every now and then I fall apart

Have I outgrown Conor Oberst?
I checked I'm Wide Awake It's Morning out of my library (and yes, I'm the one that ordered it, too--it's hard to judge what buzz people in this town pay attention to, but there was just so damn much around this record). I listened to it this morning when NPR started to repeat. I don't know, I just found myself getting really impatient with it. First off, what's up with his monologue starting off the first track? I know part of my issue was with the fact that I had just put in the music cd because I didn't want to hear talking, and another problem is that, in just about any non-9-11 plane crash-related anecdote, that part of Mallrats starts playing in my head. This was a real problem when I first watched Almost Famous, what with Jason Lee actually being in it and all. But, c'mon Conor: less talk, more rock.
I have no patience with Conor talking on his albums because I'm one of the stupid, stupid people who bought Fevers and Mirrors on record. Seriously, people, don't make the same mistake I did. There's this whole fake college radio interview in the middle of it that's funny the first time you hear it, because it is so totally dead-on, but after that, you just want to get back to the music. But you can't, because it goes on forever. And you have it on record, so you can't just jump to the next track without actually getting up off your lazy ass. Also, I can't quite remember, but I want to say the "interview" is not only buried in the album side, it's also buried in a track.
I've always thought record reviews should also tell you what format is best for an album. Spin sort of does this, with the "download, buy, etc." column. Do they still do that? Or like, driving records used to always be best on tape, which is why I've never owned any Cure cds, and why my copies of It's a Shame About Ray and the Rushmore soundtrack were cassettes. Someone else owns all of them now...
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With apologies to Tiff for accidental plagiarism or repetition.
I think the real thing with me and Bright Eyes is that they're one of the few bands that were so much about a particular time and place in my life that, even with the new stuff that comes out, my first reaction is nostalgia, not actual objective listening and possibly enjoyment. I hear Billy Corgan in any context, and I'm instantly 15 again, going to see Smashing Pumpkins at the Beaver Community College Epcot Center-lookin' thing with Cheryl Rosenfeld. It's like I have a block against thinking about or feeling anything else. Likewise, I hear Conor's voice and it's like a time machine back to the year after college. This is probably part of my Bright Eyes problem because, if you're anything like me, that first year after college graduation is one of the last years you want to relive, or be nostalgic about. Now add temping, Coffee Tree Roasters, and an ass-faced roommate, and you're where I was. I can still listen to A Collection of Songs Written and Recorded 1995-1997 and enjoy it, but only after a walk down mental health denial letter memory lane. And that walk is even crappier than the one from my bed to the record player to skip the fake radio interview, believe you me.
Of course, Bright Eyes also makes remember the show at Roboto, where Conor knocked either his lap steel or his keyboard over (I don't remember which) and Tiff, Cindy, and I pretended to be 1960s model drawings (we did this a lot Spring-Summer 2001) and we saw deer in Schenley Park afterwards. Oh, and Conor asked if anyone had a place he could crash and every girl looked so hopeful, and simultaneously as scary as my cousin's brand-new sister-in-law when the bouquet was thrown at her wedding. At least, I think that was all at the same show. Times when the 3 of us acted like asses in front of Roboto all tend to blend together.
Her rock had been blinding me all day long, but she still needed to catch those damn flowers.
Maybe Conor's just too earnest for me anymore. And he's not self-mocking enough to make up for it, like all my other favorite desperate boy singers.

Is it just me, or is the second half of the Kaiser Chiefs record decidedly Blur-esque? Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course, though if I was listing my favorite British bands, there are several ones higher up than Blur.

UPDATE! May 23: So last night Melissa, Bryan and I were rocking some Trivial Pursuit and some Collection of Songs... At a particularly emotional point (in the cd, not the game), Bryan exclaims, "Oh my god! Is this guy getting stabbed or something!?"
And I think that just about ends my discussion of Bright Eyes. Couldn't have said it better myself, sir.