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April 18, 2005
magnolia electric co. :: what comes after the blues
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I'm going to have to stop trying to convince myself that this disc is better than it is, sit down, and write this post. In theory, What Comes After the Blues is a dream come true for Borrowed Tunes, offering a set of well-worked shamble-rock Neil Young-isms (circa Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere and Zuma) crossed with a bit of Fairport Convention-styled British Isles folk. No complaints about the aping of influences - I think the world would be a better place if there was more shameless Neil Young ripping going on. But in the end this very good disc falls just short of great.
It would make a brilliant EP, though. The core issue is length and concentration. The album storms out with 3 winners styled as lost classics. Then, in an honorable attempt to vary pace, it begins a gradual downward trajectory through two somewhat plodding but occasionally beautiful numbers, before grinding to a stop on 3 increasingly somnolent acoustic numbers. It's a short album (yes, I'm usually castigating artists for overlength), and by the end of it I feel like I've spent LP-sized energy trying to appreciate a less significant work. Here's a great 5-songer: take two of the first 3, then one of the slower electric numbers, then the best acoustic track, "Northstar Blues", and finish it out with the remaining one of the opening triad. That's the right size for it.
Still, this is probably my 2nd or third favorite Jason Molina work. He's also responsible for Songs : Ohia, under which name he released a bunch of dark, good acoustic records, and then confusingly an album of Neil-rock stuff called Magnolia Electric Co. - which was slightly better than this latest one using that album's title as a band name.
I like this review on a site I hadn't heard of before, Delusions of Adequacy. It takes the slight ambivalence I feel a bit further.
The top 20 is getting to be a much tougher ticket: this is the first record so far this year which I would recommend, but can't place above the current selection of 20.
Check out two of the 3 opening tunes courtesy of the label site - Secretly Canadian - and the best of the acoustic tracks.
The Dark Don't Hide It (mp3)
Leave The City (mp3)
Northstar Blues (mp3)
Posted by borrowed_tunes at April 18, 2005 08:22 PM
Comments
This is a great CD. Gave a full first pass this morning. I love that the second half is stripped down acoustic to balance the more rock first half.
(I like my rock, but the 2nd half is arguably the stronger part of the disc)I also thought this was going to be an overdose of Neil as an influence, but I hear a lot of Mark Kozelek from the Red House Painters in his voice/lyrical content too. Great tunes and some other flourishes make this a cool listen and a pleasant surprise.
Posted by: Drunk Uncle at April 19, 2005 09:13 AM
Kozelek is a great call - he is the original 90s indie Neil Young worshipper, and there is a ton of him on this disc.
Personally, I wish the acoustic stuff wasn't all in a row, and I could do without "Hammer Down" (as I could do without the last electric tune), but I do love "Northstar Blues".
Anyone who responds well to this stuff should hit the Songs:Ohia disc called Magnolia Electric Co. I really think it's a little more expansive and whole.
I also forgot to mention the live Magnolia Electric disc from earlier this year - Trials & Errors - which presents some of these tunes in a more jammy rock context, including actual segues into real Neil songs.
Posted by: borrowed tunes at April 19, 2005 09:41 AM
I think if I'm not mistaken a lot of this disc was recorded in 3 days or so with Steve Albini.
I'm not familiar with Molina's previous work, but what impressed me was how interesting and good this is as such a hurried work. I think going into the recording knowing that allowed me to give bonus points.
I'm curious to hear his other stuff now that you mention it.
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