Music Hall in New York City. Promoter Bowery Presents webcasted all of Friday’s performance via their YouTube channel. If you missed it, Bowery will stream the full 97-minute set until Wednesday, September 26th, at 9AM ET.

[Photo via @itsvman]

Watch it now before it’s too late…

Here’s the setlist…

Edit this setlist | More Bon Iver setlists

Earlier this year NYC-based promoters Bowery Presents announced plans to stream one live show per month through their online “venue”, aka YouTube channel. Since February Bowery has streamed shows from Sleigh Bells, Yeasayer, Gossip, Bloc Party, Of Monsters and Men and Kasbian.

Next up, Bowery Presents will broadcast Bon Iver live from Radio City Music Hall on September 21st. The show will be broadcast in full high-definition at youtube.com/thebowerypresents.

During their peak in the late 1970s, there may not have been a bigger band than Fleetwood Mac, who were arguably as famous for their musical output, as they were for their in-band relationships. On August 14, the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame act’s tunes will be the subject of the new tribute album – Just Tell Me That You Want Me – that will be released via Hear Music/Concord. The 17-track release features an impressive and diverse array of indie-rock bands tackling material almost exclusively from the band’s Buckingham/Nicks years, with a handful of deep cut tracks from their blues band era.

Check out the track listing…

Lee Ranaldo Band Featuring J Mascis – “Albatross” / Antony – “Landslide” / Trixie Whitley – “Before The Beginning” / Billy Gibbons & Co. – “Oh Well” / Best Coast – “Rhiannon” / The New Pornographers – “Think About Me” / Marianne Faithfull – “Angel” / Lykke Li – “Silver Springs” / Karen Elson – “Gold Dust Woman” / Matt Sweeney And Bonnie “Prince” Billy – “Storms” / Washed Out – “Straight Back” / Tame Impala – “That’s All For Everyone” / Craig Wedren with St. Vincent – “Sisters Of The Moon” / The Kills – “Dreams” / Gardens & Villa – “Gypsy” / The Crystal Ark – “Tusk” / MGMT – “Future Games”

• List Time: 10 Best Music Podcasts
• Tower Records relaunches itself as the Tower Records Digital Archive Project
• Cover Alert: Iron & Wine tackle Little Feat
• Graham Nash has signed a book deal to pen his memoir
• Download This: Smooth Sailing From Here – Fuel/Friend Summer ’12 Mix
• CFO of Pearl Jam’s management company stole over $300,000 from the band

Finally, it’s been a big week for Justin Vernon and his Bon Iver band mates. Earlier this week the band released a seven-song iTunes Sessions digital album. The live release, which will run you $6.99 and is only available via iTunes, leans almost exclusively on tunes from their most recent self-titled album, as well as a cover of Bjork’s Who Is It? The other big news coming out of the Bon Iver camp, was that Justin Vernon had designed a signature shoe in conjunction with the folks at Keep, with the proceeds from its sale going to benefit the Best Friends Animal Society, an animal advocacy group which operates the nation’s largest sanctuary for abused and abandoned animals. The footwear, which will run you $75 and are currently available for pre-order, features “herringbone accents, a black fishbone detail across the toe, and a canvas upper custom dyed to a perfect pale salmon.”

Last night HT faves Bon Iver paid tribute to the late Levon Helm by debuting a cover of The Band’s Ophelia at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in San Francisco. The ensemble shared vocal duties. Our friend Krystal W. was on hand and sent us a video of the performance…

Bon Iver – Ophelia

We’ve been tirelessly collecting tributes, both musical and written, in this post, which we’ll be updating all weekend. Be sure to let us know of any we’ve missed.

Hot off the group’s big night at The Grammys, Bon Iver will tape a performance for this season of the iconic television show Austin City Limits at The Moody Theater on April 25th according to the show’s blog. Indie pop band The Shins will also appear on this season of ACL as they’ll be at The Moody Theater on March 18. Steve Martin and his Steep Canyon Rangers band will be featured on this weekend’s episode of Austin City Limits.

Here’s six stories of interest to help you over the hump…

• Conspirator has announced a new live album and tour dates
• A Warren Hellman tribute concert is set for Sunday in San Fran
• JamBase will host a live Q&A with Galactic via Twitter on 2/21
• Brit Jon Gomm hit it big using his guitar in unorthdox ways
• Check out the killer new Public Image Limited track One Drop
• David Lee Roth explains why Van Halen asked for Brown M&Ms

Finally, Furthur / RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti has scored a medical hit by creating a device to help people suffering from sleep apnea. Reuters profiles Chimenti’s product and explains how the keyboardist came up with the Gecko nasal pad.

