Continuing my look at the albums of 2005…

My somewhat back-handed compliment for Bright Eyes’ sixth album, I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning, is that it’s perfect mixtape fodder. Just about any one of its 10 songs would be a standout track on a lovingly curated compilation.

The catch is that I’m never in the mood to hear all of those songs in a row. After awhile, there’s a sameness in composition and delivery that wears on me.

Bright Eyes is the brainchild of Conor Oberst, a singer-songwriter who has released dozens of albums both as a solo artist and as part of a half-dozen bands. This album might be the best received of all those projects, having shown up near the top of many critics’ year-end lists.

Oberst released a second album simultaneously with this one, the more electronic Digital Ash in a Digital Urn. I never spent much time with that one, the acoustic folk of I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning being far more my style.

And one song at a time, it really works its magic. Oberst sounds a bit like Bob Dylan channelling Elliott Smith (or maybe the other way around), and that’s a winning combination.

Keep it in mind the next time you’re making a playlist.