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The 100 Best Albums of the 2000s: 100-81

PopMatters' best albums of the 2000s begin with a series of records that span epic metal, ornate indie folk, and a terrifying work of electronic music.

                                      
Music
    
        My Morning Jacket's 'The Waterfall II' Can Hypnotize
    
Elisabeth Woronzoff

        15 Sep 2020
    
Events
    
        Jim James Rocks for Peace and Justice at the Fillmore
    
Greg M. Schwartz

        11 Jul 2019
    
Music
    
        Jim James' 'Uniform Distortion' Wonders How We Can Keep Making the Same Mistakes Over and Over
    
Richard Driver

        26 Jun 2018

Recent

Music

Jim James: Eternally Even

My Morning Jacket's enigmatic leader releases his sophomore effort, which is a less formal, more groove-oriented effort than anything he's attempted before.

Interviews

In the Dark: An Interview With Carl Broemel

It took him six years to make, but My Morning Jacket's Carl Broemel drew from surprising personal places to craft his latest solo effort.

Jasper Bruce

Music

Carl Broemel: 4th of July

Six years in the making, the second solo offering from the My Morning Jacket guitarist is tender, nostalgic, and often sweet. Neko Case, Laura Veirs, and MMJ buddies are on hand to help.

Music

My Morning Jacket - "Compound Fracture" (Singles Going Steady)

In case you forgot, this video is here to remind you that My Morning Jacket play in front of large crowds sometimes.

Music

Forecastle Festival: Louisville, KY (Day Two)

My Morning Jacket headline Day Two, bringing hometown rock glory to Louisville's riverfront.

Music

Counterbalance: My Morning Jacket - Z

You've got to want to rearrange and keep it off the record, off the record. Unless that record is the 556th most acclaimed album of all time. A 2005 mainstay is this week's Counterbalance.

Music

Governors Ball Day 1: My Morning Jacket + Florence and the Machine + The Decemberists (Photos)

A photo gallery from the first day of Governors Ball, featuring Florence and the Machine, MMJ, The Decemberists, St. Vincent and more.

Music

The Act You've Known for All These Years: Covering 'Sgt. Pepper'

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band may be the most overanalysed, overexposed album in history. In light of the Flaming Lips' affectionate reimagining, can the inescapable masterpiece ever be surpassed?

Music

Various Artists: Red, Hot + Fela

Afrobeat's most famous AIDS casualty gets Red Hot honors once again.

Music

Various Artists: The Music Is You: A Tribute to John Denver

Forget everything you thought you felt about John Denver's music and allow yourself to enjoy this expert tribute to a master songwriter.

Music

Jim James: Regions of Light and Sound of God

The My Morning Jacket frontman's first solo album is based on a graphic novel from the 1920s, and it's both as good and as bad as that sounds.

Music

Jay Farrar, Anders Parker, Will Johnson, and Yim Yames: New Multitudes

Dust Bowl Blues for the Centennial celebration of Woody Guthrie's birth.

Jeff Strowe

Events

A Freebie From My Morning Jacket

My Morning Jacket rocks the radio and Internet airwaves on July 15th, with a concert recorded in a legendary recording studio.

Music

Various Artists: Rave on Buddy Holly

This tribute collection of 19 covers of one of early rock's most influential pioneers features legends (Paul McCartney, Lou Reed), indie A-listers (Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, She & Him), and -- would you believe? -- Kid Rock.

Reviews

Desitively Bonnaroo: Reporting from the Land of Dust and Music (Part 3)

You’re here to see your favorite indie-rock act, and you just so happen to have great representatives from other musical styles to explore as well.

Tomas Hachard

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Carl Broemel: All Birds Say

This is a confident, finely crafted collection of songs that feels like a natural, albeit slightly more reflective, extension of Broemel's main gig with My Morning Jacket.

Events

Voodoo Experience: 2010 - New Orleans

With a recent contract being signed to keep Voodoo in New Orleans through 2019, fans can expect the event to continue to grow and be a fitting close to each year’s music festival season.

Daniel Boczarski

Reviews

Appalachian Voices: 23 July 2010: Knoxville, TN

On July 23rd, The Bijou Theater was church, and Moore, Sollee, and Yim Yames were preachers, spreading the word of their particular gospel. Still, calling this is a "church service" isn't accurate. This is what a church service should be.

Ryan Reed

Music

Various Artists:Dark Was the Night

In its 20th year and in the hands of the National's Dessner Brothers, Red Hot delivers another compilation

Reviews

Live from Bonnaroo 2008

The communal spirit seems almost sacrosanct to its attendees and artists, some of whom invoke the term 'commune' in the footage on this disc.

Thomas Britt

Music

My Morning Jacket: iTunes Live from Las Vegas at the Palms

Jim James and associates reinvent themselves once again, this time falling somewhere between Quiet Storm soul balladeers and a cummerbund-rocking wedding band.

Scott Hreha

Interviews

20 shows in 20 Days: More Than Just a Live Music Experiment

A music fan puts his love for live music to the test.

Music

The Best Albums of 2008: 40-31

Reviews

My Morning Jacket

If a concert is a give and take communication process between the artist and the audience, each feeding off the other’s energy, then the DC crowd let My Morning Jacket down this time.

