A lot has been made of the Okonokos DVD, My Morning Jacket's live concert film, recorded at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium (and which accompanies this double-disc release separately). The live performance DVD is so seductive and powerful -- because of the lush backdrop set and wonderfully immediate manner in which it was shot as well as the music -- yet the double CD that accompanies it and the four-LP vinyl set on Badman Records of the same recording seem to get scant attention. Sure, they are mentioned, but somehow just as geegaws to accompany the DVD. Wrong. It all comes down to the music, after all, and the Louisville, KY, quintet gets that big time. It's why the CD was issued first and the DVD came later. The DVD should be seen; it's gorgeous, it's wild and woolly and beautiful all at once. But Okonokos the CD is one hell of a live record. Certainly, since it was recorded on the tour for the incredibly successful album Z, it concentrates on a lot of the band's more recent material. But they dig deep, too, and go back to 1999's "I Think I'm Going to Hell" from The Tennessee Fire, as well as "The Way That He Sings"and "It Still Moves" from 2001's At Dawn, and "I Will Sing You Songs" and "Mahgeetah" from the It Still Moves disc in 2003 to close the entire show. There have been references to Neil Young & Crazy Horse, in terms of how My Morning Jacket work as a band; don't believe it. My Morning Jacket have the spontaneity and raw wiry energy to be sure -- they don't try to cover the flubs -- but they're infinitely tighter than those loud garage yobs who believe that playing slower than cough syrup with codeine is a virtue (Crazy Horse stopped being a viable unit when Danny Whitten died; they're merely the contradictory and uneven backing band for Young because he's not ambitious enough to get a new one).
The sheer musicianship that My Morning Jacket put on display on this intense, diverse, and focused live show is rather astonishing. Sure, they know how to "jam" and could have blown the doors off most of the bands in that genre had they been dumb enough to go down that path. (One listen to the 11-minute "Dondante" is proof enough that they could have been the new Grateful Dead or some such creativity-killing notion.) Like England's Gomez -- the only band currently in their league -- they were smart and weave it all into the mix of hooks, lyric flourishes, and power chords. They have the indie rock mantle prominently displayed but are as tight as U2 -- and, no, they don't sound like them. In fact, as the evidence here clearly displays, My Morning Jacket sound like no one but themselves. Frontman Jim James is as charismatic and self-effacing as they come. Guitarist (and also saxophonist) Carl Broemel is a lyrical monster as both a fine melodic improviser and as a ock & roll lead guitar player. Listen to the way he handles "Gideon" and "Lowdown," and blows sax at the end of "Dondante." The three-piece rhythm section of Bo Koster's understated but emotionally and technically taut keyboards, Two-Tone Tommy's bass playing and baritone vocals, and drummer Patrick Hallahan is inventive, spot in the pocket, and full of surprising twists and turns. Near the end of disc two, where a drawling, dreamy, 11-minute "Steam Engine" (with all the solos) gives way to the stomping honky tonk ock of "Dancefloors" in a performance worthy of Lynyrd Skynyrd's One More from the Road, the picture would be complete if the Band were included as guests. My Morning Jacket are a band at the pinnacle of their power. Like great jazz musicians, they've learned to instinctively play together and make the most of every number. "Mahgeetah" sends the whole trip out on a sweet note. The feel-good rhythm and bluesed-up country-rock groove pours out so naturally and transcendentally that it's no surprise that the audience and band have bonded; they turn into something more, somehow, as they leave the Fillmore building than when they entered. Okonokos is one of the best live recordings of the last 30 years. The DVD experience is an addition, a welcome and aesthetically innovative one that adds depth and dimension to music played so soulfully and good-naturedly that it's almost impossible to think it could have been improved upon. Get both.
So... as some of you may already know... I am a MOGbassador & have enjoyed immensely my share of MOGmeets over the last year+. This past Friday I finally got to meet the fantabulous "*jameson*":http://mog.com/jameson & his sister & fiancee (both named Jess) ;) We all met up at Festival Pier in Philadelphia to see My Morning Jacket. Once again - it was the people who thrilled me more than the ...
More >
Wow. What a show...The sound could have been a wee bit better, but these guys give 110% every single night (as the 170+ live recordings at etree/archive.org will show). The show just chugged along with an intensity that grew and grew as the evening progressed. They have so many influences and touch on so many different genres in their music, and they do it brilliantly. The venue was packed,...
More >
Z was ok. I liked it alright. Honestly from what I have heard from My Morning Jacket has been ok but nothing crazy for me.....until I saw the DVD for Okonokos on my 5.1 surround set-up. It clicked..this is a LIVE band. I have been on a quest to see MMJ ever since. I will see them before I die. Erin had made a comment in another mog thread that she likes them 7 x better after seeing them live. T...
