Okonokos Reviews

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.contactmusic.com/new/home.nsf/webpages/mymorningjacketx04x09x06

My Morning Jacket - Okonokos - Album Review

My Morning Jacket
Okonokos
Album Review
Psychedelic reverb-botherers My Morning Jacket have been thrilling us for the best part of a decade, and now they've taken the high road and released a live album, containing tracks from all their previous L.Ps.
Listening to this vast collection shows what an expansive back catalogue Jim James and Co have, with tracks touching base on big 70s style rock, reggae, funk and country, but all of them retaining the trademark epic MMJ sound. "Dodante" and "Run Thru" are ten minutes opus' that sound like the Flaming Lips doing Pink Floyd, but manage to sit quite comfortably next to the sweet country-tinged "Xmas Curtain", which comes complete with a delightfully incongruous steel drum solo.

What is truly amazing, though, is the level of skill and sheer ambition on display here. If it weren't for the cheering of the faithful, you'd be forgiven for thinking this was a studio album, such is the perfection of the soundscapes the band create. That's not to say they merely rehash the studio versions, all 21 tracks sound fresh, even the oldest songs appear reinvigorated, James' primal howl sending them skyward, even when they threaten to sink.

And, to be fair, there are a few moments that test the patience, the
noodling and soloing being best in small doses, is pushed to its very limit on "Off The Record." But, given the overall quality of the music on offer on Okonokos, you can let this minor quibble slip by and enjoy two sides of quality live music.

Ben Davy

[ali]

i say bring on the noodling & soloing....

[BH]

i say bring on the noodling & soloing....

Amen Ali!  Amen.

[evilPaauwe]

Amen Ali!  Amen.

of course.     and i just quoted someone quoting another.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=9147

We are pleased to announce My Morning Jacket's Fall 2006 Tour! Pre-sales begin on Thursday, September 14th at 12:00 pm local venue time for select dates.
MMJ will also release Okonokos, their new double live album with JamBase regular Dave Vann's photos! The release features 21 live tracks on two discs and will be available on September 26th on ATO/RCA Records. Pre-order the album and receive a free download of "Strangulation" (Live).

 OKONOKOS
Following the release of their fourth critically acclaimed full-length album, Z, My Morning Jacket readies to deliver what is surely to become their quintessential body of work – two discs and a concert film. They contain their most dynamic, otherworldly compositions to date, presented in their finest form. Live. Okonokos is a creative concept conceived by Jim James, and it is as much a question as it is an answer. It is an enigma wrapped around a riddle. Okonokos is whatever you want it to be.

Belying the myth that live albums tend to highlight the disparity between it and its studio counterpart, Okonokos, mixed by Michael Brauer (Bob Dylan, Coldplay) and mastered by pre-eminent engineer Bob Ludwig, delves into the realm of raw, rich, elevated sound, while proudly staying true to its roots. The treasury begins with "Wordless Chorus," one of the Jacket's captivating traditional introductions. A glacially expansive "One Big Holiday" grips you, throws you into a trance-inspiring guitar riff frenzy, quiets down, and leads you through another transcendent moment. The collection continues to mesmerize through the second disc, and closes with a spirited "Mahgeeta."

MY MORNING JACKET TOUR DATES
09.14 | Palamagatu Bologna, ITA (w/ Pearl Jam)
09.16 | Arena | Verona, ITA (w/ Pearl Jam)
09.19 | Palaisozaki | Torino, Italy (w/ Pearl Jam)
09.17 | Fila Forum | Milan, ITA (w/ Pearl Jam)
09.20 | Duomo Square | Pistoia, ITA (w/ Pearl Jam)
09.22 | London Astoria | London, UK (w/ Pearl Jam)
11.09 | The Music Farm | Charleston, SC
11.10 | Tennessee Theatre | Knoxville, TN
11.12 | The Tabernacle | Atlanta, GA
11.13 | Ryman Auditorium | Nashville, TN
11.15 | House of Blues | New Orleans, LA
11.16 | Gypsy Tea Room & Ballroom | Dallas, TX
11.17 | Gypsy Tea Room & Ballroom | Dallas, TX
11.18 | Stubb's BBQ | Austin, TX
11.20 | The Pageant | St. Louis, MO
11.21 | Riverside Theater | Milwaukee, WI
11.22 | Louisville Gardens | Louisville, KY
11.24 | The Riviera Theatre | Chicago, IL
11.25 | Clowes Hall | Indianapolis, IN
11.27 | 9:30 Club | Washington, DC
11.28 | 9:30 Club | Washington, DC
11.30 | Roseland Ballroom | New York, NY
12.01 | Electric Factory | Philadelphia, PA
12.02 | Avalon | Boston, MA

