thursday wake up call

"Zigzagging Toward the Light" by Conor Oberst, taken Conor's brand new record, Upside Down Mountain, out now on Nonesuch Records.

wednesday wake up call

Conor Oberst performs "Zigzagging Toward The Light" on The Tonight Show.

sunday wake up call

Conor Oberst live set in The Greene Space at WNYC, New York.



Set List:
"Time Forgot"
"Double Life"
"Night At Lake Unknown"
"Lonely At The Top"
"Hundreds Of Ways"
"You Are Your Mother’s Child"
"Common Knowledge"

anything could happen and it could be right now

Tour only releases are usually pretty special for those who could make it out to see the bands; otherwise they could be pretty annoying for fans of the bands that did not schedule nearby dates.

Los Campesinos!, No Age, and Times New Viking teamed up for a very limited 7” to celebrate the Shred Yr Face tour. I have been dying to hear Times New Viking's cover of The Clean and after weeks of searching for this 7”, I have finally got my hands on it! (This one is pretty much not available anywhere, that is why I am posting all three songs from the 7”)

Los Campesinos!: Death To Los Campesinos! [Napoleon III Remix]
No Age: Revolving Credit For Kitty
Times New Viking: Anything Could Happen (The Clean cover)


Conor Oberst is offering Gentlemen's Pact EP during his current tour.

Gentlemen's Pact
Synesthete Song


The Acorn/Ohbijou Split 12" is available at one of the bands’ remaining Canadian dates. The two bands covered each other’s song on the split and they both have a brand new song to showcase as well.

The Acorn: Burrows [wicked-cool song]
Darcy (The Acorn cover)
***all files expire in 7 days or until bandwidth reaches its limit

i am STILL in love with lisa from toys r us

Due to popular demand, I am currently re-uploading the Conor Oberst demo cassettes from this post, refresh your browser for updated links, enjoy!

here we go again

The Conor Oberst cassettes are probably one of the most popular downloads on this blog. Every so often, I receive requests to repost those tracks… and you guessed it, someone is asking for those cassettes once again, go here to discover recordings from a young Bright Eyes.

endless entertainment

Finally, an official Bright Eyes site will be up in 2007… along with a brand new LP, Cassadaga due out in April. Sign up for the Bright Eyes mailing list now to hear a brand new Bright Eyes track ...or download it below!

Bright Eyes: Endless Entertainment

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my promise is counterfeit

Bright Eyes will release a new EP entitled Four Winds on CD and 12" on March 6, 2007, that will then be followed by a brand new full length in April...so exciting! This news comes at a perfect time. I listen to Bright Eyes all year around, but for some reason, I do that more so during the winter. I guess there has always been this strange, but fitting association of Bright Eyes with the cold, windy, snowy winter.

Act Of Contrition
Black Comedy [wicked-cool song]
Entry Way Song [super-wicked-cool song]
Go Find Yourself A Dry Place
Have You Ever Heard Of Jandek
Hungry For A Holiday [wicked-cool song]
I'll Be Your Friend
The Joy In Discovery
Lake Havasu (In Florida)
One Foot In Front Of The Other (Saddle Creek 50 version) [super-wicked-cool song]
Pioneer's Park
Spring Cleaning
When the Curious Girl Realizes She is Under Glass Again [wicked-cool song]
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buy One Jug Of Wine, Two Vessels here
buy Noise Floor (Rarities 1998-2005) on 180 gram 2xLP here

saddle creek all-stars pt. II

To follow up on the Commander Venus post a few days ago, Park Ave. is another band that featured important players from the Saddle Creek/Team Love family: Tilly and the Wall’s Neely Jenkins and Jamie Williams, Clark Baechle from The Faint, and of course, Conor Oberst.

1. Theme Song
2. All Boy Band
3. She's an Actress?
4. December Snapshots
5. She Teaches Art?
6. Sick Complainant
7. It's a Life
8. Invitation to a Closet
9. L.O.V.E.
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buy When Jamie Went to London, We Broke Up here.

saddle creek all-stars

Commander Venus featured a number of important players from the Saddle Creek family: not only was it fronted by Conor Oberst, but the band included Tim Kasher of Curisve and The Good Life, as well as members of The Faint... crazy!

