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Cassadaga
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Binding: Audio CD
EAN: 0648401010329
Label: Saddle Creek
Manufacturer: Saddle Creek
MPN: 103
Number Of Discs: 1
Publisher: Saddle Creek
Release Date: April 10, 2007
Studio: Saddle Creek
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Editorial Review:
On their sixth and most straightforwardly clean album, Nebraska's Bright Eyes once again integrate a revolving cast of players to the mix, including Portland tunesmith M. Ward and alt-country queen Gillian Welch. But the band remains at the helm of forever-wunderkind Conor Oberst, and the fruitful songwriter has one-upped 2005's I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning with a proficient and accessible ensemble of expansive pop orchestrations and ornate folk songs that chronicle his traverses across the American panorama. Oberst's voice quakes and wanders through South Dakota lore and Sunshine State chicanery, always the perfect vehicle for his threadbare lyrics. "Take the fruit from the tree/Break the skin with your teeth/Is it bitter or sweet/All depends on your timing," he forewarns in "Cleanse Song," a psychedelic merry-go-round of a soundtrack that joins the Scottish-tinged "Soul Singer in a Session Band" and singalong single "Four Winds" as Cassadaga's finest. The 13-song-record is certain to open more doors for a band whose recognition has soared with every release since Oberst was just 14. --Scott Holter
Once tagged "rock's boy genius" by the music press, Conor Oberst turns 27 on February 15th and even without that in mind it's hard to listen to Cassadaga without hearing a newfound sophistication to the Bright Eyes sound. Producer, multi-instrumentalist and permanent band member Mike Mogis has crafted a swirling, euphonious record, at times bursting with bombastic confidence and country swagger, and at others loose-limbed and mesmeric. Trumpet and piano player Nate Walcott, a Bright Eyes player since 2003 and now the third permanent member, is responsible for the cinematic string arrangements. Other than a handful of live appearances and the release of a collection of B-sides & rarities, Bright Eyes kept mostly out of sight in 2006 after the busy 2005 which saw the simultaneous release of the sister albums Digital Ash In A Digital Urn and I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning. Should you have looked for them you'd have found them tucked away in various studios around the country. Recording for the first time outside of the Lincoln, NE studio belonging to Mogis, the Bright Eyes cast of players were busy in studios in Portland, OR, New York City, Chicago and Los Angeles. The result is the band's most confident work so far, an album so full of soaring strings and female harmonies that it feels almost buoyant in comparison to previous releases. While many latched onto the smattering of political commentary in 2005's I'm Wide Awake..., Cassadaga is less blunt in its depiction of youthful exasperation in the Bush era. References to Hurricane Katrina, holy wars and polar ice-caps may crop up, but they're buried deep amongst the ruminations on life, love, history, death and the afterlife. If I'm Wide Awake... was "the New York City album", then Cassadaga is "the America album", in which Oberst diaries his travels around the country and articulates his sense of history in the landscape. In first single "Four Winds" he is "off to old Dakota where genocide sleeps/in the Black Hills, the Badlands, the calloused East/I buried my ballast, I made my peace." Cassadaga itself crops up in the same song. The town, a community for psychics in central Florida, is visited in order to "commune with the dead". This wandering spirit is crystalized in "I Must Belong Somewhere" a song which was already a staple of live shows by the end of the 2005. "Hot Knives" is particularly spirited, bringing to mind the true energy of a Bright Eyes show. Likewise, "Soul Singer In A Session Band" - a rousing paean to an oxymoronic profession - enlists all of the elements which make the Bright Eyes live band such a euphoric experience. "Make A Plan To Plan To Love Me" is Bright Eyes at their most playful; a straight-up love song, replete with girl group vocals and Burt Bacharach strings. Oberst, the fumbling guitarist whose impassioned prose tumbles out under stark stage spotlights, is still recognizable in every track, but the songs are rich with elaborate production, cinema-sized orchestration and, at times, sprawling, almost psychedelic, atmospherics. The line up of Bright Eyes players includes Andy Lemaster (Now It's Overhead), Ben Kweller, Gillian Welch, David Rawlings, Janet Weiss (ex-Sleater Kinney), Jason Boesel (Rilo Kiley), John McEntire (Tortoise) M.Ward, Maria Taylor and Rachael Yamagata.
