last april, bright eyes, the creative vehicle for the multi talented conor oberst released its latest album titled cassadaga, after the florida town of the same name.  incidentally, cassadaga, florida is sometimes referred to as the psychic center of the world.  similar to the perceived energy of the town, one can feel the emanations of each track and highly designed album (cd) sleeve.

 connor, once coined "rock boy genius" and heir apparent to bob dylan, began creating music in 1994 at age 14 with the band commander venus.  they released two albums; then broke up.  a few of the members went on to found saddle creek records, of which connor is currently signed.  anyway, this is the first album bright eyes recorded outside of conor's home state of nebraska.  for thier sixth lp, they opted to take the show on the road and record/write the album in a variety of studios across america.   as a result, i view this album as a chronicle of his travels told through his shivering vocals and soaring instrumentals.

because the album is a year old, the band isn't currently touring.  i saw bright eyes last year; it was one of the most reflectively intimate shows i have ever seen.  since they don't tour often, if ever you have the opportunity to see them live, please go!

if you like bright eyes, click here to listen to a brief interview and quick set originally airing on  philadelphia's wxpn and world café live on 26 december 2007.  if you need more, click here and follow the "windows media" link to listen to a 2005 show originally recorded at d.c's 9:30 club.

as always, please buy this album from your local independent music store and not from retailers like wal-mart (soulless, globally-homogenizing, community-killers) or i-tunes (albums should be listened to as an entire composition with album cover and liner notes in hand).  incidentally, these two companies sell more music than any other retailer in the united states.  that my friend, bites.