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| Bright EyesI'm Wide Awake, It's Morning / Digital Ash In A Digital Urn2005 Saddle Creek 
 Review by: colin See others by this writer Saddle Creek Records (link) Only registered users can post comments 
 
Published on January 25th 2005
I love punk rock. I love the do-it-yourself ethic, the anti-establishment mentality, the self-sustaining independence. What I don't like is the mentality that if you listen to punk, you must confine yourself to the bands that use three chords or less. So while the fashion punks in their denim, leather, and mohawks spit at an act such as Conor Oberst's Bright Eyes, it's their loss. Oberst has always seemed a staple of DIY; from 4-track recording in basements to a side project (the Desaparecidos) dedicated to attacking consumerism and the expansion of big business. This year Oberst releases two albums, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning and Digital Ash In A Digital Urn. While the two albums are seperate releases, I am doing it all in one review to compare and contrast the releases.
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"His records are distributed by a major label and can be purchased at walmart and bestbuy." go kill yourself, colin. i realy love this cd. its wonderfull. booo. worst recording artist since the shaggs. booo. worst recording artist since the shaggs. The reason why I hate Bright Eyes so much is the medicocrity of it all, there are acts out there that are ten times better but because they their not in the "in crowd" they never catch on. Bright Eyes is some very shitty shit sorry losers! Love the music and the album and well the band. It speeks to me as if they were just playing for me not for anyone but me. I really like "wide awake", haven't heard much of "digital" and have no real intent of hearing more, but "wide awake" is fucking good, not as good as "fevers" or "letting off the happiness" (notice how i left out "lifted") but still fucking good does anybody have the porno he made of winona? while neither album is perfect, this one-two punch may end up atop my top 10 list for this year...maybe. This would be hilarious, if some weren't so serious. The poor schmuck, who types for shit, basically says Oberst is a genius and a fuckup. And if he doesn't stop self-medicating himself he is gonna lose it. Chad on Flagpole hit's the nail on the head...post-Dylan landscape of songwriters working their way into the history books, Conor Oberst has a clear and unmistakable lead; any more stumbles like this, though, and he can count himself out of the race. This is my actual score. The "I'm Wide Awake" CD just reached the Top 20 in the UK album charts....we must stop this before he DESTROYS US ALL, in the interim anyway. Ahem. Conor Oberst knows a hole in the ground when he sees one, but clouds of ethanol pecludes the mastery of an art form. Poetically challenged and musical adriot, he desperately attempts to secure the brass ring. with a heart og gold and beguiling innocence (ha!) he marches forward. Some day he'll get off his slacker ass and become the artist he portends to be. in the interim, it just goes to show that you can be a pretntious digital ass in a digital urinal. yup, it's is sad. Conor Oberst knows a hole in the ground when he sees one, but clouds of ethanol pecludes the mastery of an art form. Poetically challenged and musical adriot, he desperately attempts to secure the brass ring. with a heart og gold and beguiling innocence (ha!) he marches forward. Some day he'll get off his slacker ass and become the artist he portends to be. in the interim, it just goes to show that you can be a pretntious digital ass in a digital urinal. yup, it's is sad. "have to laugh at you dweebs for a typo, where is your sense?" "Fuck you dudes" This score is for the feeling of urine passing through one's bladder. have to laugh at you dweebs for a typo, where is your sense? I'm not a fan of Bright Eyes, but I wanted to bring everyones attention to a comment made earlier. pitchfork would laugh you out of their offices with spelling like that. To the guy below me- it's not a fucking Pitchfork audition, speak English Conor Oberst knows a hole in the ground when he sees one, but clouds of ethanol pecludes the mastery of an art form. Poetically challenged and musical adriot, he desperately attempts to secure the brass ring. with a heart og gold and beguiling innocence (ha!) he marches forward. Some day he'll get off his slacker ass and become the artist he portends to be. in the interim, it just goes to show that you can be a pretntious digital ass in a digital