What Comes After the Blues

Magnolia Electric Co. | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 5, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Secretly Canadian
• ASIN: B0007UDC8U
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #174,070 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Here's what's confusing: Jason Molina, main guy behind Magnolia Electric Co., was, in a previous incarnation, Songs: Ohia, which put out the widely praised 2003 disc Magnolia Electric Co . Regardless of what handle he's recording under, though—and there have been many—Molina's sound maintains a certain earthy, tumbleweeds-and-troubled-times integrity that doesn't appear to be winding its way toward beach blankets and sunny skies. On What Comes After the Blues, as on other efforts, there is a certain Neil Youngishness to the music that can't be ignored (dig into reading material on Molina and you quickly get the sense he'd prefer that it be ignored). But that's to its advantage. Where the late-90s indie rock brigade bulldozed their own mud-caked interpretations of Harvest-era folk into the ground, opening the door for the resurgence of retooled 80s pop, Molina's rotgut-steeped rock betrays a haunting! authenticity that won't soon lose its flavor. The gratifying opening guitar storm of first track "The Dark Don't Hide It," in fact, could fuel a real-rock turnabout on its own. --Tammy La Gorce

Product Description

With 'What Comes After the Blues,' we enter a new era with Jason Molina. After seven full-length studio albums in as many years – each recorded using a revolving cast of players under the name Songs: Ohia – Molina has retired the name as well as his wayward days and settled in with a new, consistent cast of players. He has named this group Magnolia Electric Co., after his final Songs: Ohia album. Why now? Surely moving to Southern Indiana and finding a once-in-a-career band consisting of Pete Schreiner, Jason Groth, Mark Rice and Mike Kapinus had something to do with it.

Sonically, this isn’t a huge departure from where Songs: Ohia was headed these past few years. The steel howls hauntedly, the guitars soar and crunch with verve, and the songs resonate with timelessness. Steve Albini’s live-in-a-room, captured-as-it-was-played engineering technique is still a crucial player. Where we find the marked difference is in their confidence, as afforded by experience and trust in one another. These guys are talented, hardworking, and actually enjoy playing with one another – and you can hear it in their songs. As on the limited edition live album Trials & Errors, Magnolia Electric Co. know exactly what they are shooting for and hit it dead center with every attempt. This is not indie rock anymore. Magnolia Electric Co. have made a no-bullshit album that is both rocking and full of life…a fist-pumper that manages to hit great depths of beauty.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One for the road, May 13, 2007

By 

Buffalohump77 (Heart of Darkness) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Comes After the Blues (Audio CD)

One thing that annoys me a bit about being a 30-something is how much great music I missed in the 60s and early 70s. Its not the same thing when someone tells you about as it is when you discover it for yourself. People told me about Tonight's the Night and Music From the Big Pink, but I discovered WCATB all by myself. I picked it up in a CD store and immediately dug the name, and the cover. The fantastic title was just the cherry on the cake. It was one of those CDs that just says: "I've been waiting for you". So when I took a listen to it and discovered that it was a) right up my dirty little street and b) recorded by Steve Albini, indie guitar god and now-famous producer, I just had to have it. WCATB is a real gem if you love 'folk rock' and hate that description in equal measure. I much prefer Cosmic American Music (with all due credit to Greil Marcus, who coined the phrase). If you are familiar with the likes of Mercury Rev's Deserter's Songs and Will Oldham's Viva Last Blues, you'd better step to this pronto. Based largely around Jason Molina's tremulous vocals, with perfectly measured dabs of electric guitar, bass, drums and - oh, yes - piano adding to the atmosphere, it is another instalment in the fantastic road trip that began with The Band The Band. Travelling along that great cosmic highway, it spends a night at the Motel Tonight's the Night to be sure, but all those Neil Young comparisons really miss the point. MEC are their own thing, and they have considerable greatness in them. The companion piece to this - Fading Trails - is also superb, but I have even higher hopes for the future. If they can just sustain this level of genius for 45 mins plus, they will have something that is equal in stature to anything that was produced in the halycon days of rock music. Ease on down the road indeed.

5.0 out of 5 stars WCATB, August 18, 2011

By 

mikey g "mikey" (Richmond, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Comes After the Blues (Audio CD)

Excellent album. I would have thought thay would have a hard time folling up thier previous album, but this is almost as good. Somedays I may say its even better. This group deserves to be heard.

5.0 out of 5 stars Kickin' Alt-Country, August 9, 2007

By 

John P. Marsh (North Las Vegas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: What Comes After the Blues (Audio CD)

This Ohia/Magnolia CD kicks it a bit more than usual without destroying the Molina angst. While I read some negative comments about the band moving toward a more 'entertaining' profile in this album, it's fun to rock out once in a while (breaks up the solo-guitar plaintiff tone.) I think you have to look at Molina/Ohia/Magnolia's entire body of work rather than (like the sight-challenged men and the elephant story) any single release.