[BH]

i love jambase

[ManNamedTruth]

Can't Sept. 26th come any sooner. And shit I wish the dvd were coming out first.

[SpacedCowboy]

http://www.newburycomics.com/rel/v2_viewupc.php?storenr=103&upc=82876862102&pt=1

On the double-disc concert album OKONOKOS, My Morning Jacket harnesses its considerable live energy into an impressive set. Drawing primarily from IT STILL MOVES and Z, the 2006 release features a few of the Louisville, Kentucky-based act's quieter tunes ("I Will Sing You Songs," "Golden"), but focuses primarily on gloriously rocked-out performances, including the surging shoegazer "Gideon" and the searing "One Big Holiday," which conjures up thoughts of the Allman Brothers Band and Mogwai in an on-stage choogle session. While many live records call attention to weaknesses in an ensemble's sound, OKONOKOS plays to MMJ's strengths (particularly frontman Jim James and guitarist Carl Bromel's bold, up-front six-string work), proving that the group is an arena-rock band in the best possible sense.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.tuftsdaily.com/media/storage/paper856/news/2006/09/20/Arts/Mmjs-Live.Okonokos.Delivers-2286095.shtml?norewrite200609200637&sourcedomain=www.tuftsdaily.com

Tufts Daily

(excerpt)

"Overall, "Okonokos" showcases an incredible band at the height of its game, chugging relentlessly through its best songs and never holding back. For this reason alone, it is worth listening to. However, "Okonokos" accomplishes a far greater and more significant feat: It makes the listener believe in the power of rock 'n' roll. "

[Mr. T.]

http://www.tuftsdaily.com/media/storage/paper856/news/2006/09/20/Arts/Mmjs-Live.Okonokos.Delivers-2286095.shtml?norewrite200609200637&sourcedomain=www.tuftsdaily.com

Tufts Daily

(excerpt)



"Overall, "Okonokos" showcases an incredible band at the height of its game, chugging relentlessly through its best songs and never holding back. For this reason alone, it is worth listening to. However, "Okonokos" accomplishes a far greater and more significant feat: It makes the listener believe in the power of rock 'n' roll. "

Very good review this one! Thanks LaurieBlue for all the efforts. Keep em coming!

[LaurieBlue]

http://au.launch.yahoo.com/060923/11/wg38.html

ARTIST: MY MORNING JACKET

ALBUM: OKONOKOS (ATO/RCA Records)

It's high time one of America's best live bands committed its stage show to disc, and "Okonokos" delivers as powerful a wake-up call to the ears as seeing MMJ in the flesh. Vocalist Jim James lets it rip on "What a Wonderful Man," "One Big Holiday" and the spine-tingling "Gideon," while the band jams "Dondante" and "Steam Engine" into 11-minute rock epics. MMJ also proves its versatility on more intimate material such as "Golden" and "I Will Sing You Songs," which is handled with the finesse of players twice their age. The track list rightfully goes heavy on last year's outstanding "Z" (opener "Wordless Chorus," the jolly "Off the Record"). But it also dips into the back catalog for delightful obscurities such as "O Is the One That Is Real" and the countrified "Xmas Curtain." More, please!

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060923/SCENE04/60923005

Album Review
My Morning Jacket live!
New album faithfully captures MMJ energy, experience
By Jeffrey Lee Puckett
jpuckett@courier-journal.com
Courier-Journal critic


My Morning Jacket makes exceedingly good records, from the handmade charms of 1999's "Tennessee Fire" to the epic, inverted pop of last year's "Z." But there has always been something undeniably magical about the band's live performances that the studio can't capture, an energy that vibrates bone deep and lifts buildings off their foundations.

