I can’t believe it leaked. Actually, I can. But wow, a whole month and half early? I love this band, and it is for this reason that I couldn’t resist getting ahold of and listening to their new work. For anyone out there who has a leaked version of this album, I implore you to buy it legitimately once it is released, as I know I will. My Morning Jacket is worth your money. Especially this one.

To start off, I think this album is great. Upon my first listen, I was struck with the same feeling that I had when I first listened to the new Radiohead and Wilco albums. This feeling meant that I needed to listen to the album at least 6 more times, and then form my opinions. Similar to the new Wilco album, I feel like this work shows us the more contemplative, mature, composition-oriented side of My Morning Jacket. It’s definitely a big step forward for the band. They certainly took advantage of the studio on this one more than any other album, utilizing it as a tool to bring as much as possible out of the songs. I was particularly struck by the diversity… the differences between the general sound of each track is staggering. So I’ll just cut to the chase, heres a song-by-song review:

1) Evil Urges: A lot like some of the older work, with a phased out guitar, and that familiar “two-tone” bass line. Jim James sings this one almost entirely in that high falsetto he is so famous for. A little over halfway through you will find a catchy-as-hell harmonized guitar riff.

2) Touch Me I’m Going to Scream: This could be a Flaming Lips song. The way they pan the sound, the multiple vocal tracks, and the general ambiance all add to this Lips-ey feeling. The bit that saves it from being a Flaming Lips song outright is the drum and bass which is very MMJ and reminds me a lot of “It Beats For You.” One of my favorites.

3) Highly Suspicious: This is a weird one… I find it gets stuck in my head really easily, but I’m not sure if I actually like it or not. Seriously falsetto, seriously strange, but definitely awesome. Great Jack White-esque guitar solo. Theres some evil snickering too.

4 I’m Amazed: Good old-fashioned Southern Rock and Roll. Full harmonic vocals, catchy guitar and piano riffs, epic sound. Would suit a massive stadium well.

5) Thank You Too: A lot of space in this one… a light-hearted track with nice strings, a soft rock feel, and a touch of soul. Reminds me a bit of some sort of 80s love song. Jim James is nice to listen to here.

6) Sec Walkin: This one screams James Taylor… you’ll see what I mean.

7) Two Halves: Southern rock meets 90s rock, full sound, layered harmonic vocals, pretty straightforward.

8 Librarian: My favorite one lyrically, this song tells the quintessential in-love-with-the-librarian story. Slide guitar, strings, and tambourine add to the full, mellow, yearning feel of this song. “Sweetest little bookworm, Hidden underneath, Is the sexiest librarian, Take off those glasses and let down your hair for me.”

9) Look At You: More slide guitar, wide open feel, classic Jim James singing. One of the quieter tracks, it’s got a lot of feelings in it.

10) Aluminum Park: Creates a stark contrast with the song before it by opening with a raw guitar riff, and then moving into a catchy southern rock fest complete with good chorus, reverb-heavy vocals, and some serious shred-action. This one is seriously high energy.

11) Remnants: Another rocking, riff-based tune, not one of my favorites, but some great guitar work. One of the loudest tracks.

12) Smokin’ From Shootin’: Focuses on the lyrics that Jim James croons, practically isolated, on top of the music. Gets nice and epic in the last minute and a half, followed by a serious fade-out into the next track.

13) Touch Me I’m Going To Scream Pt. 2: This one is a masterpiece. Maybe its because I have heard this track the most, but I seriously dig it. From beginning to end, it feels like a journey through a distant unknown land. They tease us for a minute and a half before breaking into the disco beat that I am addicted to. I could listen to that beat all day. This song fills me with all sorts of sound, and leaves me satisfied. Perfect choice for the last track. Bravo, My Morning Jacket, Bravo!

All in all, I feel like this album will be received by fans with mixed results. Those looking for the My Morning Jacket that rocks all the time (in other words the MMJ that we’re all used to) may be disappointed with the more adult feel of this album. I, however, find the album refreshing and engaging, and I know that it will reveal more and more of its secrets to me with each listen. I give it an A-.

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I saw this a few minutes ago, and I decided it’s just too weird not to post it on here. I don’t really know what Shatner has going on up there in his head, but it is definitely something different than than the rest of us.  Is he cool? Is he crazy? I’m not sure… you decide:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NN3MGN899yE&feature=related[/youtube]

What a guy.

