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Nebraska

Tilly and the Wall 

All-Time Best Band: Bright Eyes
All-Time Best Solo Artist: Elliott Smith
Best New Band: Tilly and The Wall

Say what you will (and oh, you will say it) about Bright Eyes, but even if you find the outbreak of yowling boys with guitars and grand ambitions about as appealing as a brushfire, Conor Oberst remains a performer and writer of consistent passion, smarts, and charisma. That he performs better with others (and because 311 is atrocious) has earned him the win in our “band” category. (We’ll go outside now and clean your tomatoes off our windows.) | Elliott Smith might be more strongly identified with his long-time home of Portland, Oregon, but he’s actually Nebraskan. Big deal — it’s a testament to his talent that his music continues to eclipse the details of his tumultuous biography. | We must admit, the tap-dancer-as-drummer bit set our eyebrows to auto-arch. (Boston’s most popular band, Dresden Dolls, are mimes, for God’s sake!) But after seeing Tilly and The Wall live, we’ve succumbed to their otherworldly vaudevillian peacenik disco.

Video: Bright Eyes
Video: Elliott Smith

Download: Tilly and the Wall, "Cacophony" (mp3)

Listen: Bright Eyes, "Haligh, Haligh, A Lie, Haligh"

Listen: Elliott Smith, "Ballad of Big Nothing"

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Comments

Re: Nebraska

I came to this page only because I wanted to make sure Bright Eyes was top pick, and for sure, they were!

By alyssaheath on 07/03/2008 at 8:36:04

Re: Nebraska

Bright eyes are the ONLY thing from Nebraska

By mjlew12 on 07/03/2008 at 11:28:43

Re: Nebraska

You guys are idiots. Bright Eyes is hardly the only thing out of NE, and they're barely even a band; Conor Oberst is the brain behind the entire operation. How Elliott Smith got there is completely beyond me since he was -born- in Omaha, yet mostly raised in Texas. Saddle Creek is one of the most up and coming labels out there and has a ton of local artists, like Cursive and The Faint, which--surprise!--might even be on your ipod right now. This is the kind of Masshole crap that makes me want to move home.

By cdub18 on 07/09/2008 at 1:59:28

Re: Nebraska

I agree with cdub18. Omaha has one of the most unique and rapidly growing music scenes in the country. Saddle Creek Records is home to some of the most successful indie bands nationwide. Rilo Kiley was even once signed with them. And as for Bright Eyes being "yowling boys" maybe you haven't heard their (and by their I mean mainly Conor Oberst's) latest album Cassadaga which was surprisingly smooth, refined, and mature.

By abrady on 07/09/2008 at 2:34:22

Re: Nebraska

what a freakin joke.  obviously written by someone who has no idea about the Nebraska music scene....  emo losers.

By Booben on 07/29/2008 at 3:57:12

Re: Nebraska

mmm. . .311?

By jenniferharvell on 07/29/2008 at 6:07:11

Re: Nebraska

All time?  I must have missed this "time".  Is all time this current century?  Why not Lincoln's all time?  "Zager & Evans"  They had a national number one record!  They are in the Billboard's "Greatest One Hit Wonders" book.  Watched a old movie where Nebraskan Fred Astair was singing and dancing.  My favorite local group was "Sour Mash", "Cutouts" and "Timberline", but they aren't in this time and I'm told old to think about all-time.

By dahusker on 08/08/2008 at 10:33:32

Re: Nebraska

 um... i live in nebraska and 311 is huge, and so is the faint. We also have a very good band called the jv allstars, if u havnt heard of them then u should because they rock( ive seen them in concert at least 10 times and they are personally one of my favorites) and would the Zager & Evans song make us pretty big for a corn growing midwest state....

By bengals013 on 12/18/2008 at 10:34:27

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