HelloAngel
ONE love, blood, life
[SIMG]http://forum.interference.com/gallery/data//585/11265mmj2-sml.jpg[/SIMG]
By Andy Smith
2006.11
After all the hope and hype that’s been heaped upon My Morning Jacket, it’s amazing that the band can remain so humble. But somehow, being laid-back about their own fame and fabulousness is part of the group’s fascinating appeal, an unpretentious and unassuming allure.
Allow me to summarize the superlative critical chorus: The Louisville, Kentucky quintet known as My Morning Jacket are, among many other extraordinary things, a magical musical combination of apparent opposites, a holy hybrid between roots and reverb, hippie and hipster, rural and urban, southern and northern, Grateful Dead and Radiohead.
To this amazing litany of literary license and juicy juxtapositions, I’d like to add that they’re a rock version of visionary mythic creatures, worthy of JRR Tolkien novels, Jim Henson creations, and George Lucas films. That is, lead singer Jim James is a funkified Frodo, a post-punk Muppet, a jam-band Jedi.
A fan-friendly and earnestly ambitious operation, My Morning Jacket have honored this autumn by releasing a live CD in late September, hitting us on Halloween with a live DVD, and culminating the season with a 23-date tour beginning in the southeast in November and concluding on New Year’s Eve in San Francisco, at the Fillmore where this concert film and live disc were recorded.
At a time when many other early-to-mid-career peers are teasing their fans with short 60-to-90 minute live sets (made even less palatable by high ticket prices), My Morning Jacket seem to only perform 20-song, two-hour testimonials to the love of their craft and their fanbase. In fact, My Morning Jacket have apparently decided to be a great rock band by any standards, in a manner that defies assumptions and unites categories, that gives fans what they want, what they need, what they paid for.
“Okonokos” as a name bears a striking resemblance to a tiny town in West Virginia, but apparently, is a phrase that came to James while sleeping, and he remains open to its actual meaning or interpretation. The film is sandwiched by a surreal subtext conceived by James, situating the show in a magical forest. But essentially, it’s a straightforward concert film, almost like a symphony in its musical integrity.
And James refrains from the between-song banter preferred by so many frontmen, his voice a mere instrument among many. This quality reminds us of early REM when Michael Stipe’s pipes soared without precise articulation. And today, this is the approach taken by Tool, where Maynard James Keenan’s wails decisively woo and wander within the mix rather dominate it.
For a band to sustain our intoxicated attention for an entire studio album—much less a two-disc live set or lengthy DVD—is no small accomplishment in the iPod age. But some listeners want more than three-minute morsels to add to the mixtape. My Morning Jacket blends classic rock perspiration with modern rock aspiration as though this were what they were born to do. Just a brief visit to the band’s online forums, and we feel the fondness found among Deadheads and other hard-core fan communities that subsist without commercialism. Some fans crave the sustained intelligence, ingenuity, and inspiration invoked by only a handful of artists. While a live album could be a kind of joke for some artists, My Morning Jacket are so defined by their shows that such a record was anticipated and appreciated, inevitable and inspirational.
My Morning Jacket deserves this devotion. And while “Okonokos” could serve as a greatest hits introduction, featuring as it does the best songs from studio albums “Z,” “It Still Moves, At Dawn,” and “The Tennessee Fire,” most listeners will prefer to treat this rousing set as its own religiously relevant combination, a sacred synthesis more than a mere compilation. Indeed, My Morning Jacket’s sound infects people and inspires us to be serious fans more than casual listeners, people who will feel compelled to own the whole collection, not just the latest release, as amazing as that release might be.
For more information on My Morning Jacket, please visit the official website and MySpace page. “Okonokos” was released on ATO Records in September, and “Okonokos: The Concert” was released October 31st.
By Andy Smith
2006.11
After all the hope and hype that’s been heaped upon My Morning Jacket, it’s amazing that the band can remain so humble. But somehow, being laid-back about their own fame and fabulousness is part of the group’s fascinating appeal, an unpretentious and unassuming allure.
Allow me to summarize the superlative critical chorus: The Louisville, Kentucky quintet known as My Morning Jacket are, among many other extraordinary things, a magical musical combination of apparent opposites, a holy hybrid between roots and reverb, hippie and hipster, rural and urban, southern and northern, Grateful Dead and Radiohead.
To this amazing litany of literary license and juicy juxtapositions, I’d like to add that they’re a rock version of visionary mythic creatures, worthy of JRR Tolkien novels, Jim Henson creations, and George Lucas films. That is, lead singer Jim James is a funkified Frodo, a post-punk Muppet, a jam-band Jedi.
A fan-friendly and earnestly ambitious operation, My Morning Jacket have honored this autumn by releasing a live CD in late September, hitting us on Halloween with a live DVD, and culminating the season with a 23-date tour beginning in the southeast in November and concluding on New Year’s Eve in San Francisco, at the Fillmore where this concert film and live disc were recorded.
At a time when many other early-to-mid-career peers are teasing their fans with short 60-to-90 minute live sets (made even less palatable by high ticket prices), My Morning Jacket seem to only perform 20-song, two-hour testimonials to the love of their craft and their fanbase. In fact, My Morning Jacket have apparently decided to be a great rock band by any standards, in a manner that defies assumptions and unites categories, that gives fans what they want, what they need, what they paid for.
“Okonokos” as a name bears a striking resemblance to a tiny town in West Virginia, but apparently, is a phrase that came to James while sleeping, and he remains open to its actual meaning or interpretation. The film is sandwiched by a surreal subtext conceived by James, situating the show in a magical forest. But essentially, it’s a straightforward concert film, almost like a symphony in its musical integrity.
And James refrains from the between-song banter preferred by so many frontmen, his voice a mere instrument among many. This quality reminds us of early REM when Michael Stipe’s pipes soared without precise articulation. And today, this is the approach taken by Tool, where Maynard James Keenan’s wails decisively woo and wander within the mix rather dominate it.
For a band to sustain our intoxicated attention for an entire studio album—much less a two-disc live set or lengthy DVD—is no small accomplishment in the iPod age. But some listeners want more than three-minute morsels to add to the mixtape. My Morning Jacket blends classic rock perspiration with modern rock aspiration as though this were what they were born to do. Just a brief visit to the band’s online forums, and we feel the fondness found among Deadheads and other hard-core fan communities that subsist without commercialism. Some fans crave the sustained intelligence, ingenuity, and inspiration invoked by only a handful of artists. While a live album could be a kind of joke for some artists, My Morning Jacket are so defined by their shows that such a record was anticipated and appreciated, inevitable and inspirational.
My Morning Jacket deserves this devotion. And while “Okonokos” could serve as a greatest hits introduction, featuring as it does the best songs from studio albums “Z,” “It Still Moves, At Dawn,” and “The Tennessee Fire,” most listeners will prefer to treat this rousing set as its own religiously relevant combination, a sacred synthesis more than a mere compilation. Indeed, My Morning Jacket’s sound infects people and inspires us to be serious fans more than casual listeners, people who will feel compelled to own the whole collection, not just the latest release, as amazing as that release might be.
For more information on My Morning Jacket, please visit the official website and MySpace page. “Okonokos” was released on ATO Records in September, and “Okonokos: The Concert” was released October 31st.
Last edited:
