Bright Eyes - Cassadaga

I know, no one really wants to read about an album they haven't heard, but I'm going to talk about it anyway.

There's a fine line between country and folk, and Bright Eyes, or should I say Conor Oberst, has come dangerously close with this one. Then again, I said the same thing when I heard Emmylou Harris singing on his '05 release I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, and now it's quite possibly my favorite Bright Eyes album. Cassadaga is a different story though. Named after the town in Florida and with lots of "on the road" or travelling themes, there's one distinctive factor that sets it apart from Oberst's other albums: twangy country fiddle. No, not violin, fiddle. There's a big difference. On my first listen I was a little startled to say the least. Yes, Oberst has always had a tendency to blend genres and hop around from style to style, but you still just never know what to expect from him. It's always something different.

Genres and fiddles aside, it's a great album. Call Conor a conceited, sniveling, whinebag-emo asshole if you want, but that doesn't change the fact that the boy is a lyrical genius. Plus, with guest artists like Maria Taylor, Ben Kweller, Jason Boesel (Rilo Kiley), Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney), and Andy LeMaster (Now It's Overhead) all appearing on the album, it's kinda hard to mess it up too terribly. Oh damn, I almost forgot the best part about the record...

THE PACKAGING.
After I removed the shrink wrap, the album appeared to be completely covered with black and white speckles (much like TV static) with no text, pictures, or other form of visual enhancement. Then, when I pulled out the liner and the vinyl, a small plastic card fell out with it. The card is mostly transparent, but is decorated around the border like a tiny picture frame. I started to piece it together in my mind, "Is this what I think it is?? Surely they didn't..." Oh, but they did!! A MAGIC DECODER!! The entire front and back of the record are covered with interesting artwork, but you could never see it without this tiny plastic window. I think it's an awesome surprise (it felt like it was my birthday) and a creative ass-marketing tool (see Toothpaste for Dinner comic about moving the hyphen to the spot after "ass"), because you actually have to purchase the album if you want to see the artwork. Now, I only have the vinyl, which was released early, but Pitchfork has hinted that the CD release on April 10th will also have the decoder.

Anyway, good album. It's going to take me awhile to get used to the twangy fiddle, but good music is good music, right? Who cares what genre it sounds like? Some (very little, but some) country music is great, and alt-country is actually pretty rad, so if Bright Eyes wants to fiddle it up, they can have at it as far as I'm concerned. Here are a couple of free downloads from the album, courtesy of Saddle Creek records: downloads