Okonokos Reviews

[megisnotreal]

dirty boogie

yeah.
8-)

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.vailtrail.com/article/20070122/VALLEYLIFE/70122001

My Morning Jacket, Okonokos


Listen Up!


Charlie Owen
January 22, 2007

My Morning Jacket is one of the few bands that completely changed my perception once I saw them play live. Their energy is hard to capture on disc, but their stage performance blew my mind, which is why I thought that it would be a good idea to revisit Okonokos, the band's double-disc album that was recorded during their 2005 tour for the Z album at the Fillmore in San Francisco.

Okonokos is an epic journey through the history of the band's ever-changing music. Although relying heavily on the spacey aura of Z, their previous album, Okonokos also contains songs from past albums like The Tennessee Fire and At Dawn. MMJ has been playing together for almost 10 years, and although the original line-up has changed, Jim Jame's trademark reverb-heavy vocals remain intact, as well as the distortion-warped guitars, all of which lend to the band's trippy sound.

MMJ's style is so hard to define that it's really not worth the effort. They are not afraid to break boundaries and the effort that they put into their arrangements in the studio and on the stage pay off in dividends. From rock anthems like "One Big Holiday" to the reggae-injected "Off the Record," Okonokos is a roller coaster ride from start to finish. Consisting of 21 tracks and clocking in at more than two hours in length, you can think of it as getting to hear a concert again and again and only having to pay once.

A heavy amount of improv adds to the greater depth that this album achieves over the previous studio albums that have been released. Every song seems to stir a different emotion and you can count on the banshee wailing in "I Think I'm Going to Hell" to just plain rip your heart out.

If you're a super fan, than check out the Okonokos DVD that was released simultaneously with the CD.

[sweatboard]

How about "if you have a pulse, check out the okonokos dvd"

[ms. yvon]

 ;D

[LaurieBlue]

I don't recall seeing this one before. Strange for such a glowing review, he give is 7.5 out of 10  :-/

http://www.prefixmag.com/reviews/cds/M/my-morning-jacket/okonokos/2858

My Morning Jacket
Okonokos

Release Date: September 26, 2006
Label: RCA/ATO
By: John Bohannon
7.5 / 10



I grew up in Louisville, and I know no other town is like it. Not only is it one of the kindest, easiest places to live, but it's also very communal, and that goes for its music scene as well. So when My Morning Jacket went from playing the local coffeehouses to, for example, the stage at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium to record this show for release on DVD, it felt like a big success for the town as well as the band. Okonokos (a two-disc live set as well as a DVD) captures one of the world's best live bands at its peak, but it gives off the feeling that these are still nothing more than a few humble Kentuckians.



Despite being slapped with the Southern-rock and jam-band tags, My Morning Jacket transcends these critical pigeonholes. On 2005's wonderful Z, the band explored reggae and electronic music and surf rock and even certain elements of soul. Previous albums contained songs that could blow your speakers ("Run Thru" off 2003's It Still Moves) and songs that could rip your heart out ("I Will Be There When You Die" off 1999's Tennessee Fire). It doesn't come off as contrived or unoriginal, and this exploration is a big part of what makes My Morning Jacket's live performance so powerful.



On stage, the band members-led by singer and songwriter Jim James-seem joyful and humble and take in the crowd and have an almost childlike sense of humor. All of that comes through on the Okonokos DVD. They rip through versions of "Phone Went West," "The Way That He Sings," and numerous tracks off Z that resonate through your soul, chased by the echo of James's howl.



My Morning Jacket connects with its audience night after night in a way that some bands strive their entire careers for. The flaws are there-an over-exerted voice, a missed guitar note-but Okonokos is a perfect representation of one of the best live bands around.

[BH]

They rip through versions of "Phone Went West,"

They do?  

Is that one of dem dar easter eggs?

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.boiseweekly.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A219677

POSTED ON MAY 2, 2007:

My Morning Jacket: Okonokos: The Concert DVD

By Ryan Peck

I have seen the future of rock, and it is a force to be reckoned with. It didn't come packaged in a slick parcel forced upon me by the so-called taste-makers suing college kids for illegal downloads. It came from Netflix. It was a flurry of pentatonic notes, Gibson Flying Vs, kinetic hi-hat rhythms and hair--so much hair. My Morning Jacket has taken the baton that was handed to them by Skynryd, Thin Lizzy and what The Stones wished they could still be, and ran a record-breaking show of endurance and conviction. Arena-sized rock for the theatre-sized venue, Okonokos shows My Morning Jacket up close and rocking.

