Okonokos Reviews

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.dailygamecock.com/media/storage/paper247/news/2006/09/25/TheMix/My.Morning.Jacket.Plugs.In.Plays.On-2305211.shtml?norewrite200610010833&sourcedomain=www.dailygamecock.com

My Morning Jacket plugs in, plays on
Celia Stephens
Posted: 9/25/06
The difficult part of reviewing My Morning Jacket's new double-live album "Okonokos" is not in what to say but in what to edit out. Although artists typically put out live albums for their devoted fanbase, this two-disc experience could be the best introduction there is to Louisville, Ky.'s chosen Southern-rock sons.

Their otherworldly shows have garnered acclaim from both hippies and hipsters alike. Now everyone can be a part of what's more of an experience than simply a concert. The 21 songs on "Okonokos" span the band's seven-year discography, including fan favorites like "One Big Holiday" and lesser-knowns such as "O is the One That is Real." The quintet makes a controlled racket, securely rooted in the earth of harmonies. When the searing electric guitars let loose to wander, it is herded back by tight percussion and pristine piano parts.

Opener "Wordless Chorus" bursts forth with frontman Jim James hitting high notes Mariah Carey would applaud. The gorgeously spacey "Gideon," from the most recent studio full-length "Z," is both ambient and raucous with James' wailing to steer the tune. A perfect little nugget featuring slide and acoustic guitars, "Golden" harks back to the country in the band's oft-noted country-rock tag. A zinger of a closer on the first disc, "Lay Low" marks the halfway point of the show with a crescendo into sonic lovemaking a la Led Zeppelin or Lynyrd Skynyrd.

The second disc starts with a slow-burning epic in "Dondante," which builds to a caterwauling catharsis, sopped up by the horn around the 10-minute mark. "Run Thru" is slow and sludgy before whipping into a bluesy, Allman Brothers-like midsection. "Xmas Curtain" and "Dancefloors" are optimistic, not to mention a hell of a lot of fun to dance to. Older songs like "Steam Engine" and "I Think I'm Going to Hell" are very organic, near-jam band material. The climactic one-two punch of "Anytime" and "Mahgeetah" up the ante and the energy to end the album, knocking out the listener with the gusto of the band's twin-guitar attack.

Even a half-ass fan will be converted to the My Morning Jacket cult after reviewing "Okonokos."

Anyone that has seen this band should know what you're in for. If you don't, buy "Okonokos" and complement the audio with the visual, courtesy of the accompanying DVD released Oct. 31. If still unsatisfied, make a date with My Morning Jacket on its fall tour, which should chisel the raw power of its live performance into your head and heart. Be rocked classically, and then be thankful.

[dragonboy]

Even a half-ass fan will be converted to the My Morning Jacket cult after reviewing "Okonokos."

Anyone that has seen this band should know what you're in for. If you don't, buy "Okonokos" and complement the audio with the visual, courtesy of the accompanying DVD released Oct. 31. If still unsatisfied, make a date with My Morning Jacket on its fall tour, which should chisel the raw power of its live performance into your head and heart. Be rocked classically, and then be thankful.

With reviews like this & all of the others that I've read it looks as if the guys might finally be about to get the recognition they deserve  :D

[Jaimoe]

With reviews like this & all of the others that I've read it looks as if the guys might finally be about to get the recognition they deserve  :D

Live albums rarely really sell well outside of the artist's fan base and even fewer are career defining. However, Okonokos should keep MMJ's name in people's and critic's minds at least until their next studio album drops.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.stv.tv/out/showArticle.jsp?source=feeddb&articleId=2972

My Morning Jacket

Article by Finbarr Bermingham

On the eve of the release of their debut live LP, The Skinny caught up with singer, songwriter and founder member of My Morning Jacket's ever fluctuating line up, Jim James. James' personal appearance is, oddly enough, rather reflective of what is to be expected at a MMJ live show, with 'Okonokos' being no exception. His untrammelled facial hair has parallels with the omnipresent musical liberation of an MMJ gig. You are just as likely to witness extreme head banging as you are mellow, acoustic meanderings. In most cases (see their recent performance in Cabaret Voltaire) you'll get both. So, four albums in, what is the thinking behind the release of a live album and DVD?

