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Bright Eyes

Bright Eyes

Although many musicians joined the band's rotating lineup, Bright Eyes was primarily the songwriting vehicle of Conor Oberst, a quivery-voiced Nebraska native who first attracted attention in 1994 -- when he was only 14 ... Although many musicians joined the band's rotating lineup, Bright Eyes was primarily the songwriting vehicle of Conor Oberst, a quivery-voiced Nebraska native who first attracted attention in 1994 -- when he was only 14 years old -- as the singer and guitarist for Commander Venus. Oberst proved to be a prolific musician, joining multiple bands (including Commander Venus, the Magentas, Park Ave., and Desaparecidos) while also co-founding Saddle Creek, an influential label that helped broadcast "the Omaha Sound" to a national audience. Nonetheless, he devoted most of his time to Bright Eyes, whose albums encompassed everything from folk to indie rock to electronica. Oberst eventually shifted his focus to the Mystic Valley Band in 2008, fueling rumors that he'd shelved the Bright Eyes project after ten years of activity.

Oberst had barely entered high school when he formed Commander Venus. Nonetheless, the teenager was a quick songwriter, and he soon amassed a number of songs that didn't gel with the rest of Commander Venus' catalog, 20 of which were compiled and released in 1998 as A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997, a solo record that doubled as Oberst's first release under the Bright Eyes moniker. Letting Off the Happiness followed several months later, featuring contributions from members of Neutral Milk Hotel, Of Montreal, and Tilly and the Wall. The album also marked the first collaboration between Oberst and producer/instrumentalist Mike Mogis, who would play an integral role in Bright Eyes' success going forward.

As Conor Oberst graduated from teenaged life to adulthood, his productivity increased. Bright Eyes' third release, Every Day and Every Night, appeared in 1999, followed by Fevers and Mirrors in 2000 and Oh Holy Fools in 2001. The Bright Eyes sound had expanded by this point, with Oberst finding room for flute, piano, and accordion in the band's music. The frontman also found room to pursue alternate projects, and he dedicated some time to Desaparecidos before returning to the studio with Mike Mogis in 2002. Lifted or the Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to the Ground was released that summer and proved to be Bright Eyes' breakthrough album, with Rolling Stone deeming it one of the year's best.

Bright Eyes released several EPs in 2004 -- including Home, Vol. 4, a collaboration with Spoon's Britt Daniel -- and rang in the following year with a pair of albums released on the same day: I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning (whose accompanying tour produced the Motion Sickness: Live Recordings disc) and the electronic-slanted Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, both of which cracked the Top 20 in America. Hailed by some critics as the next Dylan, Oberst supported the releases with a round of festival appearances and international shows before returning to the studio once more. Recorded in L.A., Chicago, New York, Omaha, and Portland, the follow-up effort Cassadaga was released in the spring of 2007, preceded by the Four Winds EP earlier that spring. Both releases featured full instrumentation -- including pedal steel, Dobro, xylophone, and orchestral swells -- making them some of Bright Eyes' most developed works to date.

Cassadaga debuted at number four in America and number 13 in the U.K., marking Bright Eyes' highest peak on either chart. Even so, Oberst followed such success by decamping to rural Mexico to work on his first solo effort in years. Recorded in a makeshift studio with a cast of musicians dubbed the Mystic Valley Band, Conor Oberst arrived in 2008. The project soon evolved from a solo effort into a full-band affair, and the Mystic Valley Band returned in 2009 with Outer South, an album that included songs written and sung by several of Oberst's bandmates. Bright Eyes returned in 2011 with People's Key, which was recorded in Omaha and produced by Mogis and Andy LeMaster.

