My Morning Jacket -- "Mahgeeta"
There are feuds in rock music that require the taking of sides. In the conflict between punk rock and 70s AOR, I take the side of the punks. In the conflict between Lynyrd Skynyrd and Neil Young, I find myself firmly in the Canadian camp. The brilliance of My Morning Jacket, in terms of the latter dispute, is that they didn't take sides. Instead, they fused the energy that we associate with the kind of music made by Southern men with beards playing solid-bodied guitars with the melancholy sensitivity that Neil Young typifies. The resulting songs are set to resound in caverns of reverb, and the final product is timeless but contemporary.
"Mahgeeta" is the celebratory opening to what I consider to be MMJ's best album so far, It Still Moves. Just when you think that the song has to end, the band throws in a few more riffs: it still moves. There may not be much Young influence at work on this track, but there is much to celebrate still. The highlight of this track, to me, is the middle verse when the guitar seems to drop out, but then you realize you can still hear it echoing in the background. Is it bleed over from the recording of the drum track, or is it just low in the mix? Either way, it's a great touch.
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