Secretly HQ, Bloomington, IN - January 1998
Photograph by Thomas Heath
Hey everyone,
We hope January has been treating you well so far.
Time then for another little look at some interesting discoveries past and present, and things we’ve found inhabiting our collective orbits recently; words to read, archive performances to delve into, new music we’ve been listening to, and more besides.
We hope you enjoy taking to some time out for this as much as we’ve enjoyed putting it all together.
Until next time,
S&D x
Recommended reading….
In case you haven’t checked it out just yet, here’s some recommended reading to start us off. Over on his excellent ‘Hell World’ series, Luke O’Neil has compiled an extraordinary tribute to Jason and his music, asking an impressive amount of fellow writers to pen a few words on their favourite Molina songs (along with contributing his own thoughts too).
A truly epic “Best Of” rundown, we absolutely loved spending some time reading this and appreciate the lengths Luke went to in pulling all of this together.
Read it here: https://www.welcometohellworld.com/almost-was-good-enough/
From the memory vaults….
There seems to be an incredible amount of great footage from various January shows Jason played over the years. We’ve compiled a small sample of it here - there’s plenty of these performances to get lost in including some entire shows which we’d recommend checking out if you’re able to take the time.
Thanks once again to Songs Ohia: Video Archive for all of the footage seen below.
January 17th, 2004 - Jason performs 'I Can Not Have Seen the Light' in Earlham, Richmond, IN
January 21st, 2000 - Jason at Second Story, Bloomington, IN
January 22nd, 2000 - Jason at Earlham Campus, Richmond, IN
January 27th, 2000 - Jason performs at Empty Bottle, Chicago, IL
January 30th, 1999 - 25 years ago this week, Jason performed at Bloomington CD Exchange, IN with Simon Joyner and The Mountain Goats
January release anniversaries…
January 17th - 24 years ago, January 17th 2000 saw the release of the Songs: Ohia classic ‘The Lioness’. Recorded at Chem19 Studios in Glasgow, Scotland, the album features contributions from Alasdair Roberts, Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffat and David Gow, as well as Songs: Ohia veterans Geof Comings and Jonathan Cargill.
Here’s ‘Being In Love’, a firm favourite from the record:
January 18th - 19 years ago in January 2005, Magnolia Electric Co. released the live album ‘Trials & Errors’ via Secretly Canadian. Recorded in April 2003 at Club Ancienne Belgique in Brussels, the album is technically the first in Jason’s catalogue released under the Magnolia Electric Co moniker, featuring Jason Groth, Pete Schreiner and Mike Kapinus.
Here’s a version of ‘Ring The Bell’ from that session:
January 20th - Finally, turning 20 years old this month, Jason’s sparse and beautiful ‘Pyramid Electric Co’ (released January 20th, 2004). With previous collaborator Mike Mogis back at the helm on production duties, the album comprises seven mostly-long tracks and in our opinion some of Jason’s finest lyrical work, including these lines in ‘Honey, Watch Your Ass’ which are a personal favourite:
“That must be her up there
Perfume and cigarette smoke in her wild hair
She smells a little like a train
Hauling lilacs through the rain”
Here’s penultimate track ‘Spectral Alphabet’, another highlight from the album:
Recommended listening….
Swimming Bell - Charlie
Citing Jason as a key influence while writing this album (alongside Jeff Tweedy and Gillian Welch), Swimming Bell (AKA Katie Schottland) has just released her sophomore LP ‘Charlie’ via Los Angeles label Permanent Records and it’s a real treat; a charming collection of songs reminiscent of mid-70s Laurel Canyon.
Having relocated to LA from Brooklyn in 2020, the album is emblematic of Schottland’s personal journey, discovering a new found sense of creative freedom that informs her new work throughout its duration.
Katie kindly sent over the following for us when asked about Jason’s influence on the record:
"Somehow, I missed some very important songwriters when I was growing up, Jason Molina being one of them. I'm not sure where I was or what I was doing to miss such an incredible songwriter, but I was first introduced to Molina's music by producer/songwriter Oli Deakin when we were mixing my first EP in 2018. I'm not sure how it came up, but he shared with me ‘Farewell Transmission’ and it hit hard. I began spending time with Songs: Ohia and Magnolia Electric Company, letting it all wash over me. It’s interesting when music can feel nostalgic and reminiscent of a time, even if you didn’t listen to it at that time. That’s how I felt about his music, it was immediately familiar and made sense to me. Honestly, I’m glad I heard it for the first time when I did, because I’m not sure I would’ve received it the same way back then. One of my favorite moments as a songwriter was when someone came up to me after one of my shows and said that the first song we played reminded me of a Jason Molina song. It was ‘I Believe in Us’ off the new record. I was floored because someone could actually pick up on his influence - that was a huge honor”.
Jason at Earlham College, Richmond IN - January 2000
Photograph by Thomas Heath