If you go to my last.fm page you will notice that Bright Eyes are at the top of my most played list by quite a distance, so it’s safe to say that I’m a little bit excited about Conor’s latest musical project titled ‘Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band’. Without an album to review I’m forced to review a live bootleg that dates back from late 2007.
Right from the start it’s plain to see that Conor hasn’t really strayed too far from the tracks. He’s still got the alt-country influence that made Cassadaga so great but without the lush arrangements that accompanied it. The most noticeable difference really is that it all sounds a lot more upbeat and loose. Conor actually sounds really happy. I think he’s slowly taking himself less seriously, which can only be a good thing. The best example of that is the intro track ‘Gone, Gone From New York City’ with it’s stupidly catchy melody, lyrics, riff and drum beat.
“Down, Down to Mexico City/caught myself a lady, she’ll know how to treat me
Down, Down to Mexico City/caught myself a lady to lay me down, lay me down”
Other highlights for me include the tracks ‘There’s Nothing That The Road Cannot Heal’ and ’Beach bum song’. Lua, a classic Bright Eyes track, also made the set and somehow the stripped back version, with more emphasis on the trumpet, seems even better than the original.
So, it’s not a drastic departure from the music he’s created under the Bright Eyes moniker but if you create music this good then it really doesn’t matter what your name is.
Download ’Gone, Gone From New York City‘
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band will be a couple of shows over here this summer, including Reading festival. But if you want to see him alongside other great bands such as Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin, then come to the End Of The Road festival. I’ll be the one at the front screaming like a teenage girl at an NSYNC concert!
Oliver
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8 responses so far ↓
1 girlonfiresoulonfire // May 25, 2008 at 9:40 pm
ah! shit! ah! what?! ah! really? WHERE HAVE I BEEN
Oli, you. are. a. GOD for delivering such important news to me.
ah! again and again and ad infinitum
a little excessive but my exuberance for this man’s music is beyond ineffable.
2 lois // May 25, 2008 at 10:24 pm
i only like him when hes sad. dangggg
3 oliverx12 // May 25, 2008 at 10:31 pm
youll like it!! its still great!
4 lois // May 25, 2008 at 10:48 pm
promise!?
5 oliverx12 // May 25, 2008 at 10:52 pm
Yeah, it’s really good! i can’t wait to see him at the end of the road fest
6 dreamaboutme // May 25, 2008 at 11:55 pm
im more excited about others there but im not going to lie ill totally see him haha
7 oliverx12 // May 26, 2008 at 7:59 am
haha
8 girlonfiresoulonfire // May 26, 2008 at 4:53 pm
this is just awesome. so glad I had a glass of wine when I read this, I had something to drink to.
ah
cheers Oli
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