"Well it's a big part of what we do," James offers, "We wanted to make a live album that also sounded good, like a studio album, but live. We've never been able to do that until now, it's always been a dream for us." The result of this dream is 'Okonokos', the title of which was also stumbled upon in 'The Land of Nod'.

"I wanted it to be a thing where we were playing somewhere in a forest. It didn't matter where it was, whether it was Scotland or the USA. It didn't matter at all. I got the name in a dream; I wrote it down on a bedside table. I wanted it to be open to interpretation, and I think that's how it turned out."

Okonokos as a word in itself, then, may not mean all that much. However, as most MMJ fans will testify, the essence of the band is truly encapsulated live. Despite never having "massive success or a hit single" (although sound transatlantic album reviews have ensured they haven't flourished unrecorded), their live shows have become legendary in some quarters. Eight years of incessant touring, with an unprecedented four successive annual slots at the Bonnaroo festival Stateside, have culminated with this release, recorded at the legendary Fillmore venue.

The album itself reads like a Best Of compliation, with the likes of Off the Record, One Big Holiday and It Beats 4U sounding as predictably perfect as ever. Much is made of Jim James' fondness for reverb ("I use it as an instrument to hide behind") and indeed it is to be found here by the sackful. It would be unfair though to detract from his vocals by claiming he is reliant upon it. His unique tone flits effortlessly between the older more conventional tracks and cuts from last year's more contemporary and even psychedelic 'Z'. His own depiction of his voice as an instrument seems justified upon hearing this album, reverb or no reverb.

So where does this inprov laden style stem from? If truth be told, its one that's been engendered over years of line-up changes. Jim explains, "Change is always good. The band is its own thing. Within the band we've been 5/6 different bands. And the current line up is the most positive we've ever had. Bo (Koster) and Carl (Broemer) brought a lot of energy, spirit and enthusiasm. They make it fun again. They play a lot more instruments. Carl can play steel and pedal guitar and saxophone, and they can both sing and harmonise. With the others we were going to a dark place."

And the sound itself?

"I really was inspired by a lot of 70s and late 60s stuff. Simon and Garfunkel, Neil Young Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder. I also liked weird children's things like old Disney movies like Pinocchio and Robin Hood. Jim Henson and the Muppets too. Growing up Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem were my favourites. Also country stuff like John Prine and nowadays things like Outkast. I really wanna hear their new record. Have you heard it?"

The Skinny shakes its head, still wondering whether Jim James' favourite band is really Dr Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Most of the other influences though are apparent. But does the release of a live album now mean we have to wait another 12 months for a 'proper album'? "Probably. At the end of the year we'll start rehearsing and recording. It'll be a while but I've been doing a lot of writing."

Guess that means we'll have to make do with 'Okonokos' then. Thank God for small mercies.

Okonokos is out now on ATO/RCA Records
Okonokos (DVD), a live concert film directed by Sam Erickson, is released on Oct 31

Links:
My Morning Jacket

[Mr. T.]

I've been doing a lot of writing."

YEY

 :)

[megisnotreal]

omnipresent musical liberation of an MMJ gig

I friggin love this phrase.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.livedaily.com/reviews/Album_Review_My_Morning_Jacket_Okonokos_ATO-10798.html?t=98

Album Review: My Morning Jacket, "Okonokos" (ATO)
 
October 02, 2006 10:39 AM
by Justin Gage
LiveDaily Contributor
The saviors of all things rawk & roll, My Morning Jacket (music), in admittedly the ultimate rock move, deliver their first double-live album, "Okonokos," as a companion piece to their upcoming DVD of the same name.
Comprised of 21 tracks spanning the band's catalog over the past eight years, "Okonokos" catches the fire of My Morning Jacket's notoriously energetic live show, and then some. Frontman Jim James' reverb-soaked voice coupled with the band's (version 2.0) signature sound practically leap out of the stereo. This is about as close as you can get to the MMJ live-show experience--until the DVD drops in a few weeks, that is.

