Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005)
"I've got no self control," Conor Oberst sings on "Spent on Rainy Days," one of the 16 rough-hewn tracks on this collection of Bright Eyes demos, unreleased tracks, and general bric-a-brac. As the young songwriter demonstrated with his wildly divergent 2005 releases,I'm Wide Awake, It's Morning(good) andDigital Ash in a Digital Urn(er, not so much), he's extremely prolific, but that doesn't necessarily mean he should release everything he records. Accordingly,Noise Floorpresents a mixed bag that will enthrall hardcore Conorites but leave others frequently reaching for the skip button in search of only the sharpest material--slow-burning ballads such "Soon You Will Be Leaving Your Man," "Weather Reports," and the echo-laden "Bad Blood."--Aidin Vaziri