My Morning Jacket live

My Morning Jacket
Opening Acts: Catfish Haven and The Slip
The Riviera- 11.24.06

Setlist
One Big Holiday
What A Wonderful Man
The Way He Sings
Off The Record
The Dark
It Beats 4 U
Wordless Chorus
Phone Went West
Lay Low
Lowdown
Golden
Dondante
Run Thru
They Ran
--------------
Bermuda Highway*
At Dawn*
Just One Thing*
Gideon*
Mahgeeta
Anytime

*performed with Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra


Well, My Morning Jacket had already won me over when they released Z, an album that was selected as the #1 release to come out last year, and they continued to impress me when I had the opportunity to see them at Lollapalooza this past August. Now, after seeing them for a full two hour show, I have to say that if you still haven't hopped on the bandwagon, do join in now because you're about to witness something special. My Morning Jacket's performance was astounding to say the least, the band's energy was there from the beginning and Jim James' stage presence was as large as his skeleton platform boots. The band started off with my personal favorite song of theirs "One Big Holiday" and kept the pace throughout, with highlights including "Off the Record," "Wordless Chorus," "Phone Went West." and "Dondante." Performing the first half of the encore with the Chicago Youth Symphony Orchestra was also a treat, although the Riviera's shoddy acoustics at times rendered the orchestra inaudible. Also interesting was how well the band performed all of their old songs. On album, some of the material doesn't stand out at all, but in hearing them live, they're performed with such confidence that new life is brought to each of those songs-- most notably with the aforementioned "Phone Went West." Where this is most apparent is with frontman Jim James, whose tin-can vocals on each of the pre-Z albums are hardly representative of what he can do live. On each song that he performed, his voice was just as good if not better than what it was on album, and his passionate falsettos are simply chilling. After seeing their continuing growth and maturity in just these past two years alone, it's exciting to think what lies ahead for the Kentucky-based group. In the meantime, do yourself a favor and purchase their concert tickets while they're still cheap, or at least buy their latest album.

Stranger Than Fiction

As sweet as it is thought-provoking, Stranger Than Fiction is the sleeper hit of the year.

There have been plenty of movies like this before, sure. One could even look at Stranger Than Fiction as being a mix of many of the "big question" art-house romantic comedies that have been invariably making their respective marks for the past five years straight. However, what none of these films were able to accomplish, and perhaps this is most a credit to the cast (or, at least the writer Zach Helm), is the ability to take these complexities and package them in such a way that they're not dumbed down, per se, but rather perfectly abbreviated to the point that no filler remains. Will Ferrell hardly overpowers the screen, his notoriously aloof character has been reined back to the point that he is almost dwarfed on occasions by Maggie Gyllenhaal's presence. Ferrell has already shown once that he can be a formidable actor (he single-handedly saved Woody Allen's Melinda & Melinda), and he's leaps and bounds better here. Similarly, Gyllenhaal, Emma Thompson, and Dustin Hoffman all put out their best efforts as they seemingly embrace their respective characters despite not being the main character of the film. With added chemistry amongst the cast to boot, in addition to the stellar writing, the movie immediately clicks. That being said, and what probably works best about the movie, is how, as Crick's sense of self is tested and fate questioned, the film makes note of the same exact questions that are always asked by us in our own daily lives-- are each of our acts pre-destined or do we get to choose our own fate? These questions coincide with the film suturing the audience into the world of Crick. Seeing these ideologies unraveled in front of our very eyes as written through Emma Thompson's character (writer Kay Eiffel), constantly plays with our emotions and fantastically puts those fears of who and what we are in life on display and toys with the very fabric of those insecurities. Will Ferrell might be the first comedian in some time that comfortably pulls off the transition to serious acting (Jim Carrey notwithstanding), and if nothing else, to see him play this role is well worth the price of admission. If you're up for it though, there is so much more than that to enjoy, and that's what makes Stranger Than Fiction all the better.