Culling material from every previous MMJ release, the two-disc set acts as a thorough live history of the band, as well as a great jumping-off point for those curious as to what all the fuss is about. In addition to the group's more polished contemporary sound--perfected on last year's critical favorite "Z"--the band re-visits their earlier high-lonesome, Kentucky-bred, alt-country roots on some of the tracks, which will satisfy fans who have been on board from MMJ's beginning days at Darla Records. Whether your tastes fall more in line with Radiohead or Whiskeytown, this live document is sure to please.

[ChiefOKONO]

some kick ass reviews on this page. thanks for posting them!!!!

[rob]

Another good one......

http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/my-morning-jacket/okonokos.htm

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.suffolkjournal.net/media/storage/paper632/news/2006/10/04/Arts/Lupe-Fiasco.And.My.Morning.Jacket.Cd.Reviews-2329614.shtml?norewrite200610040627&sourcedomain=www.suffolkjournal.net

And another..:-)

Peter Decoteau
Posted: 10/4/06
My Morning Jacket, the five-piece rock band from Louisville, Ky., have slowly been climbing up into the pantheon of the best, most critically acclaimed bands you've probably never heard of. Their latest studio album, Z (Ato Records, 2005), was hailed as an American, southern-fried version of Radiohead's groundbreaking album OK Computer (Capitol Records 1997).
The band has also been gaining in stature as a live act. Their new live, 2 disc set is their newest album entitled, Okonokos (Ato Records, 2006), which sets out to prove that they're a force to be reckoned with not only in the studio, but on stage as well. Though Okonokos is in no way a let down, it seems to present My Morning Jacket in a very duplicitous way. Disc one avoids the longer, more experimental songs in favor of short, energetic pieces that, while highlighting the bands songwriting ability and musical prowess in tracks like "It Beats 4 You" and "Gideon," provides what could have easily been a greatest hits compilation album without the weight and sense of improvisation that turns a good band into a great live act.
It is not until the first song on the second disc, a haunting ode to a lost friend entitled "Dondante," that the group really starts to excel, coming out of their shell in an extended ending that finally shakes off the confines of a studio recording and sounds, well, live. The next track, "Run Thru," begins where the previous one leaves off, dragging its guitar and drum lines on purpose to create a real sense of a song that's about to come apart at the seams before bursting into speed mode, climaxing, and then repeating the same course with even more drag and effect. All the while, lead singer Jim James' high pitched howling compliments the tune, made it sound emotional and raw, which is exactly what a live show should sound like.
Okonokos truly is a tale of two bands. While it presents some of My Morning Jacket's best songs and some tough-to-beat apexes, it leaves the listener wishing that they'd opted for a more improvised, jam-filled set that emphasizes spontaneity over quantity.

Key Track:
Track 4 - "One Big Holiday"

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.metacritic.com/music/artists/mymorningjacket/okonokos

Now in MetaCritic

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.filter-mag.com/picks/index.html
 
Filter Recommends...
Week of 10.02.2006

Filter likes music. There's no hiding it. We also like our own opinions a whole bunch, so once a week we give the masses a fleeting glimpse into our selective stereos to let them see firsthand what fuels our endless devotion. We like to think of it as community service. We're selfless like that. So without further ado, here are the official, inarguable, objectively good Filter Weekly Picks. And in case you trust our tastes that much, click on the links below for some sample tracks (not all releases have samples available) from these releases, and even buy it if you feel so inclined. Yeah, we're good at what we do:

» Cursive, Happy Hollow

» Various, Marie Antoinette Soundtrack

» My Morning Jacket, Okonokos

» Swan Lake, Beast Moans

» Dustin O'Halloran, Piano Solos Vol. 2

» The Slip, Eisenhower

» 31 Knots, EP: Polemics

» R.E.M., When The Light Is Mine

» Sean Lennon, Friendly Fire

» Jim Reid, Dead End Kids
 

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.jambase.com/headsup.asp?storyID=9251

 MY MORNING JACKET: OKONOKOS 4 Comments

By Chris Pacifico

The whole idea of a live album can be a bit tricky for all bands, especially for a great band like the Kentucky boys of My Morning Jacket. Let's face it - out of all the groundbreaking artists of the past 40 years who've cut a live one, about 90 percent of them seem to be sub-par. And no, the live downloaded Phish and .moe bootlegs that you listened to in your college dorm while sucking on a glass Jerome Baker piece don't count. Sure, the concerts at which they were recorded must've been enjoyable for the fans, but it can be very taxing when attempting to capture the essence of what it's like being there as a concertgoer in that exact moment. A double-disc album, Okonokos was recorded last November during a two-night stint at The Fillmore in San Francisco, while touring in support of their latest release Z, which was on many critics' year-end top ten lists. Okonokos exhibits the majestic semblance of MMJ's live shows and proves that they are not a jam band but instead a band that just knows how to jam.

