Ringing In 2009 With My Morning Jacket

Madison Square Garden was the place to be on New Year's Eve, as 13,000 folks utterly thrilled to kiss 2008 goodbye rocked their socks off with My Morning Jacket, playing their most high-profile headlining set to date. The group was up for the occasion and then some, offering choice covers, guest appearances, a variety of stylish outfits and plenty of theatrics to keep the crowd entertained.

The show opened on a jubilant note with a horn section-enhanced cover of Curtis Mayfield's "Move on Up" before moving quickly into ace originals such as "Evil Urges," "Off the Record" and "Gideon." Centro-Matic's Will Johnson sang alongside frontman Jim James on a beautiful "Golden," while singer/songwriter Nicole Atkins dueted with James on the Marvin Gaye/Tammi Terrell staple "You're All I Need To Get By."

But MMJ really achieved liftoff during "Lay Low," the 13th song of the first set and the first to harness the harmonized guitar heroics of James and Carl Broemel (click here for some YouTube footage of the sick ending jam). A cover of Dion's "The Wanderer" (overheard in the bathroom: "These guys really cover a lot of territory!") and slamming versions of "Dancefloors" and "Mahgeetah" closed the first portion.

Now ducked out in white suits, the band returned to count down the last seconds of 2008 with its own special rendition of Kool & the Gang's "Celebration," as confetti and balloons poured down from the ceiling. Another Kool & the Gang favorite, "Get Down on It," led into "Wordless Chorus" and eventually a holy cow take on Dolly Parton and Kenny Rogers' immortal "Islands in the Stream" (again with Atkins) and a beautiful cover of Sam Cooke's "Bring It on Home To Me."

MMJ did its best with James Brown's "Cold Sweat," which even featured a solo for drummer Patrick Hallahan, but it was ultimately one of the only missteps of the night. Furious runs through "Anytime" and "One Big Holiday" put an exclamation point on a great performance, with James warbling "Auld Lang Syne" from a mock living room set-up at the top of the stage for good measure.

Family and friends convened to a nearby Irish bar afterwards, and eventually, some of us made our way to Mercury Lounge to catch the last few songs of the Guns N' Roses cover band Mr. Brownstone, but the less said about that, the better. This was My Morning Jacket's night, and it won't soon be forgotten.

Here is My Morning Jacket's set list:

"Move on Up"
"Evil Urges"
"Off the Record"
"Gideon"
"The Way That He Sings"
"Thank You Too"
"I'm Amazed"
"Golden"
"Librarian"
"You're All I Need To Get By"
"Express Yourself"
"What a Wonderful Man"
"Lay Low"
"Phone Went West"
"Look At You"
"Dondante"
"Smokin' From Shootin'"
"Touch Me I'm Going To Scream, Pt. 2"
"Run Thru"
"The Wanderer"
"Dancefloors"
"Mahgeetah"

(set break)

"Celebration"
"Get Down on it"
"Wordless Chorus"
"Highly Suspicious"
"COBRA"
"Islands in the Stream"
"Bring It on Home To Me"
"Cold Sweat"
"Anytime"
"One Big Holiday"

Christmas, Wainwright And McGarrigle-Style

Christmas is a time for miracles, or in this case, two weeks before Christmas is a time for coincidences. Our box seats at Carnegie Hall last night (the door had to be unlocked by an usher between songs, as we were tardy) gave us a bird's eye view of the McGarrigle/Wainwright Christmas Hour and all of the festive, and sometimes oddball, holiday cheer it had to offer. 

The drizzly and unseasonably warm weather in New York didn't feel particularly Christmas-y, but folk icons and McGarrigle/Wainwright matriarchs Kate and Anna created a heartwarming and merry holiday feeling as they presided over their preternaturally talented brood, led by Kate's son Rufus and daughter Martha.  Dressed as Dickensian carolers, switching between a multitude of instruments and joined by a passel of friends and relatives that included Aunt Sloan (sister of Loudon Wainwright III,) sister Lucie (daughter of Loudon,) and cousins Lily and Sylvan, the Wainwright siblings shepherded their harmony-belting flock through old Christmas standards, modern holiday hits and original compositions.

