phantasmagoria, gloria

Listening to this album makes me feel like such a badass. 

When I was doing a journalism project as a college senior, part of filming the piece entailed filming on location, so my partner and I had to go to a couple of places not accessible by transit. I’m not a great driver, but this girl flat-out told me that she was petrified to drive, so oh well. We got a zipcar and did the first interview, which was fine. For the second interview, we had to drive out to Fall River, and that was kind of harrowing. On the way back into Boston, “Golden” came on the radio, and it was the most beautiful, triumphant moment. 

oneweekoneband:

“Golden” - It Still Moves 

Continuing the bear theme with the album cover on 2003’s It Still Moves, My Morning Jacket’s third full length LP also served as the band’s move up to a major label, from Darla to ATO Records. Any fears of MMJ losing their indie cred turned out to be unfounded, as all that happened were bigger and better songs with higher production value, minus any smacking slickness. 

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This release is packed with MMJ hits: “Mahgeetah”, “Golden”, “Dancefloors”, “I Will Sing You Songs”, “Run Thru” and “One Big Holiday” all regularly find their way onto live performance set lists and are fan favorites almost across the board. (I could actually list all the songs off this album and the previous sentence would likely still be true.)

The album also holds some much longer tracks on it - the slow as molasses (in a good way!) “I Will Sing You Songs” clocks in at 9:19, and the rest of the album’s songs average somewhere around the 6 minute mark. Jam band labels start to seep into the conversation…

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{ An aside:: picture yourself listening to this gorgeous tune at sunset, the wind whistling past your open window as you drive down a deserted, lonely highway. } 

“Golden” is deeply rooted in alt-country tonalities from the start, with acoustic guitar leading into the now familiar pedal steel riveting beauty.  A driving backbeat fill created by drummer Hallahan propels the song forward through the first two minutes. You’re already hooked at this point, but when the harmonies bust in at 2:50, that’s it.  You’ve got to press repeat when the song comes to an end so you can find that feeling one more time.  Or maybe two or ten more times.

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On another note, it must be mentioned that “Masterplan” is the perfect transition song to “One Big Holiday,” which is the absolute best “let’s get pumped up” song (albeit in an MMJ way, not a la Black Eyed Peas).  Hence it has the honor as the lead in song to the Okonokos video and many a MMJ concert.

PRO TIP: Learn the words so you can sing along from the start.

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(While I could never rank MMJ albums with one another, this one is definitely close to the top, if not at the pinnacle.)

(Source: Spotify)

vampireweekend:

‘Step’ Official Lyric Video

Bunch-a nonsense words, but they sound pretty.

mrtrohman:

Total brotes #falloutboy #lightemup

Honestly, cannot even believe Andy’s hair. CANNOT. Looks sharp, though.