Gateway

Issue date: 8/25/08 Section: Arts & Leisure

One of Omaha's biggest claims to fame, Conor Oberst, spent a month last winter in Tepoztlán in the providence of Morales, Mexico, recording his newest record. Oberst's self-titled album was released Aug. 5.

But wait, who's this Mystic Valley Band? And why is the album on Merge Records instead of Saddle Creek? No more Bright Eyes?

Don't get your thrift store shirt in a knot, Oberst still delivers that folk rock and country sound Bright Eyes fans have come to love.

Dropping long-time label Saddle Creek and producer/multi-instrumentalist Mike Mogis, Oberst takes a more earthly approach to his new album.

Oberst self-produced the album with the help of Andy LeMaster of Now It's Overhead.

He has also enlisted a new group of musicians under the name Mystic Valley Band that includes Taylor Hollingsworth and Nik Freitas on guitar, Macey Taylor on bass, Nate Walcott on keyboards and trumpet and Jason Boesel of Rilo Kiley on drums.

If you love Oberst's political rants this may not be the album for you, as Oberst cruises through the tracks trying to make sense of the world, maybe trying to understand where his life is leading him. In a laid-back fashion, Oberst starts off the album with "Cape Canaveral" with a reflection on his lifestyle: "Hey mother interstate can you deliver me from evil? Make me honest."

On the track "Lenders in the Temple" Oberst melodically sings, "There's money-lenders inside the temple. That circus tiger's going to break your heart. Something so wild turned into paper. If I loved you well that's my fault."

Although he successfully carries on smooth melodies throughout the album, his wobbly vocals famed from his previous albums try to push through.

Oberst quickly retreats from the shakes on the next track "Danny Callahan" with the catchy and sweetly sung chorus, "How are you getting on alone?"

The song, about a boy dying of cancer, questions whether love can be carried on. "Some wander the wilderness. Some drink cosmopolitans. Some cull science. Some clean astral planes. I can't tell where the canvas stops."

Following up "Danny Callahan" is the much more rousing and toe tapping song "I Don't Want to Die (in the Hospital)." Oberst sings for the dying boy escaping from the hospital.

Oberst belts along with vocalist Janet Weiss: "Help me get my boots on. Help me get my boots back on. I got to go-go-go, because I don't have long."

With possible influence from past collaborations with the likes of Emmylou Harris, Oberst produces an upbeat country sound on "I Don't Want to Die (in the Hospital)."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools