Songs: Ohia - Magnolia Electric Company...any good? [EDIT: RIP Jason Molina -- March 2013]

i only own 'the lioness', which i think is brilliant. i want to get more s:o/molina stuff, but given his volume of releases and my lack of cash (can't find much via downloading and i'm happy to buy them), could someone please recommend where i should go next out of:

-Songs: Ohia
-Impala
-Axxess & Ace
-Ghost Tropic
-Didn't It Rain
-The Magnolia Electric Co

alhtough from what i gather from ben, maybe i already own his 'swansong'... and i know there's a pile of other EPs, split singles, etc - if one of those is absolutley essential, let me know too (i fear the answers to this are going to hurt my paycheque)

I got to see them again recently at VCU's annual free show for the students thing. Rock.

the new magnolia electric co. album josephine will be released by secretly canadian on july 21st, 2009. you can nab a free mp3 of the title track over in the media section. to support the record they’ll head out july 10th on a month long tour crossing the u.s followed by a few weeks of full-band touring in europe. see tour dates for all the details.

so Josephine has leaked, love Songs: Ohia stuff so looking forward to this!

At first listen the new one didn't do a lot for me. Subsequent listens have caused to start growing on me.

This is my #2 or #3 record so far this year, because I am boring.

i thought of 2Pac's Changes in that first song.

pretty good album, anyway.

i'm digging it as well but I, too, am boring.

any news on Jason Molina? The last news was well over a year ago when he cancelled a tour due to ill health.

Since then, nothing. Hope he's doing ok..

Anyone know what's up with him? After years of prolific writing and releasing, there's been nothing for nearly 18 months.

Probably should have revived this joint thread instead -- per the last post: sadly, Jason Molina has passed on

http://www.chunklet.com/index.cfm?section=blogs&ID=742

oh man

bummer, didn't really know the extent of his alcohol issues. RIP.

Yeah I heard he was ill but didn't know much about the details, RIP

omg :( so sad about this

yeah, really sad. became a big, big fan of his work in the mid to late 2000s and he felt like a huge part of my life at that time.

really super bummed about this. i was always hoping he'd come through his troubles in a better place and release lots more fantastic music. this is really sad.

no no no no no no
chunklet post has disappeared.
please let this not be true.

Henry had written that he died on Saturday from organ failure and that by the time the news reached him it had already been spreading slowly through their network of friends and associates. Pretty sure it's true, but he may be writing his eulogy a little differently.

Ah hell.

this is sad because he was talented and also sad because he was so human
RIP

Devastating. This guy wrote some of my favorite music

Damnit. He came through Charlottesville a lot during some formative years for me, and he was always really gracious and genuine. Played some damn great shows too. RIP.

A lovely song:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pz2nyOLVwg8

sad. glad i got to see him play once.

The detail about his not having health insurance and his family having to ask for donations towards medical bills really gets to me.

this is just too much for me. i was just listening to the magnolia electric co. demos on a drive in the rain last night. devastating news :/

Reposted: http://www.chunklet.com/index.cfm?section=blogs&ID=743

Knowing alcoholism was the cause is just so heavy.

Just...fuck. RIP.

This, from a little over a year ago, is some sad reading: http://www.chunklet.com/index.cfm?ID=707§ion=blogs

http://www.chunklet.com/index.cfm?ID=707

looks like he took the post down to add a live performance link

fuck, i knew when this thread had 23 new answers something bad had happened. Had no idea about his issues, seemed like a guy who could be prolific forever. RIP, will spin a couple of his records tonight

I know this is a somewhat petty request in light of the circumstances, but can the title of this thread be changed? Answer is and will always be yes.

Fuck. Thought about him just the other day, hoping it wouldn't end like this. RIP, good man. You fought.

"No Limits on the Words" hitting so hard right now.

Damn... This is so sad...

"We get no second chance in this life."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=paIV1hPihtE

Jason Molina wrote some of my all time favorite songs, and "Goodnight Lover," which would be one of my favorite songs if I could listen to it without crying. So so sad. Such a terrible way to die.

oh my god, this is terrible. I had no idea. does his family still need money?

heartbreaking. rest in peace jason

I don't know how I only ever saw Magnolia Electric Co. one time. I must've seen the side dudes' bands (Coke Dares, etc.) dozens of times in Bloomington during the early '00s. But I don't remember Molina being much of a presence at all during his time there.

i saw him... three times i think? once solo, opening for tindersticks, ca. 2000/2001.

thanks for posting that link to the Chicago Reader story.

