Something I Like

Z has been a steady seasonal album to me for a few years. always representing winter, and in some cases just cold weather (today for instance). it has a lot of positive, nostalgic connections to the cold. and having those kinds of connections with a record makes it something important. this album came out when i was a freshman at UArts, and it has a certain relation with every year after that. once weather changes i automatically bring myself to certain songs and music that i've listened to in previous years. so i'm constantly going back to albums that i don't even really listen to unless it's a certain time of year. and i think that Z is an incredible album, but i really just don't listen to it unless it's cold. i guess i've made that point known by now.
I've always thought this to be my favorite My Morning Jacket release. although several tracks are pretty swingin' and have a feel good vibe, for the most part it's still a dark record. Knot Comes Loose, Dondante, Into the Woods and Lay Low all seem to have a similar feel as far as those kinds of things are concerned. If i'm not mistaken some of the songs are about suicides and deaths of friends of Jim James. which i guess evokes a certain kind of approach to writing songs. but he still rips some nasty solos. there's a few different things going on with these songs. there are really mellow ones which sound like they could be a different band than the one playing the loud Americana rock songs on the rest of the album. which also sound altered since there's more than one song with a drum machine. i think that it was a pretty bold move to make this, as their first three records seem to be a continuation of one another, but this is farther out. it's a different fudge.