The Rocket

Issue date: 9/5/08 Section: Focus

Dan Zeltmann

Media Credit: MCT Campus Connor Oberst is best known for his musical group, Bright Eyes. The first official album was released in 1998 and since then they've released numerous alblums including "I'm Wide Awake Its Morning." [Click to enlarge]

For those of you who are familiar with the name Conor Oberst, I can only assume it is due to his most notable and successful musical endeavor, Bright Eyes. Aside from that, Conor Oberst has an impressive catalog of side projects such as Commander Venus, Park Ave and Desaparecidos.

On Aug. 5, Conor Oberst again released a new album under a new name, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band. This is the first "solo" album Oberst has released since age 13, and could possibly have been the most anticipated album of his career to date.

This album, simply titled Conor Oberst, was recorded in Tepoztlan, Mexico. There, Oberst and his band, which is made up of Taylor Hollings and Nik Freitas on guitars, Macey Taylor on bass, Nate Walcott on keyboard and trumpet, and Jason Boesel on the drums, created a temporary studio in a mountain villa for a month's length of time in the winter of 2008.

Oberst and a close group of musicians and friends, who deemed themselves The Mystic Valley Band, sculpted a spiritually and emotionally brilliant record that displays their sense of the peace in which they lived and worked during that time.

Before you prejudge this album, I would suggest a nice, close listen. Unlike Oberst's previous projects, Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band show off a side and style we have yet seen from Oberst.

It is clear that this 28-year-old musician has grown up, shying away from his younger years of writing songs of self-pity and insecurities. This album covers more diverse issues such as concerns with past, present and future events that hold deeper meaning than teenage heartbreak.

The opening song sets the mood for the rest of the album, which is surprisingly upbeat and optimistic. A sheer concern and optimism for the future is shown off in the song "Cape Canaveral" when Oberst states, "The mountain side was shining wild colors of my destiny."

The rest of the tracks seem to hold a country-esque feel influenced heavily by rock and folk. Though this album seems to stem away from Oberst's most notable and favored style of music by his fans, it still holds the same passion and intimacy in his lyrics.

On the second track, "Sausalito," Oberst confesses, "I remain between her legs/sheltered from all my fears." This raw showcase of emotion is honest enough for anyone to relate to.

The next few songs hold a similar blueprint until you reach "I Don't Want to Die (in a Hospital)." A plead and promise that shows Oberst's fear of dying in a hospital bed. Though a depressing topic, Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band make this song one of the most playful and catchy songs on the album. A hint of dark humor is shed when Oberst admits "They don't let you smoke/and you can't get drunk/all there is to watch are these soap operas/I don't want to die in a hospital/you got to take me back outside."

One of my favorite songs from the album is entitled "NYC-Gone, Gone." This, being the shortest of the 12-song record with only a 1:12 playtime, has a certain simplicity that is short but catchy enough to stay in your head all day long.

Gang vocals are used while Oberst sings, "Gone, gone, from New York City/where you gonna go with a head that empty? /Gone, gone from New York City/where you gonna go with a heart that gone?"



THE BOTTOM LINE

Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band's new album, Conor Oberst, is a 12 track-42 minute long record that, whether a fan of Conor Oberst or not, will suck you in and blow your mind. The deep poetic messages sent through each song are carried by melodies that will capture your interest and love for Conor Oberst and his Mystic Valley Band.

Dan Zeltmann is a sophomore secondary education English major.

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