Overall Rating: 95

Damien Rice and Trail of Dead reviewed

Damien Rice 9

Damien Rice's follow-up to the outstanding O, is unsurprisingly disappointing, but still has its strong points.

Somehow, Damien Rice created the longest three-year wait for fans and critics who wanted more after hearing Rice's debut album O-- easily one of, if not the best album of 2003. Unfortunately, Rice does suffer the notorious sophomore slump. While the first two songs are absolutely gorgeous, especially with the heavenly strings on "The Animals Were Gone," there are too many songs on this album that lack any sort of artistic progression from O and, at times, feel like b-sides. While "Elephant" brings the prototypical heartwrenching storytelling that can be expected from Rice, it is little more than a rehash of "The Blower's Daughter Part 2." "Rootless Tree," despite its intentions, has little to offer with Rice's melodramatic curse-ridden chorus. There are other highlights though, most notably "Grey Room" and "Accidental Babies," but the problem with this album (like all other sophomore slumps) is that it is too similar to his debut, and as such the songs are automatically are going to be compared. As such, this album is the weaker effort of the two, and while that may not serve as a fair comparison (a nearly perfect album to a simply good album), there's very little way of getting around it.

Overall Rating: 82

...And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead So Divided

A tad all over the place, but still thoroughly enjoyable

Trail of Dead's follow up to their lukewarm Let It Dive, is an interesting experience to say the least. A much sleeker production has erased much of the excess noise (for better or worse) that was on their earlier albums, and to replace that is a new level of strangeness that hasn't been seen from these guys since their debut album. Sometimes it works, and when it does, it works really well like on "Stand in Silence" and "Naked Sun." However there are moments like "Life" where a seemingly well-executed song (at least in concept) appears to lose it's way, meander, trudge, and meander some more before finally ending. That being said though, I do give them credit for pushing boundaries, if nothing else. Also, it isn't readily apparent that the band is trying too hard either, so none of the songs feel trite or forced. All in all, this is a very strong effort, that at times equals Source Tags and Codes, but the moments where the album indulges a bit too much drag down the overall experience.


Overall Rating: 88

Kings of Leon/Bob Dylan at the Sears Centre and more

New Look!
In case you haven't noticed, the website has undergone a bit of a change cosmetically. Look even closer and you'll notice a few other changes. First and foremost, all posts from the past few weeks on have labels, so that way if you wanted to go to any specific category (i.e. "News") you can click on that tab and you'll find a full list of posts related to that category. Also, the new sidebar makes it a lot easier to backtrack to older posts if you need to. I hope you like the new changes, and I will continue to tweak things on the site (per usual) as needed.

Bob Dylan
Opening Act: Kings of Leon
Sears Centre- 10.27.06

Although it was far from a sellout crowd, those that were on hand had a chance to appreciate an almost totally satisfying experience with Bob Dylan. While much of the crowd was too old to appreciate what the Kings of Leon had to offer, and consequentially spent the opening set time discussing whatever sense of nostalgia being at a Dylan concert did for them, the younger counterparts used their time to dance along as the Kings of Leon thrashed out a solid 45-minute set. Playing a relatively tight set that centered around their singles (namely "Molly's Chambers," "The Bucket," and "Four Kicks"), Kings of Leon may not have scored high for risk-taking, but as an opening act, they more than held their own, and gave a good taste of what they bring to the table for those that aren't familiar with them.

A brief break between sets gave everyone a chance to check out the brand new Sears Centre, which held its first event only a few days prior, and, at least for concerts, this place is great. Something like a miniature-Allstate Arena, the Sears Centre offers incredibly intimate seating for an arena, and there really isn't a bad seat in the house.