Disc one's opening salvo, the bubbly "Wordless Chorus," warms up the album with front man Jim James' falsetto-laden "ahhhs" and "whooos," then segues into the creaking "It Beats 4 U." The first two tracks sort of taxi the runway for the disc, but it is with the epic "Gideon" that it truly takes off and sounds like James is singing all alone at the peak of a mountain in a deserted land, trying to establish contact when he hits that high note. Any listener who has had the privilege of witnessing a live MMJ show knows that "One Big Holiday" is among their most empowering live numbers and tells the seasoned music aficionado that My Morning Jacket was made for the era of vinyl, when the dual onslaught of guitars from James and guitarist Carl Broemel hits the listener's ears.

Also on the set list is the early Elton John-ish "What a Wonderful Man" with a tad of a baroque tone and "Off the Record," which begins with some rock-steady dub funk before gliding into some ambient martini lounge space pop. Drummer Patrick Hallahan makes his presence felt when "Lay Low" comes around with his thudding and reverberating bass drum tremors before the extended electric guitar overdrive is throttled.

Whereas the first disc showcases MMJ's raw energy, disc 2 exhibits their more somber and bittersweet side. The first two openers are among the band's chilliest and moodiest songs in their catalogue. Its maiden ditty is the eleven-minute crescendo "Dondante" with James' elastic bellowing and a rather mournful saxophone infusion provided by Broemel as Bo Koester's keyboard licks just outright fizz on "Run Thru." It is with this disc's tracks that most of the fans probably had their lighters in the air and became utterly mesmerized. A My Morning Jacket show wouldn't be the same without a hypnotic barn-burner, and they provide one no less than stellar with the upbeat, down-home Kentucky feel of "Dancefloors."

One of the many aspects that can render a live album a turkey is the sonic augmentation given to it post-concert. However, it seems as if mixer Michael Brauer (Paul McCartney, Coldplay) and the album's mastering by veteran Bob Ludwig (Tool, Nirvana) have done with Okonokos what Tom Down did in 1971 for the Allman Brothers on At Fillmore East and what his counterpart Bob Johnston did in 1968 for Johnny Cash's At Folsom Prison. He's captured the entire essence of the band's live synergy and the dexterity among the crowd regarding how they connect with the music. With Okonokos My Morning Jacket has established the precise middle-ground that exists between studio album and live album, which always rings true no matter what format you hear them.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/entertainment/music/15695146.htm

Critic's pick
My Morning Jacket

Okonokos

The booklet accompanying this two-disc concert album by My Morning Jacket, Louisville indie-rockers turned major-label genre jumpers, suggests the sort of dark humor that is just one of the band's more inviting attributes.

The notes, in this case, are obituaries. My gosh, they're all dead! And they all kicked off at the age of 27. And they all have secret culinary fetishes, like the "late" drummer Patrick Hallahan's penchant for "thick, sticky ribs" and the "late" frontman Jim James' chain of "Sub Red" sandwich stores.

While we can't say much about the dietary politics of My Morning Jacket, we can emphatically state the band is very much alive on Okonokos. It's a big, greasy psychedelic smorgasbord that lifts the veil once and for all on James' celebratory moodpieces and combustible rock 'n' roll.

As with any MMJ record, Okonokos deceives — at least, initially — with subtleties. The opening Wordless Chorus builds on the studio version from last year's sublime Z album with its warm pulse of keyboards and fuzzy, almost meditative vocal backdrop. Then James ignites with yelps and hollers that suggest a soul revival is in the offing.

