While I wasn't exactly lit up by his recent studio LP, Cassadaga, and I found his corresponding tour, complete with a nine piece orchestra and two drummers, to be pretentious drivel, I do root for Conor Oberst as one of America's great songwriters.  Now, a great singer?  That's way debatable. 

Anyhoooo, Oberst's new self titled album is out August 4 on Merge, and from these clips at a recent show in Brazil (via Stereogum), it is great to see some parsing down of his songs along with the artistic passion he always brings.  Let's see if he can lay off the sauce next North American tour.

UPDATED!!!  There are two other new tracks, though not as good as those below, on Oberst's website.  Brooklyn Vegan is reporting that the full album will be streaming sometime today.  So keep that refresh button clicking!

"Get Well Cards"