Call him pretentious, call him sensitive, call him what you will, but there's no denying the fact that Conor Oberst is a talented and intelligent songwriter. Actually, it's probably more correct to say that Bright Eyes are a group of talented and intelligent songwriters, because it's the pedal steel, the clamorous percussion, the orchestral arrangements, the thick background vocals that add to the songs in Cassadaga -- the band's fullest and most developed record to date -- almost as much as the lead singer's own wobbly voice and sharp lyrics. Because the album is, like all of Bright Eyes' albums, very much about the words. Besides the usual swatch of Middle America character sketches and the occasional political allusions, Oberst writes dialogue that travels throughout the record, questioning religion and truth and love and purpose the entire time. He knows he has to go somewhere, and he's hoping that if he just keeps moving, where exactly that is will make itself clear. "Cassadaga might be just a premonition of a place you're going to visit," a psychic says to him in the opener, "Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed)," which acts an introduction to both the album's musical (slightly spacy, organic acoustic melodies) and lyrical (direction, control) themes. Oberst sees himself in a place where "everything must belong somewhere" and "death may come invisible," a place where mystics and clairvoyants can tell us as much about our own selves as we can, a place where destiny exists, a place where God is both an omnipotent "Brakeman" and a myth construed in books. Perhaps because of this, Oberst appears more unsure than he ever has. But also because of this, this lack of control, it's not an insecurity about himself that he feels, but rather a kind of shadowy acceptance of the uncertainty of life. "The 'I don't know,' the 'maybe so'/Is the only real reply," which he sings on the stormy Western dirge "Middleman," his voice accepting and empty at the same time, is the most truthful assurance he can offer. Because, despite the gravity of the ideas presented on Cassadaga, it's not a depressing or even overly serious album. Rather, it's finding what you can, be it a geographic location or a mind state, when and how you can, amid the incomprehensible world around you; it's Americana, full of folky acoustic guitars and dobro and dissent and yet, still, a kind of hopeful optimism that can't hide itself completely under the strings, clarinets, and cynical irony; it's a mature interpretation of life, not just whining complaints. "I'm leaving this place but there's nothing I'm planning to take/Just you," Oberst confesses on "No One Would Riot for Less." Where he's going -- Manhattan, California, the Hague, New England, or even Cassadaga itself -- he doesn't know, but he's going to keep looking until he finds it, and he's got his guitar, his simple chords, his verses and choruses, to help him (and perhaps us) along.
Hey all, I just I'd share with you my thoughts on who I think took the cake for album of the year in 2007. Although there were a lot of releases this year by almost all of my favorite artists I think there was one that totally blew any of them out of the water and caught me off guard as well. Cassadaga by Bright Eyes is probably not just the best record I've heard this year but now holds a plac...
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I know, I turned into one of those people that starts an account somewhere and then never goes back to it. I'm sorry. I just didn't give myself enough time to get used to the site. I'll try better this time because I really like the idea of this site. Anyway, Sunday I drove two hours and sat in DC traffic for half an hour to go see Bright Eyes! I wouldn't have missed it for the world. It was am...
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Two weeks from Monday, thousands of people will pack into the Radio City Music hall to hear Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes. The Felice Brothers will be opening up for him.I've been an Oberst fan for a couple of years. I'm surprised that I'm just now getting around to seeing him live. Hopefully he'll be pulling out all the stops since he's playing at such a high-end venue.This post is my pre-gam...
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Bright Eyes frontman Conor Oberst has definitely put his two cents out into the world- he has put out a total of fifteen albums and EPs altogether, plus countless miscellaneous songs. With his new album, Cassadaga, and a new EP, Four Winds, Bright Eyes has already created quite a stir. Everywhere I look, I see a review, interview, or advertisement featuring Bright Eyes and Conor [aka I'm gettin...
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On June 6, 2007, Bright Eyes was the musical performance on Craig Ferguson's 'late late show.'I was extremely happy to hear the band play classic cars live and it's definitely one of my favorites from Cassadaga). The non-permanent members of the band are so talented, and the current mix of musicians sounds so perfectly unified. The performance on Letterman two nights before consisted of basical...
