Dan Mangan and Justin Vernon of Bon Iver
Dan Mangan’s recommendation: “I know I’m not alone, but a few years ago I got horribly stung by Bon Iver. I’d played a gig with Lizzie Powell (Land of Talk) who was a dear friend of Justin Vernon’s. She wrote me down his MySpace address and I listened to “Skinny Love” – with a fresh 20,000 plays, it was the only track posted. The album, “For Emma, Forever Ago” hadn’t come out at that time, and I had to wait nearly a year for it to be available in Canada, but it quickly became imprinted in my brain. Every sound, chair squeak and layer of harmony oozed with sincerity. It was the soundtrack of a good few months, and I still return to it with equal fervor. I love the sonic quality of the album – it’s perfectly flawed, and represents the kind of maddening obsessiveness that it takes to make a truly great piece of art. I have a lot of respect for Vernon, not only in the music that he makes, but also in the type of people he seems to surround himself with, and the integrity by which he creates and supports things that affect the world positively.”
New to Bon Iver? Dan Mangan recommends you start here: “There are only two, really. For Emma, Forever Ago
About the guest author, Dan Mangan: Sitting proudly at the top of the ‘best damn music that your nerdy friend may not have heard of yet’ list is Dan Mangan, the superb singer-songwriter from Canada whose Nice, Nice, Very Nice
MP3: Road Regrets by Dan Mangan
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About the guest author, Kathryn Calder: Kathryn has been making albums since she was a teenager and may be most recognizable as a member of both 
includes all-star contributions from Neko Case and Todd Fancey of The New Pornographers and captures the time that Kathryn was caring for her ailing mother. Here’s a sample track from that album:
, Farrar proved himself an able poet of life; an artist with confessional tunes that portray the road as the crucible in which a weary but certain faith in the inherent value of hard work and dreams emerges. My of my all-time favs.”
About the guest author, Bill Mallonee: If you read this blog, you’re searching for great songwriters. The following quotes about Bill Mallonee should make your search, at least for today, a little easier:
. Personally, if I had one album to be on an island with – it would be this one. As a teacher, as well, it is of the first albums I make my students listen to and study.”
About the guest author, Ruth Gerson: Ruth Gerson hints above that she’s a teacher, but what kind of teacher hands Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds CDs out to their students? A damn cool one, I’d say. Ruth is the founder of San Francisco Vocal Coaching but she is also on the verge of breaking out big with her own solo career. She’s opened for The Dave Matthews Band and has six albums in her catalog. Her new album, “This Can’t Be My Life” will be released on July 20 and has already been called by Paul Freeman of Palo Alto’s Daily News a ‘pop-rock masterpiece.’ Do we have your attention yet? Find out more about Ruth Gerson on