The music is wrapped in reverb and dynamics that would make Frank Black toss and turn in his sleep. A study in live performance sans the band's name in neon lights, Okonokos is at once rejuvenating and pummeling. Opening with the magnum opus trilogy from their record Z, My Morning Jacket knocks you flat, and then keeps upping the ante. Yeah, maybe I am a little late to the game (the DVD was released in September), but man, there was a long wait on Netflix. If you are a fan of My Morning Jacket, no, more so, if you are a fan of rock music that is not convoluted by image and phoniness, you owe it to yourself to check this DVD out. There are a few lulls in the middle, but with the melody, reverb and interplay, you won't notice it a bit. As raw and beautiful as rock should ever be, Lester Bangs would have broken more than a few pens writing about this astonishing release from a band that used to get their vocal sounds in an old grain silo.

--Ryan Peck

[sillyboob]

Nice article, I also think that Robert Smith and Jim James have a WHOLE lot in common.

I just read this comment, and I have to agree 100%.  The variety in the songs that both Robert Smith and Jim James write just blows me away.  Definitely a couple of my favorite song writers.

[GO4IT]

Wow, 8 years between posts on this thread.
You must have been doing some serious digging, sillyboob.
But, really, there's never enough you can say about Okonokos.

[Willard1979]

Been listening/watching this a lot lately. It still never ceases to amaze me how great this band is. October cant come soon enough. 

[logan5ive]

Maybe for the 10 year anniversary they'll release a special edition (Blu Ray!) that includes all the other songs from the SF concerts? 

[subinai]

was at a record store on long island yesterday and saw this on vinyl for $150. did a double take.

[Lonndown27]

Maybe for the 10 year anniversary they'll release a special edition (Blu Ray!) that includes all the other songs from the SF concerts? 

Fuuuuuuuck yeeeeeeah!

[MrB]

was at a record store on long island yesterday and saw this on vinyl for $150. did a double take.

Used or New? Actually a good deal for a sealed copy.

[Lonndown27]

Jesus....the greatest live album ever alongside: Europe 72, Skull and Roses, Live at Leeds, How The West Was Won (wish Jimmy Page hadnt edited it so much). its so beautifully done and will only get better when OKONOKOS II gets released and on the same day this gets a 10th anniversary treatment ;) Just an idea Jim ;)

[rincon2]

was at a record store on long island yesterday and saw this on vinyl for $150. did a double take.

Used or New? Actually a good deal for a sealed copy.

That is a steal for unsealed. Used ones can easily fetch over $200. Just got mine, supposedly never played, but used for $220, and I'm more than satisfied. I have a British import of Live at Leeds signed by John Entwistle, don't even remember where I found it, purchased over 30 years ago, but I clearly remember him signing it for me. I now have the 2 greatest albums ever, live or otherwise, on vinyl.

[Lonndown27]

was at a record store on long island yesterday and saw this on vinyl for $150. did a double take.

Used or New? Actually a good deal for a sealed copy.

That is a steal for unsealed. Used ones can easily fetch over $200. Just got mine, supposedly never played, but used for $220, and I'm more than satisfied. I have a British import of Live at Leeds signed by John Entwistle, don't even remember where I found it, purchased over 30 years ago, but I clearly remember him signing it for me. I now have the 2 greatest albums ever, live or otherwise, on vinyl.

Rincon you lucky mothafucka!!! keep hold o' those bro, dont ever sell them and if you have to, sell them to a Jacketer on here who wont resell :)

[tippitoes22]

Jesus....the greatest live album ever alongside: Europe 72, Skull and Roses, Live at Leeds, How The West Was Won (wish Jimmy Page hadnt edited it so much). its so beautifully done and will only get better when OKONOKOS II gets released and on the same day this gets a 10th anniversary treatment ;) Just an idea Jim ;)
[/quote

Don't forget bout Little Feat"Waiting for Columbus"(Lowell George in pure form.
It's a monster live LP)
-also a little known tid bit, OBH II opener "Ride like the Wind" was dedicated to the late great Lowell George, by Chistopher Cross on his LP...!   AND
Jerry Garcia Band-"Almost Acoustic" UNBELIEVABLE live LP.

JUST ONE GUYS OPINION...

[Lonndown27]

Jesus....the greatest live album ever alongside: Europe 72, Skull and Roses, Live at Leeds, How The West Was Won (wish Jimmy Page hadnt edited it so much). its so beautifully done and will only get better when OKONOKOS II gets released and on the same day this gets a 10th anniversary treatment ;) Just an idea Jim ;)
[/quote

Don't forget bout Little Feat"Waiting for Columbus"(Lowell George in pure form.
It's a monster live LP)
-also a little known tid bit, OBH II opener "Ride like the Wind" was dedicated to the late great Lowell George, by Chistopher Cross on his LP...!   AND
Jerry Garcia Band-"Almost Acoustic" UNBELIEVABLE live LP.

JUST ONE GUYS OPINION...

I LOOOOOOOOVES LIVE LPs :)