Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
1	2	3	4	5	6	7
8	9	10	11	12	13	14
15	16	17	18	19	20	21
22	23	24	25	26	27	28
29	30	1	2	3	4	5

Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019)

Posted By: delpotro

Date: 12 Feb 2019 15:09:08

Better Oblivion Community Center is an American indie rock duo composed of musicians Conor Oberst and Phoebe Bridgers. The duo released their eponymous debut album on January 24, 2019, through Dead Oceans.

When Conor Oberst first heard the sad, conversational songwriting of Phoebe Bridgers, he felt compelled to get in touch. “It’s nice to know you are out there singing this stuff,” he told the 24-year-old Los Angelean after she sent an early version of her breakthrough debut, 2017’s Stranger in the Alps. “I think lots of people will find good comfort in your songs. They are soothing and empathetic, which I know I need more of in my life.”

He wasn’t kidding. After some trying years, Oberst’s recent work has been a vessel for stark, existential unburdening. On 2016’s Ruminations and its 2017 companion Salutations, he funneled first-person accounts of grief, depression, insomnia, paranoia, court appearances, and hospital visits into his most vivid and unsettled music in years. Drawing a direct line to the shaky downer anthems that made Bright Eyes an influence for so many young artists—Bridgers included—these newer songs sounded exhaustive and raw, like there was a punchline at the very bottom of all his anxieties and he’d dig through them like a pile of dirty laundry to uncover it.

For Bridgers, this was essentially square one. Her songs, hushed and patient, often seek in-the-moment honesty over retrospective wisdom. She’s equally adept at capturing an omnipresent fog of melancholy and the cosmic joke looming just outside our periphery. Her debut was filled with odes to friends who died too young and woeful retellings of her stoned, late-night regrets, all sung with a lightness that made her worldview seem both chaotic and consoling. Late in the album, she invited Oberst to sing on a ballad called “Would You Rather.” Voicing the troubled family member who helped make Bridgers’ childhood survivable, he echoed her fluttering whisper in a low, empathetic wheeze: “I’m a can on a string/You’re on the end.”

The duo’s first full-length collaboration, Better Oblivion Community Center, continues their conversation. It’s a tight-knit folk-rock album about alienation, solitude, and our potential to better ourselves against bad odds. Despite its loose concept about a dystopian wellness facility and its elaborate rollout—complete with cryptic brochures and a telephone hotline—it’s not a bracing political statement like 2015’s Payola, Oberst’s pre-Trump rallying cry with his old punk band Desaparecidos. And unlike Bridgers’ recent EP as one-third of the supergroup boygenius, these songs don’t seek collaboration as a means for full-throated emotional escapism. Instead, Better Oblivion is a collection of quiet, wandering thoughts: the sound of twin souls burrowing deeper into their common ground.

Despite the laid-back atmosphere, the songwriting focuses on characters pushed to breaking points. Many of the songs revolve around destinations of wellness and escape: vacations, silent retreats, “little moments of purpose.” Such ideas have fascinated Oberst since his 2007 pivot-point Cassadaga, and they’ve never really left his work since. As an artist who depicted himself on his last album cover drowning face-down in a swimming pool on a beautiful summer day, he remains skeptical of taking it easy. “All this freedom just freaks me out,” he sings, sounding genuinely freaked out, in “My City.” The track ends with the album’s most primal vocal performance: a long note that the duo holds in unison before getting snuffed by a steady, clipped drumbeat. It’s a centering moment, like removing your earbuds and realizing how serene the world around you is compared to what’s in your head.

Because of their uniquely emo vocal styles and their tender subject matter, both Oberst and Bridgers are typically characterized as confessional songwriters, which can belie the complexity (and humor) of their work. In these songs, they push each other to write more in character. The opening “Didn’t Know What I Was in For” is an imagistic story-song that spirals out from dreary contentedness. Observing a friend who “says she cries at the news but doesn’t really” and eavesdropping on poolside conversations that start polite but “always sounds so cruel,” Bridgers implicates herself in a generational sense of helplessness: “I’ve never really done anything for anyone,” she sings over a mournfully strummed acoustic guitar.

