Bright Eyes: CASSADAGA

I really hate to be one of those people who drops the “New Bob Dylan” title on people who aren’t really going to be all that great in the future. However, I’ve found myself a loophole with Connor Oberst, singer/songwriter for the now incredibly popular indie/folk/country band Bright Eyes: They’ve been around for quite a while, and they’ve been continuously writing great songs. And Oberst’s songwriting streak hasn’t yet been stopped on Cassadaga, his most recent title.

It starts with a field recording with a clairvoyant who says, “Cassadaga, Oh yeah, that’s where you’ll find us, yeah and they’ve got those in Arizona too. Yeah. I know there’s wonderful grounds that have boards and everything that you might need where youíre going to. And then go to Nevada. And then California, and then come south. And go back through Arizona and then through Texas, you know what I’m saying?”

And during that a symphony is playing tense notes, building up until finally the sound of an acoustic guitar, playing tweaked notes just sharp of what you’re expecting to hear. Oberst’s juvenile voice sings of the ways of the world, with those damn lyrics he’s so good at writing. “To the counter-culture copyright/get your revolution at a lower price/or make believe and throw the fight, play dead.”

Something youíll notice throughout the album is how religiously anti-religious it is. In “Four Winds” Oberst sings “And when Great Satanís gone!/ The Whore of Babylon!” and later, “The Bible’s blind, the Torah’s deaf, the Koran is Mute/If You burned them all together you’d get close to the truth” and on “Hot Knives” he makes a reference to a Jesus on a crucifix above a bed, “Hanging like a common criminal.”

But another thing you’ll notice is how little you’ll suddenly care. If I heard those lyrics places in several different band’s songs, I would be appalled. And I’m not even religious. But with the musical context they’re put in it doesn’t really seem to bother you. The gleeful fiddle in “Four Winds” makes you completely forget about how Oberst is calling Satan great, where as in all death metal songs where it mentions the coming of Satan and how great that’ll be because there’ll be blood everywhere, I just can’t stand it. The repetitive “riffs” and the fact that you canít distinguish an A note from a G note in death metal songs is also unsettling. In “Hot Knives” the epic drums the pop in right after the mention of Jesus’s “criminal appearance” make you completely forget about that little bit of blasphemy and make you say, “Wow, that’s a great drum beat!” (At least, it made me say that).

Now, besides the anti-religious lyrics, and the incredibly poetic ones as well, what Connor Oberst is really good at is choruses (or is it chori?). For example, in “When the Brakeman Turns My Way” the organs make you ready to live some more, make you feel like you just won the lottery. And in “Classic Cars,” the bright piano builds up like a song by The Band. Actually, “Classic Cars” is probably the best song by The Band that The Band never got around to writing. It’s like an indie version of “The Weight.”

You step out of Cassadaga like you too have gone to “Nevada. And then California, and then come southÖ. back through Arizona and then through Texas.” At the end of Cassadaga, you’ve been to Cassadaga, that place with “great grounds and boards and everything that you need where youíll be going.” Hell, you’ve gone through an entire Divine intervention!

Key Tracks: Four Winds, Classic Cars, When the Brakeman Turns My Way

Bright Eyes : No One Would Riot For Less

Review by Evan Greenwald

Fields : EVERYTHING LAST WINTER

Rating: 4/5

I’m trying to figure out how to pronounce, and spell, the subgenre that Fields fit into. Progmo? Emog? Punkemog? Punkeprogmo? Folprogmo? Profolkmo? Whatever it is, it simultaneously contains Prog Rock, emo, punk, and folk in one really great blend.

This new band uses folky acoustic guitar with atmospheric keyboards and ghostly harmonies and other freaky stuff as well in order to create their original stuff. And on Everything Last Winter, it’s used effectively. Itís the same kind of music youíd expect to hear around Halloween, though. And for me this is a great thing. It gets my creative juices flowing.

On the opening track, “Song for the Fields” you’re thrust into a driving Prog rock anthem following the same basics as Jethro Tull and Pink Floyd, with Fields own elements put in there. The nervous drumming on “You Don’t Need This Song (So Heal Your Broken Heart)” sets a freak folk pace for a traditionally pop song. “Charming the Flames” is also a great song. It starts with a folky bit, and then slowly speeds up to an emo song far better than Taking Back Sunday’s “MakeDamnSure,” but will probably never hit the charts. It takes a long time for “School Books” to get good, but when it does, it gets really good. “Feathers” reminds me instantly of if the Arcade Fire had written their song “Haiti” during Neon Bible. And “The Death” is eternally a Halloween theme song, right there with the soundtrack for “The Nightmare before Christmas.”

With Fields, it’s Halloween again, and you can put your makeup on and pretend you’re the Grim Reaper. Now go get your candy.

Key tracks: The Death, Song for the Fields, and Feathers

Reviewed by Evan Greenwald

Fields : Song for the Fields

Blair–Pluto EP by Evan Greenwald

Overall Score: 3.5

Review: There’s something lovingly Shinsy about these guys and girl, a new indie band with a really great flow. That’s really the disk in a nutshell, if you’ll pardon the clichÈ. I think this is the start of something that I think is a very promising musical career.
 
Now, because of the little number of songs (four), I’m going to go track by track on this album, just a sentence or two on each track. The opener, “Wolfboy” is a catchy song that you just might have found on the Shin’s Chutes Too Narrow (remember how I said that Blair are lovingly Shinsy? I meant it), and unfortunately, itís got some of the worst lyrics I can think of for a chorus, “Oh my god/Oh my god” etc. “Mona Lisa” is a poppy little number with a catchy bass line and a classic country guitar bit. The best track is “Half Moon,” which not only reminds me of the Beatle’s “Strawberry Fields Forever,” but it sounds absolutely nothing like it. It’s got some freaky lyrics too, “Cuz I gave birth/To the Sheep last night/ Took pictures/Caged a fight”. This is surrealistic poetry at its best with some incredibly catchy beats behind it. “Blues Song,” the last song is exactly what its title suggests it is, and the singer/songwriter Blair (who’d have thought, right?) gets down and southern and acoustic.
 
So, what to say about Blair’s first studio recording released to the public? It’s great. It’s a fun record to have on hand, and it’s great to listen to when you need to relax, just to cool off for about twelve minutes (because that’s how long it is, I think). And sometimes that’s all you need.

Review by Evan Greenwald

Blair : Mona Lisa
Blair : Halfmoon