Tag Archive: My Morning Jacket


The continuing saga of My Morning Jacket and their role in the sad demise of the Blue Dinosaur.

Filed Under: Live Shows
Aug.18, 2011

(Editor's note: I've been out of the loop for a good while.  A primary reason is the recent (successful) defense of my dissertation proposal.  That shit is a huge time sink.  A secondary reason (although, in reality, it's of primary importance) is my continuing role as a parent.  Both of these endeavors eat up free time (in largely delightful ways, by the way) and lead to a certain scatterbrainedness.  This morning, I was cleaning.  I put the green El Camino and red pickup truck someplace.  I have no idea where.  I will see them in another dimension, presumably.  In related news, I recently ran my cell phone through the washing machine.  Kids and doc school are like zombies.  They eat away at your ever-loving brain.  All of this to say that I had to purchase a new "cellular telephone."  Mrs. Citizen talked me into the 21st century and I am know the proud user of a "smart phone."  I took that picture with said phone and an "application."  Expect a bunch of douchey/phony/aged photographs from me over the next several weeks.  The novelty should wear off soon.)

The Lake County Emissar, Vince, and I visited the Dickish Emperor of the Mountain Time Zone, NB, in Denver two weeks ago.  We saw My Morning Jacket at Red Rocks.  It was amazing.  They played a thirty minute version of "Dondante" that we agreed was (probably) the best single song any of us have ever seen live.  (I hold "Cortez the Killer" performed by Pearl Jam, Neil Young and and erstwhile Peter Frampton on the Vote for Change tour in extra high regard, but that's kind of a different thing, right?)  You can check the setlist and soak in a fraction of our awestruckedness.  it was a fantastic show.

They played "The Bear," which I had not seen live before.  I was so caught off guard that I couldn't pull the song title.  I just stood and swayed under the stars and hummed along.  With "Dondante" and the encore, it was a very clear highlight.

Jim James and company appear to have started a bit of a live hot streak right around the time we saw them.  They've been pulling a few golden chestnuts at each show (and changing what those are a lot; they hit "Honest Man" the night before and "Xmas Curtain" two nights later) and, at least when we saw them, they have been shredding the standards.  I've seen them play "Run Thru" four or five times, but the most recent iteration was clearly a cut above the previous.  On top of that, they've had a bit of a confluence of tour busses with Neko Case and have been busting out duets left and right over the last couple of weeks.  Last night's Cinncinatti setlist indicates "Stop Draggin" with Neko, which I can only assume is the Stevie Nicks song.  (And the played "Cobra."  Wow!)  That was their first Neko detour from the impeccable "Islands in the Stream," which you can hear below.  (Mrs. Citizen loves the Kenny Rogers version, which means that she likes this one.  I'm lukewarm, mostly because it only makes me think of  that ODB song that ripped the riff.  There's also a deeply cynical bit of me that thinks it's the teeniest bit lame that they pick the world's worst karaoke duet to dig into.  On the flip, that might actually be what makes it cool.)

All this to say, even more sternly than usual, go see My Morning Jacket.  They are really good at their jobs.  We get the feeling that they're a little bit like 1999 Pedro right now, which means you're going to kick yourself if you miss them.

My Morning Jacket (with Neko Case) – Islands in the Stream

My Morning Jacket – The Bear – Live 2008

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It feels like a Saturday.

Filed Under: General Interest
Jun.24, 2011

(Editor's note: I am currently embroiled in a thorny thicket of dissertation proposal work.  It appears  that I won't be able to use study quality as a moderating variable in a meta-analysis, given the non-random occurrence of variables affecting quality.  Which blows.  I can probably work around it, but it means a shit-ton more writing.  This means that I can't quite work up the energy to pound out a formal review of the new My Morning Jacket record.  I've half assed it below.  Thanks for understanding.)