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He writes such pretty words about the life thats no story book. Conor Oberst is a genius in his writing telling stories that many can relate to but do not have the words to express. Check out his previous bands Commander Venus and Desaparecidos which contain other Saddle Creek Members you will not be dissapointed.
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Check out "Bright Eyes" (the group, not the song) at their MySpace page:http://www.myspace.com/brighteyesAnd for a review of the new album from Daily OM Music, see below.April 24, 2007CassadagaBright Eyes 2007"Since the late 1990s, Nebraska-born Conor Oberst has been releasing music under the banner of Bright Eyes, a loose, ever-shifting collective of players centered around the youthful, prodi...
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On Cassadaga, Conor Oberst wears his young heart on his sleeve yet again, while pouring out country rock like an aged folk veteran. Conor's voice sounds level and matured and the arrangements of the Bright Eyes orchestra are tighter than ever. Cassadaga opens with the mumbled stammerings of a clairvoyant woman, whose voice is the prologue to Conor's musical journey that takes the listener acr...
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The past few months, some great albums have come out from some very established and hott new artists: Of Montreal's "Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?", The Shins' "Wincing the Night Away", Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible", and of course, the highly anticipated release from Modest Mouse, featuring Johnny Marr of the Smiths on guitar, "We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank". Yes, 2007 has been a...
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Today, I got the new Bright Eyes' album "Cassadaga" in the mail today. I pre-order all new saddle creek albums early so I can get them two weeks before they come out. "Cassadaga" is wonderful and different from the last two albums but still good. It is a little more rock this time around but you can still hear plenty folk and country in the album. The album is what you would expect it to be and...
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Bright Eyes, aka Conor Oberst, is nothing if not prolific. Cassadaga is the bands 6th full length album released since 1998. This is even more impressive considering Mr. Oberst just turned 27 earlier this year.The disc opens with an eerie, almost other worldly track called "Clairaudients(Kill or be Killed) in which the band loops phone conversations which seem to be referring to supernatural lo...
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I just got the new album by Bright Eyes, even though it doesn't come out till April 10th. I can say that it's a wonderful album. Maybe my favorite album by Bright Eyes so far. I would give you all the album (since I've zipped it up and put it on Sendspace), but that would be cheating! I guess you all will have to wait till April 10th.In other news, I'm sorry that I haven't posted on Mog since C...
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All right. Here I am, several years down the road from when I first started listening to Oberst's Bright Eyes. And I don't know that my opinion has changed all that much since then. I started off disliking the music, dismissing it as some kind of indie crap with a mediocre vocalist. But, I kept listening. I'd tell people "OH man. Bright Eyes sucks dude. Fuck, I hate them so much. Who doe...
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so iv had cassadaga spinning for a couple of hours now, so what do i think?? one word that i think describes it well is whimsy. its very whimsical. it has lots of nice strings, lots of vocal harmonies, but lacks oberst's usual anger and perhaps even his urgency, which is kinda odd considering lyrically this is perhaps his most political work.
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So Connor Oberst has released the details about his new album called "Cassadaga" due out in April. You can read all of that jazz over at NME.The real news is that he is bribing you to sign up for his newsletter by letting you listen to a new song called "Endless Entertainment". Go to ThisIsBrightEyes.com to be assimilated. The song itself is downright poppy. Very upbeat in stark contrast to...
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Like pulling off a +really big band-aid_, this really stung !!!*1......Editors_an end has a start (tied with The Back Room)2......The National_boxer3......Delorentos_in love with detail4......Glen Hansard & Marketa Irglova_once soundtrack5......Matt Pond PA_last light6......Ryan Adams_Easy Tiger (also included Follow the Lights EP)7......Arctic Monkeys_favourite worst nightmare8......The Cinema...
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Bright Eyes, aka Conor Oberst, is nothing if not prolific. Cassadaga is the bands 6th full length album released since 1998. This is even more impressive considering Mr. Oberst just turned 27 earlier this year.The disc opens with an eerie, almost other worldly track called "Clairaudients(Kill or be Killed) in which the band loops phone conversations which seem to be referring to supernatural lo...
