A Christmas Album
Traditional Christmas songs performed and arranged by Bright Eyes' Conor Oberst and Maria Taylor along with the help of 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.
Bright Eyes' A Christmas Album, originally recorded in 2002, is a reissue that marries Yuletide memories with nostalgia for a time when Saddle Creek’s roster was still operating as a vibrant and prolific artistic community.
The concept of a Bright Eyes Christmas LP won’t go far in convincing sceptics who deem Oberst a tad too precious to change their mind, but it’s hard to remain too cynical.
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Originally issued in 2002 as a Saddle Creek store exclusive, the aptly titled Christmas Album begins with a piano, flute, ambient noise, and musical saw-driven version of "Away in a Manger," which will help weed out your basic yule jam fans who were just drawn in by the generic name, from the Bright Eyes/Conor Oberst disciples who know that the warmth of the holiday season is trumped only by its potential for melancholy.
Album review: Bright Eyes, 'A Christmas Album'. Probably not one for the whole family...
Conor Oberst's delicate, dishevelled Christmas album was a bit of an indie novelty when it first appeared 11 years ago, but today it all just sounds faintly infuriating, writes <strong>Harriet Gibsone</strong>
Nebraskan singer-songwriter Conor Oberst – AKA Bright Eyes - was a famously contrary soul when he first broke through. This greatly benefited his music, if not his commercial potential. Rather than become your typical indie-acoustic whiner, he embraced a multiplicity of styles, an obtuse, upset, punk-electronic filtering of American roots music.