I am in love with Circuital.  It's something like 13.5 times better than Evil Urges. (Evil Urges is rapidly turning into the music equivalent of Paul Auster's Timbuktu.  Just a turd in the punch bowl of a generally awesome career; in much the same way that it's tough to sort out how Auster could write a novel from the perspective of a dog (for the uninitiated, the execution of the idea was significantly worse than the idea itself) and something like, say, The Music of Chance, it's tough to listen to that Peanut Butter song right after you listen to, say, "Run Thru."  Just saying.)  The songs that we heard in advance of the record (the title track, "Holding on to Black Metal," and "Wonderful, the Way I Feel") all deliver the goods.  I was initially out on "Black Metal," but that horn riff is inescapable (even if they ripped it off).  The rest of the record does the job, with spots that give me the goosebumps.

Which brings us all the way around to the point.

I believe that "Victory Dance" is going to be a face-melting experience live.  The Lake County Emissary and I are heading to Denver to see NB, newly appointed Cultural Emperor of the Western United States.  We will see My Morning Jacket at Red Rocks.  I am excited.  I am most excited (perhaps) to hear "Victory Dance."  It's got a fantastically iterative and building riff that, if it plays up to my expectations, is going to translate really well live.

It's super easy at this point to hear a live version of "Victory Dance."  This is (essentially) what the internet was invented for.  I'm not going to do it though.  I'm saving my "Victory Dance" virginity for Denver.  I've got a promise ring.

Because I am "Victory Dance" abstinent, so are you.  I do have a couple of killer cuts, though.  First is another choice cut from "Circuital."  The first time I listened, I giggled.   The second time, I nodded sagely.  Word.  The second is an Erykah-Badu-assisted "Tyrone."  Enjoy.

My Morning Jacket – Outta My System, live

My Morning Jacket (with Erykah Badu) – Tyrone

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C.D. Singles Club 4.1 – Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed

Filed Under: General Interest
May.29, 2011

Thoughts (mostly random):

1.) Mrs. Citizen enjoys the television program Criminal Minds.  I cannot share that enjoyment for two reasons: (a) the dude from Dharma and Greg is completely unconvincing as a cop.  I keep waiting for him to make a bad joke about yoga and/or vegetarianism.  (b) The Simpsons ruined Joe Mantegna for me.  I can't hear him talk without hearing Fat Tony in my head, which makes him really difficult to take seriously when he's talking about serial killers.

2.) I no longer understand the numbering convention for the Citizen Dick Singles Club.  It's a little bit like when Upper Deck started making baseball cards; I have no idea what the best Ken Griffey rookie card is, cause there are like a dozen.  I look back through the archives and we're somehow on the fourth iteration of the Singles Club.  I'm just rolling with the punches.

3.) Happy Memorial Day.

4.) There are several things that I was excited about on January 1.  One of them (perhaps the biggest) was Circuital.  We'll talk more about that later, but it is really, really good.  "Victory Dance" is the song that I am most excited to hear for the first time live since (roughly) "Off the Record."  So, that's good news.

I'm also stupid excited for the upcoming Washed Out full player from Sub Pop.  Long time readers will know that my fondness for Atlanta's favorite purveyor of glo-fi stems (largely) from the fact that my kid loved it when he was a newborn.  I'd throw on Life of Leisure and the littlest Dick would stop fussing and let the womb-like, glazed over dance beats pour over his little noggin.  The first single from Within and Without does all of the things that we all love about this stuff.  I'll be standing on the sidewalk, waiting for the doors to open at Music Saves bright and early on July 12.

Washed Out – Eyes Be Closed

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I am a lonesome hobo, without Lazy or Saturday.

Filed Under: General Interest
May.21, 2011

Bob Dylan turns 70 on May 24.  (This of course assumes that the world didn't end today.  Look at a clock.  If it's after six o'clock in the evening wherever you are, we all made it out alright.  If you're currently on fire and/or with Magic Jesus, Mr. Zimmerman isn't gonna be blowing out any candles.)  I know this because I still get Rolling Stone for free.  (Again, Jann Wenner, thanks for keeping me in the loop.  I'm still waiting on that job offer.  You know where to get me.) 

