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“Souled Out!!!” – Conor Oberst
(Words/music: Jason Bosel and Conor Oberst, available on Conor Oberst, Merge Records 2008)

Last weekend I went with a group of friends to see Wilco and Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band opened for them.  I’ve been a fan of Bright Eyes since discovering Lifted… a few years ago and had a hard time trying to figure out why he dropped his stage name.  I touched on this idea a few weeks ago when I wrote about David Bazan dropping his Pedro the Lion name and thought about Oberst the entire time.  For a number of reasons – the intensity of the voice in his songs, my proximity to him in age – Bright Eyes was Conor Oberst, including his affiliation with Saddle Creek and his cracking voice.  Unlike Bazan, who essentially surrendered his pseudonym to assume control, Oberst seemed to want to close a chapter of his life.  The Oberst on the stage opening for Wilco was far more self-assured and stage-ready than the voice I always heard in those Bright Eyes records (even the last couple).  Granted, I never saw Bright Eyes perform, so he may have always had stage presence, but Oberst seemed both comfortable and confident with the Mystic Valley Band behind him, tearing through an hour long set of songs from their two records.

If the Bright Eyes albums were interesting because of their rawness – be it Oberst’s vocal tics or his imagery or storytelling, his two “solo” albums find him loosening up and enjoying the songs.  “Souled Out!!!” in particular feels “fun” largely because of the shouted backing vocals in the chorus, but it still retains much of Oberst’s tendencies as a songwriter.  His verses still privilege images and details over bluntness, making Oberst seem like a singing journalist detailing his surroundings.  Where other songwriters might cut directly to their feelings, he brings us into his mind, sharing all of the different things passing through his line of sight with the trust that we’ll make the same connections that he’s making.  He made his name as Bright Eyes wringing tortured emotions out of his acoustic guitar, but here Oberst seems to revel in the conclusion that heaven is “Souled Out.”  I see the argument that his songs were more interesting when they scratched at his emotional scabs, but “Souled Out!!!” carries a swagger and confidence rarely seen on the Bright Eyes records.  This song, with it’s acceptance that St. Peter won’t be opening his gates, would sound morose on a Bright Eyes record; here, it’s an afterthought to the life he’s leading.  Even if these songs aren’t as emotionally arresting as some of his other compositions, it’s hard to deny that he’s growing as an all-around songwriter.

More on Conor Oberst: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

TAGGED UNDER: conor oberst | bright eyes | 2008 | 2000s | track analysis | going solo | merge records |
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“Fewer Broken Pieces” – David Bazan
(Words/music: David Bazan, available on Fewer Moving Parts, Barsuk Records 2007)

Bands break up all the time, but we still shrug our shoulders at band breakups when the band in question is essentially a single person’s creative output.  When David Bazan announced that Pedro the Lion was disbanding, it prompted a few puzzled looks since it was primarily his project.  Bazan tackles this directly on his first solo EP, turning the awkward conversations with friends about “going solo” into a song asserting his control.  Bazan makes a fair point at the center of the song – “fewer moving parts means fewer broken pieces,” namely that fewer individuals involved with a recording means fewer people to placate.  Even though he wrote nearly 90% of the Pedro the Lion songs, Bazan authored and performed all of the songs on his EP – a first in his recording career.  Even if it sounds like it could have fit in on the last Pedro the Lion album, Bazan now owns every single second of the recording – every note, every word, every stray sound. 

Aside from Bazan’s astute observation (even if it’s a bit of an oversimplification), I’m drawn in to the casual reference he makes to “David Byrne on Bob Costas.”  I can’t find the clip online, but a message on a Talking Heads board summarizes the conversation Byrne and Costas had in 2004, placing Byrne as the “focal point of the Talking Heads and the outlet from which all artistical [sic] talent flowed from.”  In this context, it’s easy to see why Bazan would look to shed his Pedro the Lion moniker – since he garnered all of the credit for his band, he may as well take it.  While Bazan surrounded himself with capable musicians, I’m not sure it’s quite the same as the Talking Heads.  Yes, like David Byrne, Bazan was the creative core of the band, but in the studio Bazan bore a greater burden than Byrne.  Byrne also had much bigger egos to contend with, sharing writing credits with his bandmates and often producer Brian Eno.  It’s a slippery slope – Byrne might have been the primary songwriter and creative influence, but he doesn’t become famous without his band (or Eno’s guidance, probably).  Bazan, on the other hand, was the natural focal point of his band.  In his case, he was taking complete ownership of what was 95% his in the first place.  Byrne went off on his own to show how he could shine independently (and, arguably, has succeeded).  If Bazan has anything to prove by going solo, it’s to himself.

More on David Bazan: Allmusic | Amazon MP3 | Emusic | Last.fm

TAGGED UNDER: david bazan | Pedro The Lion | David Byrne | bob costas | 2007 | 2000s | barsuk records | track analysis | going solo |
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