My Morning Jacket's New CD "Z"

My Morning Jacket's new album "Z" has just been released and it's definitely not causing Zzzzzz's.

You can sample clips on the band's webiste - My Morning Jacket. Streaming audio of the songs "Wordless Chorus" and "Off The Record" are featured.

"Off The Record" reminded me of the the old TV show "Hawaii 5-0"'s theme music. Cool surf music ala Dick Dale. Here's an MP3 download of "Off The Record".

Over on Aquarium Drunk, a couple of links for MP3 downloads are available for:
"It Beats For You"
"Wordless Chorus"

And over Chromewaves.net, download a great MP3 track of "Suspicious Minds" (3.71 MB). The track was recorded in August 2004 at the 9:30 Club in Washington DC, as My Morning Jacket paid tribute to the 25th anniversary of Elvis Presley's death with this version of my favourite Elvis tune, performed solo by Jim James in that high, lonesome voice.

Seeing My Morning Jacket at in Philadelphia, PA last June opening for Wilco, they certainly seem to be band ready to take it to the next level with an explosive live concert experience.

Some blog reviews on Chromewaves:

"It's quite a departure from both the southern rock of It Still Moves and the reverb-drenched atmosphere of At Dawn - devotees of either record will probably find something to like and dislike about the new record. It's certainly a bold move on the band's part, thanks at least in part to some personnel turnaround and the addition of two new memebers since their last studio record as well as working with legendary British producer John Leckie. An eclectic record to be sure, it sounds like a stylistic dog's breakfast but somehow very right at the same time. Individually most of the songs are good to excellent, but as a whole I can't tell if there's no flow or if it's so deep that I just haven't tapped into it yet. There's little doubt this album is a grower - it just hasn't hit full bloom with me yet, but I'm willing to bet that it will, sooner or later."

In an earlier posting on the upcoming album "Z", My Morning Jacket's drummer Patrick Hallahan comments on the new album's sound:

"This one is totally different from everything else. It's the first album with two new members from the band...two new people and that's definitely going to change the sound a bit. They've opened up some new areas. It's a result of all of us growing up quite a bit. It's kind of a reflection of our attitudes on the state of the world. We could choose the low roads and be depressed; but we're choosing to be really positive. It's more spacious, as we took a kind of 'less is more' approach. More danceable, so to speak, but there are definitely rocking moments. We like music that moves you. That's definitely in there as well. This album is all over the place really."

My Morning Jacket at Penn's Landing, Philadelphia, PA
More on My Morning Jacket.

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