1. Victory Dance (05:40)
2. Circuital (07:19)
3. The Day Is Coming (03:17)		play
4. Wonderful (The Way I Feel) (04:17)
5. Outta My System (03:22)		play
6. Holdin On To Black Metal (04:19)
7. First Light (03:46)
8. You Wanna Freak Out (01:41)
9. Slow Slow Tune (04:31)
10. Movin Away (05:13)

Musicians:
Jim James (singer-songwriter, guitarist - also known as Yim Yames), 
"Two-Tone" Tommy (bassist), 
Patrick Hallahan (drummer), 
Carl Broemel (guitarist, pedal steel guitarist, saxophonist, vocalist), 
Bo Koster (keyboardist, percussionist, vocalist).

"It just felt a lot like it did when we started out," says Jim James of making Circuital, My Morning Jacket’s sixth studio album – words that will be met with sweet relief by those who found 2008’s Evil Urges one glitzy-soul-funk genre-meld too far. Here, experimental leanings are cast aside in favour of sizzling jams, massive hooks and a pair of the most beautiful ballads James has ever written. Co-produced by the singer and Tucker Martine (who he met while contributing backing vocals to Laura Veirs’ July Flame), the emphasis during recording was on catching the sound of a band "feeding off each other" in a room, something captured admirably in these 10 songs.

Victory Dance sets the bar very, very high – James’ shamanistic ramblings matched to a menacing groove poised to turn in on itself at any second – before the title-track pushes it higher still, a contemplation of cycles, loops, circuits and "spinning out gracefully" only to end up "right in the same place we started out". Bolstered by virtuosic guitar work and carried by James’ persuasive croon, almost every aspect of what makes the group such a thrilling prospect is present in its seven minutes, and in this respect it acts as a blueprint for the record as a whole.

Almost every aspect, mind: James’ warm tones are purpose-built for the kind of emotion presented on Movin’ Away, a gorgeous, gentle waltz which closes proceedings. Warm piano chords and slide guitar inform its Nashville-flavoured sound, the second line of each verse finding his voice crack into aching falsetto to quietly magnificent effect.

Between these two poles the band revels in exuberant, glammy pop and driving Southern-fried rock: replete with children’s choir, Holdin’ On to Black Metal is funny and sweet in all the ways Evil Urges’ Highly Suspicious wasn’t, while You Wanna Freak Out and The Day Is Coming burrow deep into your consciousness after but one or two listens. Wonderful (The Way I Feel), meanwhile, is a halcyon ode to contentment, furnished by strings that lilt and swerve into pockets of the song you’d least expect.

Not a reinvention or a full-circle, then, My Morning Jacket’s sixth is better than either of these things: a reminder both to its players exactly why they got into this music lark to begin with, and to all of us how effortlessly enjoyable they are at their best. ---James Skinner, BBC Review

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01 – I’ll Be Home for Christmas (feat. The Head and the Heart) [iTunes Session]
02 – Welcome Home
03 – Please Come Home for Christmas
04 – Christmas Must Be Tonight
05 – Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
06 – Wonderful								play
07 – When the Bells Start Ringing (feat. The Head and the Heart) [iTunes Session]	play
08 – Interview

This 2011 holiday-themed iTunes Sessions EP from sprawling alt-pop outfit My Morning Jacket features lovely renditions of holiday standards like "Have a Merry Little Christmas" and "I'll Be Home for Christmas," as well as a brand-new track called "Welcome Home" and a reworking of "Wonderful (The Way I Feel)" from Circuital. --- James Christopher Monger, allmusic.com

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CD1
   1. "Wordless Chorus" - 4:14
   2. "It Beats 4 U" - 4:26
   3. "Gideon" - 3:48				play
   4. "One Big Holiday" - 5:56
   5. "I Will Sing You Songs" - 8:38
   6. "Lowdown" - 4:14
   7. "The Way that He Sings" - 5:08
   8. "What a Wonderful Man" - 2:59
   9. "Off the Record" - 6:54
  10. "Golden" - 4:51
  11. "Lay Low" - 6:20

CD2
   1. "Dondante" - 11:18
   2. "Run Thru" - 9:35
   3. "At Dawn" - 3:01
   4. "Xmas Curtain" - 5:02
   5. "O Is the One that Is Real" - 3:36	play
   6. "I Think I'm Going to Hell" - 5:16
   7. "Steam Engine" - 11:07
   8. "Dancefloors" - 5:15
   9. "Anytime" - 4:03
  10. "Mahgeetah" - 7:08

Personnel:
* Carl Broemel – guitar, pedal steel guitar, saxophone, vocals
* Patrick Hallahan – drums
* Jim James – vocals, guitar
* Bo Koster – keyboards, vocals
* "Two-Tone" Tommy – bass guitar

