For those who weren't convinced by Z's left-hand turns, Evil Urges cements My Morning Jacket's transformation from grizzled, reverb-drenched classic rockers to experimental, genre-bending innovators. There's always been a slight disconnect between the band's image and sound; frontman Jim James once howled his melodies behind curtains of long hair while lashing at his Flying V guitar, looking like a Metallica roadie while sounding like Neil Young in an echo chamber. But 2008's Evil Urges -- with its diversions into funk and prog, its falsetto vocals, its eclecticism -- is a different animal entirely, perhaps the furthest My Morning Jacket have ever sounded from the Southern psychedelia that launched them ten years prior. The bandmates look different, too, having trimmed their bushy beards and unruly hair for the photos that grace the album sleeve. Physical appearances may have little to do with this group's sound, but the clean-shaven look further challenges the world's perception of My Morning Jacket, a band that was once lumped into the same down 'n' dirty rock bin as the Drive-By Truckers and Kings of Leon. The members of My Morning Jacket now want to occupy their own orbit, and Evil Urges is as spacy as it gets.
"Evil Urges," "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Pt. 1," and "Highly Suspicious" comprise the opening lineup, which jumpstarts the album with 13 minutes of sexy, tripped-out electro-funk. James slips into a falsetto during the title track, his voice clear and reverb-free as he coos in a bedroom whisper. "Touch Me" bubbles with interstellar keyboard effects and harmonies -- for the stoner contingent of MMJ's audience, this is the logical place to fire up the bong -- while "Highly Suspicious" delivers the album's biggest shocker, mixing James' best Prince impression with bizarre lyrics ("Tapping your lines, peanut butter pudding surprise!") and bursts of laugher. It's the kind of polarizing song that fans will either love or loathe, and given its prominent spot in the track list -- batting third, a spot usually reserved for heavy-hitters -- it's obviously meant to elicit a strong reaction. But that seems to be the crux of Evil Urges; after years of being shoehorned into various genres, My Morning Jacket have put their collective foot down, insisting that they're not a neo-psychedelic outfit, an alt-country group, a jam band, or the contemporary torchbearers of Southern rock & roll. They're none of those things -- or perhaps they're all of those things, as Evil Urges offers the widest swath of musical fare in the My Morning Jacket catalog. There's rock & roll ("Aluminum Park," "I'm Amazed"), country ("Sec Walkin'"), rootsy pop nuggets ("Two Halves"), ballads about sexy bookworms ("Librarian"), and the aforementioned trips into Funkytown. "Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Pt. 2" concludes the album with eight minutes of kaleidoscopic sound, and Evil Urges ultimately ends the same way it began -- with a willingness to explore, to challenge, to poke and prod at My Morning Jacket's past work while creating something new.
Well, I have been wearing a groove in MMJ's new disc. Not sure you can still stay that since it really applied to the vinyl days but you get the point.I was a late comer to the MMJ party wagon. My wife on the other hand was into them immediately. We saw them open for Joe Henry in a small bar called Phoenix Hill here in Louisville right as a small buzz was being generated about MMJ. We were ther...
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Evil Urges is a lot of things, it's loud, proud of its third funk nipple, and isn’t afraid of flaunting it, but really a band with this many expectations weighing on their shoulders have done the right thing, and made an abrupt left turn into the jungle, it's just that this time, thousands follow them, unaware of the band’s true nature.The record’s concept, if one can be found, is to embrace
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http://www.badongo.com/file/10085458My Morning JacketWhich Stage,Bonnaroo Music Festival,Manchester,TN6/13/08RETURN TO THUNDERDOME pt 2:cd # 1Evil UrgesOff the RecordGideonHot Fun(Sly & the Family Stone) with Jeff Coffin on saxophone and the Nashville/Louisville HornsHighly SuspiciousWhat a Wonderful ManI'm AmazedThank You TooTouch Me Pt 1Sec WalkinGoldenTwo HalvesLaylowHit it and Quit itTyrone...
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A few days ago Mogger Anna posted a fun, little "poster game.":http://mog.com/Anna/blog/198989 Today comes another version of the game using protest posters.Musicians ranging from Spoon's Britt Daniels to Public Enemy's Chuck D. created their own protest poster for the latest issue of Under The Radar magazine. In the issue each artist holds their politically-charged poster with a small intervie...
