Word: oberstã
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...Oberst and Mike Mogis, and M. Ward—are stacked with talent, but even after several years of live collaboration and half a year’s worth of hype, their self-titled debut lacks coherence and originality.“Monsters of Folk” oscillates between Oberst??s tired country tropes and James’ burnt-out classic rock riffs. The numbers that feature M. Ward’s vocals provide consistently solid songwriting, offering several truly fantastic tracks on an album that, on the whole, feels slap-dash, poorly executed, and only mildly enjoyable.On...
...just seems so helpless and sweet with that delicate voice of his that it’s hard to hate him. But though this album may be more mature—and country—than previous Bright Eyes records, it’s hard to reconcile Oberst??s explorations of mortality, love, and time with his occasional emo episodes of self-indulgence. The first track, “Clairaudients (Kill or Be Killed),” opens with a lo-fi recording of a woman’s voice advocating a road trip to Cassadaga...
It’s hard to tell how much of the music in Digital Ash is electronically produced and how much of it is just Oberst??s studio band. Either way, there’s much more here (and somehow, much less) than a boy and a guitar: the mix is thick with drums, synthesized instrumentation, and gee-wiz effects. The first track, “Time Code,” opens with two minutes of electronic noodling accompanied by bizarre background panting, presumably from an onanistic Oberst. Just in case the avant wheezing didn?...
Working with a successful mainstream artist like Harris relaxes Oberst??s alt-country pretensions somewhat, resulting in a few unapologetically fragile songs. But these tracks are still a far cry from the music of Oh Holy Fools or even Lifted, severely lacking in the deep-blush emotional candor of his earlier work. The single off of I’m Wide Awake, “Lua,” is clearly an attempt to reintroduce that sense of sincerity. Oberst sings “Lua” without any kind of accompaniment, going for the quiet, tortured style...
...their press and production, both Bright Eyes albums are really nothing more than lowest-common-denominator pop music. Oberst??s invocation of the American singer-songwriter tradition is particularly frustrating, as he exploits all of its rhetoric without achieving any of its art. His Nebraska never stank of cowdung, and his scrawny middle-class heartbreak is as trite as it is insincere. Fans of Bright Eyes should stop settling for less, ditch the poseur, and celebrate the genuinely talented songwriters this country has been producing for decades, from Woody Guthrie to Lou Barlow...