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WSJ on Bon Iver

Musician Finds a Following Online // By SHELLY BANJO and KELLY K. SPORS

In late 2006, Justin Vernon, a musician in Eau Claire, Wis., recorded nine songs while staying at his parents' hunting cabin in northern Wisconsin after a breakup with a girlfriend and his long-time band. He used just a desktop computer with recording software, a three-piece drum set and a guitar.

A few months later, Mr. Vernon posted the songs on his MySpace page, hoping to get some listeners and feedback. He also printed 500 copies of a CD with those songs to sell to friends and fans and send to music bloggers for review.

He got that and much more.

Interesting story about Bon Iver's success being driven by the blog world as well as shifting trends within the music industry. The article concludes:

"The Internet has been like the French Revolution for the music business," says Panos Panay, founder and CEO of Sonicbids. The aristocracy "has faded" as the "cost of distribution, production and even getting connected has come down." Now, he adds, anyone with "a niche and devoted fans can make a living."

I would guess that For Emma, Forever Ago has gotten more play in our house than anything else this year and will definitely be in the top, if not at the top, of my 2008 "Best of" list (coming tomorrow).

Do yourself a favor if you haven't already-- take some of the money that grandma gave you DOWNLOAD For Emma, Forever Ago right this minute! (it can even be on your "best of 2008" list!)

FRIDAY PHOTO

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That Infernal Racket...

It was brought to my attention today, once again, to my deep shame, that I have not updated my Books & Music lists since 2005. No. Really. The main excuse on my really long list of excuses is that something got screwed up in the code of the way I was posting stuff I was reading and listening to, and I never took the time to fix it (If someone wants to show me how to use last.fm I might be up for that)

So, for Wes (who already knows what I'm listening to) and the other two people that care, here goes...

In other news, I am working on my list of favorite albums of 2008, though I have not listened to that much new music this year. When I was working on my Th.M, I read something like 15 hours a day-- which had me perfectly situated to listen to every new album that dropped. Since I've entered the world of fatherhood and church planting, I haven't had that kind of time. Nevertheless, look for my (albeit smaller) list of favorite albums of 2008, sometime next week. There has been some great music this year!

A GREAT Beginning to a Highly Anticipated Morning!!!

I'm halfway through The Welcome Wagon's debut album Welcome to the Welcome Wagon. I heard one of their tracks on an asthmatic kitty sampler that piqued my interest and then my interest only increased as I read Paste and other random blurbs. Read this blurb about Sufjan recording and producing their album. More importantly, read the Paste article: Keepers of the Faith Thrive in the Hipster's Den.

UPDATE: Read Brent Thomas's freshly baked album review.

Actually, buy the album first, and read the articles as you enjoy!

If you need further convincing, check this out:

Advent Week 2

This weekend at Redeemer we celebrate the second week of Advent by looking at the origin of all our longing: Genesis 3.

For those that are looking for ways to cultivate longing during this season, I highly recommend the new collection of Advent reflections edited by Nancy Guthrie, Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus: Experiencing the Peace and Promise of Christmas.

Additionally, if you haven't read Sinclair Ferguson's phenomenal collection of essays, In Christ Alone: Living the Gospel Centered Life, I strongly encourage that you check out his essay Santa Christ.

Finally, just because they've been playing Christmas music in stores since midnight on Halloween doesn't mean that it's good. Obviously I love Sufjan's Christmas albums, but I'm also a huge fan of Duvall's Christmas album, O Holy Night. But as far as real Advent music goes, I don't think it gets any better than Sojourn's Advent songs. Find out how to get it free below...

Have a great weekend!

FRIDAY PHOTOS

Today is my son's first birthday. Because everyone in my family wanted to see how fast a son of mine could eat cake for the first time, we celebrated early over Thanksgiving weekend. You can see more sugar high birthday photographs here.

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