So I came across this compilation a while ago titled Jamaica to Toronto: Soul Funk & Reggae 1967-1974, and I didn’t get around to listening to it until just now… and there are some really great songs on it. Some of the recording is a little lo-fi, but this just added to the intrigue. I tried finding anything on the internet having to do with the band The Cougars, who wrote two of the songs posted below, and I found this article. Apparently there was this whole reggae/funk music scene going on in Toronto in the late 60s, and for some reason no one really paid attention to it… and it dwindled away. The idea that a whole chunk of musical history can be forgotten like that just struck me as interesting. Anyway, here are my favorites off of this compilation, a little funk, a little reggae, a little blues. And I really reccommend the moment exactly 2 minutes into The Cougar’s cover of the Temptations song “I Wish It Would Rain,” it’ll make you feel happy.

The Cougars – Right On

Jo-Jo And The Fugitives – Chips – Chicken – Banana Split

Ram – Love Is The Answer

The Cougars – I Wish It Would Rain

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I thought I would mix it up today and share with you some dub reggae that I think is unbelievable – specifically the Boston-based Guvna who are a side project of the much-acclaimed reggae band John Brown’s Body. A little while ago, they released an album of bass and drum driven awesomeness created largely by Scott Palmer (the bassist from JBB) and titled The Guvna Dub Sessions. Palmer died of cancer somewhat recently, and it is my understanding that this album was finished and released posthumously after three years of tweaking the songs, and represents some of his last work. I saw most of the album performed a while ago when they opened up for the Easy Star All Stars, and they completely blew me away… the mix was unbelievable… soul shaking grooves with ear-drum shattering ambient noise cutting through from the two DJs scratching in the back. It’s hard to explain exactly, but it suffices to say I’ve never before heard a room filled with sound quite like that. Dub is certainly an acquired taste, but give this album a chance, and I’m sure you will love it. Here’s a few tracks:

The Guvna Dub Sessions – Karmageddon

The Guvna Dub Sessions – Rolling Dub

The Guvna Dub Sessions – Me No Bow

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This may be old news to some, but I stumbled across this album a while back, and became instantly obsessed with a number of the cuts… upon many listens, I have come to the conclusion that this album deserves some attention. The jamband/hip-hop collaboration is a great idea, especially when the backing band is Galactic.

Galactic formed in 1994 as a jazz/funk group featuring bass, guitar, drums, sax, harmonica, and the all-nasty hammond organ. They are from New Orleans, which pretty much guarantees that they have some serious skills. I had the opportunity to see their drummer Stanton Moore with his trio at a free jazz fest in my hometown of Iowa City… he blew me away… easily one of the most entertaining drummers I’ve ever seen. He’s made of nasty beats, and this album has lots of those. More importantly, I stumbled across the Bonnaroo fairgrounds last summer into the last 20 minutes of the Galactic show. Needless to say, I desperately wish I could have seen that entire show. They ended with a heavy Kashmir jam (everyone kept covering Zeppelin because John Paul Jones was in the house) while a dozen MCs spit hot fire onto a crowd that was freaking out harder than any other show I saw there. If Galactic comes near you, and they most likely will, get out there and see them. They are touring with various MCs from the album right now, and I guarantee that they will knock your socks off. I missed the Boston show thinking it wouldn’t sell out, and my buddies who went made me exceedingly jealous with their descriptions of the night… don’t let that happen to you.

The album itself features some MCs you probably know, and some you may not… most notable are Lyrics Born, Gift of Gab (from Blackalicious), Mr. Lif (who I saw last night and it inspired me to write this post), Ladybug Mecca, Boots Riley, Juvenile, and the always awesome Chali 2na (from Jurassic 5).

If you like hip-hop, give this a try… If you don’t like hip-hop, give this a try. Its good either way. Great band, great MCs, progressive album. Listen:

From the Corner to the Block (2007):

Galactic – Think Back w/ Chali 2na

Galactic – The Corner w/ Gift of Gab

Galactic – …And I’m Out w/ Mr. Lif

And here’s a pretty sweet video with Boots Riley… They are playing in a music store, and they still bring it. Stanton Moore is so cool.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=G3x14rQ99XI&feature=related[/youtube]

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