Conor Oberst: Conor Oberst

Copy at Case Memorial Library
Eric R. Danton wrote in his Hartford Courant blog Sound Check: "'Conor Oberst' (Merge) is the richest collection of songs from Conor Oberst … in a long time. … Maybe it's a function of getting older … or maybe the tranquil setting helped, but Oberst seems at ease here. He sounds as if he's shrugged off any pressure to make a Grand Artistic Statement, resulting in songs that that play to his considerable strengths as a writer. He spins a vivid tangle of Dylan-esque lyrics on 'Get-Well-Cards,' and sings with quiet, double-tracked precision on the mournful opening track, 'Cape Canaveral.' There's a lilting country-rock inflection in the gently rolling rhythm of 'Sausalito' and the trebly guitar licks on 'Moab.' Oberst turns to finger-picked acoustic guitar on the folky accusation 'Lenders in the Temple' and ends the record with 'Milk Thistle,' a hushed solo-acoustic taking-stock song as vast in scope as the western sky. 'Help me go slow, I've been carrying on,' he sings, and all the hype and expectations and ancillary rubbish recede, leaving only the sound of an earnest singer and songwriter fully coming into his own" (8/4/08).