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Music : At Dawn
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Rating: 
- Dawn choruses
The first thing you notice when listening to `At Dawn' if, like me, you've approached their back catalogue, er, backwards, is how faithful it is to a kind of alt-country orthodoxy when compared to the more magpie-like tendencies of `It Still Moves' and `Z'. Arguably it is more a consistency of mood than genre, given that it rarely rocks out in the ways that they later afforded themselves, but their sultry Kentucky twangcore does embrace languid Beach Boys harmonies and reggae among other appropriated musical tinges. The tempo is invariably unhurried and spacious, all reverb and humid ambience - there is a palpable sense of Kentucky's electrically-charged summer air - even if the sound is a little more polished than that of its successor.
Once again, `At Dawn' sees Jim James and co. touch upon classic Americana, country and blues; sometimes swampily Southern ('Honest Man'), sometimes gently psychedelic (the title track), and often infused with an aching melancholy ('Death Is The Easy Way', `Bermuda Highway', `It Smashes Down'). Where My Morning Jacket really excel, though, is less in the aural signifiers that evoke their influences than in the timeless quality to their songwriting. Some songs smoulder and slowly develop their own character with repeated listens, others - the poignant Americana of 'Lowdown' and `Bermuda Highway, for instance, or the dream pop of `The Way That He Sings' - already seem strangely familiar in that unique way that classic songs do.
There are several individual moments of sublimity, not least feeling the hairs go up on the back of your neck hearing Jim James sing "Don't let your silly dreams, fall in between ..." ('Bemuda Highway' again), or equally the paradoxically Caribbean-flavoured `X-mas Curtain', which features a steal-drum climax so beautifully off-beat and poignantly out of place against James' tales of poverty and theft. While `At Dawn' goes on a little too long and tails away somewhat towards the end, the fact that MMJ haven't been more broadly recognised is not so much as a mystery but a crime.
Rating: - I need it most
This is a very underated album and My Morning Jacket's best. Jim James captures an introspected mellow sound with his superb, emotional voice. You don't hear much about this band which is a shame, possibly because their songs often spiral on for longer than the three minutes of radio-air-space permits. Although they can create faster rhythmic rock songs, such as 'honest man', they are at their best with slower songs drenched in honey-like, resonating sound. At over 70 minutes this isn't a short album but I can listen to it from start to finish without feeling the need to skip tracks. The new album 'z' suffers from their attempt to round off the edges, make the songs shorter and more polished. I think this was a mistake, which is why this album with its overblown endings and alternative versions is superior.
Rating: - excellent stuff
My Morning Jacket - I picked up this cd because I liked the name of the band and the cover-art. Turns out it was a fantastic buy!
The 5-piece from Kentucky (I think!) have a very haunting, lonesome sound. Mostly thanks to Jim James' unforgetable voice - it drifts over the guitar melodies and invokes real emotion - like the voices of Jeff Buckley or Neil Young.
Having since seen them live, their appearence decieves thier sound - long hair, beards, flying-v guitars all point towards towards your typical heavy metal outfit, but My morning Jacket are original and unique (and play barefooted!).
Several parallels in sound can be drawn with fellow american band Grandaddy, though they are less experimental and a more dark and brooding - fantastic melancholic, inspiring vocal driven guitar songs. The guitar is very reminiscent of Clapton at times (such as the quiet solo on the track 'X-mas Curtain').
I think my favourite track would be the progressive country blues song 'Honest Man' with it's cutting howls (almost Jon Spencer style) and bluesy guitars.
My Morning Jacket are well worth picking up, even if browsing on Amazon is the first you;ve ever heard of them - they won't disappoint.
Rating: - Its in the way that he sings.....
To answer yellowledbeds question, the reason this band are so good is Jim James. His voice is made all the more distinctive and poignant by the tonnes of reverb swathing everything.
Yes, this is one of the best albums I have heard in the past couple of years and if you dont agree with me after hearing the title track (best listened to whilst reading the lyrics), you can sue me.
Rating:
- Taking Flight
This album is that it is a sonic embodiment of that indescribable moment when you realise you feel so much- so much pain, happiness, sadness, loneliness and beauty all at once- that your chest is about to implode. Your lungs are collapsing, wings are going to spring forth from your back and you're going to take to the skies. Jim James' voice is the point at which the human soul take flight. Its beauty and eeriness is unrivalled.
