VIA PRESS RELEASE | Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), the leader in high-fidelity audio reissues, is proud to announce the first-ever audiophile edition of My Morning Jacket’s critically revered 2005 album, Z, available in two formats.
Ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time and by Pitchfork as one of the Top 200 Albums of the 2000s, Z arrives in two definitive formats. The UltraDisc One-Step 180g 45RPM 2LP Box Set is strictly limited to 2,500 numbered copies and features custom art developed in collaboration with the band. The numbered Hybrid SACD, also limited to 2,500 copies, is housed in mini-LP-style gatefold packaging. Both editions include the bonus track “Where to Begin.”
Both reissues are sourced from the original 1/2” / 15 IPS / Dolby SR analog master tapes, presenting John Leckie’s outstanding 2005 production with previously unheard openness and presence. By tamping down the group’s then-signature reverb, Leckie helped the ensemble (Jim James, Tom Blankenship, Patrick Hallahan, and then-newcomers Carl Broemel and Bo Koster) push beyond Southern-styled rock and rustic balladry of its earlier LPs into a realm of cosmic textures and organic warmth. These artistic shifts, captured over two decades ago, are now rendered with a transparency that allows the near-infinite tonality of the guitars and the subtle nuances of James’ falsetto to shine.
For the UltraDisc One-Step vinyl edition, the master tapes are transferred to DSD 256 to analog console to the lathe. This premium edition offers the ultimate listening experience, providing an ultra-low noise floor and expansive soundstages. This deluxe box set is housed in a slipcase with special foil-stamped jackets and includes two inserts devised by the group specifically for this release. Aurally and visually, this reissue is for listeners who want to engage in everything involved with the album, including Kathleen Lolley’s striking cover art.
Z testifies on behalf of the brilliance of the band and Leckie’s collaboration, with adventurous arrangements and forays into reggae, R&B, and soul-jazz taking listeners on wondrous journeys into outer galaxies. The burbling undercurrents and calming bass lines on the opening “Wordless Chorus” plunge you into the depths of a vast ocean, where Jim James’ rising “aaaah” releases give way to liberating “whooo” howls and a quick coda that nicks Elton John’s “Bennie and the Jets.”
As tour guides and groove sorcerers, James and friends don top hats and wave magic wands. Surrender to the teeter-totter variations of the sincere “It Beats 4 U,” complete with whistling from Andrew Bird, or shimmy and shake as “What a Wonderful Man” sparks with lightning-strike joy and dials up the crunch. “Off the Record” rejoices with hypnotic reggae riffs and springboard rhythms, while the miniature piano ballet of “Knot Comes Loose” is delivered in a hauntingly churchy voice. The building intensity of “Gideon” offers a final, enthusiastic instruction: “Listen, listen.” It is fantastic advice for an album that never repeats itself or grows stale.
