Bright Eyes / Lifted or the Story Is in the
Album: Lifted or the Story Is in the   Collection:General
Artist:Bright Eyes   Added:Aug 2002
Label:Saddle Creek  

A-File Activity
Add Date: 2002-11-04 Pull Date: 2003-01-06
Week Ending: Jan 5 Dec 8 Dec 1 Nov 17
Airplays: 2 1 2 1

Recent Airplay
1. Apr 20, 2013: Double Helix
Lover I Don't Have to Love
4. Jun 03, 2011: The DJ Never Has It
Lover I Don't Have to Love
2. Jan 15, 2013: A Family Affair
Laura Laurent
5. Dec 05, 2008: Live From Six Feet Underground
Bowl of Oranges
3. Dec 14, 2012: Emma Budiansky Demo 12-14-12
From a Balance Beam
6. Sep 06, 2007: logic of love
Laura Laurent

Album Review
Hannah Mae
Reviewed 2002-10-17
Orchestral indie pop full of choked gasping melodrama (to steal a phrase from Milk Cult). Sulky-voiced band mastermind Conor Oberst comes off as a bit self-indulgent (and the indie rock kids apparently indulge him right back - I mean read the promo sticker on the back there, jesus), but now and again he comes up with something catchy or incisive enough to justify the lengthy length of these songs.
If you like this, try "The Calendar Hung Itself" from their last record. Or something by Neutral Milk Hotel.

1.long, live, with cars going by
2.martial drums. FCC ("shitty" at 3:27 rem.)
3.draggy waltz, vaguely "Starting Over" - couple "fuck"s around 3:20 rem.
4.starts late - naked ballad with a catchy full-band end
5.depressive Beck with violins? the production is weird.
6.lively little shuffle
7.spare, dark, bitter, folky in an almost medieval way, gets heavy like Fairport Convention - "shit"
8.quiet song w/sweet backing vox from Azure Ray
9.record cracklings, slide guitar
10.acoustic and spiteful
11.dulcimer, whoa
12.tremulous waltz w/slide guitar and piano
13.live, long, swearing, with a Poguesy kind of drunken drive

Picks: 5, 7, 10, 13.

Believers, repeat after me: Conor Oberst is not the fucking savior of music. Skeptics, your line is: it's okay to believe *some* of the hype. This is certainly not a bad record, but it's distracted and doesn't hang together well, either song-to-song or within songs. The last record was a lot more self-assured and solid - this one sounds transitional and a bit uncertain. I'm curious to hear the next - will they have turned entirely into a sulkier Beck? Will Conor realize that the secret to genius is in learning to edit? Stay tuned!

Track Listing
1. The Big Picture   7. Don't Know When but a Day Ie
2. Method Acting   8. Nothing Gets Crossed Out
3. False Advertising   9. Make War
4. You Will, You? Will, You? Wi   10. Waste of Paint
5. Lover I Don't Have to Love   11. From a Balance Beam
6. Bowl of Oranges   12. Laura Laurent
  13. Let's not Shit Ourselves