Staff Reviews

Volcano Choir - Unmap

Review by n

The music of Unmap ticks with signature twists and sounds, things that suggest Justin Vernon could be a national treasure on the lines of Neil Young or Elliott Smith instead of the heartbroken one hit wonder that some might have expected.»

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volcano choir is an assembly of wisconsinites jon mueller, chris rosenau, jim schoenecker, daniel spack, justin vernon, and thomas wincek. you might find these old friends also frequenting records and stages under different monikers, collections of colonies of bees and bon iver. the collaboration predates the meteoric rise of justin vernon's bon iver project, with original songwriting dating back to the summer of 2005, right around the time the bees first toured with vernon's previous band deyarmond edison. while entirely a studio record, the collection doesn't suffer from the overburdens of a digital pile up or over-thinking. rather it breathes and convulses in equal measure, radiating an inherent dynamism found only in the voluntary bondage of intimacy. with influences ranging from david sylvian and steve reich to mahalia jackson and tom waits, it might be more accurate to say the group's influence is music itself. you can hear it in the care and real love generously applied to each moment of 'unmap'. with the vibe of some intimate backwoods gospel, plus a spirit of patience and thoughtful repetition, the music of volcano choir is as dynamic as it is lovely. 'unmap' ultimately came together over a weekend in november 2008 in fall creek, wisconsin, at justin and nate vernon's recording studio. and while it is at its heart a record about the allure of being with people you need and making something with them, it is also a document created by musicians with rare gifts getting together to exorcise their ideas about beauty. this scaffolding of loops and off grid tempos for choral style vocals offers a state of continual surprise, call it unexpectation.
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