Happy 10th Anniversary, Okonokos!

[johnnYYac]

http://diffuser.fm/my-morning-jacket-okonokos/?trackback=fbshare_mobile_top

10 Years Ago: My Morning Jacket Dreams Up 'Okonokos'
by Bryan Wawzenek September 26, 2016

Given My Morning Jacket's long-standing reputation as a killer concert act, it's surprising that the band resisted the urge to make a live record until it had released four studio albums. Perhaps founder and frontman Jim James was waiting for the Louisville group's best lineup to gel before delivering something like Okonokos.

"The band is its own thing. Within the band we've been five, six different bands," James said in 2006. "And the current lineup is the most positive we've ever had. Bo [Koster, keyboards] and Carl [Broemel, lead guitarist] brought a lot of energy, spirit and enthusiasm. They make it fun again."

By the time they recorded the double-live Okonokos in the fall of 2005, Koster and Broemel had been in the band for nearly two years, joining James, drummer Patrick Hallahan and bassist "Two-Tone" Tommy Blankenship. It's clear that the time touring on 2003's It Still Moves and recording/promoting 2005's commercial breakthrough Z had forged a tight unit capable of expansive sounds.

Much of the material on the two-CD set comes from those two previous albums (which contribute concert staples such as the stuttering charge of "One Big Holiday," the spacey jangle of "Mahgeetah" and the ethereal "Wordless Chorus"). But James and friends also dig into the first couple of My Morning Jacket LPs, updating "I think I'm Going to Hell" and "Lowdown," removing a bit of the murk from their studio versions.

That's one of the differences between the recorded My Morning Jacket and the live animal – the grain silos full of reverb are gone (there's just a little fog clouding James' voice). The band sounds sharper and yet has room to run, stretching the already epic "Dondante" and "Run Thru" to wild stage explorations that find Broemel playing live saxophone and Hallahan pummeling his kit. Those kind of mammoth renditions are likely why James was finally convinced he should capture his band's concert talents.

"We wanted to make a live album that also sounded good, like a studio album, but live," James said. "We've never been able to do that until now. It's always been a dream for us."

Speaking of dreams, that's where the singer-guitarist got the title for the live set, which was released on Sept. 26, 2006. The shows at which Okonokos was recorded were also filmed for a live DVD, featuring a prelude in which an old-timey reveler gets drunk, befriends a llama and stumbles upon a My Morning Jacket show in the woods.

"I wanted it to be a thing where we were playing somewhere in a forest," James said. "It didn't matter where it was, whether it was Scotland or the U.S.A. It didn't matter at all."

The "forest" was actually the stage of San Francisco's storied Fillmore West, festooned with branches, moss and fog to match the mystery contained in the music. The DVD version, directed by Sam Erickson, was released a month after the audio version, in October 2006, making up for three less performances with a llama rocking out in the crowd and a gruesome ending.

Years later, their lineup remains the same, as does the band's reputation for incredible shows. Okonokos documents the period when that lineup came into its own.

[parkervb]

Available from BullMoose for $30.97

http://www.bullmoose.com/p/22535078/my-morning-jacket-okonokos-4-lp

[Lonndown27]

im a die hard fan of live albums....HUGE HUUUUUGE Fan.

some of my favorites: Aerosmiths LIVEBOOTLEG, Whos LIVE @ LEEDS, Zeppelin's HTWWW and many many more.

But OKONOKOS is pure magic....

it never will get old.

Every time I watch the DVD or listen to it, I see or hear something absolutely new. I cannot wait for an expanded version, too. The liner notes are legendary. Just hilarious and shows everything about who The Jacket are, while also telling you jack shit.

Its time the band put out the sequel for this chapter of their career, 2008-2016, the first one went from 1999-2006. So, now it's time.

It was finally the peak behind the door, for us Jacket fans in the pre-Everybody knows Everything About Everyone / Twittersphere days. Such great live album homages in the packaging and throughout the whole Live LP / CD and DVD, it's got a Little bit Song Remains The Same, Little bit Waiting For Columbus, a slice of Live @ Leeds, some UFOs at The Zoo and just Jacket Jacket more Jacket.

Only complaint: wish it were longer.


for funny historical purposes, this non-committal review:

http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/9448-okonokos/