Jim James "A New Life"

On the Saturday night of this year's Newport Folk Festival, the mvyradio crew and some of our friends were hanging out in the house were we stay, finally getting to a meal (it was well after 10pm), and talking about our highlights for the day.

One of our station-friends asked me about My Morning Jacket.  Jim James and company was the reason he'd come to the show in the first place.  And he was a little surprised that I was not a bigger fan of the band.

In starting to explain why, I realized that I had a number of accumulated thoughts on the subject, that I hadn't really voiced before.  But they were coming out of me in a surprisingly coherent fashion.

First and foremost, I'm not crazy about Jim James voice.  I don't find it pleasing (though I don't find it intolerable either), and the effects they usually use on his voice on record, make his voice echo-ey and distant and not welcoming.

So there's a disconnect for me in how much I enjoy the band, and how much soooo many folks enjoy My Morning Jacket.  I can see why they are liked.  But I haven't been won over in the way that millions of others have been.

On the other hand, I totally get the appeal of Jim James, as a musical figure.

I have enormous respect of what he and his band are doing, and what he, as a solo artist, bring to the table.

As I've written before, My Morning Jacket could sell a ton of records and sell out big venues, by cranking out very derivative neo-Neil Young-type stuff.

But that's not the path they are taking.

Instead, they are experimenting, challenging, defying expectations.  Making music that makes you wonder, What will they do next?

What a joy to pop this new solo Jim James track in the CD player, and hear "Oh My God, he's got a Paul Simon 'Rhythm Of The Saints' thing going on!  Wait!  Now he's singing like Roy Orbison!"

I've referenced it before, but it is worth sharing again.  What has become one of my favorite movie scenes of all time, is at the conclusion of the Pixar film, "Ratatouille."  The critic, Anton Ego, gives an amazing monologue on the nature of criticism, it's possible lack of value, but it's relevance "in defense of the new."

So even if I'm not fully on board with the gospel of what millions of other James and MMJ fans believe, I am happy to ride the train as a secular supporter of the creative tracks.


Hear the song on Youtube.


Hear the song on Youtube.

My Morning Jacket "When The Bells Start Ringing"

After wowing folks/freaking people out with their most adventurous album yet, My Morning Jacket ends the year by going in the other direction: Traditional.

They are putting out a 7 song, iTunes-only EP of Christmas songs, recorded during a 14-hour studio session between tour dates in Europe.

This track is one of two that features collaboration with The Head & The Heart, and you can get it for free right now at iTunes!

Get the download.

And here's the other song the two bands collaborate on . . .


Hear it on Youtube.

My Morning Jacket "Wonderful (The Way I Feel)"

What do you do when a band you like, a band you've supported in the past, makes a record/puts out a single, that just doesn't fit the sound of the station?

Well, you have two choices. You can just ignore the record, and hope their next record returns to the sound you previously embraced.

Or you can dig deeper on the album, go past the single, and find something that is more sonically appropriate.

My Morning Jacket has made a really cool, diverse, expectation-challenging record, but the first single just isn't something that would sound right on mvyradio.

There IS a great track on the album, that would fit the station just fine, in a neo-Neil Young kind of way. But should we play it?

A single serves as an advertisement for the album. So usually, a single is selected as a song that is a good representation of what the record sounds like.

And I can tell you from experience, if we play a single that doesn't sound like the rest of the album (or play a great single, from an otherwise shitty album), I'll get phone calls and emails.

"I bought that record because you were playing that great song. But the rest of the album doesn't sound like that/is lousy."

I feel bad if we led folks to spend their 14 bucks, on something that is a total disappointment.

"Wonderful" is not what the My Morning Jacket album sounds like.

Should we play it?

(And if the answer is Yes, do you promise not to send me pissy emails if you don't like the record?)


See the video on Youtube.

My Morning Jacket "Holding On To Black Metal"

Continuing a theme explored on last week's Mat Kearney post . . . not adding a song onto mvyradio isn't a comment on its quality, only on its mix-ability.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes are awesome, but you wouldn't likely serve it in soup. It's not a complimentary texture or taste.

I think lots of radio programmers have been looking forward to the new My Morning Jacket. Jim James and Company deserve much credit for their creativity. They could easily crank out Neil Young-ish rawk, and sell plenty of records and have devoted fans. But instead, they seem to be happier challenging their fans' expectations and their own creative envelope.

"Holding On To Black Metal" is a powerful, complex, dense song, with horns and strings and a choir/chorus of women/falsetto-ing men/kids a la "Another Brick In The Wall."

It's a cool, adventurous song. But I think it would sound out of place between in-the-pocket mvyradio fare, say Paul Simon and The Civil Wars.

What do you think?


See the video on Youtube.