Wow. Some music videos rarely match up so well with the song. I had never heard of this band before but the video came across my newsreader. Such a great combination of bleak and beautiful – in both the song and video. The band is called Bon Iver and sounds something like a faux lo-fi cross between Low and Elliot Smith. The former in the way it is minimalistic, sparse, earthy and beautiful, and the latter in the lush vocals and soaring lyrical lines.

Is it lame that watching this video gave me a lump in my throat? Something about chainsaws, cold weather, bonfires, and just being present in the moment seemed to resonate with me:

Bon Iver on MySpace. Check out Skinny Love on their MySpace page – another beauty.

My earliest memories as a child are chainsaws, winter, grey, and the feeling of absolute presence in the middle of a silent dark forest. I remember being in high school and watching Twin Peaks and how David Lynch (who grew up in Washington State) captured the essence of the eerie spirits which seem to lurk about in the trees.

I have seen very little since then that captured such a feeling. Until now.

I predict this will be one of those most listened to, critically acclaimed albums of 2008.