CMJ AAA Chart This Week

[LaurieBlue]

http://www.cmj.com/industry/chart_preview.php?id=3

CMJ NMR Issue - 935
Triple A

TW - #19 - My Morning Jacket - Z - ATO/RCA

MY MORNING JACKET: Z
We're not in Kentucky anymore. On their fourth album, My Morning Jacket have largely abandoned their trademark reverb-heavy hickster sound for straightforward indie rock, and the results astound. Frontman Jim James leads his group into new, minimalist territory with the addition of keyboardist Bo Koster and guitarist Carl Broemel. Building tracks like "Into the Woods" slowly and thoughtfully, My Morning Jacket emerge as the love children of Neil Young and Steve Reich, placing epic guitar solos atop carefully layered bass and keyboard passages. While James's vocals remain awash in reverb, Z lets the singer play with more complex lyrical passages, trying his hand at lush, surf-rock harmonies in "Wordless Chorus." My Morning Jacket also visit the beach on Z's catchiest number, "Off the Record," a hook-laden pop song built around the theme from Hawaii 5-0's chirpy guitar solo. It's a group barn-burner that proves, years later, that a full band still stands behind James' reverb-driven vision.
- MIKE GREENHAUS

[peanut butter puddin surprise]

muwahahahahhahaha!  

[CC]

CMJ in-store play:

1 FIONA APPLE  Extraordinary Machine    
2 NEIL YOUNG  Prairie Wind        
3 MY MORNING JACKET  Z      
4 WOLF PARADE  Apologies To The Queen Mary
5 BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE  Broken Social Scene

http://www.cmj.com/industry/chart_preview.php?id=32

CMJ retail:

1 FIONA APPLE  Extraordinary Machine  
2 FRANZ FERDINAND  You Could Have Had It So Much
3 MY MORNING JACKET  Z    
4 NICKELBACK  All The Right Reasons
5 NEIL YOUNG  Prairie Wind        
 
http://www.cmj.com/industry/chart_preview.php?id=28

[LaurieBlue]

With all this, isn't it surprising (or maybe it's just me) that there are people you talk to who still haven't heard of My Morning Jacket?  I guess because they really don't have a "hit single" on the airwaves?  In this great big world of the Interweb, I guess radio still rules.  That's okay, I think they're getting big plenty fast enough..what do you think? Do you think the band would agree?  Or am I being selfish? ;-)

Laurie

[tdan]

I don't know how the band feels about it, but they seem to be in this place between obscurity and crazy famous that some bands on either side would rather be in.  Bands like Counting Crows whose debut made them enormous stars took a psychological hit when they did not know how to handle that level of fame.  'Don't get me wrong, I wish MMJ all the success that they desire, its just that the slow build that they have been maintaining may be best for the band itself.