As you already know from a story in which we expressed our bewilderment at Bon Iver’s ample-yet-unconventional use of commas, the Wisconsin experimental folk band is coming out with a new album in less than a month. August 30, to be exact. This Wednesday, however, fans will have an opportunity to catch an early listen to the LP at one of 61 free listening parties held in select locations around the globe.
The events will take place in major metro areas on five continents, from Berlin to Seoul and Sydney to Bogota. The full list can be found at the bottom of this story. During each listening party, a limited edition of Bon Iver flexi discs, with two undisclosed tracks, will be sold.
i,i is going to be the band’s fourth full-length album, and it serves as the “Fall” chapter in a cycle of records that began with 2007’s For Emma, Forever Ago, and that all reference the four seasons. Described in the press release as Bon Iver’s “most expansive, joyful and generous album yet”, it will feature contributions from James Blake, Aaron and Bryce Dessner (of the National), Bruce Hornsby, Velvet Negroni, Moses Sumney, and others.
Listen to the two four singles from i,i that have been released so far, and watch a new mini-documentary about the band below:
i,i listening parties (Wednesday, August 7):
Amsterdam, NE - CONCERTO AMSTERDAM
Arnhem, NE - KROESE ARNHEM
Auckland, NZ - Dingbats Record Joint
Austin, TX - End of an Ear
Austin, TX - Waterloo Records
Barcelona, SP - Disco Revolver
Bergen, NO - Apollo Platebar
Berlin, DE - Dodo Beach
Birmingham, AL - Seasick Records
Bloomington, IN - Landlocked music
Bogota, COL - RPM Records
Bordeaux, FR - Total Heaven
Boston, MA - Newbury Comics
Brighton, UK - Resident
Brisbane, AUS - Jet Black Cat
Bristol, UK - Rough Trade Bristol
Brooklyn, NY - Rough Trade
Brussels, BE - Caroline Brussels
Chicago, IL - Reckless Records
Cologne, DE - Underdog Records
Copenhagen, DE - Beat
Eau Claire, WI - The Local Store
Edinburgh, UK - Assai Records Edinburgh
Freiburg, DE - Flight13
Gothenburg, SE - Bengans
Groningen, NE - PLATO GRONINGEN
Hamburg, DE - Michelle Records
Hasselt, BE - GIGA SWING HASSELT
Indianapolis, IN - LUNA music
Kansas City, MO - Mills Record Company
Lawrence, KS - Love Garden Sounds
Leeds, UK - Jumbo
Lisbon, PT - Flur
Louisville, KY - Guestroom Records
London, UK - Rough Trade East
London, UK - Rough Trade West
Los Angeles, CA - Going Underground
Louvain, BE - BILBO LOUVAIN
Madrid, ES - Bajoelvolcán
Manchester, UK - Piccadilly
Melbourne, AUS - Rocksteady Records
Mexico City, MX - La Roma Records
Minneapolis, MN - Electric Fetus
Munich, DE - Echt Optimal
Nashville, TN - Grimey’s
New York, NY - Turntable Lab
Nijmegen, NL - KROESE NIJMEGEN
Nottingham, UK - Rough Trade Nottingham
Orlando, FL - Park Ave CDs
Oslo, NO - Big Dipper
Paris, FR - Balades Sonores
Paris, FR - Ground Zero
Portland, OR - Jackpot Records
Porto, PT - Tubitek
Seattle, WA - Sonic Boom
Seoul, SK - Hyundai Card Music Library
Sydney, AUS - Red Eye
Tokyo, JP - Tower Records
Totnes, UK - Drift
Utrecht, NE - PLATO UTRECHT
Warsaw, PL - Hałas Vinyl + Coffee