FotS Recommend: #3 in an Occasional Series

MY MORNING JACKET



I can't claim any special talent spotting points here.... you all probably know about MY MORNING JACKET

Old tunes like "The Way That He Sings" are big personal favourites of mine. When MMJ hit their stride, they make music like no other.
I loves 'em but they never made an album that was altogether satisfying... until now.




Z is the most wonderful LP I have heard all year, from first minute until last.

They tamed the riffing... but that makes the riffing even better. They left their Louisville barn and recorded in a proper studio, yet is sounds like the loosest, airiest recording out there. Jim James' high-pitched reverb-drenched vocals are better than ever. The songwriting, for the first time on one of their records, establishes a high watermark and just stays there.

Basically, they got in John Leckie (Stone Roses et al) and he did what a good producer should do: edit the band, not become a fifth wheel.


PARTICULAR TUNES I LIKE:
"Off The Record" is an A+ British new wave punky reggae single.
"Gideon" takes a dump on Coldplay's lawn.
"What A Wonderful Man" rocks dementedly, so does "Anytime" and "Lay Low", just less dementedly.
"Knot Comes Loose" is beautiful.

Trust me, get this record before that fuckface who sits across from you at work starts blethering on about them and they are ruined forever.

PS - MP3s of Friends of the Stars are on their way I swear. Last week's 700mb gig is sitting on my computer like a suet pudding just waiting to be sliced up.