A to "Z"

I was thinking about how I used to get an album and just wear it out.

Like back in high school and college when the new Phish album would come out, or Big Head Todd, or Ben Harper... I'd run out on the very Tuesday it was released, bring it home, and listen to it in every spare moment for weeks on end. Maybe it's the lack of time or energy I have these days... maybe it's the fact that my ears are more discerning and I listen to things more critically... maybe I've just jaded... but I find that fewer and fewer albums capture my attention so wholly as albums did in high school and college.

Some exceptions of the last few years would be: "Want" - Rufus Wainwright "A Ghost is Born" - Wilco "The Mysterious Production of Eggs" - Andrew Bird "Magnolia Electric Company" - Magnolia Electric Company

And you can add to that list the most recent release by My Morning Jacket, simply entitled "Z". I got this album a few weeks ago and it hasn't left my car's CD player yet. It is exactly the kind of rock record I aspire to make someday... it has variety, it has polish, it has faults... great production, great playing, great guitar tone... it's the perfect length... I really can't say enough about it.

It just sounds like musical integrity to me. And the more I analyze the disparate types of music I enjoy, "integrity" is the mysterious uniting principle between Mozart and My Morning Jacket, Palastrina and Miles, Bob Dylan and Kanye, System of a Down and Arcade Fire...

And, hopefully, Burn Rome Burn.

jbg