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

Seriously? There is no way I could listen to any of this stuff right now. NO WAY. It's just too much to think of a person, much less a person who lived where I lived and grew up when and where I grew up, dying in this way. Listening to him self-eulogize is way too much. I should unbookmark this.

yeah i get that, but i've been listening to him a lot for the past two days. it's a little rough but the best way i can think of to remember him.

yeah i find it empowering hearing someone make beautiful songs out of that pain. his way of owning it i guess.

His entire back catalog is up for streaming for a short time

http://live.magnoliaelectricco.com/

tim midgett from silkworm/bottomless pit from EA boards:

We were at Electrical with Greg on Sunday when the call came in that Jason was dead.

He felt things deeply.

Bottomless Pit's first trips out east/west were due 100% to Mags taking us along for the ride. They wanted someone to do about a month of shows all told, as I recall.

We were, like, uh, how about if we cherry-pick the best three or four shows on each coast and you pay us like we're bringing an extra 100 people in, instead of the 30 we really know we're doing? And they went for it.

Our collective wounds were still fresh in the wake of Michael's death. We were still finding our sea legs, to say the least. It hurt to play.

We took to all of those guys instantly. They made us feel so completely welcome and at home. It was a very soft landing and a great way to get moving. I would have loved to have done more shows with them.

JMo was a hugely enthusiastic, lovable man. He was an unreconstructed weirdo. He was hilarious. Even when he was being a cranky bitch he was pretty funny. I saw him too drunk a couple of times. It was uncomfortable, and I know I didn't see him at his worst.

If that phone call had been "Molina is in town and not uncomfortably drunk" instead of "Molina is dead," we would have dropped everything and spent yesterday evening hanging out. We would have rather done that than made a record.

Dude slept, sweat, and bled music. I would call his obsession with his art pathological, but he had genuine pathologies and now is not the time to be glib.

He was a great writer. He was a great singer.

He didn't know when to quit in either art or life. Couldn't quit, more like it. But I'm not so sure music didn't rescue him and keep him afloat longer than he would have been without it.

I've missed him for a while, now with the unmistakeable extra knife-twist of finality.

Be good to each other. You never know, for better or worse, you never know.

I had no idea farewell transmission was this serendipitous

JM: “Farewell Transmission” must be one of the most heroic recording moments of all time, because I called in people that were not already scheduled to be in the band and I was like, “Oh, now we’re going to have a violin player, and we’re going to have an extra singer.” I called out all of these things, much like a conductor does – and trust me, I’m not a conductor. I’m the break man. I will not fuck you up if I am the break man, I just don’t want to move anymore.
We put, I think, about 12 people in a room and recorded that song live, completely live, and unrehearsed. I showed ‘em the chord progression, they had no idea when it would end, and we just cut it.
Steve (Albini) did a beautiful job. I noticed that at one point when it was a little too loud or a little too soft he came and opened a door to make it work, because it was just an ambient recording. When you hear that song kick off everybody knows it, and what’s so disturbing to me is the way that I ended it is I was dictating to the band and Steve—I go “Listen. Listen. Listen.” And then at one point they all stop. It’s great.

JT: I can’t even believe that was done live and improvised. That is absolutely stunning.

JM: I got all my favorite friends from Chicago, and my favorite, good musicians and we just did this record, and it has lasted. It’s got weight, I’m talking 500 pound weight; something you ain’t going to be able to lift too easy. You have to understand we’re working on a string, and Steve is throwing us a bone, giving us the studio and everything, and we are terrified about how expensive it is and he just went the extra mile. That’s the way it works and that’s where I come from. You get the job fucking done.

http://www.thefastertimes.com/music/2011/06/22/music-as-seance-jason-molina-in-conversation-with-justin-taylor-pt-ii/

That's incredible.

wow

Yeah seriously that story is unreal. I read somewhere else at some point in the past, that pretty much the whole record was done this way in one form or another.
Regardless, its a perfect album for me and was pretty much the sound track to my life for a year or two.

blue factory flame

damn

OTM.

probably my single favourite molina song..

I had no idea farewell transmission was this serendipitous

JM: “Farewell Transmission” must be one of the most heroic recording moments of all time, because I called in people that were not already scheduled to be in the band and I was like, “Oh, now we’re going to have a violin player, and we’re going to have an extra singer.” I called out all of these things, much like a conductor does – and trust me, I’m not a conductor. I’m the break man. I will not fuck you up if I am the break man, I just don’t want to move anymore.
We put, I think, about 12 people in a room and recorded that song live, completely live, and unrehearsed. I showed ‘em the chord progression, they had no idea when it would end, and we just cut it.
Steve (Albini) did a beautiful job. I noticed that at one point when it was a little too loud or a little too soft he came and opened a door to make it work, because it was just an ambient recording. When you hear that song kick off everybody knows it, and what’s so disturbing to me is the way that I ended it is I was dictating to the band and Steve—I go “Listen. Listen. Listen.” And then at one point they all stop. It’s great.