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Let There Be Rock ... And Vince McMahon

On the way out of AC/DC's ass-kickingly amazing show last night (Nov. 13) at New York's Madison Square Garden, we were asked, if aliens landed, how would you describe the band to them? Our answer was that AC/DC is nothing less than the pure essence of rock'n'roll -- a force that can be tapped into by young, old, man, woman and everyone in between.

Put it all together and you have 105 minutes of the most fun you can have with your clothes on, in an arena, with 15,000 people. For $90.

First of all, if you're planning on seeing these guys, bring earplugs. This was one of the loudest shows we'd been to in recent memory. You won't be disappointed in the set list: the new single "Rock'n'Roll Train" was a perfect start, piling on the thick Young brothers riffs and gang vocals to get the crowd warmed up.

A couple of the new songs aren't very good, particularly "Big Jack," which includes a lyric about having "a full sack." Uh huh. If nothing else it was a good excuse for a beer break before the one-two punch of "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap" and "Thunderstruck," by which point the audience, many sporting glow-in-the-dark devil horns, was going bananas.

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Old Kids On Wisco's Block

Jaded Insider guest blogger WiscoD is an indie rock publicist circa 2008, but it wasn't long ago that she pledged her allegiance to Tool, Korn and, yes, New Kids On The Block. When the latter group rolled into New York this week, we unleashed Wisco on the show and asked her to tell us all about it.

I must admit that I completely forgot the fact I had scored tickets to see the New Kids on the Block reunion tour last night. Everyone kept asking me what my plans were for music this week and I'd name off a few indie rock shows and then glance at my calendar and lo and behold there was NKOTB in bold for Monday, October 27th. My lack of excitement probably is why I'm going to go ahead and say I HAD THE BEST TIME EVER!!!!!!

I was a huge fan of theirs during my 5th and 6th grade years, smack dab between my obsessions with Bon Jovi and Red Hot Chili Peppers. I remember it as the one time in my life that my sister and I agreed on music. We decked out our rooms in posters, pillows, and anything else NKOTB that we could get our hands on or force our parents to pay for. When we were lucky enough for them to come through Wisconsin... TWICE... we of course created posters to draw their attention our way. I remarked to my friend last night that back then, with my I LUV U JON poster in hand, somehow I always felt like they were looking directly at me.

And so back to last night's show, nearly 16 years later and I'm all grown up. And my, my have those boys aged well. Most specifically Joey McIntyre. I couldn't tell who everyone was screaming louder for -- Joey, Donnie or Jordan -- but I know every time he even remotely took center stage, the words "I love you Joey" came shooting out of my mouth.

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CMJ '08: All Over But The Shout Out Out Out Out

My last night of CMJ started with a trek through a torrential rainstorm to catch the IHeartComix showcase at the Music Hall of Williamsburg. L.A. scenester Franki Chan has a pretty high batting average, having put out Matt and Kim's first record and some excellent tracks by ice-cream slingers HeartsRevolution. The first band on the bill was Edmonton-based dance-rockers Shout Out Out Out Out (pictured), who always put on a good show. It was the first time I'd seen real dancing all week, and the first time I felt myself relax and enjoy a show. They played a few tracks from a forthcoming album, as well as their most excellent track "In The End It's Your Friends That'll Fuck You Over." They need to record a clean version of the song and start licening it to "Gossip Girl," stat.

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CMJ '08: Workin' For The Weekend

Another CMJ Music Marathon is in the books, and sadly, actually listening to live music this week was probably only the fourth most enjoyable thing about the experience. Besides a band we're about to discuss below, we just weren't blown away by anything, and there was a general feeling of apathy about the event permeating the proceedings. As usual, it came down to spending time with close industry friends more than wedging in to see the flavor of the week at 1:30 in the morning at a crappy venue.