My initial reaction to the news of Bob's impending semi-sesquicentennial (less five) was, roughly, big deal. 

Then I remembered the amazing video you see above; it's our good friend Phil Cook singing the hell out of a song most closely associated with Dylan; it's prescient reminder that Dylan's music cuts across generational lines.(We know that this cut isn't a Dylan original.  You can take the reference to his music in that last sentence to mean his music and/or his interpretations of traditional folk music; hell, "Alberta #1" is on Self-Portrait, which Dylan has occasionally called an intentional goof.  When the stuff that you may or may not have tossed off can raise the goosebumps, that means something). 

Then I remembered that I love it when the Dead cover Dylan.   There's a whole record of these, but the two below do the job in a pinch. 

Then I remembered that I love when MMJ covers Dylan (below as well, although, obviously, the Jim James song from that movie soundtrack is (probably) a touch superior).  For those of you who don't dig on Dylan quite as much as the rest of us, there's a bit of a bonus at the end of that MMJ track, so keep your ears perked.

Then I remembered that Music from Big Pink is on the list (if that video doesn't make you appreciate Richard Manuel a bit more than you did a minute ago, I've got no answers for you). 

And so on. 

All this to say that Mr. Bob Dylan is important (I feel like I'm really breaking some journalistic ground with that particular pronouncement). 

Happy birthday, sailor.  I'll be listening to John Wesley Harding on Tuesday if you need anything.

Grateful Dead – Maggie's Farm – Live – 1993

Grateful Dead – When I Paint My Masterpiece – Live – 1989

My Morning Jacket – Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You (+ a bonus)

 

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It fluctuates their Lazy Saturday.

Filed Under: General Interest
Jan.29, 2011

I'm running short on time today, folks.  I'm about 47 pages and three weeks from a dissertation proposal draft due date, so I'm going to drop one thought and two songs on you and then dive back into the books.  Worsening the situation is the fact that I've written about today's topic before.  It wasn't even that long ago.  So the small amount of material I'm writing today is at least partially self-plagiarized.  Meh.  Lazy Saturday.

I was a late adopter of "facebook."  (I'm actually a late adopter on a lot of the technology stuff.  Kevin calls my cellular telephone the blue dinosaur because it does not play music, get the internet, or beam my face into the ether.  I want my phone to be a phone.  If I want a camera and a calendar and an internet machine, I'll use my camera and calendar and internet machine.  Fucking kids these days.)  I was unclear on the utility of "facebook," given that I mostly dislike people.  Mrs. Citizen finally talked me into getting a "facebook profile" and I am now addicted to it. 

All this to say that "facebook" also gives me up to date information on bands that I love.  I have (once again) let my Rolling Stone subscription lapse and I only listen to classic rock on terrestrial radio, so I (occasionally) am unaware that bands are in the studio.  "Facebook" updates from My Morning Jacket and Megafaun make me feel like Greil Marcus circa 1982.  I knew those bands had records on the horizon, but "facebook" give me the insider shit.  I know what is going down!  I've even seen pictures!  (If you've come to this realization (that social media allows all of us to feel like we're in the know, given the immediacy and timeliness of the information available) prior to me, bully for you.  Get your own blog.  You probably already have one, but whatever.)

New material from two of my favorite bands gives me the perfect excuse to post some live material from both.  The MMJ features the Louisville Youth Symphony Orchestra, which is fantastic.  The Megafaun song features my favorite recent ambiguous lyric.  Is it "it wouldn't hurt none to be wary of a rest" or "it wouldn't hurt none to be wary of arrest" at the front end there?  I don't know.  Neither do you.  Good times.

My Morning Jacket – Bermuda Highway, Live

Megafaun – Columns, Live

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I sing the body Lazy Saturday.