Once the house lights went back off, the crowd went nuts-- something that would only exist to greet Dylan, as much of the older audience spent most of their time seated afterwards. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to hear Bob Dylan play the guitar due to his arthritis, so instead his band was forced to do their best to fill in for him. That in itself is a bit of a tall order, but they did make due by sticking to the basics and letting Dylan get his solo kicks via the harmonica. While anyone with a pair of ears knows that Dylan's voice has been pretty much shot for some time now, what's amazing is how much of a presence and command he has despite (or maybe even because of) that. Sometimes, it made song identification a messy venture, but besides that, hearing Dylan even performing hits like "All Along the Watchtower" and "Like a Rolling Stone" was thoroughly inspiring as it sounded just as fresh and new as ever. While some, as one woman pointed out behind me after the show, may feel that Dylan's best year are behind him because "he sounds nothing like he did [when she was younger]," I think they're missing the point. The fact is that a 65-year old legend is still able to perform everyday at a caliber that may very well not be what it was when he was at his peak, but is certainly an enlightened experience that could come from very few other artists, past or present.

Kanye West MTV follow-up
For those of you that didn't have a chance to catch Kanye making a fool of himself at the MTV European Music Awards, I thought I would post the video for it. I know there are people claiming that it was a joke on Kanye's part, but even if it was (which I know isn't true anyway), it was still a classless move on Kanye's part.




New Music Tuesday
There really isn't much to talk about this week. For you casual Dave Matthews Band fans out there, or perhaps the people that have yet to really be exposed to any of their work, their first installment of their greatest hits collection, aptly named, The Best of What's Around was released today. The tracklisting was more or less chosen by fans, and has one disc dedicated to the DMB's studio efforts and one disc dedicated to their live performances. While it's hard to recommend this to any die-hard fan (there are no extra-perks involved that you wouldn't be able to access otherwise a la The Roots' most recent hits collection), it's a great starter kit for a newbie, if you will, to gain some exposure to the band. Also out today is The Road to Escondido by JJ Cale and Eric Clapton. Eric Clapton has always had great admiration for JJ Cale, so it is fitting for them to be featured together on this album. While in an adult contemporary setting, the album seems to be relatively good, there is really nothing here that sets it apart, unfortunately. If you're a fan, however, especially with Clapton's more staid work, you will probably have a lot of fun listening to this album.

"High Five!" Borat shocks it's way to #1!

Borat has nothing to fear this week, his movie is #1 in all the US & A.

Yes, there is justice in the world of Hollywood on occasions. Despite showing on only a fourth as many screens as The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause, Borat still beat out the final installment of the kiddie trilogy by a solid $6.4M margin. Posting a mightily impressive $31,511 per-screen average, it'll be intersting to see how the movie does as it begins to be released in more theatres and also gains the ever-valuable word of mouth publicity. As if that isn't enough, Sascha Baron Cohen's brainchild film has made it's way to #167 on IMDB's top 250 movies already. As Borat would say, "NICE!"

Full weekend results posted below:

Movie             Revenue   Screens  Wks  Average/  Pct     Total
             (Millions)                 Screen    Chg      Mln
1. Borat          $26.4     837      1   $31,511    --      $26.4
2. Santa Clause 3  20.0     3,458    1     5,784    --       20.0
3. Flushed Away    19.1     3,707    1     5,152    --       19.1
4. Saw III         15.5     3,167    2     4,894    -54      60.1
5. The Departed     8.0     2,785    5     2,873    -19     102.3
6. The Prestige     7.8     2,305    3     3,377    -19      39.4
7. Flags/Father     4.5     2,375    3     1,895    -29      26.6
8. Man Of The Year  3.8     2,388    4     1,600    -19      34.0
9. Open Season      3.1     2,458    6     1,261    -47      81.4
10. The Queen       3.0     387      6     7,778     58      10.1

The Good, The Bad and The Queen and other News

The Good, The Bad and The Queen on tour in UK, release "Herculean" single

I suppose having Blur and Gorillaz and a formidable solo career isn't enough for Damon Albarn. As mentioned a little while ago, The Good, The Bad and The Queen are Albarn's latest side project, and they're well underway with their new album, as they've been performing the songs that will be featured on next-years release in the UK with very positive results. In addition, their single "Herculean" can be heard on their MySpace page. While the single is very, very impressive, it'll be interesting to see what the rest of the album will be like as the song alone doesn't seem to be a huge departure from anything that Albarn has done previously.