Similarly, another Z gem, Gideon — which the band performed recently on Late Show with David Letterman with tuxes and strings, no less — bounces about with a merry guitar groove and keyboard wash until James builds to shrieks and shouts that set the tune ablaze.

The psychedelics kick in for I Think I'm Going to Hell, a snail's-pace burst of blues energy colored by slide guitar runs that wrap around the melody like a python and vocals from James that seem to echo from out of a cave.

Dancefloors later reflects a party at full throttle with a Southern slab of guitars, Fender keyboards and blasts of organic rock glee that are as outward in their presentation as the more studied melodies of Dondante (well, at least some of them) are cerebral.

Granted, Okonokos doesn't provide the great sense of musical discovery that some concert albums do. But then, My Morning Jacket has long been a sort of open experiment. Its eccentricities — specifically, the way it shifts from an almost plaintive neo-psychedelic atmosphere with a preference for reverb to an intuitive guitar beast —have been on display too long to come off now as a surprise.

Instead, this is a document of celebration. Louisvillians can rightly view it as postcard home from pals who now command an international fan base. But Okonokos is more than that. It is a document of music in motion — a sound collage of great electric warmth and cheery distinction that lives very much in the moment.

WALTER TUNIS, CONTRIBUTING MUSIC CRITIC

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.homegrownmusic.net/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=MMJ5&Category_Code=MMJ

The epic, otherworldly sound of MMJ is masterfully captured on this soaring 2-CD live set! Okonokos is a creative concept by singer Jim James, and it is as much a question as it is an answer. OK, No? So, OK? No, so, OK? It's whatever you want it to be, and it rocks! This is sure to go down as the consummate MMJ collection. The contents are just unbelievably addictive, from the ripping rage of "One Big Holiday" to the majestic one-two combo of "Run Thru" and "At Dawn," right to the celestial glimmer of "Wordless Chorus" and "I Will Sing You Songs." With such a diverse and memorable canon of songs, it's no wonder MMJ have become the hottest band of 2006.

[LaurieBlue]

http://cougs.org/wordpress2/?p=31

My Morning Jacket - Okonokos

First live album from one of the best bands out there. Kentucky fried Radiohead if they were going through a heavy Neil Young phase. If you haven't heard them yet, this should be a good sampler.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2006/10/05/Muse/My.Morning.Jacket.Okonokos-2333954.shtml?norewrite200610091125&sourcedomain=www.dailyfreepress.com

(remember..just one person's opinion :-)

My Morning Jacket is supposedly one of the best acts to catch in concert, but their first two-disc live album, Okonokos, doesn't do that reputation any favors. The sound is raw, more casual and less polished than MMJ's studio recordings. Most of the band's slow jams and lazy riffs echo through San Francisco's infamous Fillmore West endlessly and without purpose. This especially hinders the first disc with aimless "Lay Low" and "Donate" sitting back to back. MMJ fans will probably have better luck with the Okonokos concert DVD that hits shelves on Halloween. Maybe the combination of sight and sound will seal the band's live reputation. Grade: B-

-- Laura Hayner, Muse Staff

[BH]

http://www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2006/10/05/Muse/My.Morning.Jacket.Okonokos-2333954.shtml?norewrite200610091125&sourcedomain=www.dailyfreepress.com

(remember..just one person's opinion :-)

My Morning Jacket is supposedly one of the best acts to catch in concert, but their first two-disc live album, Okonokos, doesn't do that reputation any favors. The sound is raw, more casual and less polished than MMJ's studio recordings. Most of the band's slow jams and lazy riffs echo through San Francisco's infamous Fillmore West endlessly and without purpose. This especially hinders the first disc with aimless "Lay Low" and "Donate" sitting back to back. MMJ fans will probably have better luck with the Okonokos concert DVD that hits shelves on Halloween. Maybe the combination of sight and sound will seal the band's live reputation. Grade: B-

-- Laura Hayner, Muse Staff

OK, let's analyze this worthless piece of crap that Laura calls a review.

Let's start with the sentence This especially hinders the first disc with aimless "Lay Low" and "Donate" sitting back to back.