On some nights, the shows are literally transforming. You can arrive with a world of hurt weighing you down and by halfway through "Lowdown" it's all golden. The only problem is that the shows always end.
  
Until now. With "Okonokos: Double Live Album," My Morning Jacket's crazed, electric energy has been expertly captured. A DVD of the same show, recorded at the Fillmore West, follows on Oct. 31, but the record — out Tuesday — more than stands on its own.

"Okonokos" is a true concert experience, its many transcendent moments sharing space with happily wrecked solos and the occasional splintered high note from singer Jim James. This is not a complaint. This is what live music is all about: a shared, human experience, imperfections and all. We're living in the moment here.

Extremely picky fans might take issue with song selection, seeing as how "Tennessee Fire" is represented only by "I Think I'm Going to Hell," but the album's flow is impeccable, and there are far too many highlights to detail. Let's just say that you won't hear a more deeply moving version of "I Will Sing You Songs," and epic rockers such as "One Big Holiday," "Run Thru" and "Anytime" never sounded better. And "Lowdown" is here, too, just in time for one more emotional rescue.

If there's a better rock band, anywhere, than James, Patrick Hallahan, Two Tone Tommy, Bo Koster and Carl Broemel, it hasn't yet made a record. And if you haven't yet bought a My Morning Jacket record, start right here.

Jeffrey Lee Puckett is SCENE's pop music editor and oversees this page

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/issues/2006-09-21/music/rotations.html?src=default_rss

The best live albums bring something new to songs that have been heard only in a studio incarnation, new performances that transcend the recorded versions and connect with striking immediacy. By that standard, Okonokos, My Morning Jacket's first concert set, is a stunning success. An able followup to last year's critical breakthrough, Z, the new release continues along the tangent that has taken the band members from swampy Southern retro rock origins to the enigmatic, atmospheric sound that defines their recent outlay, spread over two discs. The album is a riveting encapsulation of their past catalogue, one that retraces the bandmates' hollow-eyed ambiance and dark deliberation and charges them with an urgency previously hinted at in the group's studio sets.

[CC]

http://www.gigwise.com/contents.asp?contentid=22522

Some bands may by now view gigging as an unfortunately toil-intensive part of the promotional cycle. Not My Morning Jacket, though. Every moment of 'Okonokos', the exquisitely hirsute Louisville, Kentucky quintet's two hours plus take on the old school double-live album, crackles with a sizzling celebration of the stage and its transcendental possibilities, and it doesn't take them long to start wiping the floor with any preconceptions you might have about the band.
 
Far from a bunch of backwards-gazing Southern-fried boogie peddlers, Neil Young-aping alt. country aspirants or aimlessly noodling jam band aficionados, these 21 career-spanning tracks capture the five-piece mixing these ingredients and much, much more - country-folk roots, swooning soul, road-ragged rock 'n' roll, sparkling pop, even dancefloor-geared spaceage-funk and reggae, all of it catapulted to glorious heights by the heavenly croon of Jim James and Crazy Horsian reserves of cranked-up guitar crunch - to nail the genre-busting sound unveiled on last year's 'Z' with awe-inspiring aplomb.
 
Whether rescuing rarities from obscurity, switching early lo-fi gems to blazing multicolour without losing an iota of their hazy melancholy charm, dumbing down to greasy riff action, setting sail to stargazing cosmic soulfulness or providing convincing arguments in favour of marathon-length workouts, 'Okonokos' is filled with immense, uncategorisable music that makes much of the competition seem stiff in their movements, not to mention severely short on skills and soul alike. Simultaneously stadium-huggingly huge and soothingly intimate, equally fit for the grandest enormodome and the tiniest of clubs, gazing at the future whilst remaining rooted in trusted traditions, the band is on jaw-dropping form here, switching from muscle-flexing raw power to aching vulnerability with breathtaking ease, equally at home with giddy joy and teary-eyed desolation.