Here is the tracklist for their upcoming album:
1. History Song
2. '80s Life
3. Northern Whale
4. Kingdom Of Doom
5. Herculean
6. Behind The Sun
7. The Bunting Song
8. Nature Springs
9. A Soldier's Tale
10. Three Changes
11. Green Fields
12. The Good, The Bad & The Queen

Once again, the album will be released in early 2007.

Kanye West anything but a class act at EMA's

Kanye West is probably in my list of top three celebrities that I never ever want to meet. The reason for this is because I know if I ever did, I would despise him, and this is precisely why. I'm not sure what it will take for him to get off his high horse, but he needs for it to happen now before it gets any worse. After losing to Justice and Simian for Best Video in MTV Europe Music Awards, Kanye West crashed the stage, furious that he didn't win. If it wasn't bad enough for him to say that if he doesn't win "the awards show loses credibility," he also threw in that he should've won because it "cost a million dollars, Pamela Anderson was in it" and that he "was jumping across canyons." Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. In other news, Evel Knievel decided to protest MTV as well stating that his stunts were worthy of a lifetime achievement award. Maybe West's accountant should recommend that he spend his next million on a Louis Vuitton muzzle.

Everyone Wants More Gnarls

Is your regular version of St. Elswhere just not doing it for you anymore? Have you listened to "Crazy" so many times that you can sing it backwards without even blinking? Or could you possibly be one of the people that (gasp) hasn't even bought St. Elswhere already? Well, you're in luck because you're going to get even more Gnarls Barkley for the holiday season. In addition to the regular CD, you'll also get all-new packaging, a 92-page booklet (I'm pretty sure when you get to that many pages it's just a book) featuring all new artwork, and a DVD featuring all of your favorite Gnarls Barkley music videos. Still not enough? Well, you also get an alternate version of "Crazy" and a live performance of The Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone." The deluxe version will be available this upcoming Tuesday, the 7th of November.

Nas releases single for highly anticipated Def Jam debut

Nas' Hip-Hop is Dead (which comes out December 19 if you've forgotten), now has a single that can be heard and downloaded here. Entitled "Where Y'all At," I'm hoping that this is possibly one of those songs that has to be heard in context of the rest of the album, because as of right now it seems to be lacking. As if the fact that it's Nas' Def Jam debut isn't enough pressure, with backing talent like Damian Marley, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre and more, you would hope that Nas can finally reclaim his form, but only time will tell.

My Chemical Romance and John Legend Reviewed

I've been wanting to post these two reviews for quite some time now, as both albums have created much excitement in similar ways. My Chemical Romance announced well before the release of their latest album, The Black Parade that the release would be a departure from everything they've done previously, and not only have they accomplished that much, but I think they might've even outdone themselves. John Legend, after successfully winning over darn near everyone a few years ago with his debut album and singles like "Ordinary People" and "Used to Love U," is back with a sophomore release that isn't so much a departure as much as a supreme maturation over what he'd done previously. So, with that in mind, here are the reviews:

My Chemical Romance The Black Parade

Hands down, the most surprising album I've heard all year.