Andrew Leahey
AllMusic.com
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tapes
Tape	Songs	Comments	Author
songs to calm you down	14	42	guyswithrecordcollections
Fuck, Breakup. For the heartbroken, the hurt, and the pissed off.	11	2	lojay92
JohnnyLurg's Favorite Songs A nice selection of my favorite songs.	173	7	JohnnyLurg
ABC's of Indie Rock Here's where you begin. Happy trails to you. I'd also REALLY like to thank Songmeanings for not allowing me to order the tracks in a pro...	26	3	KaiserKiller
What You Always Seem to Mean to Me The things you say and what you mean.	31	1	thewickedrobot
For Those Empty Nights This is for all of those nights where I wasn't quite depressed. I wasn't angry. I wasn't happy. I was just apathetic.	13	3	snkpoe
Breakin' down the Breakin' up Some choice songs for the no longer significant other.	21	0	analogcolor
I'll run away with you To die by your side is such a heavenly way to die.	19	1	Enooby
Songs that make my soul feel good A collection of songs that either make me smile when I'm feeling shitty, make me think, or are just awesome [in my humble opinion].	30	2	walterhunt
C-Sides This is for you, Corinthia Ivey Brenner. I love you. If you see this, then this is goodbye. I'm off to paint a pretty picture with the conte...	15	4	BlandLavender
Songs To Fall Asleep To	20	1	caseycocainejones
I chose an eternity of this I met him at a party and he told me how to drive him home. He said he'd like to do it backwards. I said that's just fine with me. That way w...	23	0	Enooby
unicorns and butterflies just some songs that make you smile, instant happiness in a few minutes. :)	22	1	tochinawithlove
LIFE. Love, Heartbreak, Nostalgia, Moving Forward, etc; All songs I can relate to on some level.	30	0	x24kate
Ballads of Love and Hate Vol. 2 This is an overflow of Vol. 1. Expect many more volumes to come.	30	0	littlehead
The words I cannot speak	14	0	wallflower87
Music to cry alone in your apartment to The title explains this, bagh!	6	0	fusingmatt
Intro to Bright Eyes for Jordan	28	1	nesserstrudel
Tainted love There's a club, if you'd like to go. You could meet someone who really loves you. So you go and you stand on your own and you leave on your ...	20	1	Enooby
You Expected To Be Sad In The Fall You can download it here if you'd like: http://www.mediafire.com/?dikydwpd01fsx54	15	6	disappearxhere
Him	12	25	Injera
Postapocalyptic Party Songs for the end of the world.	14	0	Mellow_Harsher
A Compilation of Folk I made a mix for a friend of mine and was really satisfied with it and thought to post it here. Enjoy?	23	0	NovemberGhost
The Resolution It's about happiness, moving forward, motivation, wanting to wake up in the morning, enjoy :D	12	2	CoeurDePirate
I'm an extraordinary machine. Songs that make me feel better about myself, or just happy in general.	18	0	goodgollymissmolly
Blue in the Face Me	29	0	MarcusH
Best lyrics	11	1	FullDevilSoccer
Josh's Mixtape It's going to be all over the place	13	2	supernuke
Love Is All	15	0	PaintMeAnything
Favs	21	1	fallon
Songs for the Morning After	9	0	littlehead
Really Good Love Songs! Perfect love songs for that special someone!	29	3	Audi0bl00d
SJ, for better or for worse songs that display my many emotions associated with a certain part of my life, for better or for worse.	23	0	morethanmistakes
If it wasn't for your misfortune I'd be a heavenly person today "Never let me go," she says. "Hold me like this for a hundred thousand million days."	19	4	Enooby
feel.	26	0	DreamingOfRainbowButterflies
Soundtrack Maastricht 03/2011 Is this film based on a true story?	13	0	MissAnthrope
Angel of Darkness A ruinous turn of events. Every single contrast is important.	12	0	davidecoyote
Chronicles of an unwelcome event. VOL. 1	29	1	RockStamos
♥ Volume 2 ♥	26	0	ghostthefestivals
Go With The Flow Its...a compilation of awesome.	5	1	rara1337
Oh nastolgia Anyone else get this weird feeling when listening to any of these or memory of friends, being a kid, that girl who pours your drinks, the a...	9	1	Damianhockley
deep	5	0	wendysivik
Songs to smile to Don't worry be happy	12	4	lawlessdan
