Bleep

Bon Iver’s Blood Bank EP was first released in 2009 in the aftermath of the project’s breakthrough album For Emma, Forever Ago. Blood Bank evolved that LP’s sound in crucial ways. The most immediately obvious development was Justin Vernon’s use of more varied instrumentation - in contrast to the spare acoustic sound of For Emma…, ‘Blood Bank’s title-track plugged into amps while ‘Babys’ crested with the ecstatic repetition of Steve Reich. Throughout all this the same sense of wintery solemnity that had captivated so many people on songs like ‘Skinny Love’ was maintained.

The second thing that Blood Bank brought to the table - and the one that, with hindsight, stands as perhaps its most important musical legacy - is found on closing number ‘Woods’. The hyper-auto-tuned folk-choir sound that Vernon hit upon here was instantly arresting upon the release of the EP. ‘Woods’ came to signpost many of the developments in Bon Iver’s career, from the experimental songcraft that has characterized his recent albums to his collaborations with Kanye West (who, it should be remembered, sampled ‘Woods’ to critical acclaim on My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy).

This tenth anniversary reissue of Blood Bank couples the four songs of the original tracklisting with more recent live versions. Not only do all of the concert takes show a live performer in his element, they are also fascinating points of comparison with the originals given how the Bon Iver sound has developed in the intervening years.

A new pressing of Bon Iver’s 2009 EP Blood Bank serves to remind us just how crucial this record remains.