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Music

My Morning Jacket

MY MORNING JACKET at Kool Haus (132 Queens Quay East), Monday (July 11), doors 7 pm. $40.50. RT, SS, TM. See listing


My Morning Jacket’s early reverb-laden sound pegged them as Southern rock revivalists, and they’ve spent every album since breaking out of that mould. There are always some fans, though, who wish they’d stand still.

“Every time we put out a record, some fan will say, ‘I hate this shit. I wish they’d make records like they used to make,'” drawls singer/songwriter/guitarist Jim James over the phone from a tour stop in Oregon. “But then there’s another who’ll say, ‘There’s too much reverb on their old records I only like their new ones.'”

James follows his muse wherever it takes him: gentle folk balladry, Skynyrd-style guitar jams, progressive Thai funk. Those who once pegged the band as burly, bearded jam rock purists now have to consider James’s cape-wielding, name-changing eccentricity. (He also goes by Yim Yames.)

“I’m not the same person I was when I made those early records, so it would be strange to keep making the same sounds,” he says. “I get interested in different kinds of music and things in life, and it all informs what I write.”

That hasn’t stopped many critics from hyping the quintet’s recently released sixth album, Circuital (ATO, 2011), as a return to form. The reason is partially superficial. Like their early albums, which were self-recorded in a converted grain silo (for the sake of natural reverb), Circuital was tracked in an unconventional location: a converted church gymnasium in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

“Geographically, I guess it is a return home,” admits James. “But I hate the term ‘return to your roots’ or ‘back to basics,’ because I don’t feel like we’re chasing the same thing [that we were back then]. I prefer guerrilla-style recording because it makes the sounds more unique. You’re dealing with variables you wouldn’t get in a normal studio.”

But at least one variable was self-imposed. For the first time, the band recorded everything together in the same room, including vocals, and only added a few overdubs. According to James, they were attempting to capture their onstage chemistry, a quality that’s earned them a reputation as one of this era’s best live bands.

They cemented their rep with an epic, myth-making four-hour performance at 2008’s Bonnaroo, but it took them till this year to finally move to the fest’s mainstage. Since My Morning Jacket perfectly reflect Bonnaroo’s split identity as a festival for both jam band and indie rock fans, that graduation was long overdue.

“All those [genre] barriers and rules and regulations are so funny to me,” says James. “If you’re an indie rocker, you’re supposed to hate hippies and the Grateful Dead and worship at the altar of the Velvet Underground, right?

“Well, if you really listen to both bands, you’ll find they have songs that sound alike, harmonies that sound alike, recordings that sound alike. There are beautiful things to be found in both.”

You’d think disregard for genre limitations would mean James could fulfill his creative urges in MMJ. Instead, he has a number of side projects, including the high-profile supergroup Monsters of Folk, and he’s working on a solo LP.

“I’m about 80 per cent done,” he reveals. “It’s a fun project because I love being at home in the studio. Next time we have a chunk of time off from the road, I’ll hopefully finish it up.”

Interview Clips

Jim James explains why My Morning Jacket shies away from conceptualizing how a record will sound before writing and recording.

Download associated audio clip.

News recently leaked that My Morning Jacket were supposed to be recording and touring as the fictional Muppets band, Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem. Jim James tells us why the project fell through.

Download associated audio clip.

music@nowtoronto.com

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