T. you know who this is about. songs that remind me of you. songs that remind me of how i feel about you- good and bad. songs that get me b...	20	0	zombiegirl13
mixtape-vol.1	15	0	partymaloney
Remus/Sirius songs that describe r/s	11	0	hunniebunch
love > lies	2	0	misslenae
New Orleans New Orleans	31	0	obriena628
Les Montagnes de Taupineres made for him	11	0	snfavreau
What could have been... A collection of great songs that tell a thousand stories.	15	3	lawlessdan
chillaxin songs A whole bunch of random	6	0	buckeye115
lyricsss	27	0	mathersaddiction
HAPPY SONGS! these songs are sure to make you happy...or your money back	7	11	guyswithrecordcollections
Mix	10	1	bsmiffay
What Could Be Better Pretty much all the songs I've ever loved.	30	0	agneskaye
Duck Music Serving Suggestion: Listen straight through to the end while picnicking on a canoe with your significant other. Or feel free to serenade y...	14	3	balloonbarrage
Special Songs :)	17	0	chainreaction
My favorites, volume 4.	30	0	XNeverMind
From Brenda: "Happy Birthday My Love" From another mix Brenda made me for my birthday, in 2007 or so...	18	0	JackTHorn
4	17	1	thehighwaysend
ConsciousDreamer	30	1	Injera
219 What a Bad Area Code. A Indiana girl on a Chicago night.	18	0	turnstiles
heythereamericanbear! #1	17	0	austinparish
My favorites, volume 8.	30	1	XNeverMind
Arizona Songs that remind me of Arizona.	3	2	Macaday
Lyrics I like	2	0	UnReaLz
You will be OK	3	0	wallflower87
Goodbye horses I'm flying over you.	21	1	Enooby
Sadness. sad sad stuff. to make me not feel so bad.	3	0	samsambamalam
BECCA songs to play at the craft show	10	0	sink_the_seine
bitches love mix tapes.	21	2	staciebrunner
Mike Songs for my love.	4	5	joellelovesyou
Songs For the Night Before	8	0	littlehead
Kate's Slow Jams Volume 1 This is just a collection of slow jams I made for a friend that has similar music likes as I do.	18	2	mymixtapelife
In some shell games. I like to listen to music that I feel has some substance.	4	0	lostaski
Gluttony	13	0	littlehead
bright eyes	1	0	birdofsummer
things that remind me, of you	3	0	thefirstdaysofspring
Stay Songs that make me want to keep going.	10	0	direction2perfection
x Songs that I'll get round to listening to eventually..	9	1	ghostthefestivals
favorites just a couple of my favorite songs.	12	0	noret
Today there was a tragedy underneath the bridge What are you trying to say? I'M crazy? When I went to YOUR schools, I went to YOUR churches, I went to YOUR institutional learning facilitie...	19	0	Enooby
If you walk away I walk away	17	2	arcynic
Tape #1 Sad Songs	15	0	DreamsOfTheFuture
Ahead Of The Curve I made it for a friend a while ago but I never got the chance to actually gift it. It has a lot of songs I liked that I thought really flowe...	11	3	SarahsMedely
hmmmm........ Songs i've been relating to with how i've been feeling :/	12	0	amanda248
Artists to Explore	3	0	tudorrose1595
Alt mix	21	0	doneill1027
Songs that make you wish you were as talented.	6	1	septemberbo
Inadequate when feeling beneath the world.	22	0	rednowwonder
watching the snow	23	0	morlin
Best Days i'm dumbstruck and intoxicated by you	3	0	noey8605
2012. the highlights of what i've listened to in 2012.	19	0	teenidle
Metal Heart. A blend of melancholy folk songs and slow-tempo indie tunes.	10	1	XNeverMind
2012. It's been an extremely rocky year for me, but I'm pretty sure I think this mixtape goes without saying. Here is the soundtrack that got me t...	19	0	cmonpilgrim
Sweet Love Songs Just the love songs that are simple, soft, and sweet.	8	0	pandalover1001
Songs With Deep Meanings Songs that generally have a brilliant story and deeper meaning than you think.	8	2	CameoLover
Contemplating Religion and God Bearing in mind I'm actually an atheist.	17	0	manic4manics
｡･ ☆｡ pop ｡･☆ ･｡* This is the ultimate "poppare" mixtape. "Poppare" is a subculture in Sweden, their style are mainly inspired by the 60's mods style. There a...	28	0	josefst
to heather. you're no teenage icon but you're pretty rad and i like you.	174	3	vriska

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