Upside Down Mountain
Years ago, Conor Oberst was called the new Dylan. Yet Oberst\'s discography—from his solo albums to his Bright Eyes material to his many side projects—is already starting to eclipse the Bard\'s in sheer volume, and Oberst is only 34. This makes it hard to assert that *Upside Down Mountain* is the sound of a former prodigy maturing, but it is. While these songs are stuffed full of guest musicians, the tracks are some of Oberst\'s simplest; they\'re full of concise, cutting lines. \"I know no one will believe me/But I don\'t want a second chance/To be an object of desire,\" he sings on \"Artifact #1,\" a smoldering ballad with a Tex-Mex flair. The biggest touchstone here is \'70s rock, as Oberst nods to The Eagles\' winsome chug and Neil Young\'s haunted fuzz. The hooks are welcome, especially as they disguise Oberst\'s increasingly jaundiced (though no less affecting) observations.
Conor Oberst's Upside Down Mountain features many of his friends, including producer Jonathan Wilson, engineer Andy LeMaster, bassist Macey Taylor, multi-instrumentalist Blake Mills, and the Swedish folk-rock vocal duo First Aid Kit. Rolling Stone raves: "A sumptuous immersion in '70s California folk pop, it is the most immediately charming album he has ever made." The New York Times says: "All of Mr. Oberst’s gifts align on Upside Down Mountain."
Conor Oberst has been a musician in the public eye for nearly half of his life, and over the past decade, he’d be most accurately described as a folk artist. Upside Down Mountain is Oberst’s latest documentation of his obsessions with escape, death, the passing of time, and the potential of finding serenity in an assumed identity.
At no point in his ongoing journey from Omaha to enlightenment has Conor Oberst professed to have all the answers. Each of his albums—and he’s released a ton, mostly under the Bright Eyes banner—is about struggling to understand God, love, ghosts, politics, outer space, fame, and growing up, and the best he’s come up…
The Nebraskan icon of modern folk music is now a 35 year old man, and it's nigh time he stopped whining like a teenager. Which is precisely what he's done.
Upside Down Mountain is a great album from beginning to end—relaxed, assured and understated in its presentation.
Known for his prolific pen, Conor Oberst slowed down in the new millennium, enjoying his tours with the Monsters of Folk but generally staying away from albums of new songs; even Outer South, his last album with the Mystic Valley Band, was littered with contributions by his bandmates.
Conor Oberst sounds as though he has been slowly stepping away from the musical quirks he used to capture the indie rock community's attention way back when. Reserved in word count, less emphatic on delivery, and more polished in production, Upside Down M
Album review: Conor Oberst - 'Upside Down Mountain'. "He can still throw out quietly stirring minor epics…"
Conor Oberst's simple take on Americana is full of invention and engaging melodies, writes <strong>Ally Carnwath</strong>
Upside Down Mountain attempts to accommodate both antic creepiness and transcendent uplift.
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