Carolinian

Issue date: 10/24/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: photo courtesy www.saddle-creek.com

Rarities collections tend to have a relatively small target audience. In most cases, the only people who are going to be interested in them are people who already love and adore the band in question and want everything ever recorded by that artist. And in most cases, it's only those kind of serious fans who will appreciate such a collection, because they're just about the only ones who would be willing to listen to poor recording quality, unfinished lyrics, and tracks previously deemed not good enough to be on an album.

But sometimes, a collection of rarities can be a genuinely good album, just as entertaining and well put together as a regular LP. Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005) by Bright Eyes belongs to the latter category.

Sure, it has some seriously lo-fi moments, like "The Vanishing Act" and "Bad Blood," which both sound like they were recorded by a microphone set up in the middle of a big, echo-y room. The vocals on "Soon You Will Be Leaving" and " Devil Town " sound as though they would benefit from a couple more takes to polish out the worst of the warbles. But in general, the songs are amazingly good. Conor Oberst, the man behind the band, has the dubious distinction of being the only person who wants to be Morrisey more than Brand New's Jesse Lacey, but he pulls it off with such genuine emotion and beautiful lyrics that it's not nearly as embarrassing as you would expect.

In fact, Oberst's songs are actually meaningful and touching. "Amy to the White Coat" conjures up feelings of absolute tragedy, both lyrically and musically. "I've Been Eating (For You)" is a heartbreakingly realistic representation of realizing the perfect girl isn't so perfect after all, and the bitter sadness and resignation shine through in the simple chords and melody.

I am going to be honest. Though I've given good reviews to most of the albums I've covered this semester, not many of them have made their way into heavy rotation on my iPod. Noise Floor is an exception - I've listened to it three times completely in the day and a half I've had my copy - and I'm not even a Bright Eyes fan. Before I listened to this I had never heard any of their other albums. But despite the fact that it's a rarities collection, and that rarities collections are intended for seriously hardcore fans, Noise Floor is probably one of the best albums I've heard yet this year.

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