It took until Saturday for us to see hands down our favorite thing of CMJ, the fresh-faced Oklahoma-based sextet the Uglysuit (pictured) during a day party at Music Hall of Williamsburg. One of Thrill Jockey/Overcoat Recordings vet Howard Greynolds' first signings since starting in on A&R at Touch & Go, the band sounds absolutely nothing like any other band that has ever recorded for the famed Chicago indie: there's a three-guitar majesty to their sprawling epics, which have the emotion of Sigur Ros and the grin-inducing riffage of Built To Spill.

Two seven-minute jams book-ended the set. "Everyone Now Has a Smile" set the tone with powerful downstrokes and moments of piano-enhanced calm, while "...And We Became Sunshine" brought it all home with an insistent chiming guitar motif and a melody that never faded despite the lengthy running time.

The band was genuinely chuffed to be playing its first shows in New York this week, especially since it had gotten to see and open for Annuals, whom frontman Israel Hindman told us later were his favorite band. The members were also unafraid to flail their My Morning Jacket-length hair while rocking out, or tell the audience that "Brownblue's Passing" was about a flying whale. The Uglysuit have come out of nowhere to produce a delightful new form of psychedelia. We give them our highest endorsement.

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CMJ '08: Murphy's Law

After being shut out of Broken Social Scene's show at the Brooklyn Masonic Temple on Friday night, I decided to check out Irish singer Roisin Murphy across town at the Mansion. Her 2007 album "Overpowered" was overlooked by most critics, but featured some of the best pop cuts of the year. Part of the fun of the show had nothing to do with Murphy: the Mansion, with its sparkling chandeliers, neon lights and mile-long bar, provided the perfect posh atmosphere for the event.

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CMJ '08: Spanish Castle Magic

Sounds From Spain, a promotional organization for the Spanish music industry, cozied up at Ace of Clubs Wednesday for CMJ to showcase some of the best music I've seen in a while. I caught Depedro, Aaron Thomas and the Right Ons, each representing a different sound on the spectrum. Because of a lot of music is so niche-specific these days, Sounds From Spain was an excellent addition to CMJ. Aside from the music having a different cultural appeal, much of it fused genres perfectly.

The Ace of Clubs is a small place with little tables crammed against the walls and adorned with flickering candles and beer bottles. People crowded in to dance to the mellow Latin groove Depedro delivered; the sound was a savory fusion of haunting folk and blues steeped with that special Latin brand of sensuality. I definitely heard strains of Calexico as the band played, ornamented with the use of a cello, but leader Jairo Zavala's energy is what really stood out. His eyes lit up with every chorus, prompting the sitting to stand and the standing to dance.

While Depedro was mellow, the Rights Ons turned up the dial. I heard traces of Led Zeppelin and the Stooges in their sound, though they were totally modern. Sort of like Jet if they were out of Madrid, their youthful energy set the tone. Between the drummer/singer and the guitarist/singer, they screamed the classic one, two, three, four! and mastered the call and repeat. These guys were funky.

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CMJ '08: Conversion Time

Unlike South by Southwest, where my main activities are pretty much limited to seeing shows and drinking tequila, CMJ happens in New York, and thus has to be incorporated into my real life. That real life includes time at the office and things like showing up at a hotel at 8 a.m, to interview Debbie Harry on a red carpet. Tough life, sure, but it does cut in to one's late night party plans a bit.

Thus, I've been hitting a lot of day shows, and have managed to see one band three times in last three days. L.A.-based band the Muslims sound like a more punk-rock version of the Kinks, are being buzzed about on a number of blogs, and have a name that lends itself to any number of witty headlines.

The first time I saw them was at the Fader Fort, a packed sweatbox that has duct-tape art on the wall and a stage so low I could only see the tops of the band's heads. Despite being packed in, the crowd seemed to respond well, and a friend I ran into remarked he'd heard more people talking about the Muslims than Chairlift, the iPod-endorsed band that had played before them.

