#Mike Mogis

[sinceileftyoublog]

Hurray For The Riff Raff Album Review: The Past is Still Alive

(Nonesuch)

BY JORDAN MAINZER

On The Past is Still Alive, the latest and best studio album from Hurray For The Riff Raff, Alynda Segarra looks back at a specific era of their life to pay tribute to chaos and imagine what could come from it. Their seemingly legendary but very real past is well-known by now: At age 17, Segarra left their home in the Bronx and hopped freight trains, played in a hobo band, and settled in New Orleans, a formative period of simultaneous struggle and freedom. That combined ethos has pervaded all Hurray For The Riff Raff records, but on The Past is Still Alive, Segarra's finally telling the tale, applying what they learned to the present day.

Notably, Segarra started recording The Past is Still Alive a month after their father died; while his voice appears literally on the album's final track "Kiko Forever", his musical uplift acts as a buoy for Segarra throughout the whole thing. Though they had worked with producer Brad Cook and drummer Yan Westerlund prior, Segarra had never recorded with the rest of the album's laundry list of stellar contributors, from Meg Duffy of Hand Habits, and Mike Mogis to guest vocalists Anjimile, Conor Oberst, and S.G. Goodman. That Segarra conquered a period of vulnerability to record the album with bonafide strangers is a terrific feat, but not necessarily surprising: This is a person who has the ability to treat even their fellow band members like the audience, recipients of some remarkable stories full of biography and symbolism alike.

Throughout The Past is Still Alive, Segarra alternates between timeless metaphor and hyper-specific details. On "Buffalo", they remark, simply, that "Some things take time," whether presently forming love or society's death-by-1000-cuts treatment of the oppressed. Segarra sings over strummed acoustic guitar and Mogis' pedal steel, the perfect accompaniment to earned wisdom. "Hawkmoon", on the other hand, is more electric, full of Duffy's bluesy riffing, akin to the epic sound of The Navigator, fitting for a song inspired by a lasting figure: the first trans woman Segarra ever met. As if to project to a stadium full of folks looking to honor Ms. Jonathan, Segarra sings a heartland rock-style salute: "She opened up my mind in the holes of her fishnet tights / Dildo waving on her car antenna and / I could've ridden shotgun forever." Pseudo title track "Snakeplant (The Past Is Still Alive)" juxtaposes both memories of chaos and lessons learned. As Segarra recounts shoplifting and having sex on top of an island of trash, they make sure to tell you what they took from a life among "the barrel of freaks": "Test your drugs / Remember Narcan / There's a war on people, don't you understand?" Duffy's distorted guitar and Matt Douglas's skronking saxophone create beauty from Segarra's warnings of disorder.

Some of the best songs on The Past is Still Alive are incredibly life-affirming. Opener "Alibi" is a plea to drug-addicted childhood friends, a promise that, "Maybe we'll start a band," on a song that introduces the swath of instrumentation present throughout the record, like gentle piano, steady drums, echoing guitar, and pedal steel. "Ogallala" and "Colossus of Roads" prioritize survival in a harsh world--Segarra compares themselves to the musicians still playing on the deck of a sinking Titanic--but not without a wish that the world itself would burn. Westerlund's crashing drums take the former to its logical conclusion, while the latter, inspired by the 2022 Club Q shooting in Colorado springs, makes the case for empathy along the way to the apocalypse. "Wrap you up in the bomb shelter of my feather bed," Segarra sings, fighting cruelty with compassion atop Phil Cook's mournful dobro and organ and Westerlund's funereal drum rolls.

It's a line in "Hourglass" that sticks with me the most among the lyrical and instrumental brilliance of The Past is Still Alive. Recounting feeling out-of-place among the status-obsessed, Segarra shifts their perspective. "Suddenly, a boulder's just sand in an hourglass," they sing. Though they spend much of the album concentrating on time and place, they recognize that our mark on earth is statistically insignificant, something we can use to our advantage rather than something that makes us feel small. What many in society consider important--celebrity, power, money--is volatile compared to the power of your own agency, of giving life to the past.

[yourfavealbumisgender]

Letting Off the Happiness by Bright Eyes is Transmasc (but uses the regular trans flag)!

[hellsmouthcove]

very very low quality photos of bright eyes live in austin, tx on march 18 2000. via kathy on the unofficial bright eyes website  

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Joseph Shares Buoyant and Anthemic "The Sun"

New Video: JOVM Mainstays Joseph Shares Buoyant and Anthemic "The Sun" @thebandjoseph @atorecords @bigfeatpr @therightcadence @WhatsTheStoryCA

After a busy weekend covering The New Colossus Festival‘s fourth edition, I wound up catching a real nasty cold that has kicked my ass: I’ve felt miserable for the past four days or so. And unfortunately, because we live together, my mother caught what I had. So it sounds a bit like a sick ward here. But somehow, the show must go on, as best as it could. right? Portland, OR-based sibling indie…

[profools]

If you weren't aware, Bright Eyes is playing a small "secret" show in Philly tomorrow.

