''The Magnolia Electric Co.'' is the seventh and final album by Songs: Ohia. It was recorded by

Steve Albini Steve Albini (pronounced ; born July 22, 1962) is an American musician, record producer, audio engineer and music journalist. He was a member of Big Black, Rapeman and Flour, and is a member of Shellac. He is the founder, owner and principal ...

Electrical Audio Electrical Audio is a recording facility founded in Chicago, Illinois by musician and recording engineer Steve Albini in 1997. Hundreds of independent music projects have been recorded there. Unlike most producers, Albini refuses to take any royal ...

in Chicago and released by

Secretly Canadian Secretly Canadian is an American independent record label based in Bloomington, Indiana, with offices in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Austin, London, Paris, Amsterdam, and Berlin. Secretly Canadian is a label included in Secretly Group, which ...

on March 4, 2003. The naming of the album and comments by

Jason Molina Jason Andrew Molina (December 30, 1973 – March 16, 2013) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Raised in northern Ohio, he came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of ...

have led to discussions whether it is not simultaneously, in fact, the debut album by Molina's new band, also named

Magnolia Electric Co Jason Andrew Molina (December 30, 1973 – March 16, 2013) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Raised in northern Ohio, he came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of ...

. The artwork for the album does not contain the name Songs: Ohia anywhere, though the center label of the vinyl record does say "Songs: Ohia." On the other hand, the album was recorded with different musicians than the later members of Magnolia Electric Co., and the decision to take on the new name was not announced until the tour following the release in the spring of 2003. Molina later declared ''

Didn't It Rain "Didn't It Rain", sometimes given as "Oh, Didn't It Rain", is a spiritual about Noah's flood. In 1919 it appeared as sheet music in an arrangement for voice and piano by Henry Thacker Burleigh (1866–1949). Modern versions * The Galilee Sing ...

'' to be the final Songs: Ohia album.

Composition

''Magnolia'' digs into

alt-country Alternative country, or alternative country rock (sometimes alt-country, insurgent country, Americana, or y'allternative), is a loosely defined subgenre of country music and/or country rock that includes acts that differ significantly in style ...

and "red-blood, full-throated" country rock, as well as seeing the band draw from both “orthodox”

Americana Americana may refer to: *Americana (music), a genre or style of American music *Americana (culture), artifacts of the culture of the United States Film, radio and television * ''Americana'' (1992 TV series), a documentary series presented by J ...

and “otherworldly atmosphere”. It also works in

roots rock Roots rock is a genre of rock music that looks back to rock's origins in folk, blues and country music. It is particularly associated with the creation of hybrid subgenres from the later 1960s, including blues rock, country rock, Southern rock, ...

, while the arrangements and songwriting echo

70s Ribosomes ( ) are macromolecular machines, found within all cells, that perform biological protein synthesis (mRNA translation). Ribosomes link amino acids together in the order specified by the codons of messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules to for ...

outlaw country.

Track listing

;Original release All songs written by Jason Molina. # "Farewell Transmission" – 7:22 # "I've Been Riding with the Ghost" – 3:20 # "Just Be Simple" – 4:20 # "Almost Was Good Enough" – 4:28 # "The Old Black Hen" – 5:48 # "Peoria Lunch Box Blues" – 5:48 # "John Henry Split My Heart" – 6:09 # "Hold on Magnolia" – 7:51 The Japanese edition contains an additional track, "The Big Game Is Every Night". The first U.S. edition contained a bonus disk of demo recordings by Jason Molina. ;Deluxe edition reissue, November 2013 ;;LP 1 (The Magnolia Electric Co.) # "Farewell Transmission" # "I've Been Riding With the Ghost" # "Just Be Simple" # "Almost Was Good Enough" # "The Old Black Hen" # "Peoria Lunch Box Blues" # "John Henry Split My Heart" # "Hold On Magnolia" ;;LP 2 (Jason Molina's demos for The Magnolia Electric Co.) # "Farewell Transmission" (Demo) # "I've Been Riding With the Ghost" (Demo) # "Just Be Simple" (Demo) # "The Old Black Hen" (Demo) # "Peoria Lunch Box Blues" (Demo) # "John Henry Split My Heart" (Demo) # "Hold On Magnolia" (Demo) # "The Big Game Is Every Night" (Demo) # "Whip Poor Will" (Demo) ;10″ (Studio Outtakes) *A – "The Big Game Is Every Night" *B – "Whip Poor Will" The 10” was only available with the first 3,000 copies of the 2xLP. Both tracks are included at the end of first CD on the 2xCD edition.

Recording information

– voice, guitar * Jennie Benford – voice, mandolin * Mike Brenner – lapsteel * "Three Nickel" Jim Grabowski – piano, organ,

wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

* Dan Macadam – guitar, voice, violin * Jeff Panall – drums * Lawrence Peters – voice (on "The Old Black Hen") *

Scout Niblett Emma Louise Niblett (born 29 September 1973), better known by the stage name Scout Niblett, is an English singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. Niblett debuted in 2001 with her first full-length studio album '' Sweet Heart Fever'', and ...

– voice (on "Peoria Lunchbox Blues") * Dan Sullivan – guitar * Rob Sullivan – bass * Songs by Jason Molina * Recorded by Steve Albini

References

External links

Secretly Canadian press release

Reviews at metacritic.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Magnolia Electric Co 2003 albums Jason Molina albums Secretly Canadian albums Albums produced by Steve Albini