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I have a lot of time for Conor Oberst. I was a little late to jump on the Bright Eyes bus, and if I’m honest, I got off a stop or two early too. I haven’t particularly loved his dabbling with the more country orientated sound, but even the last album, helpfully titled Conor Oberst still had an air of quality about it. For each misstep, there would be a lovely slice of Americana. I know it’s a romantic image to us foreigners, but few records have adopted the feel of the American road trip so well as that record.
Now it’s time for round two of the “really, it’s not Bright Eyes” saga, and based on Nikorette, I fear we’re in the exact same territory again. It certainly sounds nice, if a little predictable. It’s not the sound that wins one over on an Oberst record though. It’s all about the words. Words which seem to be getting a little lazy. There’s nothing wrong with any of this, and maybe it’s unfair of me to expect more than this. If this were another band, I’d probably love it.
It doesn’t really matter though as I’ll still go through the whole album. As well as the next one. And the one after that. For even though the results may not always be perfect, eventually Oberst will write a great album. Everything he’s done so far has shown signs of it. It’s just a matter of making it all come together.
Outer South is out now on Wichita Recordings.
I’m not really a fan of country twang Bright Eyes. I’m off the camp that the guy peaked around the time of Lifted. While I enjoyed I’m Wide Awake when it was first released, I now suspect that Digital Ash was probably the stronger album. As such, I probably shouldn’t really like new project Conor Oberst & the Mystic Vally Band.
And I don’t. I don’t have anything against it all, and some of the songs are rather catchy, but I can already tell it’s not going to be the kind of record I’ll return to after these initial plays. It’s inoffensive enough to my ears, but it doesn’t have the relevance that the Bright Eyes albums did. Maybe I am being unfair in comparing them, after all this is a different project. That’s part of the problem though. It just doesn’t sound different when it really should.
I was originally going to place this under the Back When They Were Good label, but seeing as I haven’t listened to anything new Bright Eyes has put out in three years, it seemed a little unfair. It does raise an interesting question about the passing fads within our music tastes though. Have I grown out of Bright Eyes? Perhaps, but then whenever I listen to older songs like this, I appreciate them as much as I used to. Yet I still have no interest in any new material. Something to ponder there I think.
Going for the Gold is the epitome of what Bright Eyes does, a sparse, downbeat song that is layered in such a way that it can be taken in any way you like. It could be a brutally personal account of a relationship falling apart. It could be something more abstract, or a wry look at both the band and their fans. Either version works, and either one applies depending on my mood of the time. Today it’s the latter. It’ll probably be something else in a few days. Perhaps it’s that fluidity that keeps me coming back to these songs again and again, while the new ones sit cruelly ignored.
 According to The Covers Project, the original version of this song was performed by Elvis Presley. I have no idea personally, but I’m guessing that must be right. There’s something rather odd about Bright Eyes covering Presley, but there you go.
This version of the song is taken from a charity Christmas album Bright Eyes put out a few years back, and if I’m honest, it’s the only song on it that I can tolerate. All of the rest is a pretty painful assault on the ears, which is quite a feat given I tend to like whatever Mr. Oberst comes up with.
It’s all as cheerful as you’d expect, with him complaining about how his Christmas is going to be miserable without his girlfriend, who has apparently just left him. Man, that seems to be quite regular in the songs that I’m using up here. Which isn’t intentional in the least, but probably says something about how I shy away from the happy songs.
MP3 Bright Eyes – Blue Christmas (expired)
So I’ve been pretty slack in posting here of late. This is because I’m simply not finding the time of late, between work giving me more hours (this is actually a good thing) and a ton of other things that I’ve currently got going on. For the indefinite future, posting will probably down to something like three or four posts a week or something. I’ll write when I get time and have something to share. Tonight though, we’ve got a pretty lazy post. There’s no stunning new music here, no tiny band you should be aware of. You probably know most of these bands and the songs. There’s no great agenda here. It’s just a bunch of great songs that for one reason or another have been getting a lot of play over the past week or so. I’d usually include a little write up explaining the use of each one, but I’m so tired right now that I’m struggling to stay awake to type this. I might add something further to it all tomorrow night or something.
MP3 Mazzy Star – Halah (expired)
MP3 Bright Eyes – Lua (expired)
MP3 My Bloody Valentine – Sometimes (expired)
MP3 Beulah – Don’t Forget To Breathe (expired)
MP3 Stars – Your Ex-Lover Is Dead (expired)
MP3 Rilo Kiley – A Better Son/Daughter (expired)
MP3 The Waifs – London Still (expired)
MP3 The Cautions – Coffee Shop Girl (expired)
MP3 Death From Above 1979 – Romantic Rights (expired)
Oh, and go see Children of Men. It’s out now in the UK and comes out in the US on Christmas Day. I’ll even call it now as getting a Best Picture nomination once award season rolls around, even despite the Academy’s aversion to anything even mildly sci-fi. Simply the best film of this year so far by a mile. It’s intelligent, disturbing and beautiful all at the same time, and it deserves your attention.