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My Morning Jacket played their second Glastonbury festival over the weekend. Sure they might be trying to make their reverb heard round-the-world on their current Euro tour, but the Kentucky rockers' performance at Radio City Music Hall on June 20th is still ringing in my ear.When I first got MMJ's Evil Urges, I was nervous for the band. I didn't like. I thought it was weird - Jim James going ...
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My Morning Jacket have started Tuesday off with a little surprise - a 6 track live EP from a recent tour stop in viva Las Vegas dubbed Candles and Panties '08. Nah, they kid. That's just the alternate name honoring the band's front of house guy, Ryan Pickett. Part of the whole exclusive to iTunes live series "Live From Las Vegas At The Palms" includes songs from across MMJ's musical career and...
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Duuuuude....I am sp psyched for tonight. It's the best start to a weekend! I've got fourteenth row to see My Morning Jacket at Radio City Music Hall. At first I didn't think it was a big deal. I've been following these guys since they played the dinky stage at Austin Music Festival in 2003. Then the show, announced months ago, sold out. Seeing MMJ at the monolith Radio City Music Hall is going ...
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Many people arrived at the Austin Music Hall, just on the outskirts of downtown, expecting to have some trouble getting into My Morning Jackets anticipated SXSW showcase. Lucky for MMJ fans the newly renovated venue was huge and provided enough elbow room for even dancing. The band played a 2-hour set, following fellow ATO label mates The Whigs and indie rockers Yo La Tengo."A friend once gave ...
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Okay, okay...you guys have been talking about My Morning Jacket and they've been spinning their songs on my favorite local radio station. I trust all of these sources but for some foolish reason, I haven't picked up the albums yet. Shame, shame too...go ahead tell me bout it. I actually saw this on MTV2 last night and now from the old MTV(?!)...it hit me! It was slightly like the good old da...
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Good luck with that one. I don't know, everybody's calling the new MMJ some kind of nouveau type of soul or R&B, but here's my thing. It's like Nashville Skyline era Bob Dylan meets Kermit the Frog on the voca, and Nashville circa 1978 for the music. Maybe it's just me.
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How do I love Jim James? Let me count the ways...Nah, to many to count...but how can you not love a guy who is able to name check Karen Carpenter in the same song in which he waxes romantic about his local librarian. The man is a certifiable genius in my book.
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I wanted to go on record and say that the new My Morning Jacket album, 'Evil Urges' is as good or better than anything they have recorded to date. More mellow as a whole, and the band is even tinkering around with some electronic sounds...but worry not, it is still at heart a rock n roll record, and Jim James has raised the level of his songwriting yet again.Here is one of my favorites from the...
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Jim James and the rest of My Morning Jacket bring da funk.It's such a great thing to see a band grow and evolve, not being afraid to try new things...and never stop rocking!
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God I love Archive.org and all of those kind people that leave the goods on there....Click the link below to select a downloadable version of MMJ's near 3-hour set at Radio City Music Hall last Friday, June 20... the quality is pretty good toohttp://www.archive.org/details/mmj2008-06-20.dpa4023.flac16
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I'm only three songs in to my first listen to the upcoming My Morning Jacket album, and so far it's not too bad for a Prince album.Thing is, I don't like Prince.What the hell, guys?EDIT: I take it back, there's a good dose of Mike Mills' REM filler tunes and even a little Bread/Air Supply.
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(Drum roll please...) The name of the new My Morning Jacket album is......Evil Urges. The band, who recorded and rehearsed the album somewhere in the mountains of Colorado will sample new songs at SXSW this March and Coachella in April. Evil Urges hits stores via ATO Records on June 10th.Also, the band will premiere their fan-made video of their performance at the 2007 Lollapalooza with Chicago...
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Evil Urges is a lot of things, it's loud, proud of its third funk nipple, and isn’t afraid of flaunting it, but really a band with this many expectations weighing on their shoulders have done the right thing, and made an abrupt left turn into the jungle, it's just that this time, thousands follow them, unaware of the band’s true nature.The record’s concept, if one can be found, is to embrace
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Evil Urges |
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| 2 Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Pt. 1 |
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| 3 Highly Suspicious |
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| 4 I'm Amazed |
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| 5 Thank You Too! |
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| 6 Sec Walkin |
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| 7 Two Halves |
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| 8 Librarian |
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| 9 Look at You |
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| 10 Aluminum Park |
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| 11 Remnants |
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| 12 Smokin from Shootin |
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| 13 Touch Me I'm Going to Scream, Pt. 2 |
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| 14 Good Intentions |
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Click to purchase…
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 "Evil Urges")
