Watch Jim James’ new video for “State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.)”

Former cover story and classroom instructor, Jim James (My Morning Jacket), is back today with the new video for “State of the Art (A.E.I.O.U.)”, the opening track on his solo debut, Regions of Light and Sound of God. Created by Bay Area production company Clean White Lines — whose entry beat out many in a contest held by James — the gloomy visuals follow a character with a TV for a head, as he wanders through a city and interacts with its people. Much like the song itself, it’s a critique on man’s ever-evolving and complicated relationship with technology. Watch it below (via Billboard).

Published on Oct 22, 2013
The official music video for Jim James “State Of The Art (A.E.I.O.U.)” from the album Regions Of Light And Sound Of God.

Buy on iTunes: http://smarturl.it/itunesJJ
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Directed by: Clean White Lines
Editor: Staci DeGagne
Director of Photography: Alexander Fletcher
Starring/Producer: Joe Barham
Featuring: Addison Brewer-Hay, TiNka Kalajžić Ines,Dave Malloure, Frances Reyes-Bolinger

Daylight come
Daylight go
How far will it reach
Ain’t nobody know
When the dawn breaks
The cradle will fall
And down come baby
Cradle and all
Now I know you need the dark
Just as much as the sun
But you signin’ on forever
When you ink it in blood

A.E.I.O.U.
E.I.O.U.
A.E.I.O.U.

I used the state of the art
Technology
Supposed to make for better living
Are we better human beings?
We’ve got out wires all crossed
Our tubes are all tied
And I’m straining to remember
Just what it means to be alive
A life worth living
Now you can feel it in your chest
Buildin’ like little birds
Just building up the nest
And you build it up strong
And you fill it up with love
And you pray for good rain
All from the lord above

A.E.I.O.U.
E.I.O.U.
A.E.I.

I sued my state of the art
Tech-nology
Now don’t you forget it
It ain’t using me
Cause when the power’s goes out
I got over me
Cause the power’s goin’ out
I think the power’s goin’ out
I mean it, the power’s goin’ out
I really mean it the powers goin’ out

Category

Music
License

Standard YouTube License

My Morning Jacket Rock Times Square at CBGB Festival

My Morning Jacket perform during CBGB Music & Film Festival at Times Square in New York City.. Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for CBGB

Via Rolling Stone

Giant, blinding billboards are formidable opponents when it comes to competing for the attention of an audience at a free concert. The CBGB Festival threw its lineup into the gauntlet in that regard, gathering My Morning Jacket, the Wallflowers, Lisa Loeb, Divine Fits, Grizzly Bear, James Murphy of LCD SoundSystem and others in the heart of Times Square for an afternoon that brought heartfelt acoustic musings, explosions of indie and arena-ready psych rock to Broadway. Despite the challenging setting and its unavoidable, LED-lit distractions, the talent overcame CBGB’s obstacles and did right by the festival’s rock institution of a namesake.

Lisa Loeb and My Morning Jacket made for some pretty paradoxical bookends, with Loeb strumming her way through “Stay” while recounting the song’s debut on the Reality Bites soundtrack and Jim James throwing a dishtowel on his head as he and the rest of My Morning Jacket whipped themselves into a frenzy of exquisite guitar solos. Illness prevented Jakob Dylan of the Wallflowers from hitting the high notes of “One Headlight,” but the Nineties radio staple plowed through a sunny set at high noon, setting an energetic standard for the day and stopping the pedestrian traffic of Times Square dead in its tracks with spirited renditions of Elvis Costello’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding” and “6th Avenue Heartache” bouncing off the billboards.

Grizzly Bear perform during CBGB Music & Film Festival at Times Square in New York City.
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for CBGB

In between the day’s coffeehouse-ready beginning and stadium-worthy end, Divine Fits and Grizzly Bear delivered the two most CBGB-worthy sets of the day: It was easy to picture Divine Fits’ (and Spoon’s) Britt Daniel and Grizzly Bear’s Ed Droste in the recesses of a rock club, though the North Stage of the festival, sidled up alongside the Ed Sullivan Theater, felt as natural an arena as any for their straightforward rock stylings and fuzzed-out, exploratory soundscapes, respectively. As the 2013 festival season nears its end, both Grizzly Bear and Divine Fits have hopscotched between the stages of the country’s biggest productions, and the two bands made for standout moments at CBGB just as they did at Bonnaroo and Outside Lands before them.

My Morning Jacket’s grand finale at CBGB was fortified by friends, as special guests hopped on and off the stage for the final moments of the festival. Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard and Antibalas collaborated with Jim James for the recently released tribute Fela Kuti compilation RED HOT + FELA, and their performance of “Trouble Sleep Yanga Wake Am” was as meditative and serene as it was explosive and untethered. Jakob Dylan then joined in for a take on “Don’t Do It” from The Last Waltz before My Morning Jacket wrapped up the festival with “One Big Holiday,” which relished in its might as a literal and figurative showstopper.

Though the performances were exceptional overall and the crowds flooded Broadway over the course of the festival’s final day in Times Square, the premise of the CBGB Festival is worth unpacking. As Lisa Loeb (good-naturedly) remarked two songs into her set, “It’s very strange to be playing a CBGB festival in Times Square. When I lived in New York City, those two things were . . . different.” The intense corporate backdrop provided by the glaring advertisements, the slightly disjointed lineup and enthusiastic (albeit partly unintentional) crowd hardly recalls the grit and earnest commitment to rock against the odds that CBGB embraced. At the end of the day, it was the music of those present that echoed long past the six blocks of Times Square taken over by CBGB, and one can only hope that the music – and not the publicity stunt of a free, sprawling event on the city’s most famous and infamous epicenter – remains the constant as the CBGB festival continues to grow.

Video: My Morning Jacket – Outta My System

Jim James, vocals, guitar – My Morning Jacket

Since their formation in 1998 Louisville, Kentucky’s My Morning Jacket have grown from being one of America’s most promising young bands to one of the world’s most beloved rock bands. From their debut full-length (1999’s The Tennessee Fire) through their Grammy-nominated fifth album (2008’s Evil Urges) the band has taken risks which each release, always choosing the musically adventurous path.

MMJ also have the rare quality of being as lauded for their studio albums as they are for their electrifying live shows. This reputation has led them to perform on shows like Saturday Night Live and The Tonight Show, as well as legendary venues such as Red Rocks & Madison Square Garden. My Morning Jacket’s eclectic reach and captivating shows have brought them to a wide array of festival stages ranging from Bonnaroo, Coachella, and the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival among many others.

In October of 2010, the band played a historic five-night run of shows at New York’s Terminal 5, each night playing one of their albums in its entirety. They have also been fortunate enough to perform with many iconic musicians over the years from the Boston Pops to the Preservation Hall Jazz Band and everywhere in between. MMJ are currently recording their sixth album in Louisville, due to be released in Spring 2011.

My Morning Jacket is:

Jim James (vocals, guitar)
Tom Blankenship (bass)
Patrick Hallahan (drums)
Bo Koster (keyboards)
Carl Broemel (guitar)