Transmissions From The Molinaverse - December 5th
A regular update on all things JM
Jason in Aarhus, Denmark 2007.
Photograph by Jean-Marc Luneau
Hey everyone,
Hope you’re all keeping well out there, wherever you happen to be in the world.
By our count, it’s time for another round up of some particular highlights and moments that have caught our attention here recently as we head into holiday season and quickly begin approaching the end of 2023. As is customary for this time of year, we find ourselves in a reflective mood; looking back at fondly-remembered live show memories, intriguing artefacts from the archives, beloved album anniversaries, and more.
Looking ahead, meanwhile…
In other news, we’re currently busy exploring a number of new ideas and working on some exciting plans with guest collaborators that will be revealed in the coming weeks and months, so stay tuned for all of those.
As always, we’d like to say a huge thank you for taking the time to read and subscribe.
All the best,
S&D x
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From the archives…
From the archives: illustrated ‘Lioness’ lyric sheet by William Schaff.
Looking back through our archives recently, we rediscovered this rather beautiful piece by William Schaff, whose incredible artwork is of course closely linked with Jason’s output over the years.
A few years back we asked William about the backstory of this piece, to which he responded with the following:
“I am a big fan of the old sheet music sheets printed up and sold at the end of the 19th century, and early 20th century. The imagery attached to these notes and lyrics brought such a beauty, and reflection of the importance of it all. I wanted to do something like that myself, but with songs I love. I had asked Ben and Chris Swanson what their favorite Jason songs were, and made sheets for those songs, as a thank you gift for all the kindness they had showed me all these years. Lioness was made specifically for Chris.”
From the memory vaults: Live at ACME Comics, Columbia SC 2006
Hand in hand the full moon went walking
With blue eyes without me
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Around this time of year, we always find ourselves returning to this particular live recording of Jason performing an intimate solo show at ACME Comics in Columbia, South Carolina. Recorded on December 3rd, 2006, you can find the entire set on Youtube here courtesy of Tweedybootlicker, which includes some beautiful versions of Molina classics including ‘Hold On, Magnolia’, ‘Just Be Simple’ and ‘Riding With The Ghost’. But for now, here’s a personal highlight: this stunning rendition of ‘Bowery’.
November release anniversaries…
It’s been a busy month for Molina-related release anniversaries so as we head into December we thought we’d do a little November recap….
November 2nd - 14 years ago, November 2009 saw the release of Jason Molina and Will Johnson's excellent collaborative effort ‘Molina & Johnson’. Here’s ‘Twenty Cycles To The Ground’, the album opener and a real highlight from the record.
November 2nd - Five years ago in November 2018, a special ‘The Gray Tower / Ring The Bell’ 7” arrived courtesy of Goshen Electric Co.; the result of Strand of Oaks’ Timothy Showalter joining members of Magnolia Electric Co. in the studio to record two deep Molina cuts.
November 13th - 23 years ago in 2000, the Songs: Ohia classic ‘Ghost Tropic’ was released via Secretly Canadian. Produced by Mike Mogis at Dead Space Recording Studio in Lincoln, Nebraska, this sparse and evocatively atmospheric recording occupies a truly unique place in Jason’s prolific back catalogue. In our ongoing series digging through and sharing demos from The Lamb & Flag Tapes, one compelling aspect of the whole process has been having the opportunity able to hear some very early versions of songs that would later appear on ‘Ghost Tropic’. It’s been a real privilege; a fascinating insight into Jason’s working methods and the magic of crafting these songs, for sure.
November 23rd - Five years ago, November 2018 saw the release of ‘Love & Work: ‘The Lioness Sessions’. A reissue of Songs: Ohia’s remarkable album ‘The Lioness’, the collection features previously unreleased songs, lost photos, drawings and essays from the time of recording.
From the socials….
Finally, here’s a little selection of some things we’ve been enjoying stumbling across on social media of late.
John Moreland covers ‘Didn’t It Rain’
“Little bit of Molina for you. Songs Ohia - Didn’t It Rain”.
This incredible portrait of Jason
Shared by Layla Thurmond.
This stunning MECo owl tattoo
“I could not be more thrilled with my new piece from Max Harley Taylor of the incredible album artwork from the late Jason Molina. This album means a *great* deal to me and I've been wanting this artwork tattooed on me for a long time, and Max's line-work was perfect and his interpretation of William Schaff's Magnolia Electric Co owl is just perfect.”
This early tape demo of Songs: Ohia recordings
“I picked up a cassette deck at a thrift store, so I'm going through some old cassettes. I have this one of early Songs: Ohia recordings. I haven't listened to this tape in decades, and there are a few songs I don't remember. Jason sounds so young.”
... this is Jason at the Voxhall, Aarhus, Denmark, February 2007 ...