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CMJ '08: Castles Made Of Crystal

Alice Glass just stared into my soul. Gyrating across the stage, her pale, skinny figure made visible by multiple strobe lights and the pop of a dozen camera flashes, the lead singer of Crystal Castles approached the edge of the platform in front of me and shrieked some lyrics while peering into my eyes.

It's hard to survive in the front row of a Crystal Castles show because of the pummeling crowd movement, but their entrancing performance at Webster Hall on Thursday night made the claustrophobia seem like a minor trouble.

With electronic beats exploding like gunfire around her, Glass leapt into the audience, took swigs from a bottle of red wine, hissed into two microphones at once and curled into a ball onstage after nearly every song. It was a beautifully unhinged performance, possibly the most memorable at this year's CMJ. The crowd was left bruised and breathless, but eager to shell out $20 for a t-shirt.

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CMJ '08: Dinner And Drinks

We won't sugar-coat it -- we saw no live music on the second official night of CMJ last night. Instead, we joined a cadre of NYC rock critics and two of our favorite publicists/people for a lengthy dinner in the East Village. And you know what? We didn't talk about music! Later, we accompanied a friend to Soho to recover a wallet that had gone missing the night before -- thank you, random guy who found it!

During the afternoon at the Brooklyn Vegan party at Piano's, we saw one song of the unfortunately named Eagle Seagull (jittery indie rock, with violin) and a few more by Muslims, who are something of a buzz band this week. We liked their Hot Snakes-y garage rock and agreeable personality, especially considering they were hopped up on nine cups of coffee. Still, the most memorable thing about the day was a slice of deep-dish pizza from Rosario's ... sorry, Muslims! -- Jonathan Cohen

CMJ '08: Prog Will Rock You

Out of all the headliners at CMJ this year, Coheed & Cambria sticks out like a sore thumb. You wouldn't expect a commercially successful prog-rock band to sit cozily alongside Broken Social Scene and Lykke Li on a festival bill. Not surprisingly, the majority of fans at Coheed's show on Wednesday night at Termnial 5 were ticket-holding teenagers, not music industry analysts with laminated badges. We decided to ignore the other showcases on Wednesday and check out Coheed because, well, they're a highly entertaining band with a deep catalog, and we needed some big dumb fun.

Coheed & Cambria are playing four consecutive nights this week, with each show highlighting one of their four albums. Wednesday was dedicated to "The Second Stage Turbine Blade," their debut disc that's decidedly more punk-oriented than their later work. Each song was a three-minute blast of power, with Claudio Sanchez lending his ridiculously high vocals and drummer Chris Pennie murdering his cymbals. The set was enjoyable, although the focus on a single album was a bit frustrating, since the band's writing and song structures have greatly improved over time.

Even so, the show was worth catching if only for the crowd's dedication: every one of Sanchez's lines were sung back at him, and at times we could barely hear the singer over the wave of giddy, shouting fans. It also helped that Coheed is one of the more technically proficient acts in mainstream rock, with split-second progressions that dazzled. Although last night didn't makes us fall in love with "The Second Stage Turbine Blade," we could appreciate the energy in the venue, from the stage to the pit to the rafters, and enjoyed seeing something special take place. -- Jason Lipshutz

CMJ '08: Local, Ladies

Itinerary:
Isabella Lundgren – stupendous jazz standards
Annie Lynch and the Beekeepers – earthy arranging
Chris Pureka – beloved acoustic sadness
Frontier Ruckus – ruckus alright

A time for the regulars! JI was able to catch a breathtaking set by jazz singer Isabella Lundgren upstairs at National Underground … even though she’s not even part of the Music Marathon (she appears most Wednesdays at this excellent free venue/lounge). Like Madeleine Peyroux or Billie Holiday, Lundgren’s rough voice soars and interpreted freely songs like “The Nearness of You.” We don’t know who her pianist was, but that dude deserves a cute girl’s (or boy’s!) number.

