New Vinyl Additions

My awesome wife knew exactly what to get me for Christmas:



Also, my friend Steven hooked me up with this gem:


And last but not least, my friend Chad bestowed upon me these treasures:

Bright Eyes - A Christmas Album

[copied from Wikipedia]

A Christmas Album is an album by Bright Eyes released in 2002. The proceeds of the album go to the Nebraska AIDS Project. The album was arranged by Conor Oberst and Maria Taylor. The performers also include Jake Bellows, Gretta Cohn, Armand Costanzo, Denver Dalley, Stefanie Drootin, Orenda Fink, Neely Jenkins, Jiha Lee, Andy LeMaster, Mike Mogis, Matt Oberst, Stephen Pedersen, Blake Sennett, Macey Taylor, and Nick White.

Tracklisting:
1. Away In A Manger
2. Blue Christmas
3. Oh Little Town Of Bethlehem
4. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen
5. The First Noel
6. Little Drummer Boy
7. White Christmas
8. Silent Night
9. Silver Bells
10. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
11. The Night Before Christmas

Bright Eyes - Cassadaga

A few weeks ago, I posted one of the two albums that Bright Eyes released in January of '05. Fast forward to April of '07 and we see the release of "Cassadaga". Somehow, it wasn't until about a week before its release that I even knew of its existence.

Named after the town of Cassadaga, Florida, the album keeps with the spirit of the community of mediums and followers of spiritualism. A beautifully written record, "Cassadaga" shifts more toward an alt-country feel, and is Oberst's most accomplished work to date. There isn't much I can say about this record other than that it is a great album to sit and listen to alone with a cup of coffee. It's also, surprisingly enough, a great driving record, somehow sitting on both ends of the spectrum.

Tracklisting:
1. Clairaudients (Kill Or Be Killed)
2. Four Winds
3. If The Brakeman Turns My Way
4. Hot Knives
5. Make A Plan To Love Me
6. Soul Singer In A Session Band
7. Classic Cars
8. Middleman
9. Cleanse Song
10. No One Would Riot For Less
11. Coat Check Dream Song
12. I Must Belong Somewhere
13. Lime Tree

Highlight Tracks: "Four Winds", "Classic Cars", "No One Would Riot For Less"

Bright Eyes - I'm Wide Awake It's Morning

I started listening to Bright Eyes in the summer before my senior year in high school which, for all intensive purposes, was forever ago [or it at least feels that way]. It's interesting to watch Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst progress throughout his albums. At first, he came off as an angsty kid with a bad voice and an interesting way of saying the things that were rattling around in his head. Slowly, he shied away from stereotypical themes of heartache and despair [though not forgoing them completely], and gave way to questions of life and God. Then in January of 2005, Oberst released two accompanying albums; the first was digital in nature, though not techno. It was called "Digital Ash In A Digital Urn". The second was folk and alt-country influenced and was lovingly called "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning". Both were thick with stories of love and questions of the afterlife. It was the release of these albums that gave me hope that Oberst may find the truth. Unfortunately [as seen on Cassadaga], it would seem that he has given up trying to figure out exactly which is true, and is taking them all at face value. If everyone is right, then no one can be wrong, I suppose. I call it a copout.

However, "I'm Wide Awake It's Morning" is a wonderful album, true to Oberst's style in every way. The opening track begins with Conor sipping on a drink and telling a rather depressing story, and ends with one of the album's best songs, singing "...while my mother waters plants my father loads his gun, he says death will give us back to God just like the sitting sun is returned to the lonesome ocean...". "Wide Awake" also features the track "First Day Of My Life" which is one of the cutest songs in Oberst's discography, professing that "...yours is the first face that I saw, think I was blind before I met you."

If you like folk music at all, this is one album that you absolutely need to check out if you haven't already.

Tracklisting:
1. At The Bottom Of Everything
2. We Are Nowhere and It Is Now
3. Old Soul Song (For The New World Order)
4. Lua
5. Train Under Water
6. First Day Of My Life
7. Another Travelin' Song
8. Land Locked Blues
9. Poison Oak
10. Road To Joy

Highlight Tracks: "At The Bottom Of Everything", "We Are Nowhere and It Is Now", "First Day Of My Life"