Jason Molina

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Jason Molina
Songs: Ohia
Magnolia Electric Co.
Magnolia Electric Co. in Stockholm 2005; Jason Molina to the left
Magnolia Electric Co. in Stockholm 2005; Jason Molina to the left
Background information
Origin United States
Genre(s) Indie Rock
Alt-Country
Lo-fi
Label(s) Secretly Canadian
Website songsohia.com
Members
Jason Molina
Jason Groth
Michael Kapinus
Mark Rice
Pete Schreiner

Jason Molina is an American singer-songwriter, originally from Lorain, Ohio. He first came to prominence performing and recording under the name Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of musicians. Since 2003, Molina has recorded either under his own name or, with a stable line-up of band members, as the Magnolia Electric Co.

Contents

[edit] Biography

Molina was born in Lorain, Ohio and went to Oberlin College. After playing bass guitar in various heavy metal bands in and around Cleveland, Molina made the decision to become a solo artist under an assumed band name, recruiting other musicians for each individual project as needed. He made several home recordings under various names, including Songs: Albian, Songs: Radix, and Songs: Unitas, which he distributed himself at live performances.

[edit] Songs: Ohia (1996-2003)

Songs: Ohia was largely a project of revolving musicians with singer-songwriter Jason Molina as its center and sole stable member. Critics and fans alike have found considerable difficulty in trying to define the band's changing sound, usually settling on more general labels such as indie rock, lo-fi, folk or alt-country. The second part of the name is an allusion to both the Hawaiian tree ‘Ōhi‘a lehua and Molina's home state Ohio.

Molina's first release under the Songs: Ohia moniker came in 1996 as a single on Palace Records, Nor Cease Thou Never Now. This was followed by the 1997 full-length album Songs: Ohia (known among fans as the Black Album), released on the Bloomington, Indiana-based label Secretly Canadian, the label on which Molina has remained since.

In 2000 Molina released three albums: The Lioness which was recorded in Glasgow with help from Alasdair Roberts and members of Arab Strap, Ghost Tropic, recorded by Mike Mogis, and Protection Spells, a solo album which was sold at live shows and is now out of print. Also by 2000, Molina had given his baritone guitar a rest in favor of a regular six-string electric guitar and put together a full band to back him, including brothers Dan and Rob Sullivan on guitar and bass, Jeff Panall on drums, and Jim Grabowski on organ. In the same year the touring band also recorded a live album near Modena which was released locally in 2001 under the Italian title Mi Sei Apparso Come Un Fantasma ("You came to me as a ghost").

In 2002's Molina recorded Didn't It Rain in Philadelphia with members of Bluegrass band Jim & Jennie & the Pinetops. On the album, named after a Mahalia Jackson song, the band achieved an almost gospel sound that was a vast departure from the dense feel of Ghost Tropic. Constantly recording and writing new songs, Songs: Ohia released a handful of singles and EPs in 2002, including a split EP with My Morning Jacket and a collaborative EP (under the name Amalgamated Sons of Rest) with Will Oldham and Alasdair Roberts.

The release of Magnolia Electric Co. in 2003 marked a shift in direction for Songs: Ohia. Several major differences set this album apart from previous Songs: Ohia releases. Firstly, the album, recorded with renowned engineer Steve Albini, is the most driving and straightforward rock album in the Songs: Ohia catalogue. Every song was recorded live in the studio with a full touring band plus musicians from Didn't it Rain. The album's sound draws heavily from the heartland rock and folk-rock of the 1960s and 70s, as well as, to some degree, Molina's heavy metal roots (British metal pioneers Black Sabbath are often cited as one of Jason Molina's influences). For the first time, Magnolia Electric Co. sees Molina relinquishing vocal duties on two of the eight tracks: local country singer Lawrence Peters lends his voice to "The Old Black Hen", while fellow Secretly Canadian artist Scout Niblett takes over on "Peoria Lunch Box Blues" (both songs were written by Molina).

[edit] Magnolia Electric Co. (since 2003)

In March 2003, while on tour, Jason Molina announced that he would rename the band Magnolia Electric Co.. This new incarnation of the band would retain many of the original players and the stylistic direction of the album of the same name. Jason Molina would also continue to release solo work, but this time under his own name. The first such release came in January of 2004, as the full length vinyl release Pyramid Electric Co.. While Magnolia Electric Co. and Pyramid Electric Co. were originally intended as a double album, the latter seems to be the stylistic polar opposite of the former. Engineered by Mike Mogis, who also engineered Ghost Tropic, Pyramid finds Jason Molina alone at the microphone with only his voice, a piano or a guitar. Magnolia Electric Co.'s first official release was a live album called Trials and Errors, followed by a studio album titled What Comes After The Blues and an EP, Hard To Love a Man, all three released in 2005. In 2006, Molina released two more records: the sparse solo Let Me Go, Let Me Go, Let Me Go and the more conventional Fading Trails with Magnolia Electric Co., the latter culled from three separate sessions over the past year.

It is not entirely clear when Songs: Ohia became Magnolia Electric Co. In interviews, Jason Molina has claimed that he considered the tenure of Songs: Ohia over after Didn't It Rain,[1] which would make Magnolia Electric Co. the eponymous debut album of the new band. In fact the name Songs: Ohia appears nowhere on the artwork of album and only a promotional sticker on the cellophane wrapping connects it with the prior band name. Nevertheless, Secretly Canadian still promotes the album under the Songs: Ohia moniker. On the other hand, the Magnolia Electric Co. live album Trials and Errors was recorded on April 16, 2003 at the Ancienne Belgique club in Brussels, at a time when the band was still touring under the Songs: Ohia name. Pitchfork Media later reported that name change would be made official after the Spain tour in October 2003,[2] although by now it seems the label espouses a name change around July 2003.

Though officially Songs: Ohia no longer records or performs, and projects have been either marketed as Magnolia Electric Co. or Jason Molina's solo work, most fans still use the name Songs: Ohia to refer to all projects collectively.

[edit] Discography

See also Jason Molina discography

[edit] Songs: Ohia

Albums:

EPs:

  • 1997 Hecla & Griper
  • 1998 Our Golden Ratio
  • 2001 Howler
  • 2001 Travels in Constants

Singles:

  • 1996 Nor Cease Thou Never Now (Palace Records)
  • 1996 One Pronunciation of Glory
  • 1999 Untitled (Western Vinyl)
  • 2002 "The Gray Tower" / "Black Link to Fire Link"
  • 2002 "Keep It Steady" / "United or Lost Alone"
  • 2004 "No Moon on the Water"/"In the Human World" (Chunklet)

[edit] Jason Molina

Albums:

[edit] Magnolia Electric Co.

Albums:

EPs:

  • 2005 Hard to Love a Man

[edit] Collaborations

EPs:

Singles:

  • 1998 "Nay, Tis Not Death" (Alternate) on split 7" with Appendix Out (Liquefaction Empire)
  • 1999 "Journey On" on split 7" with Oneida (Jagjaguwar)
  • 1999 "How to Be Perfect Men" on split 7" with Rex (Temporary Residence)
  • 2000 7" single with Alasdair Roberts
  • 2000 "Fade St." on split 7" with Glen Hansard (Road Relish)
  • 2001 "Lioness" (Version) on split 7" with Scout Niblett

[edit] External links

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