Barring the odd honourable exception (Wilco's stunning 'Kicking Television', for example), live albums have become a bit of a scam - time-killers for bands with alarmingly low credit in the ideas bank, contract-fillers for those wishing to escape the clutches of their current paymasters. My Morning Jacket remember a time when it didn't use to be like this. Rather than helplessly hugging a pile of vinyl from the golden era of capturing the beer-stained whiff of concert halls on records that blew minds and stereo speakers alike by displaying the full arsenal of the talent involved sans studio sanitation, they've produced a shit-hot document that deserves to be ranked alongside the art-form's key texts - 'Live Rust', 'Live At Leeds', 'Get Your Ya-Ya's Out' - the band obviously esteem highly.
For 'Okonokos' is the kind of a resistance-battering record that turns skeptics into believers, believers into foaming-at-the-mouth fanatics and....well, it's probably best not to know what it does to the most fervently dedicated section of their audience, beyond proving every superlative-exhausting claim of superiority ever made on their favourite band's behalf.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.dailynebraskan.com/media/storage/paper857/news/2006/09/25/Reviews/Cd.Reviews-2305199.shtml?norewrite200609250750&sourcedomain=www.dailynebraskan.com

'Okonokos' sticks out among pack of live CDs


My Morning Jacket - Okonokos
4/5 stars

Live releases from bands have lost some of their uniqueness since bands like Pearl Jam began releasing every concert they performed to fans who want to purchase them.

But every once in a while a single live release will come around with enough swagger to make me forget about the commonness of live releases circa 2006.

My Morning Jacket's "Okonokos" is one of those albums.

Before the album's first offering, "Wordless Chorus," is over, it's easy to grasp that the band took its time putting together a quality release.

And in hearing the fullness of "One Big Holiday" in a live setting, I immediately added MMJ to my list of "Top-five bands I need to see live before I die."

"Okonokos" is a double live album that features 21 offerings from throughout the band's career.

While I would've wished for an acoustic version of "Golden," the version that makes an appearance on "Okonokos" is upbeat enough to make up for the omission.


- compiled by Jeremy Buckley

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.popmatters.com/pm/music/reviews/5329/my-morning-jacket-okonokos/

My Morning Jacket
Okonokos
(ATO)
US release date: 26 September 2006
UK release date: 2 October 2006
by Dave Heaton

"Does everybody remember the Foghat rule? Your fourth album should be double-live," Bob Odenkirk, in Kiss makeup, instructed his pupils at rock school, Yo La Tengo, in a hilarious skit of a music video once upon a time. My Morning Jacket's double-live album, Okonokos, is their fifth album, not their fourth, but still, those sort of unwritten rules of ROCK seem to run in My Morning Jacket's blood. As a band they perennially adopt the stance of rock 'n' roll warriors, out to take over the world. In concert they attack their instruments ferociously, long hair swinging in front of their faces. They play their songs loud and proud, thriving off the larger-than-life aspects of playing music for people. They seem to remember how it felt as a kid when a rock band captured your imagination, made you dream, and they try and embody some of that spirit themselves. Certainly they get why the Foghat principle joke is funny, but they also get a kick out of that sort of musical excess, out of living it up onstage, acting like (or being?) the best, baddest, most kick-ass band that ever was.

So yes, of course My Morning Jacket has released a double-live album, and of course they've made it big and bold, exemplifying the greater history and mythology of the Live Album. It was recorded last year in San Francisco at the Fillmore, an iconic venue. Though the performance features songs from throughout their career, the live album has been given a vague concept of its own, that of the fanciful land of Okonokos. The show itself included a stage set to match this concept, one designed by a movie set designer. And the album is actually even bigger than your standard double-album. It's two CDs, or four LPs, if you get the limited-edition vinyl 'box set' version, which included an extra side of music. And then there's the DVD version, which also is going to be screened theatrically in limited release in October. This is a band that thinks and acts big, and this live album's as big as they come.

The scope of the music is huge, too; it's not just the concept and presentation. Where their first two albums of moody, transformative country drew incessant Neil Young comparisons, their major-label debut It Still Moves had such a consistent, well-formed rock sound that critics started talking about them as Southern rock. And then their atmospheric, complex fourth album Z made those critics switch gears and start calling them the American Radiohead. None of those are true, and all are. One thing Z confirmed is that the band is capable of almost anything, as they switch from high-powered pop-rock into spaced-out reggae, to expansive Western-desert-type exploratory jams, and on and on.  All of that is captured on Okonokos, an album that contains music from throughout their career and impressively demonstrates how well they're able to translate those songs into a live setting.