A lot has been made of the Okonokos DVD, My Morning Jacket's live concert film, recorded at San Francisco's Fillmore Auditorium. The live performance DVD is so seductive and powerful because of the lush backdrop set and wonderfully immediate manner in which it was shot, as well as the music, yet the double-CD that accompanies it and the four-LP vinyl set on Badman Records seem to get scant attention. Sure, they're mentioned, but somehow just as geegaws to accompany the DVD. Wrong. It all comes down to the music, after all, and the Louisville, Kentucky, quintet get that big time. It's why the CD was issued first and the DVD came later. The DVD should be seen; it's gorgeous, it's wild and woolly and beautiful all at once. But Okonokos the CD is one hell of a live record. Certainly, since it was recorded on the tour for the incredibly successful album Z, it concentrates on a lot of the band's 2000s material. But they dig deep, too, and go back to 1999's "I Think I'm Going to Hell" from The Tennessee Fire, as well as "The Way That He Sings" and "It Still Moves" from 2001's At Dawn, and "I Will Sing You Songs" and "Mahgeetah" from the It Still Moves disc in 2003 to close the entire show. There have been references to Neil Young & Crazy Horse, in terms of how My Morning Jacket works as a band, but don't believe it. My Morning Jacket have the spontaneity and raw wiry energy to be sure -- they don't try to cover the flubs -- but they're infinitely tighter than those loud garage yobs who believe that playing slower than cough syrup with codeine is a virtue.

The sheer musicianship that My Morning Jacket put on display on this intense, diverse, and focused live show is rather astonishing. Sure, they know how to "jam" and could have blown the doors off most of the bands in that genre had they been dumb enough to go down that path. (One listen to the 11-minute "Dondante" is proof enough that they could have been the new Grateful Dead or some such creativity-killing notion.) Like England's Gomez, they're smart and weave everything into the mix of hooks, lyric flourishes, and power chords. They have the indie rock mantle prominently displayed but are as tight as U2 -- and, no, they don't sound like them. In fact, as the evidence here clearly displays, My Morning Jacket sound like no one but themselves. Frontman Jim James is as charismatic and self-effacing as they come. Guitarist (and also saxophonist) Carl Broemel is a lyrical monster, both as a fine melodic improviser and as a rock & roll lead guitar player. Listen to the way he handles "Gideon" and "Lowdown," and blows sax at the end of "Dondante." The three-piece rhythm section of Bo Koster's understated but emotionally and technically taut keyboards, Two-Tone Tommy's bass playing and baritone vocals, and drummer Patrick Hallahan's inventive spot in the pocket, are full of surprising twists and turns. Near the end of disc two, there's a drawling, dreamy, 11-minute "Steam Engine" (with all the solos) giving way to the stomping honky tonk rock of "Dancefloors" in a performance worthy of Lynyrd Skynyrd's One More from the Road -- the picture would be complete if the Band were included as guests. My Morning Jacket are a band at the pinnacle of their power. Like great jazz musicians, they've learned to instinctively play together and make the most of every number. "Mahgeetah" sends the whole trip out on a sweet note. The feel-good rhythm and bluesed-up country-rock groove pour out so naturally and transcendentally that it's no surprise that the audience and band have bonded. Okonokos is one of the best live recordings of the 2000s. The DVD experience is a plus, and a welcome and aesthetically innovative one that adds depth and dimension to music played so soulfully and good-naturedly that it's almost impossible to think it could have been improved upon. Get both. ---Thom Jurek, AllMusic Review

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1. "At Dawn" – 3:49			play
2. "Lowdown" – 3:53			play
3. "The Way That He Sings" – 5:35
4. "Death Is My Sleezy Pay" – 5:28 
5. "Hopefully" – 5:55
6. "Bermuda Highway" – 3:19
7. "Honest Man" – 7:46
8. "X-mas Curtain" – 4:49
9. "Just Because I Do" – 2:55
10. "If It Smashes Down" – 5:28
11. "I Needed It Most" – 6:36
12. "Phone Went West" – 7:05 
13. "Strangulation!" – 8:08

Personnel:
Jim James – vocals, lead and rhythm guitars 
Tom Blankenship – bass 
Johnny Quaid – guitar 
Danny Cash – keyboards 
Chris "KC" Guetig – drums 

A voice that's both honey & charcoal, deep Southern gothic canvases with gracious acoustic and electric guitars, painterly strokes of harpsichord, harmonica, lap steel, drums swimming in the deepest, darkest widest pools of reverb, dirigible harmonies that will have you weeping, incensed atmosphere so thick, it's absolutely biblical. Darla. 2001. ---Editorial Review

On their second album for Darla Records, My Morning Jacket sound perfect. That is to say, they haven't changed a bit, and we like them that way. At Dawn is full of the same strumming acoustic guitar, hauntingly treated vocals, elements of country and blues, and everything else that made The Tennessee Fire a magnificent country, rock, and Americana stew. When bandleader Jim James sings, "We start this time with open ears," you know you're heading into familiar territory, as open ears were what you needed the first time you took this trip with James and the rest of My Morning Jacket. Open ears led you through the stark and beautiful landscape of The Tennessee Fire, and now they take you on a similar trip, from the sunshine of "Lowdown," "The Way He Sings," and "Just Because I Do" to the rainy day appeal of "If It Smashes Down" and "I Needed It Most." Echoes of Galaxie 500, For Stars, and classic Americana (Neil Young, the Band, Dylan, the Velvet Underground, etc.) find their way into this record to varying degrees, but they seem to float along lending help and comfort, rather than showing themselves directly. Like Belle & Sebastian, My Morning Jacket's songs have remained essentially the same, and At Dawn is the sound of a band hitting its stride. ---Terrance Miles, AllMusic Review

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