Volcano Choir

On the second time out for the shaggy dog combination of Bon Iver's Justin Vernon and the gentlemen of Collections of Colonies of Bees, things are much more focused. On 2009's Unmap, the pen pal recording experiment yielded a handful of songs wrapped in the gauze of more ephemeral and meandering songlets. Here, even on non-linear pieces like "Keel," Vernon (likely practiced from collaborating with Colin Stetson) takes a more direct path through the haze, turning it into a recognizable theme. Most of the album is comprised of songs that approximate the feeling of winning the Tour de France on the afternoon your girlfriend leaves you. Crashing crescendos of keyboard and guitar mask the sad Dadaist poetry Vernon is expert at crafting, while Collections of Colonies of Bees rein in their mathematics, but retain the best parts of their detail-oriented craftsmanship, in service of the songs. Repave is an album that crackles, sparkles and swoons in all the right places.