Tim J. Nelson

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My Morning Jacket: Evil Urges

Evil Urges sounds like an album that falls well short of its mark, committing itself to a sound that ultimately weakens its songs.

Music

My Morning Jacket: At Dawn and Tennessee Fire Demos Package

This collection of demos casts the spotlight on singer Jim James where, stripped of his solid band, he shows he can still shine as a songwriter.

Reviews

My Morning Jacket: Okonokos [DVD]

If you think Kentucky's transcendental rockers My Morning Jacket are a bit creepy, well, you're right. And wrong.

Reviews

My Morning Jacket

With the onset of darkness I was able to write feverishly, picking up on subtleties like 'lots of hair' and 'still dark', jottings that might later be transcribed into something insightful...

Megan Milks

Music

My Morning Jacket: Z

2003's stellar It Still Moves sounded like the last word on MMJ's atmospheric Southern rock. But on the follow-up, they prove they have more to say that's worth hearing.

John Bergstrom

Music

My Morning Jacket: Chapter 1: The Sandworm Cometh: Early Recordings

Jim James and co. deliver the first of two volumes chronicling their infancy. A confusing and superfluous listen for the casual fan, The Sandworm Cometh proves a captivating treat for the My Morning Jacket cognoscenti.

Jon Fischer

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PopMatters' best albums of the 2000s begin with a series of records that span epic metal, ornate indie folk, and a terrifying work of electronic music.

My Morning Jacket's enigmatic leader releases his sophomore effort, which is a less formal, more groove-oriented effort than anything he's attempted before.

It took him six years to make, but My Morning Jacket's Carl Broemel drew from surprising personal places to craft his latest solo effort.

Six years in the making, the second solo offering from the My Morning Jacket guitarist is tender, nostalgic, and often sweet. Neko Case, Laura Veirs, and MMJ buddies are on hand to help.

In case you forgot, this video is here to remind you that My Morning Jacket play in front of large crowds sometimes.

My Morning Jacket headline Day Two, bringing hometown rock glory to Louisville's riverfront.

You've got to want to rearrange and keep it off the record, off the record. Unless that record is the 556th most acclaimed album of all time. A 2005 mainstay is this week's Counterbalance.

A photo gallery from the first day of Governors Ball, featuring Florence and the Machine, MMJ, The Decemberists, St. Vincent and more.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band may be the most overanalysed, overexposed album in history. In light of the Flaming Lips' affectionate reimagining, can the inescapable masterpiece ever be surpassed?

Afrobeat's most famous AIDS casualty gets Red Hot honors once again.

Forget everything you thought you felt about John Denver's music and allow yourself to enjoy this expert tribute to a master songwriter.

The My Morning Jacket frontman's first solo album is based on a graphic novel from the 1920s, and it's both as good and as bad as that sounds.

Dust Bowl Blues for the Centennial celebration of Woody Guthrie's birth.

My Morning Jacket rocks the radio and Internet airwaves on July 15th, with a concert recorded in a legendary recording studio.

This tribute collection of 19 covers of one of early rock's most influential pioneers features legends (Paul McCartney, Lou Reed), indie A-listers (Modest Mouse, My Morning Jacket, She & Him), and -- would you believe? -- Kid Rock.

You’re here to see your favorite indie-rock act, and you just so happen to have great representatives from other musical styles to explore as well.

This is a confident, finely crafted collection of songs that feels like a natural, albeit slightly more reflective, extension of Broemel's main gig with My Morning Jacket.

With a recent contract being signed to keep Voodoo in New Orleans through 2019, fans can expect the event to continue to grow and be a fitting close to each year’s music festival season.

On July 23rd, The Bijou Theater was church, and Moore, Sollee, and Yim Yames were preachers, spreading the word of their particular gospel. Still, calling this is a "church service" isn't accurate. This is what a church service should be.

In its 20th year and in the hands of the National's Dessner Brothers, Red Hot delivers another compilation

The communal spirit seems almost sacrosanct to its attendees and artists, some of whom invoke the term 'commune' in the footage on this disc.

Jim James and associates reinvent themselves once again, this time falling somewhere between Quiet Storm soul balladeers and a cummerbund-rocking wedding band.

A music fan puts his love for live music to the test.

If a concert is a give and take communication process between the artist and the audience, each feeding off the other’s energy, then the DC crowd let My Morning Jacket down this time.

Evil Urges sounds like an album that falls well short of its mark, committing itself to a sound that ultimately weakens its songs.

This collection of demos casts the spotlight on singer Jim James where, stripped of his solid band, he shows he can still shine as a songwriter.

If you think Kentucky's transcendental rockers My Morning Jacket are a bit creepy, well, you're right. And wrong.

My Morning Jacket, taking their high-powered live show into your home and setting it ablaze.

With the onset of darkness I was able to write feverishly, picking up on subtleties like 'lots of hair' and 'still dark', jottings that might later be transcribed into something insightful...

2003's stellar It Still Moves sounded like the last word on MMJ's atmospheric Southern rock. But on the follow-up, they prove they have more to say that's worth hearing.

Jim James and co. deliver the first of two volumes chronicling their infancy. A confusing and superfluous listen for the casual fan, The Sandworm Cometh proves a captivating treat for the My Morning Jacket cognoscenti.