Bon Iver’s 22, A Million Listening Party Was a Boombox Playing a Cassette

Bon Iver’s excellent new album, 22, A Million, is out today. For the press tour, Justin Vernon went old school—he staged a press conference to detail the album, he didn’t do very many separate interviews, and he shied away from showing his face in press photos. On Wednesday and Thursday, he threw some listening parties across the world, in which he played the new record on … a cassette, through a boombox. The lo-fi conceit attracted dozens of people, as you can see below in some photos. The super-duper artisanal aesthetic decision is right out of a Portlandia sketch, but it’s friendlier than the inverse: a big budget warehouse party where only the celebs are invited, not you.

Find a stream of the new album below, too. Read SPIN’s review here.

Tonight was so beautiful.. communally listening to the new @boniver album on a cassette tape in Fitzroy with a group of strangers & friends 💙🙏? 📸 regram @matt__willis ?? #listeningparty #22amillion #boniver 💙

A photo posted by Elle (@woodesmusic) on Sep 29, 2016 at 4:20am PDT

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Gather ’round folks… It’s quiet, but it’s resonating amongst friends #22amillion #boniver #eauclaire

A photo posted by Ambient Inks (@ambientinks) on Sep 28, 2016 at 5:01pm PDT

Unglaubliche Bilder vom Bon-Iver-Event in #Kreuzberg erreichten uns von unserem Außenkorrespondenten. Die Lage schien unübersichtlich, das Equipment dürftig. #boniver #22amillion #berlin

A video posted by Musikexpress (@musikexpress_magazin) on Sep 29, 2016 at 11:56am PDT

at yesterday’s mysterious @boniver listening party in #berlin 📻 #boniver #music #berlin #berlinstagram #instaberlin #berlinigers #igersberlin

A photo posted by PEP ME UP (@pepmeup.diabetesblog) on Sep 30, 2016 at 12:33am PDT