Better Oblivion is dotted with refrains that sound breezy but read like last-ditch confrontations long after the spark has died (“Is this having fun?/It’s not like the way it was,” “I loved you/I wore you down,” “Why don’t you want it anymore?”). The radiant “Dylan Thomas” gallops forward with its impressive rhyme scheme, but the words mostly highlight a shared tendency toward fatalism: the couple at the party who get along best when they’re pointing out how pathetic the whole endeavor is. Along the way, Bridgers sneaks in what sounds like a jab at her critics (“They say you’ve got to fake it/At least until you make it/That ghost is just a kid in a sheet”) and Yeah Yeah Yeahs guitarist Nick Zinner shows up for some woozy solos, like a hungover take on Springsteen’s “No Surrender.” Suddenly, their pact to “go it alone” seems somewhat triumphant.

For each declaration of acceptance, there’s a bleaker attempt at finding closure: doomed visions of digging people up from the ground or driving until you feel different. In “Chesapeake,” the album’s slow-burning centerpiece, Bridgers and Oberst share a formative memory, sitting on someone’s shoulders during a concert: “We were the tallest person watching in Chesapeake,” they sing in harmony. Bridgers has written before about finding meaning with the music blasting—crying in the crowd with the teenagers, drowning out the sadness with a car radio. Here, she sings it like a lullaby, as Oberst’s familiar quiver helps guide toward a lonely conclusion. Sparsely attended and tepidly received, the concert they’re singing about seems kind of like a drag, and any revelation it inspires is short-lived. Soon they know that the music will be over, the crowd will disperse, and the world will be louder and more confusing than ever.

Tracklist:
01. Didn't Know What I Was in For (04:03)
02. Sleepwalkin' (03:13)
03. Dylan Thomas (03:37)
04. Service Road (03:44)
05. Exception to the Rule (02:51)
06. Chesapeake (04:04)
07. My City (04:04)
08. Forest Lawn (03:46)
09. Big Black Heart (03:27)
10. Dominos (04:32)

XLD

X Lossless Decoder version 20181019 (151.1)

XLD extraction logfile from 2019-02-11 12:05:20 -0600

Better Oblivion Community Center / Better Oblivion Community Center

Used drive : PIONEER DVD-RW DVRTS08 (revision Q81D)
Media type : Pressed CD

Ripper mode : XLD Secure Ripper
Disable audio cache : OK for the drive with a cache less than 1375KiB
Make use of C2 pointers : NO
Read offset correction : 48
Max retry count : 20
Gap status : Analyzed, Appended (except HTOA)

TOC of the extracted CD
Track | Start | Length | Start sector | End sector
––––––––––––––––––––––––––––-
1 | 00:00:00 | 04:04:04 | 0 | 18303
2 | 04:04:04 | 03:12:53 | 18304 | 32756
3 | 07:16:57 | 03:36:59 | 32757 | 49015
4 | 10:53:41 | 03:44:25 | 49016 | 65840
5 | 14:37:66 | 02:51:21 | 65841 | 78686
6 | 17:29:12 | 04:04:37 | 78687 | 97023
7 | 21:33:49 | 04:04:27 | 97024 | 115350
8 | 25:38:01 | 03:46:18 | 115351 | 132318
9 | 29:24:19 | 03:26:63 | 132319 | 147831
10 | 32:51:07 | 04:34:16 | 147832 | 168397

AccurateRip Summary
Disc not found in AccurateRip DB.

All Tracks
Album gain : -8.39 dB
Peak : 0.999969
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 01
Filename : /Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [FLAC]/01 Didn't Know What I Was In For.flac
/Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [MP3 V0]/01 Didn't Know What I Was In For.mp3
Pre-gap length : 00:02:00

Track gain : -7.06 dB
Peak : 0.999969
CRC32 hash (test run) : 9538322B
CRC32 hash : 9538322B
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : D9DF7B2C
AccurateRip v1 signature : C31ED222
AccurateRip v2 signature : 2EDE08B1
->Track not present in AccurateRip database.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 02
Filename : /Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [FLAC]/02 Sleepwalkin'.flac
/Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [MP3 V0]/02 Sleepwalkin'.mp3

Track gain : -9.33 dB
Peak : 0.999969
CRC32 hash (test run) : 0B41B6AA
CRC32 hash : 0B41B6AA
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 96B3A578
AccurateRip v1 signature : 40692218
AccurateRip v2 signature : BDBA5048
->Track not present in AccurateRip database.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 03
Filename : /Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [FLAC]/03 Dylan Thomas.flac
/Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [MP3 V0]/03 Dylan Thomas.mp3
Pre-gap length : 00:00:58