UK limited edition digipak pressing of the highly anticipated 2007 release from this much-loved U.S. indie act led by Conor Oberst. This very limited edition comes with a decoder to view the hidden artwork on the cover,! Normally, the art looks just like a grey mess but with the help of this magic decoder, the artwork will be revealed!! Bright Eyes spent much of 2006 in the studio in Lincoln, Portland, Los Angeles, New York and Omaha working on new material which has become their fifth studio album, the band's most confident work so far. Cassadaga is an album so full of soaring strings and female harmonies that it feels almost buoyant in comparison to previous releases. While many latched onto the smattering of political commentary in 2005's I'm Wide Awake..., Cassadaga is less blunt in its depiction of youthful exasperation in the Bush era. References to Hurricane Katrina, holy wars and polar ice-caps may crop up, but they're buried deep amongst the ruminations on life, love, history, death and the afterlife. Oberst, the fumbling guitarist whose impassioned prose tumbles out under stark stage spotlights, is still recognizable in every track, but the songs are rich with elaborate production, cinema-sized orchestration and, at times, sprawling, almost Psychedelic, atmospherics. Polydor.
2007 Extremely Limited Edition Deluxe Digipack Edition of a Critically Lauded Album from Conor Oberst and Co. This Special Package Comes with a "Spectral Decoder" that When Placed Firmly on the Cover Reveals Hidden Album Art! also Includes a Special Version of the Lyric Booklet on High Quality Paper with High Gloss Embossment Art.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - This album haunted me...literally
Everything about this album is and was true to form: desperate, disillusioned, violent, heartful and heartless. Spines wind on every track as he pours poison over ice and serves it with a dead man's smile and an umbrella on top. I can no longer bear to listen to this record for personal reasons, but I don't regret buying it. Anyone willing to bear witness to the stonings on this record will enjoy the old-fashioned shake-up; pedal steel grips this album in its emotional climax on "No One Would ... Read More
Rating: - Worth it for "Brakeman" Alone
If you really listen to this album, it's still Bright Eyes, it's still Conor Oberst, just polished to a high luster. The combination of Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis and Nate Wolcott is just magic. The entire collection is worth it just for the song "If the Brakeman Turns My Way". I will admit the beginning of the album is better than the ending, when the songs got kind of dark, but hey, it's Bright Eyes! It's still the same music, just showing more maturity and finesse, and in my eyes rates in his top ... Read More
Rating:  - Mediocre. Descent from previous albums
Bright Eyes are known for strong lyrics and experimental music. This album accomplishes little of both.
The lyrics aren't quite as strong as ones found in previous albums (Wide Awake, Digital Ash, The Story is in the Soil). There are a few strong songs lyrically, but somes songs have the "rhyme forcing effect".
It's not very strong musically either, as a lot of the songs drag and seem to be using the same melody. Throughout listening to the album I kept waiting for the songs ... Read More
Rating: - bright eyes latest and greatest
Bright Eyes never disappointments me, however I wouldn't say this is Conor Oberst's best album. Oberst has employed other musicians in this album making it even better with some female vocalists and others. The sounds and lyrics are as usual, amazing.
Rating: - An Old Soul
After experiencing his own `dark night of the soul' Conor Oberst went through a period of introspection and transition. Cassadaga is a result of this process, and the album clearly has a spiritual dimension.
It opens with the voice of a clairvoyant advising the inquirer to spend some time in Cassadaga, a small town in Florida, inhabited by an unusual high percentage of psychics. This opening has been characterized by many as New Age nonsense, but is in fact essential, as it opens a window on the ... Read More
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