I'm with La Lechera on this - tragic , desperate story.

Fucking alcohol. A marriage in the depths of hell.

Damn the no edit function.
JM really could express 'the darkness' through his music - as well as anyone

http://I.imgur.com/S9xCc20.jpg

:'-)

ah!

look at the dude in the background making the "slit my throat" gesture

whoa!

avon lake is super close to where i grew up

90s high school kids in ohio breaking my old heart this morning
my hs bff had a sweater just like hers and she gave it to me a long time ago and i still wear it

An unreleased track has been posted today, with notes from Alasdair Roberts, who participated.

http://secretlycanadian.com/blog/2015/01/listen-jason-molina-september-11-2001-featuring-will-oldham-alisdair-roberts/

Not many people saw The Circle, it got awful reviews, but I loved the book so I checked it out. "Farewell Transmission" is featured for exactly three seconds when Emma Watson's luddite ex-boyfriend pulls up to meet her on the side of the highway. Best moment in the movie.

So I came back to this song, which I only discovered after Molina died four years ago. I'm obsessed with it all over again, especially after finding out that it was done live in one take, and the final "LISTEN!" was improvised. Like that interview says above, it really is absolutely stunning, the whole piece. Talk about a masterpiece.

a book about molina is coming soon

https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781442268678/Jason-Molina-Riding-with-the-Ghost#

Erin Osmon presents a detailed, human account of the Rust Belt–born musician Jason Molina—a visionary, prolific, and at times cantankerous singer-songwriter with an autodidactic style that captivated his devoted fans. The songwriting giant behind the bands Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Co. had a knack for spinning tales, from the many personal myths he cultivated throughout his life to the poems and ballads he penned and performed. As with too many great musicians, Molina’s complicated relationship with the truth, combined with a secretive relationship with the bottle, ultimately claimed his life.

Jason Molina: Riding with the Ghost details Molina’s personal trials and triumphs and reveals for the first time the true story of Molina’s last months and works, including an unpublished album unknown to many of his fans. Offering unfettered access to the mind and artistry of Molina through exclusive interviews with family, friends, and collaborators, the book also explores the Midwest music underground and the development of Bloomington, Indiana–based label Secretly Canadian.

As the first authorized and detailed account of this prolific songwriter and self-mythologizer, Jason Molina provides readers with unparalleled insight into Molina’s tormented life and the fascinating Midwest musical underground that birthed him. It’s a story for the ages that speaks volumes to the triumphs and trials of the artistic spirit while exploring the meaningful music that Molina’s creative genius left behind

here is an excerpt:

http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1494-how-jason-molina-charmed-will-oldham-and-first-got-signed/

'farewell transmission' is definitely one of my favorite ever songs

likewise.

Jason lived with me the year after the period discussed in that excerpt, though most of those guys had graduated by then (Tom and Jeff were two years ahead of me) and I was with him when the guys from Secretly Canadian came to visit. I didn't really know him during that year, I just heard people talking about "Sparky" and somehow got it in my head they were talking about this guy Ebin who had a sparkly shirt. Definitely brought some stuff back, he was certainly some kind of pathological liar. Would just tell these stories and you'd look at him thinking "that's probably not true" but it was a good story so you just went along with it.

Echoing the Farewell Transmission love--a harrowing track that I wish were 30 minutes long

the song + the performance is just a staggering achievement

and all the players are so good! god, to be in that room, watching, listening, participating, all while it builds... what do you say when that's done?

I recently rediscovered my love for that song when I tried to play it and I could. I was surprised! It sounds like a song that has always existed and just happened to pop out when those people were planted in that room (even though I know that's not how it works).

i would love a neil young/crazy horse 25min cover of it

great tune and that whole album has an amazing vibe

A couple of my friends/neighbors were in that band, and it sounds like Erin (a former editor of mine) did a good job with this thing, looking forward to it.

If anyone wants to play an endless jam of this song I'm in!

The bonus track on the new Mark Eitzel album is dedicated to Jason Molina, and is absolutely gorgeous.

