It's a beautiful thing to know that Brian Wilson is still alive and well in the kingdom of indie rock. My Morning Jacket's third full-length effort, and first for the ATO/RCA venture label, is a step beyond the band's work for Darla. While the gorgeous amalgam of the Band's vision of country/Americana and Neil Young's blend of folk and ock are everywhere present, there is a new textural awareness evident on It Still Moves. Jim James' songwriting is tighter in structure, but his production sensibility is early-'70s Laurel Canyon, with some of the Grateful Dead's American Beauty tropes as well. Sounds like a mess, doesn't it? Well, it's not. Wearing your influences on your sleeve doesn't mean unoriginality. James is an original songwriter; he has worked hard to develop the gifts inherent in his lyric concerns and his ability to paint emotional landscapes with his melodies, and the payoff has never been greater. "Mahgeetah," with its Pet Sounds ambience and country-rock melody -- complete with fuzzed-out guitar solo -- is far more imaginative than anything Wilco ever pulled off by trying the same thing (which they do over and over ad nauseam). "Dancefloors," with its biting Telecaster lead line that echoes "Baby Don't Do It" and the Stray Gators' country majesty, is full of warmth, depth, and Levon Helm's soul. And "Golden," which is the third track in this opening triad, brings James' love of Tim Buckley and Fred Neil into the light. But all of these elements of construction are read through James' Kentucky and his unique melodic gift, where fragments becomes entire lines become songs with stunning bridges, achingly poetic lyrics, and a country boy's sense of whacked-out humor and tenderness (check out "One Big Holiday"). The horn arrangements on "Easy Morning Rebel" make the country shuffle into a near R&B tune with an old-timey stroll through a shambolic rhythm track. In all, My Morning Jacket may be a journey through the past, but it's also a solid step into something ock & roll has been missing for an awfully long time in the mainstream arena: melody, extremely catchy and well-written songs that aren't afraid of the mainstream, and a love of the great pop continuum that translates into something new.
I happened upon a taping of Austin City Limits on WLIW 21 in NYC a month or two ago and while I'm not a big Bright Eyes fan, My Morning Jacket came on to join Conor Oberst to play "Golden." While this song had been in my collection for a couple of years, rediscovering this song all over again was transcendent.It's a great song.
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Music By Which to Bloom (In Winter):1. The Shins (new album? holy shit.)2. The Slip (where have I been?)3. My Morning Jacket (still fully obsessed)4. Midlake (countdown to the SF show)5. The Hold Steady (and that they are)6. TV on the Radio (countdown to the SF show)Where should I go from here? Do tell.Funny weekly memory:My 8th graders singing Regina Spektor during classFavorite Blake moment:"...
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We attended the annual Thanksgiving Homecoming of Louisville's own My Morning Jacket at the Louisville Gardens. They blew the doors off that historic venue and gave everyone something for which to be thankful. From the start of One Big Holiday to the final note 2 hours later, MMJ showed they are truly one of the best live bands in music today. Although, I must say that when Jim James hits that ...
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*I Popped Marigold’s Cherry…*That’s right… you heard me correctly – or I guess I should say you READ me correctly. I had the great fortune on Monday night to meet up with Mike & his wife Heather in my hometown. It was his first MOGmeet… nearly a year to the day that he joined MOG actually !!! I am a well-seasoned MOGmeeter… it’s quickly become my favorite pastime… how could it
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Two nights ago I scored myself a $30 ticket ($10 under face value) 2 minutes before My Morning Jacket took the stage at the Chicago Theater. It was very last minute and due the monsoon-ing winter rain the place wasn't packed despite being stamped sold out two months ago. The atmosphere was relaxed, with security not even budging me from my guerrilla spot in the aisle, next to the fourth row, bu...
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Next to the Kentucky Derby, the Brown Hotel, and the bourbon distilleries just outside of town another Louisville, KY staple is Ear-x-tasy - a smaller, more wholesome version of Cali's Amoeba's. Make it a sure stop on your next Lulville trip. MMJ did. Now the beloved band to many is releasing their in-store performance as a live EP. But in true MMJ form the band are leaving us guessing. In addi...
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GO TO MY PAGE TO READ THE ENTIRE POST... as happens here from time to time, it cut off quite a large chunk of it...OK, so here's the deal kiddies. *I miss my MOGtiply-ily !!!* I miss them something fierce. I keep going over the astounding music we saw this past weekend in the desert of Indio California with palm trees & mountains as a most beautiful backdrop for 3 out of 5 stages. What I fi...
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I say they are ridiculous. Most of the really heartfelt conversations I have had in my life have been inspired in part(or at the very least assisted by) alcohol.The darker the bar, the more divier the bar...the deeper the conversations get. Nobody can explain it, it's just universal law.And Jim James wrote the constitution for said law.
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My vote goes to My Morning Jacket...just edging out wilco...I realize this is TOTALLY subjective, but when I think of original American rock music, that is where my mind goes first...Would love to hear other opinions....
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A very poorly put together slide show! Sorry...still not fully recovered from the best weekend of my life...I had no patience left for editing!!All pictures courtesy of other people(mostly Amber with a a few media pictures thrown in to fill it out)
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Last year, at Lollapalooza I was faced with the age old festival dilemma; 2 bands overlapped, both good, both "must see's" at least in your book. Modest Mouse on one side of Grant Park, My Morning Jacket on the other.I went with Modest Mouse. I knew their music better and besides, they were from Issaquah, WA, a town only 10 miles from my house. MMJ I only knew of, although I had heard they w...
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I love this band. I was reading a piece about MMJ a year or so ago and the writer dubbed the band the 'American Radiohead'...I think that totally fits! I can't think of two other bands that play THEIR OWN kind of music so well, regardless of what every one else in the musical world is doing...Wilco may fall in to that category for me too...just an opinion...one of the beautiful things about mus...
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Cue 2003, late fall. It was during the period I call "the Pre-breakup". My girlfriend and I were miserable after 4 years together and 2 of those sharing an apartment, but we were complacent and evasive of our problems.I began spending a lot of time with my friends and generally being destructive like a good 25 year old should. One in particular, he had his own place and I remember that one caus...
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Music By Which to Bloom (In Winter):1. The Shins (new album? holy shit.)2. The Slip (where have I been?)3. My Morning Jacket (still fully obsessed)4. Midlake (countdown to the SF show)5. The Hold Steady (and that they are)6. TV on the Radio (countdown to the SF show)Where should I go from here? Do tell.Funny weekly memory:My 8th graders singing Regina Spektor during classFavorite Blake moment:"...
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gooooood night~
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If you can at all stand to listen to their albums, My Morning Jacket is one of those bands that you really should make an effort to see live. This song particularly brings out their intense stage presence and overwhelming musical sense of ambiance.It Still Moves is certianly one of those albums with a consistent vision, that very naturally plays like an album, from beginning to end. No need to ...
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man dudes i havent posted on here in forever... ive been crazy busy working on my new internet radio station, LifeJive.comcheck it out and gimme some feedback on what ya think!!http://www.lifejive.com
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Mahgeetah |
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| 2 Dancefloors |
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| 3 Golden |
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| 4 Master Plan |
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| 5 One Big Holiday |
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| 6 I Will Sing You Songs |
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| 7 Easy Morning Rebel |
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| 8 Run Thru |
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| 9 Rollin' Back |
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| 10 Just One Thing |
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| 11 Steam Engine |
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| 12 One in the Same |
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 "It Still Moves")