Across the street, another New York regular, Annie Lynch, was backed by a cellist, a killer multi-instrumentalist and a tight drummer for her rootsy, calming set at Rockwood. At risk of making her sound too precious, Lynch’s compositions feel whimsical and even somewhat dark, with help from the diverse arrangements and oft-used three part harmonies.

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CMJ '08: Howlin' At The Moon

Is CMJ over yet? Ha, just kidding. We're slogging through and making the best of the ho-hum week so far, aided by the fact that a lot of out-of-town music biz all-stars are finally here in Manhattan for hangings.

There may be hardly any buzz at all about what's going on in town, but there is still music to be seen and heard. Wednesday night, we visited the Canal Room to watch Atlanta's Howlies slay the ASCAP showcase with a set of frenetic, melodic rockers rooted in Chuck Berry and Link Wray, with a tinge of Rocket From The Crypt-style melodrama for good measure.

While "Chimera" slowed things down momentarily, it was about the only moment to come up for air as the quartet bashed through tunes like "Dirty Woman" and "Sea Level." Look for an album soon on Over/Under Records, but DON'T look for anything whatsoever from 2AM Club, some kind of pseudo boy band-with-a-rapper who played earlier in the evening and scarred our ears.

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CMJ '08 @ The Movies: The Brothers Bloom

Continuing in my quest to partake of all of CMJ's non-traditional (i.e. non small-club-live-rock) offerings I followed my day one adventures on Broadway by hunkering down in Tribeca for Rian Johnson's latest indie film, "The Brothers Bloom," starring Adrien Brody, Mark Ruffalo and Rachel Weisz.
 
The melancholic comedy caper flick made it's CMJ pit stop after doing some of the film festival circuit (namely Toronto) on it's way to a December release, and Nathan Johnson, who did the film's music, was on hand for the screening and a Q&A afterward, but he seemed as surprised to be in New York for CMJ as I was surprised this film was showing. The jaunt, quirky, largely instrumental, vaguely classic soundtrack was incidental to the thrust of the film at best.

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CMJ '08: Why Hip-Hop Sucks, Or Doesn't

CMJ is usually an indie rock/electronica parade, but this year hip-hop is making a nice little showing. Yesterday, we hit a panel titled "The Hip-Hop Renaissance: A Cultural Rebirth" featuring Asher Roth, the Cool Kids, Amanda Diva and Q-Tip along with Vibe's Danyel Smith, New York Times critic Jon Caramanica and AP music reporter Nekesa Moody. The panel was moderated by CNN's Lola Ogunnaike and focused on what the Internet has "done" to and for hip-hop music. Ironically, we felt LESS depressed about the declining music industry after the panel, which is more than we can say for most business talks.

The young artists (Cool Kids and Roth, who was just happy to be there) said the Internet is awesome because people can discover music free and then, hopefully, pay for things like concert tickets. The older artists (Q-Tip) said the Internet is wack because there's no control or slow maturation process for artists, many of whom deliver music prematurely to the public.

Fun panel outtakes: Smith said, who needs the A&R process! Artists should hone their creativity themselves. Q-Tip said he loves Puffy and then blames him for hip-hop's materialism and addiction to the idea that the music is a business rather than an art form. Result, according to Q-Tip: most hip-hop music sucks.

At night, we hit Mark Ronson's Allido showcase at S.O.B.'s for four performances and no Ronson DJ set. He lied to us on the flier. We were not happy. HOWEVER, his stand-in DJ, Just Ske, was dope.

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CMJ '08: Cool Runnings

I wasn't exactly sure how to approach my first CMJ experience when I arrived in New York on Tuesday morning. Should I pace myself and gradually become acquainted with the atmosphere, or should I dive headfirst into the performances and risk running myself ragged? Naturally, I chose the latter.

Forgoing the afternoon panels for some music, I headed to the WNYU broadcast studio for an exclusive on-air performance by indie-rock starlet Marnie Stern. A grand total of three other people showed up to the event, and as we sat in a cramped control room and watched Stern run through her soundchecks, I felt very foolish, as if I had already made a wrong decision about what to check out at CMJ.

