Josephine [Vinyl]

Magnolia Electric Co. | Format: Vinyl

Product Details

• Vinyl (July 21, 2009)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Secretly Canadian
• ASIN: B002AKALY8
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #243,700 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. O! Grace

2. The Rock Of Ages

3. Josephine

4. Shenandoah

5. Whip-poor-will

6. Song For Willie

7. Hope Dies Last

8. The Handing Down

9. Map Of The Falling Sky

10. Little Sad Eyes

11. Heartbreak At Ten Paces

12. Knoxville Girl

13. Shiloh

14. An Arrow At The Gale

Editorial Reviews

Jason Molina's sixteenth full-length with Secretly Canadian, and Magnolia Electric Co.'s fifth full-length. "Josephine" is a concept album that pays tribute to the life and spirit of fallen bassist Evan Farrell. It contains some of the strongest songs Molina has written. He's approached the universal loneliness before, but never in such a focused, directed manner.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Everytime it rains, I hear the city calling my name. . .", July 24, 2009

By 

Leif Sheppard (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Josephine (Audio CD)

First of all, let's get something out of way: I despise the term "alt-country". Music fans are forced to use this term because, were we to listen to the radio, we would think country music is all about redneck women, copious amounts of liquor, and endless romantic melodramas. Because of these criminally insipid practices, so-called "alt-country" has become the purest distillation of what country music should be. It's a genre inhabited by such (often unsung) luminaries as Dolorean, Neko Case, The Low Anthem, Lucinda Williams, Son Volt, Ryan Adams, Bill Callahan, and Pinetop Seven. Yet the radio shoves tripe like Toby Keith and Kenny Chesney down our throats and assures us that it's "country" music. No thanks.

Still, despite my predilection towards "alt-country", I was never quite a fan of Jason Molina until a few years ago. Though he recorded under Songs:Ohia for well over half a decade, there were only a handful of tracks I latched on to over the years. It wasn't until 2003's "Magnolia Electric Co." that I became firmly impressed with his work and a new fan to boot. It certainly wasn't a radical stylistic change, even though new musicians were brought in to accompany Molina. It was akin to when Mark Kozelek changed Red House Painters to Sun Kil Moon. Hardly a thing was altered, yet somehow they still seem like entirely separate entities.

Prolific songmaster Molina, now recording under the moniker Magnolia Electric Co. for the past five albums, has returned with what is perhaps his masterwork: "Josephine". Though it's been three years since his last proper full-length in 2006, the next year saw the release of the epic box set "Sojourner" and (aside from that) Molina has been predictably quite busy elsewhere. According to an interview with music megasite Pitchfork, Molina estimates he's recorded an incredible six albums worth of material, but has to stagger the releases "or else you'll have a Bob Pollard situation where I can't even afford to keep up with the guy."

Early press releases have labeled this record as a sort of loose concept album about death and loss (particularly in light of the tragic demise of touring bassist Evan Farrell, who perished in a house fire in December 2007). Though that's an accurate manner in which to describe the songs here, I've found that pigeonhole terms like "concept album" tend to unfairly peg records as potentially pretentious and overtly weighty to listen to. With that in mind, it's a testament to the talents of Molina and crew that "Josephine" sounds as lush as any previous record, and even with the loneliness and anguish present there's still the lingering feeling of hope intertwined with it all.

Beginning with the surprisingly ebullient "O! Grace" (which features a great sax solo) the record quickly descends into darker territory with tracks like "Shenandoah" and "Whip Poor Will". The first single, "Josephine", is absolutely wonderful and one of the definite highlights. I probably hardly need tell, however, that the album as a whole is excellent and well worth the purchase. But don't take a reviewers word for it, check out the samples here, the work speaks for itself! "Josephine" is released on one of my favorite labels - Secretly Canadian, home to other supremely talented artists such as Jens Lekman Night Falls Over Kortedala and Foreign Born Person To Person. Tons of free promo tracks, including the first single for this record, can be found at their website.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Molina fading..., September 28, 2010

By 

KLW "***" (SE USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Josephine (Audio CD)

I find it shocking that there are only two reviews for this album. Even my pathetically low estimation of humans did not include Jason Molina fading into obscurity. I thought he would get his due and at least stay moderately popular.