Filed Under: General Interest
Nov.06, 2010

(Editor's note: (internal note to the editor's note: I read this piece on the editoral we in the Times.  Fuck that dude; I'm still rolling with the we and I don't care if you snooty art dorks judge me for it.  Word.) Well shit.  You know the story by this point, internet.  Things got weird there for a minute.  We miss you.  We love you.  We're back.  In totally unrealted news, I took that picture.  Cleveland, bitches.) 

I do not have a lot today.  That said, a little is better than nothing.  It is possible that there is a finite number of words that a person can type in a given period of time.  I'm putting all of mine into my dissertation proposal lately.  I try to write about music and my fingers shit the bed.  I'm still listening to music (obviously) but I don't seem to have the intellectual (or motor) capacity to crank out as much wriitng about it now that the doctorate is getting heated.  So, today, a couple of quick snapshots instead of my usual logorrheic mess.

First:  this video is the bee's knees.  You know The Migrant and you may well know the song, but you've not seen this castle.  This is one of those things that made it's way to our inbox via magic and/or happenstance.  It makes me happy.

Second: My kid has been listening to a ton of Horace Silver lately.  "Creepin' In" might be his favorite song for bath time at present. (Which means that "You Feel it All Around" has finally lost it's position on top of the toddler chart.  If you're super quiet, you can hear the dude from Washed Out weeping.)  He also enjoys Stankonia, old Specials' singles and Local Natives.  He's probably gonna start an internet music blog in a minute.  (Note: James, were he still alive, would be super pissed that the youtubes video is so much bigger than the vimeo video.  Not very visually appealing.  I suck.)

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Third: I go out every night, just because I do.

My Morning Jacket – Just Because I Do – Live, KVRX

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I’m not the most cocksure Lazy Saturday.

Filed Under: General Interest
Aug.28, 2010

Full disclosure:  I had ambitions to write more about the August 17 My Morning Jacket show in Chicago.  I felt like I had 1500 words in me on the show and the experience.  Generally, I like the opportunity that the blog affords me to (in the words of Cousin Marty) organize the experience through writing.  Then I sat down to bang this one out. 

The show stands burning in my brain as a perfect event, almost too pristine to capture with something as ephemeral as an "internet blog post."  I saw one of the best bands in the world play an amazing set in a tremendous venue with two of my best friends in life.  I've got my memories of the experience locked down.  To a degree, I'm too selfish to share them.  It was a beautiful night.  If you were there, you know.  If you weren't, you're not going to wrap your brain around it from my 1500 words. 

Know these three things:  1) The coda to the first set (Smokin' from Shootin'>Run Thru>Touch Me Part Two>Lay Low) is probably the best thing I will ever see on a stage, 2) if Jim and the boys are within a ten hour radius of your house and you don't go, you're a sucker (I drove six hours; it was worth every ounce of gasoline), and 3) I'll be telling my kid about seeing MMJ live; he will be jealous that he was only six months old when I was in Chicago.

In related news, the next My Morning Jacket record is going to be really good.  "Circuital" is the truth. 

My Morning Jacket – Circuital, Live

On the new music front, I've got one that I've been sitting on for too long.  Efren's second record, Always Been a Bleeder dropped on my birthday and I've been grooving to the semi-muted, tightly-arranged, half-psych-folk of the five songs thereon since.  I like the vocals and I like the feel, the distinctly southern texture of the record.  Dudes are from Georgia; the record is composed of songs that sound like they were written deep in Yoknapatawpha County (Faulkner is Georgian, right?).  Of particular note is the stellar closer, the nine minute epic dirge "Rapids."  It's almost like Cotton Jones, but with a set of brass balls.  Good stuff all around.