The 54th Annual GRAMMY Awards ceremony took place tonight in Los Angeles, and while it may seem like Adele won every statue, a number of HT faves did take home awards from the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. Foo Fighters, Levon Helm, Bela Fleck, the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Pat Metheny, Allison Krauss & Union Station, Bon Iver and Rebirth Brass Band were among the winners at “music’s biggest night.”

The Tedeschi Trucks Band took home the Best Blues Album award for Revelator, beating Derek’s band mates Gregg Allman (Low Country Blues) and Warren Haynes (Man In Motion). Booker T. took home the Best Pop Instrumental Album award for The Road To Memphis, Bon Iver won the Alternative Album of the Year award for his self-titled LP, Adele was awarded the Best Pop Vocal Album award for 21, Skrillex scored the Best Dance Recording prize as well as the Best Dance/Electronica Album for Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites, Levon Helm won the Best Americana Album award for Live at the Ryman, while Alison Krauss & Union Station won the Best Bluegrass Album nod for Paper Airplane.

Foo Fighters got off to a sizzling start winning the Best Long For Music Video prize for our top DVD/Blu-Ray of 2011 Back and Forth, Best Rock Album for Wasting Light, Best Rock Song for Walk and Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance for White Limo. At the evening’s telecast Justin Vernon accepted the Best New Artist award for Bon Iver, while the Foos took home yet another award for Rock Performance.

Here’s the full list of winners…

READ ON

If you’re like us, this was the weekend your family asked you “who is this Bon Iver guy?” after Justin Vernon’s band made their Saturday Night Live debut. Considering Bon Iver is up for four Grammys, that question will get asked by baby boomers across the country next week.

[Screenshot via CoS]

The group will hit the road with All Tiny Creatures this April for a series of West Coast dates surrounding their Coachella appearance and culminating with a slot at Jazz Fest. Here’s the full list of dates…

04/12/12 – Las Vegas, NV – The Joint*
04/14/12 – Indio, CA – Coachella Music & Arts Festival
04/17/12 – Davis, CA – Freeborn Hall @ UC Davis*
04/19/12 – San Francisco, CA- Bill Graham Civic Auditorium*
04/21/12 – Indio, CA – Coachella Music & Arts Festival
04/22/12 – Santa Barbara, CA – Santa Barbara Bowl*
04/23/12 – Tucson, AZ – AVA Ampitheater
04/27/12 – New Orleans, LA – New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
05/27/12 – George, WA – Sasquatch Music Festival
* w/ All Tiny Creatures

If you missed Bon Iver’s performances of Holocene and Beth/Rest, we’ve got you covered…

READ ON

All week-long we’ve been counting down our staff’s picks for the best albums of 2011. Today, on the last workday of the year, we reveal the top of our list.

When Hidden Track was started in 2006 there were plenty of sites dedicated to indie rock and a slew of sites devoted to improvisational and classic rock bands, but few blogs (and bands for that matter) bridged the gap between the forms. That’s where we came in and five years later the results of our list shows that’s still where our staff’s interests lie, especially the album that fittingly took the top spot as our choice for the best album of 2011. Of particular note, the gap between #1 and #2 was one point. If any of our staffers would’ve put #2 one spot higher on their list we would’ve had a tie.

Thanks for following along all week. We now present our Top 5 Albums of 2011…

5) The War On Drugs – Slave Ambient

Key Tracks: Come To The City, Original Slave, Baby Missiles

Sounds Like: Stripped down Americana songs driven through the Brian Eno car wash

The Skinny: Prior to this record, The War on Drugs were a band lauded with Americana characterizations and Dylan comparisons to deserving acclaim, but Slave Ambient is a bold step forward: it’s a reinvention, an album that embraces technology and a clinic in production. Slave Ambient earns its visionary stripes by taking relatively basic song structures and veiling them in rich sonic textures with meticulous attention to detail. The careful articulation of the arrangements even manages to mask the fact that brainchild Adam Granduciel has a terrific voice, making vocals a loveable wing man to the main character – the thick tones and pulsing samples.