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Bright Eyes have announced that they will perform a one-off show with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl this fall, according to NME.Frontman Conor Oberst will join a full orchestra at the outdoor amphitheater on September 29 to play tunes from their latest album, ??Cassadaga??.Tickets go on sale this Saturday and will be available through TicketmasterAlso,Catch Bright Eyes toni...
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I woke up with Hot Knives in my head. I feel so rested. It's like I was asleep for ages. I just discovered this Bright Eyes video today. Very cool. It reminds me of the Bright Eyes show we went to at the El Ray. It was our second first date. That was our first show, the one that Michelle asked me out and invited me to. We've been together ever since.I just found out that Conor's going to be at ...
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All to often we hear of musicians and labels treating their fans like little more than cash cows, ready for a milking, but today I was pleasantly surprised at how nice one of my fave bands are to their fans. I'd pre-ordered Cassadaga, and not only did come with the advretised free 7-inch, but also held two (yes TWO) free stickers inside. Furthermore those friendly folks at Saddle Creek included...
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Bright Eyes' sixth album, Cassadaga, will be released on April 10. The first single off the album, "Four Winds," is out now and includes the title track plus five b-sides. Connor Oberst, AKA Bright Eyes, now 27.Bright Eyes is surrently on the road with all dates sold out, according to Saddle Creek, the label that Bright Eyes records for and co owns. A tour of larger venues will begin April 22 a...
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"his room is on fire since he painted it redthere are a stranger's silk sequins at the foot of the bedhe has been to weddings and funerals but he still never weptnow sorrow is pleasure when you want it instead."lucy.
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So here it is, a couple of months after I swore off the new Bright Eyes album _Cassadaga_, and now a bunch of tracks are sticking to me. While I still believe that _Lifted_ will be his seminal album, followed closely by _I'm Wide Awake_, his latest finds him largely in top form, while a little less cynical and beat down as his previous efforts
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The new Bright Eyes ablum will be released next Tuesday, April 10, but you can stream the entire album right now.Check it out:http://www.saddle-creek.com/streaming/lbj-103/index.html
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...but becoming one as we speak. Oberst and Co's new record is currently rocking, errr folking, my world. The standard's been kicked up another notch, kids. The songs are so strong, they're actually digging out my ears. I never could get into the older records for some reason - too dylanesque for me - but this one has me itching to for it. Plus he's the same age as me, which is kind of a subtl...
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Check out "Bright Eyes" (the group, not the song) at their MySpace page:http://www.myspace.com/brighteyesAnd for a review of the new album from Daily OM Music, see below.April 24, 2007CassadagaBright Eyes 2007"Since the late 1990s, Nebraska-born Conor Oberst has been releasing music under the banner of Bright Eyes, a loose, ever-shifting collective of players centered around the youthful, prodi...
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Bright Eye's new album "Cassadaga" is steadily approaching, seeing a release this, haha, well actually seeing a release tomorrow. I guess you can tell how musicaly focused I've been as of late. Life has been a collage of spring break, tests, and radio shows, but i digress. Cassadaga will make it's way into many a home tomorrow, and the backlash has already begun (at least as I see it) today; s...
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So today, I was walking in Wal-Mart, minding my own business when something caught my eye...Yes. That is, in fact, Conor Oberst in his "Four Winds" video. I guess I shouldn't have found it strange that it was playing on the little Wal-Mart TVs after finding out that the twenty copies of Cassadaga were all gone a week after I first spotted them, but I live in Griffin, Georgia. Where the county...
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Jameson poses an interesting question about an image Conor Oberst uses on his latest Bright Eyes album, Cassadaga. In the song "If the Brakeman Turns My Way" Conor assumes that we all know who "the Brakeman" is. But I find myself, like Jameson found himself, wondering, "Who is this Brakeman, and why is he turning my way?"I myself like to think of the Brakeman like a dirty old bum. He’s comin’
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I have listened to Cassadaga in its entirety eleven times.I think I just over-dosed on Bright Eyes. Before Cassadaga, I never would have thought this possible. I've always had a love-hate relationship with Bright Eyes. Songs like "Lua" and "Bowl of Oranges" always made me smile while the whining on songs like "Ship in a Bottle" made me cringe. And now, this album holds my record for the most t...
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 "Cassadaga")