More >
A few weeks ago, I was turned onto a *new* band, My Morning Jacket.It's made up of Jim James"Two-Tone" TommyPatrick HallahanBo KosterCarl Broemel Background information Origin Louisville, Kentucky, USA Genre(s) Indie rock Years active 1998 - Present Label(s) Darla Records (1998-2003)ATO (2003 - present) Website MyMorningJacket.com (yeah...so I Wiki'd that!) ;)Let the record note that this band...
More >
Just for the record, "Okonokos" is perhaps one of the finest-filmed concert DVD's I've ever had the pleasure to watch. And the first time I saw it I was watching on a tiny portable DVD player (my daughter had nabbed my iPod for "Little Einsteins").After a few repeat viewings, and based on the fact that I own umpteen (probably 30+) concert DVDs, I hereby declare it the best effort to truly capt...
More >
I haven’t been a huge fan of MMJ’s psychedelic take on country and folk, but there are some tunes here that I enjoy. Opener “Wordless Chorus” has a Motown feel that feels like summertime, while the overdriven guitar intro to “Lowdown” gives Nick Zinner a run for his money. “Dondante,” while eleven minutes long, explodes gratifyingly halfway through the track. Unfortunately, many of
More >
So... as some of you may already know... I am a MOGbassador & have enjoyed immensely my share of MOGmeets over the last year+. This past Friday I finally got to meet the fantabulous "*jameson*":http://mog.com/jameson & his sister & fiancee (both named Jess) ;) We all met up at Festival Pier in Philadelphia to see My Morning Jacket. Once again - it was the people who thrilled me more than the ...
More >
Enough hair to shake a Motley Crue reunion at, enough volume to make my ears ring.... this collection is missing absolutely nada.You've got to check out MMJ's 2006 concert DVD Okonokos [which is free on Concert.tv On Demand this month by-the-way]. Rarely will music DVD's hold my attention for more than a couple of tracks, but with some elaborate set designs and intriguing [not annoying] camera...
More >
Z was ok. I liked it alright. Honestly from what I have heard from My Morning Jacket has been ok but nothing crazy for me.....until I saw the DVD for Okonokos on my 5.1 surround set-up. It clicked..this is a LIVE band. I have been on a quest to see MMJ ever since. I will see them before I die. Erin had made a comment in another mog thread that she likes them 7 x better after seeing them live. T...
More >
go to http://mymorningjacket.com/ for more details.I, for one, an excited.
More >
Wow. What a show...The sound could have been a wee bit better, but these guys give 110% every single night (as the 170+ live recordings at etree/archive.org will show). The show just chugged along with an intensity that grew and grew as the evening progressed. They have so many influences and touch on so many different genres in their music, and they do it brilliantly. The venue was packed,...
More >
Just for the record, "Okonokos" is perhaps one of the finest-filmed concert DVD's I've ever had the pleasure to watch. And the first time I saw it I was watching on a tiny portable DVD player (my daughter had nabbed my iPod for "Little Einsteins").After a few repeat viewings, and based on the fact that I own umpteen (probably 30+) concert DVDs, I hereby declare it the best effort to truly capt...
More >
A few weeks ago, I was turned onto a *new* band, My Morning Jacket.It's made up of Jim James"Two-Tone" TommyPatrick HallahanBo KosterCarl Broemel Background information Origin Louisville, Kentucky, USA Genre(s) Indie rock Years active 1998 - Present Label(s) Darla Records (1998-2003)ATO (2003 - present) Website MyMorningJacket.com (yeah...so I Wiki'd that!) ;)Let the record note that this band...
More >
I haven’t been a huge fan of MMJ’s psychedelic take on country and folk, but there are some tunes here that I enjoy. Opener “Wordless Chorus” has a Motown feel that feels like summertime, while the overdriven guitar intro to “Lowdown” gives Nick Zinner a run for his money. “Dondante,” while eleven minutes long, explodes gratifyingly halfway through the track. Unfortunately, many of
More >
| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
|---|---|---|
| 1 Wordless Chorus |
|
|
| 2 It Beats 4 U |
|
|
| 3 Gideon |
|
|
| 4 One Big Holiday |
|
|
| 5 I Will Sing You Songs |
|
|
| 6 Lowdown |
|
|
| 7 The Way That He Sings |
|
|
| 8 What a Wonderful Man |
|
|
| 9 Off the Record |
|
|
| 10 Golden |
|
|
| 11 Lay Low |
|
|
| 12 Dondante |
|
|
| 13 Run Thru |
|
|
| 14 At Dawn |
|
|
| 15 X-Mas Curtain |
|
|
| 16 O Is the One That Is Real |
|
|
| 17 I Think I'm Going to Hell |
|
|
| 18 Steam Engine |
|
|
| 19 Dancefloors |
|
|
| 20 Anytime |
|
|
| 21 Mahgeetah |
|
|
Click to purchase…
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Okonokos")