Okonokos's structure is perfect for a live album—when the songs trip off into another world, they soon rock brightly back to life, often within the same song. The songs are stretched out, but without losing any of their impact. In fact, the impact of every hook, note, and solo is only accentuated. The band hammers each note exactly right, with absolute toughness but also sensitivity, so it isn't bombastic but still kicks hard. James' voice soars but also turns ragged, as the music flies light but also punches the audience in the face. An extra dose of intensity is added to songs, to keep the feeling of surprise, and those intense moments the audience is expecting—like on "One Big Holiday", their most overtly rocking song—are delivered even better than promised.

The first disc of Okonokos opens with the first three songs off Z, in order, and the order suits the songs as well here as on the album itself. Then the band steps back through the previous albums, returning to Z here and there. It Still Moves' "I Will Sing You Songs" seems especially slow and dreamy at first, with James lingering on lyrics like "just don't make it last any longer than it has to," like a playful tease, before the whole band inevitably rocks the song up right. On At Dawn's "The Way That He Sings", they take an instrumental break and use it as a hook to ride, as the audience claps along to the drummer's determined rhythm and the guitarists bang on their guitars in a way that makes me imagine them striking a windmill stance.

The second disc starts off looser and mellower in tone, as it should, before knocking the mood back in an energetic direction near the end. The 11-minute "Dondante" offers a slow drift, leading into nine minutes of "Run Thru" that get increasingly further from Earth. Soon they're back in the land of (somewhat) shorter songs that leave melodies and mysteries behind—like a brilliant version of "Xmas Curtain" and a truly haunted "I Think I'm Going to Hell," the lone track here off their debut album The Tennessee Fire—but after that is a blistering, slow-burning version of "Steam Engine" that ends in a drum solo, a necessity for a rock band's live album. There's more of course, leading up to an album-ending version of "Mahgeeta" where the band sounds as sharp as they did when they started.  

With each passing year My Morning Jacket seem more like one of the most powerful live bands around. Okonokos does nothing but reinforce that impression.. or solidify it even, by leaving in aural concrete a evidence of their capacity to rock, to float, to wring emotion from each note while ensuring fire pumps through the veins of every listener.

RATING:  8/10

— 25 September 2006

[Angry Ewok]

Great review, there... did I skip a line, or did he ever address the reason why he gave an 8 instead of a 10?

[megisnotreal]

seriously. why an 8?

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ent/4212696.html

Our guide to the best entertainment this week

1. My Morning Jacket

Alt-rocker band My Morning Jacket is one of the best live acts out there. On Okonos it takes on one of rock's greatest indulgences: the double live album. In stores Tuesday.

[marino13]

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/product.asp?z=y&EAN=828768621028&itm=1

Barnes & Noble
Even before their breakthrough, It Still Moves, My Morning Jacket had built a buzz as a great live act: With their long hair swinging in circles, their penchant for dramatic shifts in dynamics, and their indulgence in epic guitar solos, the Louisville, Kentucky, band created an impressive spectacle. But the main draw was always Jim James's voice: lathered with reverb, soaring into a high tenor, earthy but otherworldly. So the double live album Okonokos makes sense, just as live albums made sense for fellow classic southern rockers like the Allman Brothers, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and Little Feat. Drawing heavily from Z and It Still Moves but reaching back to At Dawn and various early EPs, Okonokos demonstrates the depth and breadth of MMJ's talents. The band shifts easily from compact bursts of joy like "What a Wonderful Man" to gentle, country-flavored acoustic ballads like "Golden" to epic guitar jams like "Steam Engine" (one of four songs that stretches beyond the eight-minute mark). Although the set bypasses the unusual covers the band often tosses into its shows, Okonokos (which is also a DVD film produced by Sam Erickson) makes a good case for My Morning Jacket's place as one of the best live bands of its era. Steve Klinge