Bon Iver - Calgary

Sometimes the rules of this blog get me in tangles.  Essentially, if I like something, it has to go up here. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that you always get diverse, culturally relevant content.  The below video, for example, follows on from the Bon Iver cover of Coming Down that I posted a couple of weeks ago.  Having worn out my "listens" on that song, I moved on to a related video of Bon Iver performing Calgary for Triple J.

This stripped back performance is, again, so sensitively delivered, and so different to the original.  Bon Iver tends to do a lot of the falsetto wailing.  Somehow, this gravelly, earnest, chest voice gives the song an increased sense of sincerity.  I luv luv luv it.   Listen out for the treatment of the line, "Swollen orange and light let through, your one piece swimmer stuck to you."  I don't even know who's one-piece swimmer it is, or why it was memorable... but the way he sings it, I wish I was there.

Editors note:  When I played this song to my Mum, her response was, "My Dad always used to say to me:  A girl in a bikini, I'll look once.  A girl in a one-piece, I'll keep looking."  Thanks Mum.  Compelling, and rich.