urinal. yup, it's is sad. To the guy below: What's the point of having comments below album reviews anymore? bright eyes is for homos. If Winter Ends?! I don't know if Digital Ash in a Digital Urn can be said to be this great departure for Bright Eyes; if anything it's reminiscent of older Bright Eyes. These songs remind me a hell of a lot of Letting off the Happiness (If Winter Ends, Touch), just more sophisticated. And Bright Eyes has always used samples in its music, even in Lifted, so that's not any different. "the guy below me sniffs little girls bike seats" the guy below me sniffs little girls bike seats Say what you want, but Conor Oberst is honest. Honesty is lacking so much in music these days, and he has it. I listen to this album, and I hear fucking heart. He is not throwing together bullshit lyrics he knows will sound good over certain chords, he is analyzing his life, the world around him, and on top of that, doing it in an incredibly intelligent and poetic way. These lyrics are the kind that you can listen to 15 times and not understand what he's trying to say until the 15th listen.... there are hidden messages and subtleties that most bands could only dream of coming up with. "Christ, you people can't fucking wait to start making these stupid lists. i have a lot of respect for the way connor has gotten to where he is, but holmes is in 'Elle Girl' and 'Girls Life' and shit. that shit aint diy. "Digital Ash has it's high poiints and low points, but "Take It Easy" (Love Nothing) is, in my mind, an early contender for best song of 2005. " If punk is truly a mindset, then Conor Oberst has it in spades. I'd like to see that meeting between conor and the record distribution execs. I imagine it could be a fairly awkward and.. tense situation. His records are distributed by a major label and can be purchased at walmart and bestbuy. There is nothing wrong with that. He wants as many people as possible to hear/buy his record. However, It's obviously not DIY. I'm not denying that he has ethics. If everyone treated music like he does, as a personal and expressive art form instead of a career, music as a whole would greatly become better. This stuff bores me after about one song but it doesn't seem bad enough to trash. I'd rather people listened to pop like this without nasal vocals and background screaming vocal formulas than a lot of the other crap people review here. Start your own label. Put out your music along with that of your friends. Tour your ass off for a decade. Ask your friends in lesser known bands to come on tour with you. Refuse to pay money to get more attention on the radio and MTV. Do everything in your power not to play CC venues, and speak out against them, too. Turn down multi-million dollar contracts and buyouts from various major labels. Sappy soulless losers. Pitchfork rightfully trashed the new Trail of Dead album. "No... U2 is pretentious. Thinking that you're worthy of having your own ipod is pretentious. Some punk bands may be cocky, but not pretentious." "By that definition, over half of the bands popular on this site are pretentious. Green Day and Leftover Crack are great examples." i don't think his voice is great, but the warbled mess fits some of his music really well. i think his strength is more in songwriting. "PN.ORG Word of the Day: Why do people think this guy has a great voice? I knew exactly what you meant colin, about how he hasn't folded to outside pressures to make a quick buck and has created the music that he want to make despite obviously having the chance to be much more popular. I've just been finding out more about true diy culture and felt that bright eyes isn't really a part of it in the true sense. I like to nit pick, obviously. maybe i should address the DIY comment - Thanks for clearing up my distribution question. It really doesn't matter all too much to me but i just thought it was inappropriate to call Bright Eyes DIY. Saddle Creek is disrtibuted by ADA which is owned by WEA. ADA also distributes Epitaph, Sub Pop, Tiger Style, Fearless and many more. I dont know how a cd is considered "not diy" by the distributor. All one stop cd distributors( ATM, Norwalk, Galaxy, etc..) carry everything from Nelly to Leftover Crack. I can't think of label that only allows you to buy cds directly from them and doesn't allow any other distributors to carry their product. Anyway who really gives a shit. Wide Awake is great. "Conor Oberst is more punk rock than 95% of artists that call themselves that today. He's been blacklisted by Clear Channel for speaking out against them, including once at a televised CC event for MTV2. There's also a