« liveplasma music recommendations | Main | quick takes: low, graham coxon, lemon jelly »
February 17, 2005
bright eyes :: digital ash in a digital urn
 |
| (buy) |
In a way, I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning would have been impossible without its companion, this more elaborate production with its electronic foundation. It seems to have been the place Conor Oberst put the ideas he couldn't distill into the clearer form needed for the more acoustic record.
Even though electronics are the means by which the backing tracks are largely realized here, it's still a sound rooted in fairly traditional notions of what folk-rock songwriting is. In many places, the rhythm tracks amount to two-step or shuffle beats processed through modern technology. The songs are still full of words and the exuberant melodies that are familiar Bright Eyes motifs. In a way, it sounds more like old Bright Eyes than I'm Wide Awake. . .
There's been a tendency to call this disc a mess. I don't think it is. It's just a batch of less-focused, wilder songs, probably carefully selected to withstand the busy production treatments. There are several good ideas scattered throughout, and in fact two or three wholesale gems.
There's also been a tendency to compare this to the Postal Service disc, Give Up - effeminate indie hero meets electronica, in both cases steered at least in part by Jimmy Tamborello of Dntel. The truth is that the Postal Service is far more crystalline, and perhaps less substantial, than this deeper, lumpier set.
Writing for the Village Voice, Keith Harris tries to sort it all out, and comes down pro-Digital Ash. The Village Voice style often leaves you wondering exactly what the final grade is, but it's perfect for situations like this. Keith Harris himself is pretty much unimpeachable as a writer.
Hit The Switch (mp3)
Theme To Piñata (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at February 17, 2005 09:40 PM