Performer Notes

Known for his prolific pen, Conor Oberst slowed down in the new millennium, enjoying his tours with the Monsters of Folk but generally staying away from albums of new songs; even Outer South, his last album with the Mystic Valley Band, was littered with contributions by his bandmates. This makes his 2014 album Upside-Down Mountain noteworthy -- it's his first collection of original material since 2008's eponymous effort for Merge, and it's also the first record since to be billed to him alone. Another, perhaps more important, first is that Upside-Down Mountain is his first record for a major label, appearing on the tony Warner imprint Nonesuch Records and feeling like it belongs. Working with producer Jonathan Wilson -- a fixture of L.A.'s neo-hippie scene, producing Father John Misty and Dawes -- Oberst retains the shaggy folk ramble of the Mystic Valley Band but cleans up his attack considerably, adding various sweeteners from strings and layered backing vocals to concentrated, crunching guitars, bright bursts of horns, and light tropical rhythms. Compared to the paisley-drenched, ragged records of the Mystic Valley Band, this is sun-drenched and slick; the MVB had its heart in Laurel Canyon of the late '60s, while Upside-Down Mountain rides on a SoCal breeze blowing in from the early '70s. It's a conscious step toward maturation, both in its studio sculpture -- Oberst has never spent so much time laboring over arrangements as he does here -- and compositional construction. Sonically, Upside-Down Mountain is more elaborate than the rest of his catalog, but elsewhere all his excesses are in check; his words are sanded down to essentials, his voice no longer strives for adenoidal heights. Oberst remains an eccentric -- he's not one for obvious hooks, or even insistent melodies -- but of all his albums, Upside-Down Mountain feels open-hearted, measured, and bright, the kind of record that opens up a new chapter in a career and possibly wins over new listeners. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone - 4 stars out of 5 - "At 34, the former indie-rock prodigy still writes and sings about the high times and bad choices of adolescence, on the way to matured love and responsibility, like the sharpest kid in the room: a florid Midwest Morrissey with Jeff Tweedy's twisted-pop savvy."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.94) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "'Hundreds Of Ways' is hugely entertaining, a skiffle bop with mariachi brass and doleful Woody Allen attitude."

Paste (magazine) - "UPSIDE DOWN MOUNTAIN is a great album from beginning to end -- relaxed, assured and understated in its presentation."

Pitchfork (Website) - "Besides possessing one of the strongest melodies Oberst has ever penned, 'Time Forgot' is a welcome reintroduction to the guy who never had trouble getting his point across."

Album: Upside Down Mountain
#	Song Title		Time
	Disc 1
1)	Time Forgot	More Info...
2)	Zigzagging Toward the Light	More Info...
3)	Hundreds of Ways	More Info...
4)	Artifact #1	More Info...
5)	Lonely at the Top	More Info...
6)	Enola Gay	More Info...
	Disc 2
1)	Double Life	More Info...
2)	Kick	More Info...
3)	Night at Lake Unknown	More Info...
4)	You Are Your Mother's Child	More Info...
5)	Governor's Ball	More Info...
6)	Desert Island Questionnaire	More Info...
7)	Common Knowledge	More Info...

Album: Upside Down Mountain
#	Song Title		Time
	Disc 1
1)	Time Forgot	More Info...
2)	Zigzagging Toward the Light	More Info...
3)	Hundreds of Ways	More Info...
4)	Artifact #1	More Info...
5)	Lonely at the Top	More Info...
6)	Enola Gay	More Info...
	Disc 2
1)	Double Life	More Info...
2)	Kick	More Info...
3)	Night at Lake Unknown	More Info...
4)	You Are Your Mother's Child	More Info...
5)	Governor's Ball	More Info...
6)	Desert Island Questionnaire	More Info...
7)	Common Knowledge	More Info...