REVIEW: Conor Oberst and the Mystic Valley Band “Outer South”
CONOR OBERST AND THE MYSTIC VALLEY BAND
Outer South
(Merge)
Available on CD, 180-gram 2xLP with download code, iTunes, AmazonMP3 and eMusic
Rating: 
It is a little hard to listen to Conor Oberst recent solo output and not be reminded of Bob Dylan. Hell, with his self-titled 2008 solo release – his first recording for Merge after an almost lifetime association with Saddle Creek (the independent label he practically helped build thanks to his prodigious output under the Bright Eyes moniker) – had a lot of shades of Bringing It All Back Home/Highway 61 Revisited Dylan throughout.
Indeed, Outer South smacks incredibly of Dylan even more than Conor Oberst. Until now, it was unusual for Oberst to retain the same general musical style from album to album in a row, given that the past several years of his studio album output have ultilized electronics (Digital Ash for A Digital Urn), nu-country (I’m Wide Awake Its Morning), and a cross of Pet Sounds and Electric Warrior (Cassadaga). Then again, Conor Oberst the solo artist and his Mystic Valley Band are a wholly different beast than Bright Eyes.
The more consistent personnel of the Mystic Valley Band has brought in a new dimension to Conor’s world: The band is co-credited on the album itself, while several of the members contribute their own lead vocals and/or songwriting to the new album. On the front cover photo, Oberst has even gone so far as to deliberately obscure his eyes with a black marker smudge to divert attention to the rest of his bandmates. The presence of compositions from the rest of the band would explain why this album is appearing a mere nine months after the release of Oberst’s last full-length effort.
When I first sat down to listen to the album, I hadn’t given a glance to the credits and didn’t know that Oberst was sharing lead vocal and songwriting time with the rest of the band. When I was taking notes while first listening to the album (double vinyl edition), I had written “Conor’s singing voice [on “”Big Black Nothing”] is almost unrecognizable here, resembling a consistently on-pitch Dylan.” Nope – it was guitarist Nik Frietas singing his own composition. (Yeah, sorry for the Dylan comparison – I can’t help it with this album). Same with “Air Mattress” where I thought Conor was taking on a slightly more nasal voice – the band’s other guitarist, Taylor Hollingsworth, is the vocalist (and songwriter) there. (Frietas, Hollingsworth, and drummer Jason Boesel contribute two lead vocal/songwriting efforts apiece on the album; bassist Macey Taylor sings a song specially penned by Oberst; Conor co-wrote one song apiece with Frietas and keyboardist Nathaniel Walccott respectively and wrote the rest of the album himself.)
Again, the general musical tone of the album, like its predecessor, reminds me of mid-60’s Dylan, but there are other musical influences rearing their heads throughout Outer South. “Bloodline”, Nik Frietas’ other lead vocal/songwriting contribution, recalls George Harrison’s mid-to-late ‘70’s solo work – on first listen I kept expecting the band to go into “Crackerbox Palace” at any moment. “Roosevelt Room” channels louder Neil Young & Crazy Horse (Hollingsworth does some very Neil-esque electric guitar work not only on this track but on “To All the Lights in the Windows”). “Cabbage Town” finds Roger McGuinn 12-string leads, Phil Spector drum rhythms, and Roy Orbison-esque guitar strums vying for sonic space.
Some talk elsewhere on the internet (mainly early armchair reviewers on Rate Your Music working from leaked copies of the album) accuses the presence of the other band members’ songwriting contributions as actually weakening the album. This is not the case. The contributions of the other band members’ songs are equal with Conor’s, and Conor himself has definitely not lost a step songwriting-wise, given that he really hasn’t lost a step since at least Lifted or The Story Is in the Soil, Keep Your Ear to The Ground. Having a solid team behind him no doubt helps, but even with the rest of the band sharing the singing and writing duties, Outer South is still USDA prime Conor Oberst – you can consume with confidence.
