Conor Oberst self titled record

This is my favorite record of 2008. I cannot believe how good it is.

I agree -- it's in my top ten for sure.

I'm actually getting nearly curious about this, which I never thought I would be.

Possibly my favorite BlaggBlogg entry is Conor Oberst's LiveJournal exposed:

December 19th, 2004

...6am and the bathroom tile is freezing. The mirror betrays the awful truth of my being. i try to wash the misery off, but softsoap can't cleanse me of my misfortune. sleep is so hard to find. maybe if i do another line? my heart is exploding with the joy and pain of the universe! or maybe that's the coke....

December 25th, 2004

...Christmas morning and the bathroom tile is freezing. i got a cigarette case from santa, but i just wanted rollerskates like when i was seven. last night's model is this morning's reminder of my loneliness. she's passed out in the living room from too much pills and booze. god, why must i live this life!?!? i just want to play little league, or at least wear the jerseys. fame is a scary haunted house that i'm stuck in!

January 7th, 2005

...winter has come and the bathroom tile is freezing. i'm drowning in fame and choking on my memories. new york is big and hard. nebraska is gone, across an ocean of regret, the smile on my face hasn't come back yet. winona called when i was drunk. reality bites. today i should do something productive. i think i'll go shopping for jeans. or write an album. maybe it could be called, "i got the blues, but i need blue jeans". that's good. i'm so tired of all the fake people here. why isn't anybody real. omaha? somewhere in middle america. that was real...

February 1st, 2005

...I'm having a snack and the bathroom tile is freezing. i watched the news today, oh boy. george w. bush = evil man. why is america so stupid? don't they understand my songs? maybe i should tour more and make them understand. so many unwashed masses of rednecks who i must save from their corporate masters! i am but a simple messenger, common folk, blue collared and red eyed and white from lack of sunlight. i AM america. woody guthrie is in my soul...

March 29th, 2005

...i am balled up in my shower, crying, and the bathroom tile is freezing. i must let go of rock and roll before it kills me. who could possibly have the strength to handle my life? if the women don't kill me, the cocaine will. happiness is an impossibility. it is but an illusion, created to torment the simple songwriters of the world! i just want to play paddycakes with jill cooper, that girl from 4th grade who wore flowers in her hair. we could sing raffi and laugh at the absurdity of all things real and imagined! the drugs aren't working, mommy. please take this pain away. i want a falafel. and happiness...

If you keep posting tripe like this, I may never hear the album again.

i don't think people have realized how easily they can discredited with the help of their own blog these days.

Fortunately, he's a much better songwriter than he is a blogger. For me, this is the first record of his I've loved all the way through. He's "matured" in the best possible way.

Christgau loves it too...

Conor Oberst
"Conor Oberst"
(Merge)

It's official. Forget Shins guy James Mercer, Spoon guy Britt Daniel, even Arcade Fire fraterfamilias Win Butler -- this vibrato-prone romantic is the greatest melodist in contemporary mega-indie. Whatever his adult solo debut portends for once and future arranger Mike Mogis, the Saddle Creek cartel and his latest girlfriend(s?), its meaning is tunes, with beat enough to carry them forward and no other musical distractions. Unlike Mercer and Daniel, he's about flow -- intricacy is an occasional afterthought. Once in a while a guitar part backs up a tasty phrase, and when the time comes, someone in Bright Eyes will gracefully provide it. And oh yeah -- the best song here, quite possibly the best song of his life, is basically a rocking refrain: "I Dont Want to Die (In the Hospital)."

Grade: A

Not to criticize this record or anything, but Christgau has the weirdest taste.

i don't think people have realized how easily they can discredited with the help of their own blog these days.

Ummm, I don't know what BlaggBlogg is but that *is* satire there, right?

I don't think it is.

Dylan had the good sense not to write down such thoughts for biographers and fans to snicker at

(and especially his detractors, now that i think about it)

Hmm, no that is clearly a parody but it's all good because it allowed the comments page to exist: http://www.haloscan.com/comments/blaggblogg/111393638396508546/

And oh yeah -- the best song here, quite possibly the best song of his life, is basically a rocking refrain: "I Dont Want to Die (In the Hospital)."

? sounds like shakin' stevens to me.

"Pull My Hair" is my favorite song still. Maybe "Lua" if you want to get sentimental. The last three or so records I really can't get into.

i've had this CD lying about here for a week or so... still haven't listened to it--this in spite of my loving the crap out of the last Bright Eyes album. maybe i should get around to it then? but my heart is heavy with the accumulated weight of wretched creation...

or maybe that's the Prozac...

ps how in hell could y'all miss the satire of that 'blog' crap posted above? jeez...

er...in maybe? halp...

It's also amazing to me that anyone could possibly think that (a) that blog was real, or (b) that people are still making Conor Oberst 'I'm sensitive LOL' jokes in 2008.

Hopefully they'll tackle Rage Against the Machine next. Dude, they're on Sony - they ARE the machine OMG!

Eddie Vedder doesn't want to be a spokesperson for a generation!

? sounds like shakin' stevens to me.

Ha, this just turned up on the CD being played currently and caek is not un-OTM

the modern world is a sight to see
it's a stimulant, it's pornography
it takes all my will not to turn it off

good lines imo