Yes, yes, strictly speaking this album is from 2007, but the year that it found its audience was 2008. The album was originally self-released in 2007, but its major label releases came in February and May of this year, so it’s fair to include it, I feel.

The album is helped greatly by its now oft-told creation tale. Justin Vernon, following the break up of his band, and relationship with his girlfriend, recorded the album in a cabin in Wisconsin.

It’s a pretty story, but it’s not necessary to know it to hear the desperate beauty that drips from every song on the album. Vernon’s falsetto, his metal-bodied guitar, the over-dubbed vocals, everything on this recording contributes to the sense of loss, longing and at times, a few glimpses of redemption.

I love technology as much as the next man. A fair bit more, probably, but there’s little that comes close to the sound of a sad man and his guitar.