na: saddle creek!
A real heavyweight available in the US today: Omaha mega-indie Saddle Creek. It’s not all the titles, but just about all of the frontline names: Bright Eyes, The Faint, Cursive, Rilo Kiley, Tokyo Police Club. A quick rundown of the goods, and some nerdy reminiscing, after the jump.
I went through what a casual observer would call a… big Bright Eyes phase. It was freshman year of college (when else?) and a super indie dude from down the hall (who else?) would drop by just about every day and pepper me with Things I Should Be Listening To. Some didn’t really stick (Cattle Decapitation, Fantomas) and some did (Bright Eyes, The Faint, The Replacements). Conor Oberst, that odd, doe-eyed yelper, seemed like the realest, rawest guy I’d ever heard. (Oh, the things I didn’t yet know.) The initial, affecting moment for me was the see-sawing “The Calendar Hung Itself” from Bright Eyes’ semi-breakout Fevers and Mirrors: Conor is damn near bawling and the whole chug-a-chug tune is basically wheezing with melodrama. But hey, this is freshman year you have to remember.
I dove in and discovered plenty of heart-on-sleeve wrenching, but also some effortlessly tender and bright moments (“June on the West Coast” and, probably my favorite Conor tune, “Loose Leaves” from the There Is No Beginning to the Story EP). Of course, Conor grew up, and so did I. He got pegged as This Generation’s Dylan and I… didn’t. What’cha gonna do. I liked Lifted… okay (that sweet side pops up more here, actually), but his wailing and directness was starting to grate.
Since then, I’ve dipped in and out of awareness (kinda like Ryan Adams post-Gold), sometimes halfheartedly listening to a new Bright Eyes album and sometimes ignoring it altogether. I’m weirdly excited to go back and listen to Fevers-era stuff, but I’m most curious to dig in to the recent past and see if Conor polished off the sweet side and maybe even made an album I’d love in the last few years. I’m hopeful!
Of the other albums that’ve come in, I’m really only familiar (and attached) to The Faint’s Blank Wave Arcade (a great, sleazy proto-electroclash synth fest that still holds up, to these ears) and Cursive’s Domestica (a harrowing, skittering divorce tale with lots of screeching guitars). I feel pretty confident that Joe and Maris can fill in the Rilo Kiley and Land of Talk bits.
All in all, an exciting day! You can find all the Saddle Creek albums we’ve got here. And, a reminder: this is US-only… sorry rest-of-world!
You know, I had thought I was working my Saved list down and you go and do this to me. Thanks. I GUESS.
Cassadaga is a great album.
I, too, had a huge Bright Eyes phase. Couldn’t get enough. Now if I hear the whinge I want to spit.
Nothing but love, but sometimes things just change.
I’m very excited about the Saddle Creek additions
LIFTED is one of my top 10 of all time. I don’t listen to it much anymore, but it’s a sentimental thing for me. And I think that album is to blame (in a good way) for paving my path into indie music. It’s just brilliant.
Your Bright Eyes phase sounds like my emo phase in college. My boyfriend at the time introduced me to indie music with emo stuff – it worked. I’m guessing the hardcore and metal he was listening to probably wouldn’t have hooked me as well. Thankfully, my musical tastes have evolved since my emo phase.
@ qwynwyn:
That’s hilarious, because my Bright Eyes phase is what ushered me out of my emo phase in high school! Emo as in, emotional hardcore, that is… haha. Oh, youth.
Speaking of phases, I guess you could say I’ve had quite a Jenny Lewis phase (AKA enduring girlcrush). Say, from bad 80’s hair-Troop Beverly Hills child star-era through her first solo album and all the great Rilo Kiley stuff in between. I think More Adventurous is still my all time Rilo Kiley favorite (why don’t they have “Portions for Foxes” at karaoke?!) but The Execution of All Things is a close second. Jenny has a way of sounding all hardened and sardonic, like she’s seen it all. But then she’s also capable of moments of pure sunny glowiness (sorry, I know that’s not a word). My favorite track is “With Arms Outstretched”, which becomes a massive audience singalong at Rilo Kiley shows. But even the recorded version can inspire goosebumps. And spontaneous singing.
My “indie friend” freshman year introduced me to (early) His Name is Alive, which I guess shows my age. (As does the fact that no one really said indie; we said alternative).
Now His Name is Alive have become a great free jazz tribute band and introduced me to Marion Brown. Yancey I hope you have as good luck with the Bob Dylan of your generation as I have with the … uh … Warren Defever of mine.
So happy to see this. I discovered Bright Eyes on an Austin Music Festival collection. After that did a rabid friend search to see who had some. Now I will have my own. Wee!
Saddle Creek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
Sub Pop here we come???
“Saddle Creek!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111
Sub Pop here we come???”
Wait, is there a Saddle Creek/Sub Pop connection? I’m not interested in the Saddle Creek titles, but please no teasing about the possibility of Sub Pop appearing here (I assume it isn’t in the cards, BTW).
Daniel, you win the wishfulest thinking award for 2008.
“And when you dream, dream big,
As big as the ocean, blue.
‘Cause when you dream it might come true.
But when you dream, dream big.”
And for those New Wavers among the crowd, I note an Elton Motello album has arrived on eMusic. It’s a power pop album that I think is a collection of singles and EPs from the late 1970s. It’s nothing major, but just another fun bunch of tunes to sing along with.
The Speedies are another late 70’s New Wave/powerpop band new on eMusic today. All of the Hanoi Rocks albums have been added too (very influential early Scandinavian metal band), as well as Wire’s most recent CD, Object 47.
I must be overlooking it, but on none of these Emusic lists for the year do I see Nudge It Up A Notch by Steve Cropper and Felix Cavaliere. Explain to me how this cannot one of the best.
SPEEDIES!?!?!? Holy Cow! I am _soooo_ happy I got a booster pack the other day. I was almost resigned to getting this from iTunes, but now I got if from eMusic. Most fabulous power pop.