Up until the last few months, I hated remixes. I don’t say that lightly either. I really, genuinely despised them. It’s hard for me to equate that feeling into words, but it was something to do with the destruction of an original work. I know that remixes are usually done with the consent of the original artist, but it always just seemed wrong to me. Kind of like another director re-editing someone else’s film. Recently though, something has changed, and I don’t know what. I started getting hold of remixes of songs I already liked, and while disliking a lot of them, some of them were actually pretty good. Whether this is to do with an increasing tolerance for varied works or my growing appreciation for all things electronic (which most remixes seem to meddle in) I don’t know. I just know that I’m getting a kick out of a lot of remixes lately. So much so that I decided to make a little mix of some of my favourites.
This was largely inspired by picking up the remixes of Of Montreal (hat tip) and The Diggs (hat tip) in the past few days. They got me thinking that there is probably enough of them that I like now to make a little mix of some kind, so I started playing around with the idea. I’m pretty happy with the results. It even includes one remix of a song I don’t even like. I really can’t stand Bloc Party (beyond Helicopter), so it’s a testament to the skills of MSTRKRFT that this version of ‘Two More Years’ is fantastic. You’ll find a bunch of electronic trickery here, and probably some things that will be considered blasphemy by some, but it’s an interesting ride nonetheless.
MP3 Bloc Party – Two More Years (MSTRKRFT remix) (expired)
MP3 Arab Strap – The Shy Retirer (Dirty Hospital remix) (expired)
MP3 Her Space Holiday – Something To Do With My Hands (Arab Strap remix) (expired)
MP3 Bright Eyes – Gold Mine Gutted (Her Space Holiday mix) (expired)
MP3 Beck – Girl (Octet remix) (expired)
MP3 Feist – Mushaboom (Postal Service remix) (expired)
MP3 The Postal Service – Nothing Better (Styrofoam remix) (expired)
MP3 Of Montreal – The Party’s Crashing Us (I Am The World Trade Center mix) (expired)
MP3 The Diggs – Everyone’s Starting Over (Cassettes Won’t Listen remix) (expired)
MP3 Tom Vek – I Ain’t Say My Goodbyes (Phones 12″ remix) (expired)
Other Stuff
The Los Campesinos! gig in London next month (Sep 11, Water Rats) seems to have grown into something much bigger than originally intended. It’s moved from Nambucca to the more central Water Rats and now features a four band line-up, featuring Los Campesinos!, The Hot Puppies, Julian Donkey Boy and The Royal Treatment Plant. It’s also gone up in price to £5. A bargain in itself, but even better for those of us who already had tickets beforehand.
I haven’t pimped this in a while, so it’s time to mention eMusic’s fantastic offer of 25 free mp3s, and this time I even have an excuse! eMusic have just launched their UK service, selling download packages for silly prices, from £9 for 40 downloads per month up to £15 for 90. Which is damn cheap compared to things like iTunes and the such. If I regularly used any kind of download service, eMusic would be it for me. Take the free trial and have a look around at least. Don’t forget that Audio Lunchbox are still offering 50 free mp3s as well.
Anyone who knows me in person will know that I wear Threadless t-shirts pretty much exclusively these days. Well folks, you too can look as cool as me, as they are doing another one of their awesome $10 sales. It runs until monday but I imagine the best shirts will sell out quickly, so get yourself over there and have a look around.
Finally, in relatively local news: Does anyone know anything about the music festivities type things that are supposed to be happening at Bluewater this sunday? The only thing I know is that the good folks of Quadmyre are playing there a couple of times during the day and that it’s supposed to be some kind of music festival, but I can’t find out details out about it anywhere. So on the off-chance that you’re local and have any idea what’s going on, let me know.
Boy am I running out of puns for these things.
Well it’s that time of the fortnight for one of these posts. As usual, we have an entirely random batch of coverings, including some excellent ones, and at least one that may actually be considered a crime against music.
MP3 Bright Eyes – Burn Rubber (expired) (Simon Joyner)
I should probably get this one out of the way first seeing as it’s the one here where I don’t actually know the original. I’ve looked around for it but can’t find it anywhere. If you happen to have it and would like to send it to me, that would be greatly appreciated. It’s a little more abstract than most Bright Eyes songs, although beyond that, you probably wouldn’t be able to tell that it wasn’t one of his. It appeared as a b-side on the ‘Take It Easy’ EP and does work rather well as one of the Digital Ash type songs.