searing anti-Bush track called "When The President Talks To God" that's available for free through Itunes as of today from what I hear." your definition omits the meaning as it has found its way into regular application in our vernacular. now stop abusing dictionary.com. The temporary return of PN.org Word of the Day Ugh. Hey, I hate Bright Eyes and Tsunami Bomb. "there's nothing more annoying than a pretentious acoustic artist trying to make bad pretentious ambient/the kind of "digital" music a hipster would make... why do "punk" kids always feel the need to justify liking something other than 3 chord punk? more specifically, why did this reviewer feel the need to distance himself from "the others"?? just like the shit, write a positive review and do something else with your day. fuck. there's nothing more punk than being indie these days. cute. there's nothing more annoying than a pretentious acoustic artist trying to make bad pretentious ambient/the kind of "digital" music a hipster would make... scott... there are so many bands with similar lyrics and music that you do like. I think it hits too close to home. I honestly don't love the man like some, but I acknowledge that he pens some nice music. "I hate this guy, so, so, so much. Awful music, awful lyrics, awful vocals. It's all a sham, people. "Today was super-duper Tuesday until I remember this crybaby garbage was in the mix. Save your money kids, there are 3 other AMAZING records released today that eclipse this horse shit." Fair review. I don't think "I'm Wide Awake" is watered down at all, just more focused and less pretentious. It's a fantastic record, minus the intro. Oberst can't seem to keep himself from doing that. or maybe he's just everything you wish you were.... I hate this guy, so, so, so much. Awful music, awful lyrics, awful vocals. It's all a sham, people. "Then, heavy beats and I'm reminded of a quieter Nine Inch Nails." i really dig wide awake (spoken word intro aside), but digital ash is just meh... i'm not saying it's terrible but it's not on my rotation and probably won't be unless some odd mood strikes me. Someone should review the new Ghetto Boys album. Bushwick Bill is 1000x punker than Conor Oberst. Digital Ash has it's high poiints and low points, but "Take It Easy" (Love Nothing) is, in my mind, an early contender for best song of 2005. i thought this was a pretty solid review considering everyone seems to have very strong opinions one way or the other on bright eyes. score is for wide awake... that cd is great, although not as good as Lifted, it's still my early choice for cd of the year... this is just temporary however because there are some kick ass releases coming up... Trail of Dead comes out today. It's going to be epic also, i don't see how DIY ethic applies to Conor and Saddle Creek...aren't they distributed by a caroline which is owned by a major and his tour in clear channel venues. Good stuff regardless and I'll be picking one of these up but just thought I'd bring that up. Confirm/deny? Today was super-duper Tuesday until I remember this crybaby garbage was in the mix. Save your money kids, there are 3 other AMAZING records released today that eclipse this horse shit. Dude look at the photos of this guy....why would he allow such ridiculous photos to be let out to the public way to buy into the hype. this is crap i read that desap. had began writing new material and mr oberst shelved it when he got wrapped up in his nelly sweat/suit mission to make more money. i'll wait for my brother to buy these, then i'll burn them. I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning had no filler as far as I'm concerned. You didn't even touch on the most amazing track, "First Day of My Life". I enjoyed this just as much as "Lifted...". And I haven't heard anything from Digital Ash apart from the single, which is amazing. im wide awake is fantastic. digital ash is just ok. he stopped desaparecidos for this shit? Boo. That was a very nice, well informed and thoughtful review. great job! Is it just me or does Digital Ash sound like Conor has been listening to a lot of Xiu Xiu? "I love punk rock. I love the do-it-yourself ethic, the anti-establishment mentality, the self-sustaining independence. What I don't like is the mentality that if you listen to punk, you must confine yourself to the bands that use three chords or less." Does anyone know what's up with Deseparecidos? Good review, keep it up. i thoguht this is punknews, not pitchforkmedia? See my comment in Strike Anywhere for my opinions on "punk rock." Say what you want, but "boy with the chemicals" is a great song. Fuck conor oberst. |
