CD Odyssey Disc 1292: Better Oblivion Community Center

Welcome back to the CD Odyssey! This next album is one of 2019’s best. I made a mistake in my initial posting and suggested it was produced by St. Vincent but that was just me getting it confused with another record I was reading up on yesterday (Sleater Kinney's "The Center Won't Hold"). I apologize for any confusion and the review below now gives the record's actual producers the love they deserve.

Disc 1292 is… Self-Titled

Artist: Better Oblivion Community Center

Year of Release: 2019

What’s up with the Cover? Chandeliers are like the distant solar systems of the ballroom.

How I Came to Know It: I read a review and was excited that two artists I already liked (Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst) had done an album together.

How It Stacks Up:  this is the first album by the Better Oblivion Community Center, but I hope it isn’t the last. For now, it can’t stack up.

Ratings: 5 stars

The last few Conor Oberst albums have been pretty much perfect. His last record was 2017’s “Salutations” which I gave 4 stars when I reviewed it back at Disc 1170. It is hard to imagine changing anything that would make his brilliance even better.

The same can be said for fellow singer-songwriter phenomenon Phoebe Bridgers. Her last solo record was also from 2017, “Stranger in the Alps” and while I haven’t reviewed it here’s a spoiler alert: it is also amazing. A bit more pop, a bit less folk, but every bit as brilliant.

Two years later the two of them together have created the Better Oblivion Community Center. The combination is exactly as awesome as you could hope for; they make each other better at every level.

Bridgers and Oberst are cowriters on all but one of the songs. I heard elements of their solo work throughout, but there was also this fantastic middle ground that borrowed from both. It served both their own signature songwriting styles, but also shifted it through collaboration into something beautiful, distinct and altogether new.

Stylistically, I noted how Bridgers helps get Oberst’s rock on. It isn’t like Oberst’s brand of introspective indie folk needed that – it is brilliant all on its own – but it gives the record incredible stylistic range. Oberst’s influence on Bridgers pulls her slightly out of the rock drone of “Stranger…” and helps give punctuation to her style without losing the ambient power that helps make it great.

The two of them sing on most tracks, sometimes one or the other taking the lead, but often blending their voices. Oberst’s high and hurt-filled quaver and Bridgers sweet but sorrowful alt-pop tone blend well. Sometimes they are in tight harmony, and sometimes they’re loose so your ear can go back and forth between the two very different styles, but they are always complementary to one another.

If there is any tension, it is only the tension of songs. Both musicians are adept at venturing out into the land of emotional oblivion, and neither shy away from another journey together. The result are powerfully self-examined songs that put you in the mood for some heavy thinking and dig deep into your soul. Sometimes the songs have narrative structure, but often they are just moments in time that speak to a broader existential or emotional exploration. Sometimes I was drawn into these characters immersing me as I got lost in their journey. Sometimes the songs became the perfect soundtrack to ruminate over Big Questions of my own.

There are too many great lines and moments to quote a single one. Besides, it is better that you experience them as they were meant to be heard, reaching into you with exactly the right musical accompaniment to punctuate each image and thought.

Oberst and Bridgers play the majority of the guitar parts on the record, and they are equally gifted here, switching styles effortlessly as the songs demand. “Dylan Thomas” and “Chesapeake” employ a jangling strum, “My City” features a sublime rolling picking section and “Big Black Heart” has the big emotional echo you might expect on a Cure album. The constantly changing production decisions give the album a constant newness, while always maintaining a cohesive structure.

Which brings us to the production, which is not St. Vincent, but is brilliant all the same. As it happens the best match for these two brilliant artists are...themselves! Bridgers and Oberst produce the record (along with Andy Lemaster, who has previously worked as an engineer and instrumentalist on Oberst's solo albums). Together, they infuse the record with just the right amount of light electronica where the song calls for it, and matched with all that variance in the guitar treatments, your ear is constantly engaged.

Every song on Better Oblivion Community Center is a precious and unique gem, but all form part of a larger piece of jewelry that is greater than the sum of its parts. This is not just a collection of great singles; this is a classic record.

Better Oblivion Community Center already has me wishing fervently for a follow up record where these brilliant musical minds can once again build something beautiful together. Whether that happens again or not, there is no question that Better Oblivion Community Center is one of the best records of 2019.

Best tracks: all tracks – unfortunately there are only 10