This is a brilliant album. I have found it hard to stop listening to it at times. It has a big overall arc and mood that reminds me of some of the great albums of the 70's, before people went mad, lost their attention spans, and stupidity took over.

Sorry Mr. Molina, the (US) world sucks too hard to appreciate you. Great album. Best since What Comes After the Blues (7 reviews).

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Magnolia Electric Co - Journey to the dark heart of Jason Molina, October 26, 2010

By 

Red on Black (Cardiff) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Josephine (MP3 Download)

It really is not that easy being a fan of Jason Molina. Like kindred spirit Mark Kozelek of the Red House Painters, Sun Kil Moon etc he has had some difficulty settling on a band name. Thus his 2003 masterpiece (I use the term with a sense of understatement) was from his earlier band Songs: Ohia and entitled "Magnolia Electric Co". It is one of my favourite albums ever and showed that Molina is the one of the natural heirs to Neil Young although he would argue that Black Sabbath is an equal inspiration! It is Americana gold and includes the wonderful "Farewell Transmission" and two excellent songs written by Molina but sung by different band members "The old black hen" and the desolate "Peoria Lunch Box Blues".

Since that time Molina has adopted the name Magnolia Electric Co for his band and pushes out albums at such a rate it make Ryan Adams look positively lethargic. Indeed this is Molina's second album out this year the other recorded with Centro-matic's Will Johnson entitled "Twenty cycles to the ground". Magnolia Electric Co is his main vehicle however and "Josephine" is bar far the best since the Songs: Ohia epic

"Josephine" is a very loose concept album dedicated to Evan Farrell the bands former bassist who died in a house fire in 2007. It feels like an album haunted by ghosts and throughout it is thoughtful and sparse. Molina can on occasions rock it up like a Crazy horse or the Drive by Truckers but in Josephine we find him in a more reflective and temperate mood. This is his "Tonight's the Night" and like that record it repays detailed and attentive listening. The highlights are many.

O! Grace kicks off the album in great style including a nice sax solo and in one sense signals an intention by Molina to move away from trying to produce classic rock albums with huge chugging riffs to something more rewarding and subtle. Indeed the first real standout is the title track a bright country song that has a great vocal by Molina. The real highlights however are the stunningly beautiful ballad "Shenandoah" indeed when he sings "tonight little darling my hearts with you" it is achingly sad. If Johnny Cash was still alive he would cover it and would in a fairer world become a country standard. The same is true of "Whip poor will" which is more slightly more upbeat in tempo until you listen carefully to the lyrics as Molina tells us that we should -

"Count every rhododendron in this cool mountain light
i made more mistakes than that just tonight
so all of you folks in heaven not too busy ringing the bell
some of us down here ain't doing very well
some of us with our windows open in the southern cross motel"

The slide guitar in the song borders on perfection but the real corker comes in the albums second half namely "Little Sad Eyes". Underpinned by a Hammond organ and with a beautifully produced "live" feel by Steve Albini this must be the direction of travel for Molina. It is sinister and lovely at the same time and crys out to soundtrack a film. Again Neil Young "Tonight's the Night" is the reference point and this is taken to its logical conclusion in the harrowing "Knoxville Girl"

Perhaps if I have a criticism the album is very long and for some will be too relentlessly dispiriting. Molina himself recognises in "Shiloh" that "the only bridge I haven't burnt is the one I'm standing on" and throughout the album makes little concessions in terms of light and shade. There are no great rock outs here such as the "Dark don't hide it" or "John Henry split this heart". But lets stop here since I am being disingenuous. Josephine is a beautiful record about loss, fragility, desire, misfortunate, regret and faith. Its serious music for serious times and utterly compelling.