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- Date Released: August 5, 2008
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Merge Records
Bright Eyes main man steps out from behind the pseudonym
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We Say...
The Bright Eyes frontman could scarcely be making it clearer that he is returning to basics. He's ditched the name under which he is best known, disassociated himself from long-serving producer Mike Mogis, holed up in a mountain villa in Mexico with a few compadres ¬ known collectively as the Mystic Valley Band ¬and produced a record upon which he has stamped his own name as a title. The unmistakable subtext of Conor Oberst is: "This is me."
As it turns out, all of the above are as much bluffs as genuine upheavals. Oberst is still thankfully ¬ recognizably the prodigy who animated Bright Eyes' wondrous 2007album Cassadaga. Though the arrangements on Conor Oberst are less fiddly, the songs are no less ambitious: complex, wordy, infused with an air of crepuscular fragility that reminds of the earlier works of Elliott Smith and the more vulnerable works of Oberst's obvious idol Bob Dylan. If there is a difference, it's that though Oberst's stock-in-trade remains lachrymose balladry ("Lenders in the Temple" and "Eagle on a Pole" are worthy additions to his canon of heartbreak), this album also benefits from a flourishing of a more playful impulse: "Moab" revels grinningly in its self-pity ("There's nothing that the road cannot heal," Oberst promises himself), and "Sausalito" has the irresistible feel of having been as much fun to play as it is to hear. -
They Say...
Abandoning the Bright Eyes moniker he's been performing under since his teens, Conor Oberst reverted to his birth name for his 2008 follow-up to 2007's Cassadaga. As he not only released the record under his own name but titled it Conor Oberst, it's hard not to think of the album as a new beginning or statement of purpose, as that's generally the case when a singer/songwriter splits from his main band, but this is such a low-key record it can't support such grand theories. But that subdued attitude is in fact a major difference between this and Bright Eyes albums, where every action tended to be over-amplified, a practice Oberst generally avoids here. Part of it is down to mere circumstance. Struck with one of his bursts of wanderlust, Oberst headed down to Mexico to cut the album, gathering together a collection of friends who he dubbed the Mystic Valley Band, a name bearing an uncanny resemblance to such '70s country-rock outfits as Rick Nelson's Stone Canyon Band. Naturally, this is a conscious move, as much of this tight 12-track album resides firmly within the confines of classic country-rock, whether it's a mellow ramble like "Danny Callahan" or the dust-kicking "I Don't Want to Die (In the Hospital)." These benefit greatly by the loose-limbed Mystic Valley Band, who infuse a great deal of warmth to this music, but their open-heartedness is a reflection of Oberst's subtle shift to relying on modest gestures instead of grand ones. Although he still has a tendency to shoehorn five-dollar words into every other phrase -- particularly when it comes time to write ballads -- he's not trying quite so hard here, letting his lyrics be almost as relaxed as his music. But the fact that the music does feel relaxed, even when it bears his classicist affectations, does make Conor Oberst markedly different than the music of Bright Eyes, and makes it a worthwhile project -- even if it proves to be a detour instead of a new beginning.
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You Say...
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| 01. |  |
Cape Canaveral |
4:04 |  |
| 02. | |
Sausalito |
3:10 | |
| 03. | |
Get-Well-Cards |
3:33 | |
| 04. | |
Lenders In The Temple |
4:35 | |
| 05. | |
Danny Callahan |
3:58 | |
| 06. | |
I Don't Want To Die (In The Hospital) |
3:32 | |
| 07. | |
Eagle On A Pole |
4:42 | |
| 08. | |
NYC-Gone,Gone |
1:11 | |
| 09. | |
Moab |
3:36 | |
| 10. | |
Valle Místico (Ruben Song) |
0:49 | |
| 11. | |
Souled Out!!! |
3:32 | |
| 12. | |
Milk Thistle |
5:21 | |
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Credits
- Gary Burden - Art Direction // Gary Burden - Design // Gary Burden - Photography // Bob Ludwig - Mastering // Jenice Heo - Art Direction // Jenice Heo - Design // Janet Weiss - Vocals // Andy LeMaster - Vocals // Andy LeMaster - Engineer // Andy LeMaster - Mixing // Andy LeMaster - Tape Echo // Mike Mogis - Mixing // Nik Freitas - Guitar (Electric) // Nik Freitas - Vocals // Jason Boesel - Percussion // Jason Boesel - Drums // Jason Boesel - Vocals // Jason Boesel - Photography // Jason Boesel - Stomping // Conor Oberst - Guitar // Conor Oberst - Guitar (Electric) // Conor Oberst - Vocals // Conor Oberst - Guitar (12 String) // Conor Oberst - Producer // Conor Oberst - Mixing // Conor Oberst - Stomping // Nate Walcott - Organ // Nate Walcott - Piano // Nate Walcott - Piano (Electric) // Taylor Hollingsworth - Guitar // Taylor Hollingsworth - Guitar (Electric) // Taylor Hollingsworth - Vocals // Taylor Hollingsworth - Stomping // Macey Taylor Sr. - Bass // Macey Taylor Sr. - Vocals // Macey Taylor Sr. - Stomping // Corina Figueroa Escamilla - Vocals // Phil Schaffart - Vocals // Phil Schaffart - Assistant Engineer // Phil Schaffart - Stomping
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