Color me impressed. I've never been a My Chemical Romance fan (and that's really an understatement), and truthfully, despite all of the great reviews, I still didn't think that this album would be anything special. Not only is this album special, but this thing is so good that they managed to beat Green Day at their own game and made American Idiot look like crap in comparison. Cynics are probably thinking to themselves, "Most emo relies so heavily on overly-dramatic premises anyway that it was probably only a matter of time before a band was smart enough to channel that energy into a rock-opera album," and they're probably right. At the same time, these guys pull it off really well-- not only is there not a single weak link in the album, but at the best moments you would think you're listening to the 21st century Queen. From the minute the album begins with the enthralling "The End." you realize that this isn't your typical concept album, and that if you didn't take them seriously before, you probably should start doing that now. From "Dead!" on, it's pretty much non-stop rocking, and while the themes are incredibly dark (which can be assumed given the album title), each song is a lot of fun to listen to. Some of the highlights include the title track, the spectacular "House of Wolves," which at times seems to have a hint of White Stripes going for it, and the bizarre rocker "Mama." The true anthem song for the album however is the absurdly catchy "Teenagers," which will probably serve as the "Teen Angst" anthem for this decade if there's any justice in the world. My Chemical Romance impresses whether they're playing loud or soft, and they take more risks on this album than most of their contemporaries have made in their careers. Not only do I now know better than to sell these guys short, but I swear if they continue to make albums that are even remotely like this one I'll be their biggest fan.

Overall Rating: 100


John Legend Once Again

While it's a "two steps forward, one step back" type of effort, it's Legend's maturity that makes this release worthwhile.

John Legend's debut studio effort, Get Lifted, despite it's finer moments had some serious issues. Firstly, I'm pretty sure there's an unwritten rule about how many times you can sing about cheating before it gets to be obnoxious (okay, I get the point), and secondly, Legend hardly ever mixed things up, causing a lot of tracks that weren't necessarily bad (although some certainly were), but simply got lost in the shuffle with everything else on the album. This time around, it seems as if he's expanded his horizons a bit, as indicated on the seemingly Sergio Mendes' influenced single, "Save Room." The one two punch of that track and the subsequent "Heaven" shows a formidable promise on the album that isn't entirely carried through on the rest of the tracks. When Legend is on, he's really on, between the aforementioned tracks, "Each Day Gets Better," and "P.D.A. (We Just Don't Care)," and there are many other moments where he uses the Motown-influenced productions to his advantage. However, there are other times where the album is so incredibly boring that it has very little purpose other than background music. As interesting as "Where Did My Baby Go" seems when the track begins, it becomes so dull and cliched as the song meanders on that you figure she probably just went into a deep sleep. That being said, Once Again is largely better than Get Lifted, it just still finds John Legend as a work in progress. Once he gains some consistency in his songwriting and takes more chances with his music, he'll be in the position to be one of the better talents in his genre.

Overall Rating: 79

Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan

Easily the funniest movie of the year, and quite possibly the smartest comedy made this decade.

Is it offensive? You bet, but not in the way that everyone is making it out to be. Beyond being the most hilarious recently-made mockumentary that wasn't made by Christopher Guest, Borat is also a biting political satire. What really makes this film so truly brilliant is that Cohen and director Larry Charles managed to create a film that is accessible to all, despite these underlying political messages and general damnation of consequence. Sure, it happens frequently in the world of television, most notoriously within the world of South Park, but to have a non-animated 90-minute film dedicated to following a faux-Kazakhi as he experiences the often-hidden and dark underbelly that we all know exists in America, but would never admit it, is an incredible feat. When the film isn't making political statements, it's just as funny though, and there are many scenes in particular-- including an absolutely ridiculous wrestling scene-- that are so hysterical that I only stopped laughing because my body was too tired to go on laughing, not to mention I couldn't breathe. Lastly, and possibly most importantly, Borat is a film with a heart of gold, and that's truly the selling point of the film. It's easy to pull off a silly and crude comedy that exists for the sheer pleasure of being silly and crude, but when you're sutured into the life of an outsider that is trying to live out his own (albeit strange) version of the "American Dream," you genuinely care about the guy, and see him not as the cookie-cutter caricature that attackers of the film make him out to be, but rather a relatively sympathetic character. While this film surely isn't for everyone, it is bound to offend just about everyone in some way, but if you get beyond the surface of things, you'll understand why this is such a landmark film. Congratulations Sascha Baron Cohen, beyond being the only person in recent memory to single-handedly piss off an entire nation based on a stage character, you've also managed to create a landmark film-- who's been able to say that about a movie based on sketch character recently?

Overall Rating: 100