Efren – Stay High

One more newbie in the batch today.  I got an email from Father/Daughter Records with this track from Brooklyn's Family Trees.  I listened to it once and then dropped eleven bucks on the seven inch.  I bought it for two reasons: 1) It is a great song, a little nugget of doo-wop nostalgia pumped through Malkmus's lo-fi machine with the mildest possible inde-sneer, and 2) I'm 85% certain that Family Trees are the next R.E.M.  If that turns out to be the case, I am putting my kid through college with this seven inch single.  There are only 400.  I'm considering buying the whole run to create demand in the market eighteen years from now. 

Family Trees – Dream Talkin'

Last up is video of the best song of the year.  Holy shit.  I love this record.  Suckers are opening for Menomena at the Beachland on September 27.  Since I've got Wild Smile and Mines as 1 and 1a on my list of favorite records of the year, it's safe to say that I'm pretty stoked.

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Lastly, you might be hearing less of me in this space over the next several months.  Fall semester starts on Monday and I'm teaching two classes and writing a dissertation.  Ye olde spare time is about to take a hit.  I'll be around, popping my head out of my doctorate hole from time to time.  But.  There will be Saturdays when you're on your own.  You'll tough it out.

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I will be there when you Lazy Saturday.

Filed Under: General Interest
Aug.14, 2010

We've written about AIDS Wolf before.  They're noisy and messy and dissonant and aggressive.  They have a new record out on Skin Graft, March to the Sea.  I'd hesitate to call "Teaching to Suffer" the lead single, in that it's two and a half minutes of the sonic equivalent of a cock fight, but it is awesome for it's energy and raw chutzpah.  I've argued before that AIDS Wolf works like deep trance music, to a degree, lulling the listener into a realization of patterns and concordance that aren't immediately apparent (maybe lulling is the wrong verb, but you get the gist).  AIDS Wolf is a three piece now and I think there's a certain economy to the new stuff, a slightly sleeker assault, if you will.  In any event, AIDS Wolf is the kind of band that warrants support.  They're cutting records and not giving a shit about your opinions of them (I think).  Skin Graft is advertising a US tour starting in September, but I can't find any dates yet.  If they come to Cleveland, I will get very excited.  This has to be amazing live.

AIDS Wolf – Teaching to Suffer

Eternal Summers is completely different from AIDS Wolf (it's a highly disparate Lazy Saturday).  Jaunty, slightly dirty, hooky, catchy pop rock.  It's like Lush crossed with Crocodiles minus one quarter of the distortion.  Good luck getting this one out of your head.  "Pogo" comes from the duo's debut, Silver, which you can grab in mid September.  If the rest of the record is as infectious as this quick hitter of bleached bliss, we're in for a treat.

Eternal Summers – Pogo

I'm posting two Furthur tracks today for four reasons:

1.) "Seven Hills of Gold" and "Muli Guli" feature lyrics from Robert Hunter.  It's been a while since Lesh and Weir smashed their jams to Hunter's words, so it's noteworthy.

2.) These songs are good.  If you didn't already know better, you'd think that they were recently uncovered late 70s gems, not new material.

3.) This is the only time in the history of the universe that AIDS Wolf and Furthur will share webspace.  That kind of synergy is exciting.

4.) It always pisses of Diamond Jim when I post stuff related to the Dead.  I like poking him.

Furthur – Seven Hills of Gold – Live, 2010

Furthur – Muli Guli – Live, 2010

We leave for Chicago on Monday.  The Cubs, the Chicago Vegetarian Diner, and (most critically) My Morning Jacket.  Let's get real for a minute: I just want to hear "Run Thru" live again.  They could play this 15 times in a row and I'd leave happy.  Full report on the show next weekend.  Enjoy.

My Morning Jacket – Run Thru – Live, 2008

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Count the headlights on the Lazy Saturday.