New Arriver album, awesome metal band featuring three members of the Mag. Elec. Co. band:

https://arriver.bandcamp.com

here comes midnight
with the dead moon in its jaws

I only just realised that Steve Albini recorded The Magnolia Electric Co. after he got referenced in the title of 'Steve Albini's Blues' on Didn't It Rain.. wonder if that shout out tipped it

Ha. I thought this post was to promote the new release

https://songsohia.bandcamp.com/

The first — and likely the best — love songs album of the new millennium now expanded into a 2xLP compendium. Featuring:
• An entire album of never-before-heard recordings from The Lioness sessions
• 16-page booklet with photos and meditations by Jason’s family, collaborators
• Packaged in deluxe tip-on gatefold jackets
• Replications of ephemera from Jason’s life from the time of recording, including: a two-sided postcard, a check for “one million kisses,” a two of hearts playing card, a handwritten letter in an envelope, a guitar pick, and a photograph of Jason and his wife-to-be

1. 'Love & Work: The Lioness Sessions' on limited edition translucent purple vinyl
2. Limited edition 2-sided tote bag 

The Lioness expanded reissue

Excited for this, but not sure whether to jump on the pre-order from the US or hold off for UK - with shipping and likely taxes it’s going to end up around the £50 mark.

I may just get the digital version

Reading some great reviews of this. A pity it's not available on CD

Seven years already. This was a tough loss.

If the blues are you hunter
Then you will come face to face
With that darkness and desolation
And the endless depression
But you are not helpless
And you are not helpless
Try to beat it

I mourn the loss regularly.

Posthumous album of solo songs recorded in 2008 due in August, Eight Gates. Sounds like mostly solo acoustic songs mixed with field recordings from his time in London. Torn between really wanting to hear anything new from Molina and wondering if he wanted this stuff released...

https://secretlycanadian.com/record/eight-gates/

Eight Gates:

01 Whisper Away
02 Shadow Answers the Wall
03 The Mission’s End
04 Old Worry
05 She Says
06 Fire on the Rail
07 Be Told the Truth
08 Thistle Blue
09 The Crossroad + The Emptiness

The track thus far released is really doing it for me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZLrnk0h8nE

Torn between really wanting to hear anything new from Molina and wondering if he wanted this stuff released...

I'm very ambivalent about this as well but this track is really nice.

I'm on a Molina binge rn and was thinking about whether I should get this.

I'd say that if you've got any interest at all in JM then you should definitely get it.

"New Arriver album, awesome metal band featuring three members of the Mag. Elec. Co. band:

https://arriver.bandcamp.com

― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 10 May 2017 16:34 (three years ago) bookmarkflaglink"

Josh (or anyone) - this record is amazing. How did you find out that some of the ME Co. folk were involved? I've done some cursory searching but can't find anything.

Better searching reveals " Rob and Dan Sullivan on bass and guitar/vocals paid their dues in the late Jason Molina’s indie/alt. country outfit Songs: Ohia, even playing on the now-classic Magnolia Electric Co., which also featured McAdam."

https://ninecircles.co/2016/11/29/album-review-arriver-emeritus/

Rob and Dan Macadam both went to Oberlin with us. Dan runs the amazing Crosshair silkscreen company.

Dan M. is an old friend and neighbor (two blocks away) married to another old friend of mine from college. Coincidentally, Rob and Dan Sullivan are old friends of *another* really old college friend of mine, who also knew them from Maine (!). Dan S. btw is an incredible woodworker: http://www.navilluswoodworks.com Adding to the mix, Jeff, who played drums in the The Magnolia Electric Co. band, is married to a *different* old friend of mine.

This Arriver album is great, thanks

I am super curious to hear Eight Gates, but I can't bring myself to do it just yet. As I mentioned earlier, I really struggle with the thought of him not wanting this stuff out there in this form.

I bought Eight Gates, on my third trip to the record shop. I had to, somehow. But I've yet to play it...

Just discovered Eight Gates and was unnerved by that snippit at the start of "She Says" where they have Molina on tape saying "the perfect take is--just as long as the person singing is still alive..."

10 years gone.

actually can't believe i'd written the man off as a palace copycat years ago. i listened hard this year and he's a completely different kind of writer. knowing so many of the songs were knocked out with one take is just phenomenal. as my mate put it: "never has someone made so much meaning out of such a minimal vocabulary". reading his biography rn...