|
reviews
|
opinions were like kittens i was giving them away. -modest mouse
there's nothing as something as one. -e. e. cummings
|
Interact
Discuss Bright Eyes/Neva Dinova and all of your favorite musicians and bands in our music forum/message board.
Have you heard this album? Give us your rating above, 5 being best.
Conor Oberst. Totally emo. A little whiny. Genuine. Wholly underrated. In this age of cross-armed hipsters anything "emotional" is considered bad. But what if it's genuine? And what if it's damn fine songwriting? In that case I can handle some drama.
This is something for that favorite place of mine - my car - a place where I can play my music as loud as I want, a place that makes the world a blur out my window, it can take me to places I haven’t been, and places I have. Some days, when the work haul is long, all I can do is anticipate that shining moment when I can get in my escape pod and get into whatever tune won’t leave my head. Lately, all six songs on the newest Bright Eyes/Neva Dinova EP, One Jug of Wine, Two Vessels, have been on my mind, and while having them playing through my headphones during work is nice, I still just can’t wait for that drive home.
Track listing:
01 Tripped
02 Black Comedy
03 Poison
04 I'll Be Your Friend
05 Get Back
06 Spring Cleaning
|
Bright Eyes’s Conor Oberst has an incredible openness and honesty about him, this, his poetic balladry, and his undeniable talent for writing songs, combine to make a rare mixture – the likes I haven’t heard in years. He manages to invoke feelings similar to those Leonard Cohen did when I first discovered him. I’ve been a Bright Eyes fan for quite a while now, but had been unfamiliar with Neva Dinova up until this point. This fellow Crank! A Record Company band adds a touch of country that blends seamlessly with Oberst’s indie-folk balladry.
Unlike his last collaborative effort with another Saddle Creek group; Son, Ambulance; this sounds different than the usual Bright Eyes fare; sounds of both Neva Dinova and Bright Eyes coexist to make a most driving-worthy group of songs.
The disk starts out on a dreamy, country note – obviously more influenced by Neva Dinova than Bright Eyes – with “Tripped.” From there we go into my favorite song on the EP with the poetic drama of Bright Eyes written all over it. Oberst’s captivating first lines, “well once I gave a look to you but you never gave it back, so here I stand expressionless with my memories intact. I guess the past’s good for a laugh, a comedy so dry and black it makes my stomach hurt so bad,” set the stage for his “Black Comedy” and show that his tender, tortured heart is still on his sleeve, and hopefully isn’t leaving anytime soon. Neva Dinova’s twangy balladry comes back in the third song, “Poison,” which also lacks nothing lyrically or musically. From there, the songs switch back and forth between influences, but still retain a little of both to complement each other. It ends on another dreamy note with the song “Spring Cleaning,” which contain equally dreamy lines like:
“And all the traffic lights blur to a bright bouquet,
my heart is in mothballs and packed away,
but I can’t get to it, no way,
till the birds return for spring cleaning.”
Lines and music perfect for getting lost in thought. And it’s not really fair to pinpoint a few or to pick a favorite on this one, because that would detract from the others, and like I said, all six songs on this have something very valuable to offer. What is it about Omaha that brings out songwriting with such integrity and feeling like that found with these musicians as well as so many other Omaha/Saddle Creek/Crank! bands? I don’t know, but I hope the ride is a long one.
-Jennifer Hall 08/21/04
|
|