- Dawn chorusesThe first thing you notice when listening to `At Dawn' if, like me, you've approached their back catalogue, er, backwards, is how faithful it is to a kind of alt-country orthodoxy when compared to the more magpie-like tendencies of `It Still Moves' and `Z'. Arguably it is more a consistency of mood than genre, given that it rarely rocks out in the ways that they later afforded themselves, but their sultry Kentucky twangcore does embrace languid Beach Boys harmonies and reggae among other appropriated musical tinges. The tempo is invariably unhurried and spacious, all reverb and humid ambience - there is a palpable sense of Kentucky's electrically-charged summer air - even if the sound is a little more polished than that of its successor.
Once again, `At Dawn' sees Jim James and co. touch upon classic Americana, country and blues; sometimes swampily Southern ('Honest Man'), sometimes gently psychedelic (the title track), and often infused with an aching melancholy ('Death Is The Easy Way', `Bermuda Highway', `It Smashes Down'). Where My Morning Jacket really excel, though, is less in the aural signifiers that evoke their influences than in the timeless quality to their songwriting. Some songs smoulder and slowly develop their own character with repeated listens, others - the poignant Americana of 'Lowdown' and `Bermuda Highway, for instance, or the dream pop of `The Way That He Sings' - already seem strangely familiar in that unique way that classic songs do.
There are several individual moments of sublimity, not least feeling the hairs go up on the back of your neck hearing Jim James sing "Don't let your silly dreams, fall in between ..." ('Bemuda Highway' again), or equally the paradoxically Caribbean-flavoured `X-mas Curtain', which features a steal-drum climax so beautifully off-beat and poignantly out of place against James' tales of poverty and theft. While `At Dawn' goes on a little too long and tails away somewhat towards the end, the fact that MMJ haven't been more broadly recognised is not so much as a mystery but a crime.
Rating:
- I need it mostThis is a very underated album and My Morning Jacket's best. Jim James captures an introspected mellow sound with his superb, emotional voice. You don't hear much about this band which is a shame, possibly because their songs often spiral on for longer than the three minutes of radio-air-space permits. Although they can create faster rhythmic rock songs, such as 'honest man', they are at their best with slower songs drenched in honey-like, resonating sound. At over 70 minutes this isn't a short album but I can listen to it from start to finish without feeling the need to skip tracks. The new album 'z' suffers from their attempt to round off the edges, make the songs shorter and more polished. I think this was a mistake, which is why this album with its overblown endings and alternative versions is superior.
Rating:
- excellent stuffMy Morning Jacket - I picked up this cd because I liked the name of the band and the cover-art. Turns out it was a fantastic buy!
The 5-piece from Kentucky (I think!) have a very haunting, lonesome sound. Mostly thanks to Jim James' unforgetable voice - it drifts over the guitar melodies and invokes real emotion - like the voices of Jeff Buckley or Neil Young.
Having since seen them live, their appearence decieves thier sound - long hair, beards, flying-v guitars all point towards towards your typical heavy metal outfit, but My morning Jacket are original and unique (and play barefooted!).
Several parallels in sound can be drawn with fellow american band Grandaddy, though they are less experimental and a more dark and brooding - fantastic melancholic, inspiring vocal driven guitar songs. The guitar is very reminiscent of Clapton at times (such as the quiet solo on the track 'X-mas Curtain').
I think my favourite track would be the progressive country blues song 'Honest Man' with it's cutting howls (almost Jon Spencer style) and bluesy guitars.
My Morning Jacket are well worth picking up, even if browsing on Amazon is the first you;ve ever heard of them - they won't disappoint.
Rating:
- Its in the way that he sings.....To answer yellowledbeds question, the reason this band are so good is Jim James. His voice is made all the more distinctive and poignant by the tonnes of reverb swathing everything.
Yes, this is one of the best albums I have heard in the past couple of years and if you dont agree with me after hearing the title track (best listened to whilst reading the lyrics), you can sue me.
Rating:
- Taking FlightThis album is that it is a sonic embodiment of that indescribable moment when you realise you feel so much- so much pain, happiness, sadness, loneliness and beauty all at once- that your chest is about to implode. Your lungs are collapsing, wings are going to spring forth from your back and you're going to take to the skies. Jim James' voice is the point at which the human soul take flight. Its beauty and eeriness is unrivalled.