Bon Iver began creeping into the spotlight in 2008, and overviews of the past year have focused even more attention on the act.

Bon Iver — the name used for singer/songwriter Justin Vernon — recorded a folky, stripped down set in a Wisconsin cabin. He said the songs were meant as demos, but friends liked them. He ended up self releasing them as an album, “For Emma, Forever Ago.”

The intimate collection, later released by Jagjaguwar, seems to have a degree of mass appeal. The songs can inspire emotional sing-alongs at concerts, something you can read about in the New Yorker.

Check out that story, along with a rundown on U2’s latest and a solid profile of Andrew Bird, by following the links.

• Bon Iver’s songs require an almost uncomfortable closeness, according to the New Yorker.
• U2’s new album, “No Line on the Horizon,” has a lot of songs that are like music off its old albums, the group tells Rolling Stone.
• Antony Hegarty of Antony &the Johnsons compares Sean Penn playing gay politician Harvey Milk to blackface in New York magazine.
• Andrew Bird was told to start acting like a rock star, but decided to take a pass, we find out in the New York Times.
• Paul McCartney likes to talk about Andy Warhol to get in the mood, he tells Rolling Stone.