Album News: Oberst James Ward - Monsters of Folk

Conor Oberst/Jim James/M. Ward have named themselves the Monsters of Folk. Their self-titled debut album (which also features producer/Bright Eyes member Mike Mogis) will be released on September 22nd in the US, and the 21st in the UK on Rough Trade. Expect an Irish release on the 18th so. First single 'Say Please' can be downloaded from their website, by simply typing in the word "please". Clever, eh?

Tracklist:
01 Dear God (sincerely M.O.F.)
02 Say Please
03 Whole Lotta Losin'
04 Temazcal
05 The Right Place
06 Baby Boomer
07 Man Named Truth
08 Goodway
09 Ahead of the Curve
10 Slow Down Jo
11 Losin Yo Head
12 Magic Marker
13 Map of the World
14 The Sandman, the Brakeman and Me
15 His Master’s Voice

More info/download 'Say Please':
www.monstersoffolk.com

Download: Conor Oberst - Nikorette

Yes yes, it's Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band, but sometimes I'm lazy right. Anyhow, this one is up there with his best work under the Bright Eyes guise in my opinion. He doesn't sing lead vocals on all the new album, so Outer South is a Mystic Valley record. However, the excellent 'Nikorette' is all Conor. Glorious.

Download:
Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band - 'Nikorette'

More info/album stream here:
http://mergerecords.com/store/store_detail.php?catalog_id=605&link=sidebarLink-home

Stream: Conor Oberst - Outer South

Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band release their new album Outer South on the 5th of May. But now you have a chance to listen to it in full. Yay!

Stream it for a limited time here:
http://mergerecords.com/store/store_detail.php?catalog_id=605&link=sidebarLink-home

Stream: Conor Oberst - Danny Callahan

No, it's nothing to do with 'Dani California' from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' double album Stadium Arcadium. My former editor hated that record, as did many other critics. Amazingly, it's the only RHCP album I actually like. 'Hey Cheetah' is a great song. I swear it is! (Oh, and that's the actor Dan Callahan, by the way)

Anyhow, 'Danny Callahan' is the lead single from Bright Eyes burning like fire himself Conor Oberst, and appears on his upcoming self-titled album along with The Mystic Valley Band. I previously reported about it here:
http://swearimnotpaul.blogspot.com/2008/06/album-news-conor-oberst-self-titled.html
and here:
http://swearimnotpaul.blogspot.com/2008/06/streaming-music-conor-oberst-two-songs.html

Anyhow, to give you a sneak peak of the record, you can listen to 'Danny Callahan' here. Just press play:

Album News: Conor Oberst - Self-titled cover art

Conor Oberst released (or maybe it was leaked) the album art for his upcoming self-titled debut record (well unless you count all those Bright Eyes records). here it is:



If it's anywhere near as good as Cassadaga or I'm Wide Awake It's Morning, I will be a happy man indeed.

Streaming Music: Conor Oberst - two songs from Self-titled

Another of this year's Electric Picnic performers is releasing a new album this year. Conor Oberst, who is better known as Bright Eyes, will be releasing a self-titled album. For his Electric Picnic debut, he will be accompanied by The Mystic Valley Band. This is the name of his own backing band, much like Bob Dylan had The Band, Bruce has E Street, and Bono has U2. The new self-titled "solo" record is not really a departure for Oberst, as Bright Eyes was 100 percent his own vehicle from the outset.

The album itself will be released August 4th, which gives those of you going to Stradbally a chance to digest the record and sing-a-long. Irish fans will remember Bright Eyes from Oxegen 2007, and also from the fact that he pulled out of Oxegen 2006 at the last minute, much to the dismay of myself and the random stranger beside me who couldn't recognize him onstage when whatever subpar replacement act was performing.

Two songs from his upcoming album can be streamed on his own website, and are a teaser for what's to come...
http://www.conoroberst.com/