There are still tickets available here:

https://www.etix.com/ticket/p/50101072/henry-doorly-zoo-explosion-philadelphia-music-hall-at-world-cafe-live

[lens-of-ken]

Monsters of Folk - "Temazcal"

[thebeautyofbeingnumb]

mike mogis of cursive, coachella 2004

x

[gideonthefirst]

also sorry not to keep engaging with this but it's haunting me. brother my pinned post is bright eyes's fever and mirrors.

at least chappell is talented, brat is fucking shit & it sounds shit

whoa fr?? it's shit AND it sounds shit?? i suppose with such a compelling argument i MUST change my mind and make amends to every moderately vocally talented but extremely boring musician i've ever disliked....

[just-your-average-tangerine]

Song of the day: July 18 2024

Lover I Dont Have to Love by Bright Eyes

About Bright Eyes:

Bright Eyes is an American indie rock band founded by singer-songwriter and guitarist Conor Oberst. It consists of Oberst, multi-instrumentalist and producer Mike Mogis, arranger, composer and trumpet and piano player Nate Walcott, and a rotating line-up of collaborators drawn primarily from Omaha's indie music scene. Between 1998 and 2011, the band's albums were released through Saddle Creek Records, a Nebraska-based label founded by Justin Oberst (Conor's brother) and Mogis. In January 2020, the band announced their return, having signed with Dead Oceans.

(Via Wikipedia)

[altamontpt]

Bright Eyes - Five Dices, All Threes (2024)

Five Dices, All Threes é uma montra bem construída de uma banda madura, mostrando que o poder de storytelling de Oberst continua imparável.

Five Dices, All Threes é uma montra bem construída de uma banda madura, mostrando que o poder de storytelling de Oberst continua imparável. Seria injusto reduzir os Bright Eyes apenas a Conor Oberst, mas, precisamos de assinalar que Oberst é um músico prolífico, em particular na cena folk. Entre o projeto Monsters of Folk (Jim James, M. Ward, Mike Mogis – também dos Bright Eyes), as colaborações…

[musikblog]

https://www.musikblog.de/2024/09/bright-eyes-five-dice-all-threes/ Bright-Eyes-Platten vermochten zu Jahrtausendbeginn exponierte Adoleszent-Seelen motivierend zu begleiten. Conor Oberst traf nicht nur die richtigen Worte für die Tristesse des Alltags, sondern erspielte sich mit Mike Mogis und Nate Walcott – oft im Verbund mit diversen Gastmusiker*innen – seit dem 1995er Erstaufschlag mit lauten, leisen, sperrigen und eingängigen Tönen einen festen Platz im Alternativ-Sektor. […]

[vmonteiro23a]

UNDER THE RADAR: Bright Eyes announce new LP ft. Matt Berninger, share "Bells and Whistles".

UNDER THE RADAR: Bright Eyes announce new LP ft. Matt Berninger, share “Bells and Whistles”. Bright Eyes announced their 10th LP, Five Dice, All Threes, due out on September 20 via Dead Oceans. It’s the follow-up to 2020’s Down in the Weeds, Where the World Once Was (which was their first album in nine years), and they self-produced it, and recorded it in Conor Oberst and Mike Mogis‘ ARC studio…

[chorusfm]