Do You Feel at Home?, 1995
1. Peppermints
2. Showcase Showdown
3. My Other Car Is A Spaceship
4. Judy Blume
5. Radio Announcer
6. It Is Fun To Grow Ornamental Peppers
7. Callin' Sooyoung
8. When Two Vowels Go Walking, The First One Does The Talking
9. Sunny Slope
10. Pennsylvania Made You Sick
11. Do You Feel At Home?

The Uneventful Vacation, 1997
1. Jean's TV
2. Refused by Light
3. We'll Always Have Paris
4. The Uneventful Vacation (Part 1)
5. Lock 'n' Chase
6. Life as Expected
7. The Way Things Had to Be
8. Dress to Please
9. The Walk-Around Problem
10. My Collapsing Frame
11. The Raining Holiday (Part 2)
12. The Role of the Hero in Antiquity
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old... really old bright eyes

I am not sure if I posted these before, but a reader of this blog requested them:

from Bright Eyes/Squadcar 96 Split, 1997
1. Racing Towards The New
2. Go Find Yourself A Dry Place

from Tea at the Palaz of Hoon Compilation, 2000
It's Cool, We can Still Be Friends

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reposts

I received a few requests for early Conor Oberst recordings... go here for the repost. (sorry for the delay… I know that one of the requests was from months ago, but I completely forget… sorry again!)

Someone also wanted me to repost a couple of Brand New songs from their incredible new album, The Devil And God Are Raging Inside Me. Go to this link for those.

i am in love with lisa from toys r us

I have been listening to a lot of older music by Mr. Bright Eyes recently. By older music, I mean his first three solo cassettes and Commander Venus stuffs... so, if I did the math correctly, he’s only like 13 or 14 or 15 when he recorded those albums. Even at such a young age, Oberst has already developed a somewhat impressive songwriting skill. Being a huge Bright Eyes fan, these old solo cassettes put a huge smile on me every time I hear them. Oberst’s voice is prepubescent-ish... it is completely different... it is very high and not as crackly... very cute and funny! So, if you are a huge fan of Bright Eyes, you must download the tracks below... actually, if you don't like Bright Eyes, you should still check them out.

Water (1994)
1. You Should Be In Sweden
2. Hubcap
3. Over it
4. Collage
5. Blue
6. Get Into It
7. Ouija
8. Half a Minute Away
9. Purple Chin

Here's To Special Treatment (1995) [wicked-cool cassette]
1. Sledge Winston & The Element Of Surprise
2. Things You Know
3. Tar
4. Space Invaders
5. Lava Monster
6. Puddle Stomper
7. The Day Statues Broke
8. The Bumpercar Blues
9. Blowtorch
10. J-Bone
11. Sundress

The Soundtrack To My Movie (1996) (warning: the quality of this recording is pretty damn bad)
1. In My Sights
2. The Halcyon
3. District 66
4. Floodlights
5. Your Tightrope
6. Oh, To Be Friends
7. Oh, Tired Eyes
8. Flying J
9. Great American Radio
10. Oh, Sweetest Heart
11. German Chocolate
12. Animal Prints
13. Another Night In
14. The Reason I Exist
15. Show Me How

***all files expire in 7 days *re-posted on December 3, 2007

conor oberst was spoofed (poorly) on snl

As you can see, this skit was somewhat horrible… but I was pretty surprised that SNL impersonated Conor Oberst.

Conor Oberst A to Z

I am seeing Bright Eyes at the Massey Hall in in less than 24 hours. It will be my first time seeing a concert there... I can’t wait as I’ve heard many great things about that venue! So anyways, this is just another excuse for me to create another A to Z list, so enjoy.

A is for Amos House Volume II, a compilation disc released by Wishing Tree Records which features the track "Entry Way Song" by Bright Eyes.
A is also for "Amy in the White Coat", a track from the 12" version of There is No Beginning to the Story EP.
[download: Entry Way Song]
[download: Amy in the White Coat]

B is for Bright Eyes, Oberst’s current project.
B is also "Burn Rubber", a b-side from the Take it Easy (Love Nothing) single.
[download: Burn Rubber]

C is for Commander Venus, a band Oberst was in from 1995-1997. Members consisted of Tim Kasher (Cursive/Good Life), Todd Baechle (The Faint), and Robb Nansel (co-founder of Saddle Creek Records).
[download: Commander Venus: Do You Feel At Home?] (full album, rar. file)

D is for Desaparecidos, Oberst's side-project. They released Read Music/Speak Spanish on Saddle Creek Records in 2002.