Filed Under: Uncategorized
Aug.07, 2010

Sometimes, I frustrate Kevin.  He's something of a completist and I tend to dabble.  To be more specific, Kevin's a specialist and I'm a generalist.  One of our first musical arguments revolved around The White Stripes.  I own two White Stripes records (White Blood Cells and Elephant).  To be even more pointed, I've really only ever listened to those two White Stripes records.  I know all that I need to know about that band from those thirty songs.  I'm good.  (Aside: Let's face it: Jack White knows one trick.  He knows it really well, but that's kind of besides the point, right?)  Kevin, on the other hand, owns (and, again more pointedly, loves) every record The White Stripes have ever made.  He's got non-album singles and European out takes and alternate versions of b-sides and shit.  Kevin wants to know all there is to know about The White Stripes.  I'm happy with the broad view; he isn't done until he has the deepest view possible. 

This extends to other parts of our musical lives.  I'm always looking for exclusionary criteria for new music.  (I can't get a clear answer, for instance, on how to pronounce "Yeasayer," so I'm totally out on them.  It might be the best thing ever.  I don't care.  Change your name to something that has a clear connection between orthography and phonology and I might be interested.)  I don't want to hear everything, because I know that I'll dislike much of it.  I'd rather go with a finer net and miss a few things.  Kevin wants to hear everything.  He'll sit through ten records he hates to get to one he loves.  I'm more efficient, but he's more comprehensive.  I'm not sure if there's a right or wrong approach to this kind of thing, but we certainly differ.

All this to say that I rarely go back to the back catalog for bands that I come to the party late on.  For instance: I hipped to Wilco on Being There.  I do not own A.M.  Not super interested.  I love Being There.  Why do I have to get down with what came before it?  Same thing for me and Grizzly Bear.  I do not care about Yellow House at all.  People say it's better than Veckatimest.  Whatever.  (There are obvious exceptions here, but they don't work towards the point I'm making, so I am going to ignore them.)  It's different for bands that I catch at the beginning.  I'll buy every new Megafaun record as long as they put them out, because I started my musical relationship with them when they started their musical relationship with the world.

But.

That Menomena record is really good.  How good?  So good that I've been singing the hook from "Dirty Cartoons" over and over in my head for the last week.  ("I'd like to…go home, go home.")  So good that I went back and spent American currency on Friend and Foe.  That's the world's longest introduction for two live tracks, but such is life.  These come from the record before Mines.  Get off your ass and buy them both.

Menomena – The Pelican – Live, 2007

Menomean – Evil Bee – Live, 2007

In other news, we're nearing the end of the countdown to the C.D. Unofficial Semi-Annual Windy City Invasion, wherein the C.D. Attache to the Lake County Embassy, the Acting C.D. Chicagoland Adviser and I will be attending both a Cubs game and a My Morning Jacket show.  Can somebody get confirmation that Jim James is singing at Wrigley on August 16?  (Editor's note:  Is it ironic that in the same post that I semi-ragged on Kevin for listening to everything that I posted something from Chocolate and Ice?  I think it is.  It might also be hypocritical.  Your call.)

My Morning Jacket – Sooner – Live, 2003

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Lazy Saturday*

Filed Under: General Interest
Jul.31, 2010

*I banged out that Blitzen Trapper review today, my baby is sleeping and I want to get a Lazy Saturday into the ether just to keep my Cal-Ripken-esque streak of Lazy Saturdays going.  As a result, there is neiither clever wordplay in the title nor broad observations about life and art.  Just two songs and a brief word of commentary on each.  Sorry.  I'm getting close to the blogosphere record for consecutive weekend posts.  Can't slip up now.

First track today comes from David Letterman's television program.  The year is 1983.  Michael Stipe still has a shit ton of hair.  It's worth tracking down the visuals on this thing so you can really wrap your brain around the earnestness with which Stipe stares at his microphone and the verve that Mills pours into his bass.  Good times. 

R.E.M. – Radio Free Europe – Live, 1983

Second up today is one of the more palatable tracks from Evil Urges.  We're a mere 17 days away from the semi-official C.D. Chicagoland My Morning Jacket Extravanganza.  I'm getting stoked.

My Morning Jacket – I'm Amazed – Live, 2008

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