Bright Eyes Announce New Album

Bright Eyes will release Five Dice, All Threes on September 20th. Today they’ve shared the new song “Bells and Whistles.” Bright Eyes have announced their new album, Five Dice, All Threes, for release on September 20th via Dead Oceans. Comprised of Conor Oberst, Mike Mogis, and Nate Walcott, the beloved band’s 10th studio album features guest performances from long time friends Cat Power, The National’s Matt Berninger and The So So Glos’ Alex Orange Drink. Alongside today’s album news comes the release of the first track, “Bells and Whistles,” and a slew of tour dates for the United States and Europe, including headline slots at Riot Fest and BFF Festival. All shows listed below.   “Bells and Whistles” is a rollicking, anthemic bop that gallavants from NY to LA, its lacerating lyrics referencing Banksy, Princess Diana, the Mets, Silverlake stalwart bar Edendale, music biz pitfalls, and Kevin Costner’s greatest film. The lighthearted video, directed by Josh Boone, was filmed in Omaha, Nebraska and features a magical photobooth, a bar fight, and a performance.   Of the track, Conor Oberst says, “This is a song about the many little details in life that can seem insignificant or frivolous or temporary at the time but eventually end up forming your destiny. And it's also kind of a whistle while you work scenario.” Self-produced, and recorded at Mike and Conor’s studio, ARC, in Omaha, Nebraska, Five Dice, All Threes is a record of uncommon intensity and tenderness, communal exorcism and personal excavation. These are, of course, qualities that fans have come to expect from Bright Eyes, nearly three decades into their career. The tight-knit band of Conor, Mike and Nate tends to operate in distinct sweeping movements: each unique in its sound and story but unified by a sense of ambition and ever-growing emotional stakes. Even with this rich history behind them, these new songs exude a visceral thrill like nothing they have attempted before. Conor has always sung in a voice that conveys a sense of life-or-death gravity. At times throughout Five Dice, All Threes, you may feel worried for him; other times, he may seem like the only one with the clarity to get us out of this mess. As is usual with Bright Eyes’ work, the music comes loaded with subtext that invites deep listening—the signature touch of a band who has always honored the album as its own exalted work of art. With the new songs the trio embrace the elusive quality that has made them so enduring and influential across generations and genres, bringing their homespun sound from an Omaha bedroom to devoted audiences around the world. In Conor’s songwriting lies a promise that our loneliest thoughts and feelings can take on grander shapes when passed between friends, blasted through speakers, or shouted among crowds. Five Dice, All Threes is as confessional and unguarded as Conor has sounded in years. Throughout these timelessly constructed yet unabashedly modern songs, he earns his place among a rare class of songwriters who have grown more fearless and boundless with age.   In the game of threes, the titular move would indicate a perfect roll. Perfection, however, means something different in the world of Bright Eyes, where our flaws are what grants us authority and finding meaning is only possible if we bear witness to the dark, winding journey to get there. On Five Dice, All Threes, Bright Eyes embrace these beliefs with music that feels thrillingly alive, as if we were all in the room with them, shouting along and gaining the strength to move forward together. It doesn’t just sound like classic Bright Eyes. It sounds like their future, too. Track Listing * Five Dice * Bells and Whistles * El Capitan * Bas Jan Ader * Tiny Suicides * All Threes * Rainbow Overpass * Hate * Real Feel 105° * Spun Out * Trains Still Run On Time * The Time I Have Left * Tin Soldier Boy --- Please consider becoming a member so we can keep bringing you stories like this one. ◎ https://chorus.fm/news/bright-eyes-announce-new-album/

[garudabluffs]

Jenny Lewis looks optimistically at love and life on new album 'Joy'All'

READ MORE Transcript LISTEN 8-Minute Listen https://www.npr.org/2023/07/01/1185623481/jenny-lewis-about-her-new-album-joyal

It's New Year's Eve, I'm in Glendora I'm the only living person in Glendora Heading east on the freeway I left my prom dress on the bus-stop in Duarte I switch the rules, you take advantage You know I always like to play the victim And would you fuck me? 'cause I'd fuck me Am I your wet nap? Freestyle walking

I cry, cry, cry, then I complain Come back for more, do it again I cry, cry, cry, then I complain Come back for more, do it again

I'm on my way, I want to see you You're in your bedroom with some dancers underneath you I come inside, I hear the door slam You tell me if I really loved you I'd get with them They make me sick, you make me sicker But I want to please you so I go and I get with her I close my eyes, I think about me I'm just your wet nap Freestyle walking

I cry, cry, cry, then I complain Come back for more, do it again I cry, cry, cry, then I complain Come back for more, do it again

I should find someone better for me But Mom says we're born this way Every time I come over to your house You just shit on my face And you know, you know You know, you know it really freaks me out

I drove for hours on bad directions I arrive, there's something you forgot to mention An afterthought, straight to the tabby "Sorry Angel, went to Reno," happy, happy It ain't the rest, why do you Jenny? I'm in a booth, it's almost twelve, your favorite Denny's Another year, I need a sundae I'm just your side bet Freestyle walking

I cry, cry, cry, then I complain Come back for more, do it again I cry, cry, cry, then I complain Come back for more, do it again I cry, cry, cry, then I complain Come back for more, do it again

Portions for Foxes · Rilo Kiley More Adventurous ℗ 2005 Warner Records Inc. Electric Guitar: Blake Sennett Vocals: Blake Sennett Drums: Jason Boesel Guitar, Keyboards, Vocals: Jenny Lewis Producer: Mark Trombino Mixer, Programmer: Mike Mogis Bass: Pierre de Reeder Masterer: Stephen Marcussen Writer: Lewis Writer: Sennett

[thejoyofviolentmovement]

New VIdeo: Joseph Shares Anthemic "Nervous System"

New VIdeo: Joseph Shares Anthemic "Nervous System" @thebandjoseph @atorecords @bigfeatpr @therightcadence @WhatsTheStoryCA

Portland, OR-based sibling indie pop trio Joseph — Natalie Closner Schepman and her two, younger twin sisters Meegan and Allison — derive their name from two different sources: their grandfather Jo and the tiny town of Joseph, OR, in which he was born and raised. The Closner Sisters grew up in a musical household: their dad was a jazz singer and drummer, while their mom was a theater teacher. But…

[brokehorrorfan]

The Stand's original series soundtrack is available on vinyl for $35 via Mondo, in association with Lakeshore Records. The score is composed by Nathaniel Walcott & Mike Mogis (The Fault in Our Stars, Stuck in Love) of Bright Eyes.

The double-LP album is pressed on 180-gram black and blue marble colored vinyl, limited to 500. It's housed in a gatefold jacket. They’re expected to ship in December.