JT: I can’t even believe that was done live and improvised. That is absolutely stunning.

JM: I got all my favorite friends from Chicago, and my favorite, good musicians and we just did this record, and it has lasted. It’s got weight, I’m talking 500 pound weight; something you ain’t going to be able to lift too easy. You have to understand we’re working on a string, and Steve is throwing us a bone, giving us the studio and everything, and we are terrified about how expensive it is and he just went the extra mile. That’s the way it works and that’s where I come from. You get the job fucking done.

http://www.thefastertimes.com/music/2011/06/22/music-as-seance-jason-molina-in-conversation-with-justin-taylor-pt-ii/

― anonanon, Wednesday, March 20, 2013 8:59 PM (2 days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

holy shit

i just put some magnolia electric co by accident, did some googling and only now finding out he passed. good lord.

Just sent from Secretly Canadian:

We are proud to announce the 15th Anniversary reissue of a Songs: Ohia classic, the Hecla & Griper EP, now appearing for the first time on vinyl with previously unreleased bonus material. The special reissue is one of several projects Secretly Canadian was working with Jason Molina prior to his passing in March.

After spending the summer of 1997 on the road, Jason Molina and Co. headed into Bloomington, Ind. studio The Grotto with producer Dan Burton and layed down these eight songs. Odes to love of loss and reggae friends. If you have ever found the other pillow empty in the morning, this is what you need to dry your tears. It also features a Conway Twitty cover.

This vinyl reissue contains two previously unreleased Songs: Ohia tracks ("Debts" and "Pilot & Friend") and alternative versions of two songs that would later appear on Songs: Ohia's Impala ("Hearts Newly Arrived (Hecla Session)" and "One of Those Uncertain Hands (Hecla Session)".

The vinyl EP will be out tomorrow, April 30, in stores and is available online at SC Distribution.

A memorial concert for Jason Molina is planned for Saturday, May 11th, at The Bluebird Nightclub in Bloomington, IN. Admission is a $5 donation. Bands performing include Songs: Ohia (members from all over the country and all eras performing songs specific to the eras in which they recorded with Jason), Magnolia Electric Co (with special guest singers and musicians), Oneida, and The Coke Dares.

Special Guest Include (in no particular order):
Swearing at Motorists
Jennie Benford
Mike Brenner
Andy Cohen of Bottomless Pit/Silkworm
Tim Midget of Bottomless Pit/Silkworm
David Vandervelde
Members of Golden Boots
Lawrence Peters
Elephant Micah
Chris Kupersmith
Many more!

Benefit compilation now available:

http://songsmolina.bandcamp.com/album/songs-molina-a-benefit-compilation-for-jason-molinas-survivors

"sometimes i can't stop" by mark kozelek/desertshore is a really nice tribute

This bootleg is hitting the spot today: https://archive.org/details/meco2003-03-23.sbd.flac16

Heavy & raw & on the distorted-electric/Crazy Horse-side of things.

Also, 10th anniversary edition of Magnolia Electric Co.; with a bunch of great demos: http://secretlycanadian.com/blog/2013/10/album-announce-songs-ohia-magnolia-electric-co-10-year-anniversary-deluxe-edition-out-november-12th-2013/

'Hold on Magnolia' still makes me almost tear up.. So sad the way he went.

yea that song is brutal. i always want to start a thread asking for songs in the vein of "hold on magnolia," dylan's "standing in the doorway" and bill callahan's "riding for the feeling." something kind of heartwrenching and twangy in all these

See: Chris Darrow's "Keep On Trying" - always thought it would have been a great song for Molina to cover.

Start the thread!

Really detailed profoundly sad story of Jason Molina's long road
recommended

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/jason-molina-songs-ohia-magnolia-electric-co-secretly-canadian/Content?oid=15163643

i liked that article but i still think it indulges in some romantic mystification of alcoholism

also i guess molina was living a few blocks from me in the early 2000s? i didn't know.

i don't think it sounds romantic at all

i dunno just all the mentions of "darkness" etc

alcoholism is a chemical dependency...

addiction is more complex than chemical dependency

yeah but it's not just about "the darkness that lurks w/in" or w/ever. i guess i just get irritated by cliches like that.

There are lovely extended tributes to JM on the latest Rivulets and Strand of Oaks records.

jesus, sounds like if he had been able to continue addiction treatment we might be having a different conversation about him right now.

I posted above about a memory of the Secretly Canadian guys coming to Oberlin to meet Jason after the Palace record came out, but maybe that was after meeting him in NY?

I don't know if this link will work, but this is the poster we made for one of his shows:

http://instagram.com/p/rBJ_UStkxj

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).