"Donate"  is not even on the first CD, and since she is calling it "Donate" we know that she is probably just listening to her buddies ipod for 5 or 10 minutes.  So from a review that has a total of six sentences, we have one sentence that couldn't be more inaccurate.  Get a effin' clue Laura.  Aimless Dondante?  Please.

Next, The sound is raw, more casual and less polished than MMJ's studio recordings.  OK so this live album is less polished than the studio recordings. Duh!  It's a live album!

Most of the band's slow jams and lazy riffs echo through San Francisco's infamous Fillmore West endlessly and without purpose.

Endlessly and without purpose?  Lazy riffs?  
[size=18]LAZY?[/size]

I'm sorry, anyone can have an opinion, but my opinion of Laura's taste in music, writing skills, accuracy and general being is low.

Her "article" is lazy and aimless.

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.glidemagazine.com/2/reviews1463.html

My Morning Jacket
Okonokos
Shane Handler
Tuesday, October 10, 2006  
 
For bands that define themselves in the live setting, it's always been a challenge to replicate that stage karma into the studio. But for My Morning Jacket, who have already wowed critics and fans with their past two studio releases (It Still Moves, Z), a live album should be an easy A. So to make the grade, My Morning Jacket have released their first double-live album, Okonokos, a companion album to their upcoming DVD of the same name.

Instead of reinventing the reverb, My Morning Jacket kicks off Okonokos with the same opening trio of Z ("Wordless Chorus," "It Beats For You," "Gideon"), with the addition of crowd roars. Upon listening to Okonokos, one catches a glimpse of a band molding twangy classics from It Sill Moves - "One Big Holiday," "Golden," "Dancefloors" and "Mahgeetah" - into a body of work that can get sell out shows for years. Add the more contemporary sound of Z into the mix along with "oldies" - "At Dawn," "The Way That He Sings, "Lowdown" - and Okononos immediately serves as a greatest hits album. Frontman Jim James continues to spearhead a territory where indie, jam, and southern rock collide, fusing flashes of Radiohead, Wilco and the Grateful Dead together into an exhilarating live show. No matter the comparisons, this jacket proves hard to wear out, as My Morning Jacket pulls off another winner with Okonokos.
 

[CC]

http://www.cdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=3495

My Morning Jacket - Okonokos
Richard Hughes

Like the recent Wilco live album, Kicking Television, so to does Okonokos find a band in transition. A band at the top of their game live, but a band that is trying to shake off their original image and re-establish themselves as something more... With the greatest of ease, My Morning Jacket has achieved that with this collection.

From their reverb heavy and country influenced beginnings, MMJ have developed their sound with each successive release with the main man Jim James becoming a heavily sought-after collaborator and highly rated songwriter. Each new album finds the reverb being toned down but their music direction and influences getting bigger and more grandiose. Recent album Z saw them spin off in funky, keyboard driven directions that not even their longest serving fans could have foreseen.

Which brings us to Okonokos, recorded during their last set of live dates they won't tell us which gig this is as they wanted to make it mysterious, but it doesn't matter WHEN this was recorded, it's just amazing that it actually WAS. Every song on this double-disc collection breathes with an amazing fire and energy that I can only imagine a MMJ concert to be like (I've had tickets to see them twice but they've cancelled each time). It brims with James' vocal dynamics from his high pitched yowl to his low rumbling grumble whilst singing their grand and moving lyrics. Versions of Dondante, Gideon and It Beats For You are augmented versions of the originals, the added atmosphere allows them to breath in a manner you never thought possible.

The songs here are how MMJ sound now - there's little or no reverb on the vocals and the overly country-tinged musicality of their songs has almost disappeared. This is how a proper rock n roll band should sound: loud and proud. Run Thru sounds like a distant relative to the original recorded version, the drums thump and crash along whilst the guitars chime and force the feedback tinged chords back through a hazy atmosphere of electricity. They don't hide behind anything, the guitar solos standout especially as rapturous, eloquent noise that, with Neil Young mellowing with age, may well surpass his legendary fuzz-rock solos.

This album is an amazing listen and an incredible live document for a band that are finding influence, skill and music so moving and impressive that you long for them to go on and on. Like any good concert, once the band have finished they leave you wanting more.