MP3 Nickel Creek – Spit On A Stranger (expired) (Pavement)
So we come to this weeks “ear bleeding” entry, thanks to those nice folks at Nickel Creek. First of all, covering ‘Spit On A Stranger’, one of Pavement’s finest works, is a bad idea idea as it is, but to do this to it is just downright wrong. How exactly did anyone think that this might be a good idea? I’ve included it here as I think most cover songs are interesting, even ones like this. Hell, one of you might even enjoy it. I don’t know what it is about it that makes me dislike it so much, but it just seems horrible to me. I don’t know what Nickel Creek are like beyond this song, so they might be pretty good for all I know. Doing this to a classic is just awful though.
MP3 Paul Anka – Smells Like Teen Spirit (expired) (Nirvana)
I’m sure that some of you may consider this one to be a musical crime too, but showing how bizarre taste can be, I think it’s absolutely fantastic. This is made all the more intriguing by the fact I can’t stand Paul Anka on the most part at all. It takes a hell of a lot of skill to take a seminal song like ‘Smells Like Teen Spirit’ and turn it into something completely different that still works though. If you thought the Ukulele Orchestra version I posted the other day, wait until you hear this one. Somehow turning the song into a full on big band swing song without a hint of irony, it really is one of the best covers I’ve heard in quite sometime.
MP3 Snow Patrol – You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will. (live) (expired) (Bright Eyes)
I’m no Snow Patrol beyond a handful of songs, but all credit to them for taking on this song and managing to pull it off. I think this was recorded as part of a BBC session a while ago, but I’m not entirely sure. It’s not perfect, and at times sounds like Lightbody is reading the lyrics from a piece of paper or something, but it still sounds pretty good. It’s a shame that it takes a cover song to hear that Snow Patrol can actually do more interesting things than release twelve different versions of ‘Run’ and ‘Spitting Games’.
Obligatory pimping time
Just a quick reminder that there is only just over a week left on the eMusic 50 free mp3s promotion so be sure to grab them while you still can.
Also don’t forget that Audiolunchbox are also offering 50 free mp3s. I know that you crazy kids can never get enough free music.
In the blogs..
There’s a fantastic post up over at Good Hodgkins where a bunch of music bloggers talk about the songs that are significant to them. Not only do you get a bunch of great songs, there is also some fascinating commentary alongside it.
I can’t believe I forgot to link to this earlier, but I Guess I’m Floating has an excellent piece called ‘Mommy, Where Do Blogs Come From?‘ that looks into the songs behind the names of the major music blogs. As well as being rather enlightening, it’s also an awful lot of fun.
We finally make it to the weekend, with quite a large bunch of songs for what is apparently the cool day to write about. I’m not a massive saturday fan myself, too many people about who should be locked in schools or workplaces all seven days of the week. But rather than just turn this into a rant about people, I’ll get straight to the music. Let’s be honest, no one comes here for anything but the music.
MP3 Built To Spill – Saturday (expired) (from You In Reverse, 2006)
I’m not very familiar with Built To Spill (I know, I know..), but after getting this song and doing some reading about them, I’m definately going to explore them some more. I really like this song a lot, and for some reason I get the same kind of feeling I get from Pavement from it, even though I can’t really hear any musical similarities in it. It doesn’t make a great deal of sense as a whole, but the words are still very nice. It’s taken from their upcoming album, ‘You In Reverse’, that’ll be released on April 11.
MP3 The Essex Green – Saturday (expired) (from Everything Is Green, 1999)
The Essex Green are another great little band that are bringing music that wouldn’t sound out of place in the 60s to modern eardrums. The album that song is taken from, ‘Everything Is Green’ is a masterful indie pop record, and seemingly a bitch to buy without paying a ridiculously high price for. This song, while not the best from the album as is drags a little, is still a fine piece of work.
MP3 Koufax – Saturdays Alone (expired) (from Social Life, 2002)
Koufax is a band I’ll be writing about properly in the near future, but for now, here’s a song about a reclusive person from the appropriately titled ‘Social Life’. The song is being sung to the aforementioned recluse in an attempt to get them out of the house to have fun on a saturday. The person knows that there’s “nothing worse” than being alone, but still doesn’t seem to want to be social. I know for sure that I’ve been this person before, and I imagine a bunch of others have been too. Ah the joys of contradiction. Anyways, if you don’t know Koufax, they are one of the few rock bands that actually make full use of a piano, and that in itself scores them massive points with me.
MP3 Bright Eyes – Saturday As Usual (expired) (from A Collection Of Songs: Recorded 1995-1997, 2000)
Ah, the second Bright Eyes song from this album is two days. ‘Saturday As Usual’ is certainly one of his most pessimistic works, which given his other material, is quite a feat. Taking an utterly downbeat look at those around him (“My brother went to college to become a doctor / and if he studies hard enough / he’ll end up like his father / who hates his life”) and accepting that “there’s something very wrong with me”. The production quality is godawful, which helps as it really does feel like he’s sitting in his bedroom wailing about this. Hell, he probably was given how old this song is. And who can’t love a song that eventually concludes that “the world has become a little too mean / and I can’t see the point of patient love / when everyone just wants to get fucked”?
