MSP Mag. reports in its October issue that Kanye West has taken Eau Claire native and Bon Iver frontman, Justin Vernon, to Hawaii to collaborate on West’s new album.

Awesome. It is obviously great to see any local (yes, Western Wisconsin is still considered to be local in my book) musician on his way to achieving international greatness. But, I am particularly excited about this pairing since I first fell in love with Justin’s music when I was introduced to his high school band, Mount Vernon, my freshman year of college at UW-Eau Claire. I’ve been going to Justin’s shows since before Bon Iver was born and have always hoped the rest of the world would realize his greatness. Can’t wait to hear what the duo creates. In the meantime, here are a few of my favs from Justin.

GAYNGS – Cry

Bon Iver – Skinny Love

I love a good cover. Let me repeat, I love a good cover. For a cover to be good it must be unexpected and make me feel differently about the song than the original does. Sarah Bareilles’ cover of Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay does just that.

Piano has long been one of my all time favorite instruments and it cannot be denied that the girl can sing.

And, for those of you who feel covers never do the original version justice, here is Otis’ version for your listening pleasure.

I may be a little late in discovering this song considering it was included on  Jason Mraz’s 2008 album, We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things. I’ve always been a bit indifferent about Mraz, but this track has so much heat and passion behind it, I cannot help but love it.

Mraz told the story of the song to Rolling Stone (Source Butterfly Songfacts): “When I took a break to make this record, I joined my roommate Bushwalla’s band — I was the guitarist and background vocalist. There was a young woman in the band who would also do a burlesque show and invited us to go see her. And I was watching this burlesque show thinking, ‘Man, I wonder if my music is played in any exotic clubs anywhere in the world? I sincerely doubt it. ’ That challenged me: I went home, and I thought, ‘I’m going to see if I can’t write a song that a young woman would want to model her shoes to.’ I don’t know if the girl ever found out, but it’s definitely one of the more fun songs in the live show.”

Pour yourself a glass of wine, cuddle up with someone cute and enjoy!

The next best of 2009 blog challenge topic I felt compelled to write about was actually last Thursday’s topic. Album of the year: What’s rocking your world? For whatever reason, Thursday got away from me and I didn’t get a chance to write the post. But, this blog is called Natalie’s Wire and I do what I want; so here it is, a few days late, but right on time in my world… the album that rocked my 2009.

Actually released in 2007, In Our Bedroom After the War is the fourth album from Canadian band Stars. In an interview with MTV Live, Stars frontman Torquil Campbell indicated that one of the goals of the band was to create an album that came across as a unified whole through careful sequencing and thoughtful storytelling instead of simply sounding like a collection of tracks.

Mission accomplished. This album went with me everywhere for nearly half of 2009 and I don’t know if I ever skipped over random tracks to get to a favorite song. The album as a whole is just too damn good. The story is captivating and the juxtaposition of male and female vocals carries you along through an enchanted journey.

Following a mostly instrumental first track, The Night Starts Here kicks off a trip that has sucked me in time and time again.

Honorable Mention – Other artists who rocked my world in 2009:

Bon Iver - Having gone to college in his hometown, frontman Justin Vernon has been on my playlist since his Mount Vernon, Black Pirate days. But, it is his latest venture with band Bon Iver that has grabbed the rest of the world’s attention. The story goes, after a breakup with both band and girlfriend, Justin came home and spent three months at his father’s remote cabin in northern Wisconsin. It was there that he wrote most of the music for Bon Iver’s debut album For Emma, Forever Ago; and developed the concept of Bon Iver, derived from the French “bon hiver“, or good winter. Anyone who has ever lived through a northern winter and came out a better person will be able to relate to Bon Iver’s songs and sound.