- Ryan Dembinsky

• Previously: #25 – #21, #20 – #16, #15 – #11, #10 – #6
• Spotify: Best Albums of 2011 Playlist

READ ON

A song that shows up pretty high on a number of greatest songs of all time lists, I Can’t Make You Love Me was recorded in 1991 by Bonnie Raitt for the album Luck Of The Draw. HT fave Bruce Hornsby contributed piano work to the original and has covered the tune in concert. Many artists have added their own spin to I Can’t Make You Love Me over the years. I meant to cap this at ten, but somehow an eleventh snuck in. Enjoy.

The Contestants:

Artist: Adele
Album: Live At The Royal Albert Hall
The Skinny: 2011 has been quite the year for Adele. Her second album, 21, is enjoying major crossover success (I like it, my sister likes it, my Dad likes it), and this has drawn attention to her first album, 19, which also frequently appears in the Top 10 charts despite being released two years ago. In addition to her studio efforts, her CD/DVD release Live at the Royal Albert Hall is also a major hit. Be sure to check out her cover of Make You Feel My Love by Bob Dylan as well which is available on both 19 and the live release.

As far as this performance, it’s sung over just piano accompaniment and it is stellar.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

READ ON

Bon Iver (@BonIver) wrapped up the American leg of their current tour with a show at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle on Monday night which I was lucky enough to attend. HT’s David Onigman (@DaveOatHT) went to the band’s September 22 gig at the Greek Theatre Berkeley. Judging by our respective post-show tweets, it’s safe to say we thoroughly enjoyed what the group was putting out.

The @BonIver feed gives their followers an insightful behind-the-scenes look into the life of a band on the road. By consistently tweeting updates and images from tour, @BonIver shows exactly how a band should use Twitter to better connect with its fans. READ ON for a look at updates from the @BonIver feed, including a round of golf at the Edgefield Concerts On The Lawn in Oregon, since last Thursday’s show at the Greek.

[Originally Published May 24, 2011]

That’s right, we’re going there. Today’s Cover Wars is Your Love by The Outfield. According to this manifesto there are more than 1,000 cover versions of this song, but I find that pretty hard to believe. Regardless of the amount of times it has been professionally covered, we have a great smattering of renditions for you to listen to this week. Have a listen.

The Contestants:

Artist: Bon Iver
Live Show: Unknown Date
The Skinny: I’ve been a fan of this cover since Bon Iver first debuted it on the road, I even tried to sneak it into Cover Wars March Madness in the play-in game, but it didn’t make the cut. What Justin Vernon has done to this song is nothing short of genius and it is criminal he hasn’t laid down this arrangement in the studio.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

A live performance that has seen 80,000+ views on YouTube:

READ ON for more covers of The Outfield’s Your Love…

When we last left Bon Iver, the Justin Vernon fronted act, was riding the wave of success from the critically lauded debut For Emma, Forever Ago. The album, whose tale has been recounted numerous times since its release, stands in the pantheon of great heartbreak records, with its emotionally wrought songs, delivered in Vernon’s achingly beautiful falsetto vocals. With the heaps of praise that were justly thrown onto his debut, the bar was set considerably high for the full-length follow up, with fans wondering if Vernon could produce another strong album without heartbreak as inspiration.

While some eagle-eyed fans got an early taste of Bon Iver’s self-titled sophomore album thanks in part to an inadvertent leak by iTunes last month, the wait is finally over for everyone else as the record gets its official release today via Jagjaguwar.  The 10-track effort is rife with Vernon’s instantly recognizable vocals and takes the sparse spooky sounds from his debut and beefs them up, thanks in part to contributions from his touring band, full horn and string sections, and maybe some tricks he borrowed from collaborating with Kanye West. Let’s check out the video for the album’s first single – Calgary…

Bon Iver will kick off a lengthy world tour with a hometown gig at the Riverside Theater in Milwaukee, WI on July 22.

Last week HT fave Bon Iver shared Calgary, the first single from their forthcoming self-titled sophomore album. A vinyl release of Calgary features a cover of Bonnie Raitt’s I Can’t Make You Love Me as the B-side and last night we got to hear Justin Vernon’s version of the tune when he appeared on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.

Accompanied only by a piano, Vernon lit into I Can’t Make You Love Me as well as Raitt’s Nick of Time and a bit of A Song For You by Leon Russell. Ever since coming on the scene Bon Iver has been shaking up the way performers are “supposed” to do things. Performing a cover medley instead of his current single on late night TV is just the type of move we appreciate.