BRIGHT EYES: CASSADAGA (2007)
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.
Since I have pretty much exhausted my share of
pejoratives to address the work of Conor Oberst, I will try to simply stick to
the facts from now on. Cassadaga was
released on April 10, 2007, on the Saddle Creek label. It has thirteen tracks,
clocking in at slightly over 62 minutes. Mike Mogis produced the sessions,
which altogether included over thirty different musicians — an absolute record
for Bright Eyes, who would later return to a much smaller scale. The «real»
album art was hidden from view, so that you could only see all the hidden
messages (including a poorly done machine-version Russian translation of the
phrase «draw another bloody bath») with the accompanying «Spectral Decoder».
Sales were modest; critical acclaim — near
universal, with the arguable exception of a lukewarm response from Pitchfork.
Also, according to Wikipedia, Johnny Depp named Cassadaga one of his favorite
things in 2007. Also, in 2007, Johnny Depp starred in Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End. So far, modern science
has not conclusively disproven the lack of a logical connection between
these two events, which, to a tiny degree, somewhat justifies my mentioning
them in the same paragraph. And — just in case — be warned.
From top to bottom, Cassadaga consists of more or less traditionally-oriented songs:
with the exception of some atmospheric intros and outros that involve
electronics, noises, and spoken vocals, most of it can be defined as relatively
straightforward country-rock, usually with complex, multi-layered arrangements,
with an acoustic guitar part at the core and from two to three to thirty extra
musicians on top. This makes Cassadaga
into the most accessible (for general audiences) album Oberst had released up
to that date (not counting the Christmas record) — without electronics, lengthy
solo acoustic confessionals, and with a much more restrained, balanced, some
would say «mature» approach to singing, Cassadaga
could easily be enjoyed by the grandfather and grandson alike; a true piece of
«family entertainment» if there ever was one — and I do insist that I am still
sticking to the facts, for now.
In terms of melodies, we do not usually expect
a lot of invention or originality from roots-rock albums that honor the old
traditions, and expect them twice less if the creative force behind the
roots-rock album is Conor Oberst. I did not get the impression of hearing even
one melody that was not already familiar from somewhere, and there are quite
straightforward reminiscences every now and then (ʽFour Windsʼ draws upon ʽThe
Night They Drove Old Dixie Downʼ, and ʽMiddlemanʼ recognizably reinvents
ʽHouse Of The Rising Sunʼ, to quote just two examples). As far as arrangements
are concerned, they manage to keep some diversity by staying away from the
«wall of sound» conception — despite all the layers, each song is usually
defined by just one instrumental type: fiddle on ʽFour Windsʼ, organ and piano
on ʽIf The Brakeman Turns My Wayʼ, strings on ʽMake A Plan To Love Meʼ,
woodwinds on ʽCleanse Songʼ, etc.
The lyrical journey of Oberst continues
unimpeded as his words start making even less literal sense, and his allusions
start getting more and more obscure, sometimes to the point where it does not
seem like there are any allusions.
Conor himself proclaimed that he did not want to include any «political» songs
on the record, but not only that, very few of them — if any, in fact — deal
with the old subject of «the end of the world through the eyes of a recently
dumped loser». In their place, we have a solidified, nearly-finalized prophetic
vision, perhaps best summarized in ʽFour Windsʼ: "And it's the sum of man,
slouching towards Bethlehem / A heart just can't contain all of that empty
space / It breaks, it breaks, it breaks".
It could be argued, in fact, that at this point
Oberst's primary source of influence is The Band — and their «intellectualized»
brand of roots-rock, pumping new wine into the old winebag. (Which, of course,
begs for the question — exactly how many times can you fill an old winebag with
new wine before it starts leaking on your boots? — but let's not forget about
sticking to the facts). The big difference is that the spirit of The Band was
more in line with the old folk idea of humble recognition of and submission to
one's fate, whereas Oberst — on record, at least — is still a rebel, and, of
course, nobody in The Band would ever think of «offending» the Bible, and a
song title like ʽI Must Belong Somewhereʼ is decidedly not «Bandish».
(For the record, I personally take significant offense not at the line "the
Bible is blind, the Torah's deaf, the Qur'an is mute / If you burned them all
together you'd be closer to the truth", but rather at the follow-up:
"They're poring over Sanskrit under Ivy League moons while shadows
lengthen in the sun". Really, Conor — empty ignorant hacks at abstract «bookishness»
are so passé. Write me a letter if you are truly
interested in how to poke fun at certain genuinely detrimental scientific
practices of the day. Even better still, just write something nasty about Lady
Gaga instead. Okay, back to the facts, the facts, the facts).
Actually, I have no more facts that would be
useful for this here review, so let us just close it with a final flourish of
completely subjective opinion, worthless from anybody else's perspective: I met
exactly one song on this album that
did not sound deadly boring. That was ʽMake A Plan To Love Meʼ, and I ascribe
its success almost completely to the exquisitely arranged vocal harmonies of
Stacy and Sherrie DuPree from the Texan band Eisley. As for everything else —
I'd just as soon listen to Garth Brooks. Mush is mush, no matter if it consists
of three or thirty-three layers, and Cassadaga
is mush supreme — but yes, it probably must take some talent to get thirty professional musicians to play on an
album that does not leave even a passing impression. Final judgement? Why don't
we all just share my thumbs down and go put on some Animals
instead. Heck, I could even go for some Woody Guthrie — even though that guy
never got thirty people to play on any of his
records.
Check "Cassadaga" (MP3) on Amazon
S**t. Just for fun I planned to criticize you and maintain that Middleman is nothing like The House of the Rising Sun. Actually I like the intro of Middleman - a nice simple acoustic riff with some moody violin play. It's written in 4/4, whereas Rising Sun is 6/8, so you should have compared with older versions blah blah.
ReplyDeleteAnd then Oberst opened his mouth. If the melody of the verses isn't ripped off Willie Dixon has to pay Page/Plant back.
4/4 vs 6/8- no biggie really.
ReplyDeleteNot if you don't hear the difference between a waltz and a march.
DeleteWhat i mean going from 4/4 to 6/8 is not biggie. Actually, you can rewrite a waltz as a march and viceversa.
ReplyDeleteThe critical adulation for Conor Oberst has often perplexed me. However, his existence has finally proved useful for something - a target for George's insightful pen. These reviews contain more prowess than a single note the Bright Eye'd one has written.
ReplyDeleteIn my previous job I has to endure sitting next to a rabid Bright Eyes fan - I felt like the small boy pointing out that the Emperor's tadger was waggling in the wind. Thank god I'm not alone.
theorganicdomino
I've said it before, and I'll say it again: screw Pitchfork. Screw them with an old, rusty... erm, implement.
ReplyDeleteWhy screw Pitchfork? Moreover, why post that under an arguably Pitchfork unfriendly band?
DeleteMostly just because I wanted a chance to use that horrible pun. But I also dislike their trend-following hipsterdom.
Delete