I enjoy him/them, but wouldn't consider myself a huge fan. Still, from the things I've heard, here's what I'd say:

--I don't know what her bar is for "sensitive guys," but if she's talking about Jack Johnson-y guitar types, that's not much to surpass.
--Bon Iver's lyrics are pretty good.
--The main thing for me is that Justin Vernon has serious chops, and he clearly understands music backwards and forwards in a way that makes things fit together without being muddled. (At least that's what I think; you seem to have heard it differently.)

The other night, for example, we watched them on Colbert. There were two drum sets, three guitar players, a trombone player who also played various percussion thingies, a horn player who also played keyboard and a ginormous saxophone (probably a bass). Justin Vernon, one of those guitar players, also played keys. They had good harmonies and for the most part weren't gimmicky (though there was one part when the sax player kind of made me wonder if he actually played the sax on a regular basis).

So you've got complexity of harmony, instrumentation, genre (mixing banjo in with other stuff), all that, without sounding noodly like a jam band. Vernon's voice is interesting and different without being grating, and he seems like a pretty chill guy who isn't concerned so much about getting chicks or smoking pot or being a Dude as much as... making music. Astounding!

But it's no big thing if it doesn't jump out and grab you. I think the subtlety is rather nice, actually.

So jumping into it and trying to hear stuff will reward me, sounds like. I am usually disposed to layered music. It was just sort of funny that I'd never heard of them and now they seem to be everywhere!

I heard about this guy a few years ago when one of his albums came out. Supposedly he went away to a cabin to record it after a bad breakup... or something like that. NPR seemed to be fawning all over it. I've played it a few times but just couldn't see what was so great.

*yawn*

there was one part when the sax player kind of made me wonder if he actually played the sax on a regular basis

Heh. That, to me, was the only vaguely interesting part of that performance. How could such a huge band make so little noise?

I like Bon Iver, but I think your sense of the songs blending is accurate, DanF.

The first album was written and recorded in a tiny cabin over a few months that Justin Vernon spent alone, and I think you can hear that in the music which is cool.

It's music that a serious guy who is serious about music just sat down in a room and made, without input or opinion or any distractions.

Personally I wouldn't go see a concert probably, because it does tend to fade into the background for me when I have it on. But it is nice to have ambient music, too.

Supposedly he went away to a cabin to record it after a bad breakup... or something like that.

Related Onion article?