MP3 The Thrills – Saturday Night (expired) (from Let’s Bottle Bohemia, 2004)
No, The Thrills are not cool. No, The Thrills aren’t very good, a couple of exceptional singles aside. This however is actually quite a good song. It’s simplistic, often repeating the same lines over and over, but it gets to the point. It all comes down to “is this what they call love?”, which seems to be taking on a similar attitude, albeit in a far more subtle way, to the Bright Eyes song above. It’s also supported by that great, slightly dated guitar work, which seems to be about the one thing they can do consistantly well.
MP3 Weezer – Saturday Night (expired) (unreleased)
I can’t quite remember when Weezer recorded ‘Saturday Night’. It was either recorded in the run up to the Green Album, between Green and Maladroit, or after Maladroit. Which granted, isn’t particularly helpful. It’s one of at least a hundred songs that they recorded and put up online through those periods, and it’s kind of depressing that most of those songs are far better than anything that made the actual albums. From the music on this one, I’d hazard a guess that it was recorded in the run up to ‘Maladroit’ (it has that ‘Burndt Jamb’ kind of vibe). Obviously as it’s 21st century Weezer the words are shit and don’t mean a thing, but it still manages to sound pretty good. Kind of like ‘Burndt Jamb’ actually. Just slightly better.
MP3 Kaiser Chiefs – Saturday Night (expired) (from Employment, 2005)
It seems that I’m going to end up liking The Kaiser Chiefs one song at a time. First I hated everything. Then I started liking ‘Everyday I Love You Less And Less’. Then it was ‘I Predict A Riot’. Now it’s this one. An awesome 80s guitar rock song of wanting to be one of the cool people and never quite managing it and yet still manages to be quite a sweet love story at the same time. Actually, as I’m writing this I’m suddenly struck that it reminds me of ‘Disco 2000′ by Pulp. I’m not entirely sure why, but I like that.
Wow, so only one day left on our Hooray for.. series of posts. It’s a pretty good one too, with a few great songs lined up for sunday. It’s been fun doing these all week, although it has taken away my time from being able to write about new bands I’ve found and the such. So there will probably be a lot of those over the next week or so. Maybe a new mixtape too. You know I spoil you people, yes?
Following the disaster that was the middle of the week, our little themed posts get right back on track with a, if I may say so myself, rather good selection for friday. It seems the weekend is the time of the week that really brings out the more interesting material from the songwriter, as will be proved by the awesomeness to follow on saturday and sunday.
MP3 Morrissey – Friday Mourning (expired) (from Let Me Kiss You single, 2005)
It’s Morrissey. He’s not very happy so he’s leaving. And that’s about it.
MP3 Bright Eyes – A Few Minutes On A Friday (expired) (from A Collection Of Songs: Recorded 1995-1997, 2000)
One of the things I particularly like about Bright Eyes is the way every song tells a whole little story. Now I know nearly all songs do this to a point, but the level of detail that goes into a Bright Eyes song is something more. That Mr. Oberst is so good at doing that now is one thing, but the fact he was doing it ten years ago (he would have been around 15 when this was recorded) is just downright scary. And makes me think I’ve wasted my life. But no matter. In this tale, young Conor is obviously in love with a friend but can’t say anything to her because either she won’t feel the same, or there are always other people in the way, or whatever reason he’s stopping himself this week. Didn’t think this could get any more miserable after Morrissey? That told you.
MP3 The Cure – Friday I’m In Love (expired) (from Wish, 1992)
Fine, you want a bloody happy song? Here you go then. I shouldn’t really need to explain anything about this song to anyway, as honestly, who doesn’t know it? It’s simple, it’s happy, and most of all, it’s damn catchy.
MP3 Silver Jews – Friday Night Fever (expired) (from Bright Flight, 2001)
I’m not a big enough Silver Jews fan to know whether this song is a flat out and out country song, or whether there is some hidden wry joke involved in it all that I’m too dense to miss. I suppose it doesn’t really matter either way as the song is a great little country ditty (how often can I get that word in without seeming weird?) that kind of subverts the usual country stereotypes. It seems ol’ Dave is slightly bored in his marriage so hits the bar on a friday night, but while stressing “She knows I love her and I need her / And I’m no cheater / I’ve just got that friday night fever” and that he’ll be straight back home to her at closing time. It’s actually all rather nice in a twisted kind of way.
Which brings us to a close for friday. Be sure to join me tomorrow for no less than seven songs that don’t really go together but all happen to have saturday somewhere in the title. Excited? I know I am.
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