CONOR OBERST “S/T” LP

I feel like I need to preface this post with a little story about my thoughts on Conor Oberst. I have always resented and hated the man and with the release of this album, I am going to make my best attempt to give him a chance. You see, I was first exposed to Conor’s music back when I did a fanzine. I was a pop-punker through and through and I really didn’t have ears for much beyond that. Saddle Creek had sent me the Bright Eyes’ album, “Fevers and Mirrors” and I thought it was just complete horseshit. Again, let me reiterate the fact that there was no way I could like anything other than pop-punk and ska-punk in the mid 90s.

Years later, I was again exposed to Bright Eyes and although I had matured a bit in my musical tastes, I just didn’t care for the music. After reading numerous music editors touting Conor Oberst as the voice of our generation and everyone praising him as our greatest songwriter, a seed of hatred was planted. That seed germinated and grew out of control as I read more and more about Conor, I just could not stand what he represented. And then at some point, I am sure it was around the time, when he was dating Wynona Ryder, my thoughts about him had grown to full blown hatred. Anytime I heard his music, even if it sounded interesting, I had a reflex in me that just pictured Conor and Wynona together and I just could not get into his music.

Even more years later…Today in fact, I thought about the notion that I should be excited about someone who has accomplished so much on an independent level. I applaud his accomplishments and with the release of his debut album, his first under the name Conor Oberst and his first for the label Merge, I am going to put all  of my hatred behind me and give the album a good listen. Wish me luck.

So yes, Conor has a new album out. We have it available as a pre-order. The album comes with a coupon for an MP3 download. For those of you who love Conor and Bright Eyes, i am sure this will be worth giving a listen to. We should have copies by or before August 5th.