5 Folk Acts Who Wandered Down the Synth Road
3. Bon Iver, Bon Iver
The clown prince of hipster doofuses himself beat Mumford and Sons to the punch on throwback '80s synths, littering them all over his last record. The reception for it was exceptional.
While fans may have been slightly divided on the merit of a song like "Beth/Rest," which many have described as sounding like a lost Bruce Hornsby track, the album was No. 1 on a few best-of lists in 2011 and won a Grammy for Best Alternative Music Album.
2. Neil Young, Trans
Neil Young was all over the place in the '80s, and one of his most off-the-wall experiments was 1982's Trans, which featured synthesizers on almost every track. Today it isn't well remembered and at the time it baffled the hell out of fans.
That being said, it does have some great songs and proves that Young is an artist who can work within any medium. Even if the album didn't manage to garner much in the way of sales or critical acclaim, today it does have a small cult following.
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