E is for the Every Day and Every Night EP, released in 2000 between Letting Off The Happiness and Fevers and Mirrors.

F is for February 15, 1980, Oberst’s birthday.
F is also for Fevers and Mirrors, Bright Eyes second full-length which give both the band and their label (Saddle Creek) national as well as world-wide attentions. Oberst dropped out of school shortly after the release of Fevers and Mirrors to go on tours.
[download: Feb. 15th]

G is for "Going for the Gold" from Oh Holy Fools split with Son, Ambulance. A live version of the song was also featured on a compilation entitled Future Soundtrack for America released in 2004 by Barsuk Records.
[download: Going for the Gold]
[download: Going for the Gold (live)]

H is for Home Volume IV, a split with Spoon’s Britt Daniel. The two songs by Bright Eyes were "Spent On Rainy Days" and "Southern State".
[download: Spent On Rainy Days]
[download: Southern State]

I is for I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, one of two albums released by Bright Eyes in January 2006.

J is for "Jetsabel Removes the Undesireables", a track from the Japanese import of Fevers and Mirrors.
[download: Jetsabel Removes the Undesireables]

K is for Tim Kasher, who was in Commander Venus with Oberst.
K is also for "Kathy with a K's Song", a song from Oh Holy Fools split with Son, Ambulance.
[download: Kathy with a K's Song]

L is for Lumberjack Records (1993-1995) (not to be confused with Lumberjack Distribution), the label was founded by a group of friends in Nebraska including Justin Oberst, Robb Nansel, and Mike Mogis which would eventually become Saddle Creek Records in 1996.
L is also for Letting Off The Happiness (1998), the first Bright Eyes record.
L is also for Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground (2002), Oberst’s and Saddle Creek’s first 100K records sales.

M is for Mike Mogis, a co-founder of Saddle Creek Records. He also engineered/produced many Saddle Creek releases including albums by Bright Eyes, The Faint, Jenny Lewis, etc. He is currently a member of Bright Eyes.

N is for Nebraska (Omaha), Oberst’s birthplace.

O is for Oh Holy Fools, a split with Son, Ambulance released in 2001.

P is for Park Ave. Oberst played drums for them from 1996-1998. Their only full-length, When Jamie Went to London, We Broke Up, was released on Urinine Records in 1999. It was repressed by Team Love last year. Park Ave. also featured current members of Tilly and The Wall.
P is also for "Padraic My Prince", my favorite Bright Eyes song.
[download: Padraic My Prince]

Q is for nothing.

R is for "Road to Joy". A song from Bright Eyes' I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning. Oberst borrowed the melodies from the forth movement of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9.
[download: Road to Joy]
[download: Sym. no. 9 by Beethoven (Ode to Joy)]

S is for Saddle Creek Records.
S is also for Spend An Evening With Saddle Creek, an excellent documentary on the label.

T is for Team Love, Oberst’s record label, an imprint of Saddle Creek.

U is for an "Untitled" track from the Insound Tour Support EP released in 2000.
[download: Untitled]

V is for Vote For Change Tour. Bright Eyes were involved in this tour, which took place in October of 2004 and its aim was to encourage people to vote against George W. Bush in the 2004 Presidential Election.

W is for Water, Oberst’s first cassette (1993) recorded by Ted Stevens (Cursive) on a 4-track in Oberst’s parents’ house. It is also Lumberjack Records’ first release.
[download: Conor Oberst: Water] (full album, rar. file)

X is for nothing.

Y is for "You Will. You? Will. You? Will. You? Will." from Lifted Or The Story Is In The Soil, Keep Your Ear To The Ground.

Z is for... I can never think of anything for Z... damnit!

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buy Bright Eyes releases here
visit Saddle Creek here and Team Love here