first, if you've never heard Songs: Ohia, what the fuck is wrong with you? also, if you like really delicate, slow, and absurdly sad sort-of-folkish music with beautiful lyrics then you will enjoy this. think Will Oldham/Palace Music, Sufjan Stevens or Low.
so... here is Pyramid Electric Co., an EP released alongside the LP Magnolia Electric Co. in 2004. while Magnolia Electric Co. marked a huge departure from the classic bare Songs: Ohia sound, Pyramid Electric Co. is more of the same quiet, mournful music that Jason Molina does so well. I don't know how this guy hasn't swallowed several handfuls of sleeping pills already, because holy shit, seriously, I don't think I've ever seen him write a song that wasn't completely mind-numbingly depressing.
this EP is really nothing shocking or new, it's a rehashing of what Molina does best, but goddammit if he doesn't do it better than anyone else I've ever seen. these songs take a while to build - the title track is just shy of 9 minutes - and at first listen it feels a bit like they don't quite deliver, although if you have heard any other Songs: Ohia album that's sort of par for the course. there aren't really any clearly defined choruses. each song features nothing but Molina's somber voice and a guitar (or a piano, as in "Red Comet Dust," my favorite track). his voice and cryptic lyrics are really the focal point; he delivers some fairly resonant lines about loneliness (a favorite subject of his) along with his usual bizarre and lovely imagery ("perfume and cigarette smoke in her wild hair / she smells a little like a train / hauling lilacs through the rain").
also, the happy gang of retards over at Pitchfork gave this album a pretty crappy review, which means it has to be good.
Songs: Ohia - Pyramid Electric Co.
download it!
buy it!
songsohia.com
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