Tag Archives: Conor Oberst

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New Better Oblivion Community Center video: Dylan Thomas

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Video: Better Oblivion Community Center – “Dylan Thomas”

Directed by Michelle Zauner. From Better Oblivion Community Center, out now on Dead Oceans.

This is so good! And when’s the last time Conor Oberst has looked this happy? Phoebe Bridgers clearly brings out the best in him.

This whole album is great. Which shouldn’t surprise anybody. Their collaboration on Bridgers’ “Would You Rather” from 2017’s Stranger In The Alps was awesome. At the time we called it “a self-contained short story” in the guise of “a simple, pretty, acoustic duet.”

This new one’s more rockin’ and it suits them both. Their voices blend remarkably well. It’s funny that Oberst is as good of a harmonizer as he is, considering the fact that he doesn’t have what anybody would consider a traditionally “strong” voice. But hey, that’s rock and roll. One half science, the other half soul.

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In other news, Bridgers was a named source in a recent high-profile article about a notoriously creepy douchebag who promised young women help with their music careers only to perv out on them and then get emotionally abusive after they got away. Bridgers wrote a great song about her ordeal (“I hate you for what you did… I faked it every time but that’s alright… Why do you sing with an English accent?”).

Others, unfortunately, stopped making music altogether.

Better Oblivion Community Center: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New Phoebe Bridgers video: Would You Rather ft. Conor Oberst

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Video: Phoebe Bridgers – “Would You Rather” (ft. Conor Oberst)

From Stranger In The Alps, out now on Dead Oceans.

Playing “would you rather”
When it comes to fire
You always say that you’d prefer to drown

You were still in the ambulance
When the cop suggested
You’re the one who tried to burn it down

Whoa! That’s a self-contained short story right there.

It might sound like just a simple, pretty, acoustic duet there’s a lot going on in here.

Bridgers told The Fader that she wrote the song about her brother Jackson, who directed the video and said:

“I wanted to represent the almost telepathic bond between siblings that Phoebe and Conor sing about with televisions because sitting in front of the TV was one of the main places we bonded as kids, second only to long road trips. This song beautifully shows that knowing someone means knowing all of their darkest and most gruesome childhood fears and nightmares, but friendship and time can turn those negative emotions into something useful. As we get older and grow as artists, I’m glad this friendship can manifest itself in new ways, even as the nightmares and fantasies of our childhood fade away.”

Phoebe Bridgers: web, twitter, amazon, apple, spotify, wiki.

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New Conor Oberst video: Barbary Coast (Later)

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Video: Conor Oberst – “Barbary Coast (Later)”

From Salutations, out now on Nonesuch. We already covered the fact that Oberst’s latest is the full-band version of his previous release. Carrying on…

This video is touching and effective, the story of a little boy trying to follow his dreams after the world lets him down. Directed by Cris Gris who goes for an almost “Stand By Me” vibe with three brothers and their single mom going about their lives, bowling, biking, and stowing away in the back of a pickup to go see Conor Oberst in concert.

Continue reading New Conor Oberst video: Barbary Coast (Later) →

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New Conor Oberst video: Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out

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Video: Conor Oberst – “Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out”

From Salutations, due March 17 on Nonesuch.

So apparently Oberst’s last album, Ruminations, was just a collection of demos for this new album.

According to Nonesuch:

When Oberst wrote and recorded the songs on Ruminations, entirely solo—with just voice, piano, guitar and harmonica—he intended to ultimately record them with a full band. In the midst of putting together that band, the passionate responses Oberst was getting to those first solo recordings, from friends and colleagues, encouraged him to release the songs as-is, in their original sparse form, as his seventh solo album: Ruminations, which was released in October 2016. Meanwhile, Oberst simultaneously moved ahead with his plans to record with the band. Salutations includes full-band versions of the ten songs from Ruminations, plus seven additional songs.

So that’s kinda weird, right? Feels like a rip-off. Like maybe they should’ve just held on to the ten demos on Ruminations and included them as a bonus disc with Salutations. Who does Oberst think he is, Ryan Adams?

Then again, who cares anyway since nobody buys music anymore, and we can just stream them together or separately or not at all. The concept of the “album” as a cohesive piece of work is probably antiquated and anachronistic (and rockist!) at this point. Or maybe not. The only scarcity left in the music marketplace is people’s attention, and I’d rather not spend mine on demo collections when your ultimate intention is to put out a full-band album. But that’s just me.

