Conor Oberst - Upside Down Mountain (2014) [Hi-Res]

Singer-songwriter Conor Oberst's new solo album is called „Upside Down Mountain“. Upside Down Mountain features many other friends of Oberst’s, including producer Jonathan Wilson, engineer Andy LeMaster, bassist Macey Taylor, multi-instrumentalist Blake Mills, and the Swedish sibling folk-rock vocal duo First Aid Kit. What started as exploratory demos with producer-musician Jonathan Wilson at his Fivestar Studios in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, in a home Wilson rents from Oberst, became the first de facto album sessions. Returning to his native Omaha, Nebraska, Oberst kept rolling with the help of frequent collaborator, engineer, and friend Andy LeMaster at his own ARC Studios. Even more tracking followed in Omaha last November and December. Then Oberst and Wilson moved south to Blackbird Studio in Nashville.

“This is a return to an earlier way I wrote,” Oberst says of the songs on Upside Down Mountain. “It’s more intimate or personal, if you will. Even if all my songs come from the same place, you make different aesthetic decisions along the way. For me, language is a huge part of why I make music. I’m not the greatest guitar player or piano player—I’m not the greatest singer, either—but I feel if I can come up with melodies I like that are fused with poetry I’m proud of, then that’s what I bring to the table. That’s why I’m able to do this.”

Conor Oberst, voice, guitar
Jonathan Wilson, guitars, bass, drums, glockenspiel, keyboards
Nathaniel Walcott, keyboards, trumpet
Andy LeMaster, guitar, voice, percussion, drums
Blake Mills, guitars, keyboards, percussion, voice
Macey Taylor, bass
Mike Mogis, pedal steel
Joshua Grange, pedal steel
Andy LeMaster, keyboards
Corina Figueroa Escamilla, voice
Klara Söderberg, voice
Johanna Söderberg, voice
Andy LeMaster, voice
Orenda Fink, voice
Jason Boesel, drums
Omar Velasco, guitar
Scott Vicroy, saxophone
Pete Madsen, trombone
Leslie Fagan, flute
John Klinghammer, clarinet
Cully Symington, drums, percussion
Ben Brodin, vibraphone

Tracklist:
01. Conor Oberst - Time Forgot (4:36)
02. Conor Oberst - Zigzagging Toward the Light (4:05)
03. Conor Oberst - Hundreds of Ways (4:28)
04. Conor Oberst - Artifact #1 (4:25)
05. Conor Oberst - Lonely at the Top (3:45)
06. Conor Oberst - Enola Gay (2:24)
07. Conor Oberst - Double Life (3:57)
08. Conor Oberst - Worldwide (3:41)
09. Conor Oberst - Night at Lake Unknown (4:17)
10. Conor Oberst - You Are Your Mother's Child (3:49)
11. Conor Oberst - Governor's Ball (4:21)
12. Conor Oberst - Desert Island Questionnaire (5:41)
13. Conor Oberst - Common Knowledge (4:59)