Track gain : -9.96 dB
Peak : 0.999969
CRC32 hash (test run) : 24411018
CRC32 hash : 24411018
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 08476FDB
AccurateRip v1 signature : 7E7A89E4
AccurateRip v2 signature : 0AECDA75
->Track not present in AccurateRip database.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 04
Filename : /Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [FLAC]/04 Service Road.flac
/Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [MP3 V0]/04 Service Road.mp3
Pre-gap length : 00:00:61

Track gain : -9.23 dB
Peak : 0.999969
CRC32 hash (test run) : 4C282B12
CRC32 hash : 4C282B12
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 6906B245
AccurateRip v1 signature : D82D2D92
AccurateRip v2 signature : C4FE6DEA
->Track not present in AccurateRip database.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 05
Filename : /Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [FLAC]/05 Exception To The Rule.flac
/Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [MP3 V0]/05 Exception To The Rule.mp3
Pre-gap length : 00:01:10

Track gain : -9.36 dB
Peak : 0.999969
CRC32 hash (test run) : 22BE07A3
CRC32 hash : 22BE07A3
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : FECFCA1B
AccurateRip v1 signature : 029A03CA
AccurateRip v2 signature : 007E16A6
->Track not present in AccurateRip database.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 06
Filename : /Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [FLAC]/06 Chesapeake.flac
/Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [MP3 V0]/06 Chesapeake.mp3

Track gain : -6.49 dB
Peak : 0.990906
CRC32 hash (test run) : 51431AF2
CRC32 hash : 51431AF2
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 59B0A129
AccurateRip v1 signature : 11FACB0D
AccurateRip v2 signature : AD3BE520
->Track not present in AccurateRip database.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 07
Filename : /Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [FLAC]/07 My City.flac
/Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [MP3 V0]/07 My City.mp3

Track gain : -9.35 dB
Peak : 0.999969
CRC32 hash (test run) : E7B3F388
CRC32 hash : E7B3F388
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : DDC333D7
AccurateRip v1 signature : 82969153
AccurateRip v2 signature : 09BB844E
->Track not present in AccurateRip database.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 08
Filename : /Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [FLAC]/08 Forest Lawn.flac
/Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [MP3 V0]/08 Forest Lawn.mp3
Pre-gap length : 00:00:71

Track gain : -6.87 dB
Peak : 0.999969
CRC32 hash (test run) : 773A0D55
CRC32 hash : 773A0D55
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : E1D9B465
AccurateRip v1 signature : 09E544CF
AccurateRip v2 signature : 012235BC
->Track not present in AccurateRip database.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 09
Filename : /Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [FLAC]/09 Big Black Heart.flac
/Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [MP3 V0]/09 Big Black Heart.mp3
Pre-gap length : 00:02:21

Track gain : -8.15 dB
Peak : 0.999969
CRC32 hash (test run) : C1BCE244
CRC32 hash : C1BCE244
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : C867BF67
AccurateRip v1 signature : 14413B01
AccurateRip v2 signature : A83009FD
->Track not present in AccurateRip database.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

Track 10
Filename : /Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [FLAC]/10 Dominos.flac
/Volumes/3V3RYTHING/MOTHERSHIP/ Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center (2019) [MP3 V0]/10 Dominos.mp3
Pre-gap length : 00:01:22

Track gain : -7.12 dB
Peak : 0.999969
CRC32 hash (test run) : 63A10102
CRC32 hash : 63A10102
CRC32 hash (skip zero) : 4F342CCE
AccurateRip v1 signature : 8D3BDF07
AccurateRip v2 signature : C650C7FF
->Track not present in AccurateRip database.
Statistics
Read error : 0
Jitter error (maybe fixed) : 0
Retry sector count : 0
Damaged sector count : 0

No errors occurred

End of status report

––-BEGIN XLD SIGNATURE––-
mHAtNU08MsaPIfoZoW9FyC18adCBtepUPygqxJOjr5mZMIboRDO97RDU7BSDaQl2zyewAA3iJiz2wcbbz1_I44dv4kK6lATMoecdfbq
––-END XLD SIGNATURE––-

Thanks to the Original ripper okapi !

Folk rock country rock MP3 320 CBR Alternate indie 2019 Rock Lossless