It turned out that Stern validated my decision. Playing songs from her mouthful of a new album, "This Is It & I Am It & You Are It & So Is That & He Is It & She Is It & It Is It & That Is That," Stern was ferocious, fingers flying up the neck of her guitar and pink shoes constantly stomping to the pulsating drumbeat. I enjoyed her 2007 LP "In Advance of the Broken Arm," but these new songs sounded meatier, like the most uncompromising Sleater-Kinney tracks. She thanked me for coming after finishing her set; I thanked her for kicking off my CMJ in grand fashion. 

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CMJ '08: Underground, Over- And Underrated

ITINERARY:
Cage the Elephant - adolescent post-punk meets rock 'n' roll roots
Sasha Dobson - phenomenal musicianship of easy listening
Rhymefest - freestyle and beats with a conscience
The Rumble Strips - '50s throwback pop with a howlin' vocalist
The Wheel - cathartic acoustic
Lykke Li - talented weirdo, sorceress
Phenomenal Handclap Band - phenomenal funk-loving stoners

Q-Prime, best known for managing big rock acts like Metallica and the Chili Peppers (as well as a smattering of cool underground acts like Silversun Pickups, Be Your Own Pet! and Gillian Welch), hosted a private showcase at Mercury for their new client Cage the Elephant. A&R industry-y types lined the walls (don't think we didn't see you, Wind-Up) while young fans shyly draped the stage. JI cohort Cortney already summarized a bit of sound, but perhaps one could go a step further and rename this foursome Cage the Adolescent. These boys look about 12 but were already so over Warped Tour by time they were 10. No doubt, this act won't go unsigned for long.

Josh Ritter explained to us earlier this year that his friend Sasha Dobson was one of the most woefully unsigned artists at present. To investigate this claim, we relaxed in a seat at the uncrowded Rockwood Music Hall, a venue Dobson had rocked calmly shimmied days earlier with Norah Jones and former Cardinals bassist Catherine Popper.

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CMJ '08: Feel The Passion

Much like Black Kids last year, the buzz is loud for Boston's Passion Pit 'round these CMJ parts in 2008. The group's Tuesday night showcase at Music Hall of Williamsburg was sold-out, leaving a gaggle of hipsters out of luck and in the cold. J.I. snuck in just after the first song, and our first impression: boy, we thought Hot Chip defined nerdy, but we may need to think again.

These guys epitomize the burgeoning indie rock disco trend, and with their bedheads and tight T-shirts (one keyboardist was wearing a whitey that looked fresh out of a Hanes 3-pack), they look the part of the party-starters. Musically, we were half-expecting them to break into a-ha's "Take on Me," so steeped in '80s synth-pop was the seven-song set. The defining attribute is Michael Angelakos' voice, which is virtually always pitched to maximum falsetto while his bandmates bash away on their synths.

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CMJ '08: Miss Misery

This year, I’m visualizing my approach to CMJ as a bell curve -- start slow, party hard midway though, then wind back down. With that in mind, last night was mellow and melancholy, as I checked out some new music and took time to remember one of my favorite artists.

The night began at the Mercury Lounge, checking out a set from CageTheElephant. The small room was full of industry types, which made sense -- the band is charismatic and certainly has mainstream appeal. It’s not exactly my cup of tea (but then again, my cup of tea seems to be limited to M.I.A. and her various derivations, folkie boys and Gang Gang Dance), but the band did put on an entertaining show.

After dinner, it was on to the Knitting Factory for Islands side project Sister Suvi and Paramount Styles, a new band featuring Scott McCloud of Girls Against Boys. Sister Suvi put on a fun, upbeat indie pop set, incorporating a ukulele and wall drumming to balance out their twee vocals. Paramount Styles, on the other hand, recalled the Afghan Whigs with their dirty blues rock; the lyrics, with lots of “yeah yeah yeahs” and shout-outs to New York City, left a little to be desired, but the groove was delicious.

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