Continue reading New Conor Oberst video: Till St. Dymphna Kicks Us Out →

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New Desaparecidos video: City On The Hill

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Video: Desaparecidos – “City On The Hill”

Conor Oberst leads his “political punk” band on a cheerful little ditty about how everything is bullshit and we’re all doomed.

All the founding fathers
sowed their seeds into servant girls
All the godless heathens
had to leave to make a newer world
So we could live together in America
Justice is blind and so is love

Good times. From Payola, due June 23 on Epitaph. Directed by Rob Soucy.

Via punknews.

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New Conor Oberst video: Common Knowledge

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Video: Conor Oberst – “Common Knowledge”

Watch Conor Oberst tool around the Nonesuch Records offices in a bad wig in his latest video from Upside Down Mountain. He reads the Bible, pounds a bottle of water, and trims his wig. The video is a little goofy, but the song is good: a character study of a classic fuckup. We all know the type. “Washed up, bitter, broken, busted / backstabbed everyone he trusted.”

It’s a sequel to the “Zigzagging Toward the Light” video, which was released back in May and concluded with a promise to be continued. Both were directed by David Altobelli.

Continue reading New Conor Oberst video: Common Knowledge →

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Conor Oberst, Taylor Goldsmith and First Aid Kit – Lua

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Maybe we tweeted about this already—I don’t know, who can keep up anymore?—but it’s worth a few more than 120 characters. Conor Oberst links up with “his boy” Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes and the gals from First Aid Kit to sing a truly lovely song on the banks of a lake. “Lua” is a Bright Eyes tracking going way back to 2005 but sounds like it could just as easily be from 1974 Laurel Canyon.

We love some Oberst here at GLONO HQ and if this is an indication of his new album then I guess we best get hopping and add it to the library.

“I know you have a heavy heart, I feel it when we kiss. So many men stronger than me throw their backs out trying to lift it.” That’s some deep shit there. We’re declaring this the last song of the summer of 2014. Grab a Pabst, smoke a J, and take a swim.

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Monsters of Folk: Conor Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward and Mike Mogis

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MP3: Monsters of Folk – “Say Please” from Monsters of Folk, out now on Shangri-La (courtesy of Magnet)

Paste has a good interview with Conor Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward, and Mike Mogis, who together have released an album as Monsters of Folk. Yes, it’s a stupid name, and they acknowledge that. But I like what I’ve heard so far.

Jim James: The only rule was that the four of us play everything on the record. So we played all the drums, all the bass—we didn’t hire any outside musicians. Conor Oberst: And we all sing on nearly every song, even if it’s just backup. M. Ward: That was a fun part of process—layering the vocals; finding common ground between vocals. Mike Mogis: That’s one of the standout features of the record. The songwriting is great, as well, but the sheer sonics of hearing these three people sing together… Oberst: It’s that old folk sound. [laughter] James: It’s just like Peter, Paul and what’s his face. [laughter]

Sounds like they’ve got the right attitude—not taking themselves too seriously. We’ve got a couple of videos after the jump, including a live version of “Say Please” plus a song that sounds a lot like American Beauty-era Grateful Dead.

Continue reading Monsters of Folk: Conor Oberst, Jim James, M. Ward and Mike Mogis →

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Conor Oberst documentary – One of My Kind

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Video: Conor Oberst – “One of My Kind” Documentary

This 60-minute long documentary was made by Conor Oberst and The Mystic Valley Band‘s guitar-tech Phil Schaffart over the past year and a half. Schaffart began video taping the band in Tepoztlan, Mexico in 2008 while they were recording their first album and continued filming as they toured around the world, up through the recording of their new album, Outer South, due May 5 on Merge.

The documentary is being made available as a free stream or HD download on Causecast.org, “in the hope that you will make a donation to a nonprofit or cause of your choice.” Additionally, IFC.com, The Huffington Post, and Myspace IMPACT will feature outtakes, trailers and live acoustic performances from the film.

MP3: Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band – “Nikorette” from Outer South

Conor Oberst: iTunes, Amazon, Insound, wiki, web.