Pitchfork

"Electric" Miles Barger reports:
Guess what, everybody! Magnolia Electric Co. are bringing their patently Midwestern rock 'n' roll songs to a town near you! That's right: Gents, start growing out the beards; ladies, sew up those linen skirts, and everybody be sure to bring equal doses of mournful resignation and melancholic hopefulness. Maybe they'll cancel each other out!

"But Miles," you say, "wasn't Magnolia Electric Co. the name of a brilliant album released by Songs: Ohia in March of 2003? And what about Pyramid Electric Co.? Isn't that album just Molina with a different moniker?" All good questions, folks, so in case you've been missing out on Pitchfork's coverage of this nomenclatural saga, I'll fill you in. Prior to November 2003, Jason Molina and his group of rotating back-up musicians were called Songs: Ohia, but, in a Will Oldham-esque turn of events, Molina decided that the group should forever more be known as Magnolia Electric Co.-- the same name as was given to the last album released by the group. And what of Pyramid Electric Co.? Well, that little oft-rumored, oft-delayed sucker right there was finally released under Molina's Christian name as a solo project.

This upcoming tour marks the first time that the band has appeared under the Magnolia Electric Co. alias on tour this year, forgoing their previous lamentable billing as Jason Molina & The Magnolia Electric Co. (However, Jason Molina & His Magnolia Electric Orchestra would have been acceptable.) Dates, my friends:

07-31 Columbus, OH - Little Brother's
08-13 Nashville, TN - The End
08-14 Atlanta, GA - The Earl
08-15 Memphis, TN - Hi Tone
08-17 New Orleans, LA - Twiropa
08-18 Houston, TX - Proletariat
08-19 Austin, TX - The Parish
08-20 Denton, TX - Hailey's
08-21 Oklahoma City, OK - Conservatory
09-30 Bloomington, IN - Bluebird
10-01 Detroit, MI - TBA
10-02 Toronto, Ontario - TBA
10-03 Montreal, Quebec - TBA
10-05 Cambridge, MA - TBA
10-13 New York, NY - TBA (Secretly Canadian CMJ Showcase)

Meanwhile, the band has been busy recording not one, but two new records. Molina spoke to Pitchfork via email this week and elaborated on the new releases, the first of which is a live double LP (with a CD version sitting snugly inside the sleeve a la Pyramid Electric Co.) that will only be available for purchase at the above shows. "The limited edition live record," Molina explains, "is one complete show, with no editing-- all of the banter and tuning is there-- and no stupid ass crossfades." Molina also said that most of the tracks featured on the live album will not show up on the upcoming Magnolia Electric Co. studio album (don't worry, we'll get there). Tracks include, in no particular order:

Dark Don't Hide It
Don't This Look Like the Dark
Northstar Blues
Leave the City
The Last 3 Human Words
Big Beast
Almost Was Good Enough
Cross the Road Molina
Blue Chicago Moon
Capt. Badass
Tonights the Night *
Walk On *
Out on the Weekend *

* Neil Young cover/fragment

The second record, which will serve as the follow-up to 2003's Magnolia Electric Co., was recorded by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio, and is set to be released in early 2005. Molina likens the album's sound to that of Warren Zevon, old-time country, Crazy Horse, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Michael Hurley, and has informed us that it will include "lots of guitar solos." The lineup this time out includes Pete Schreiner, Jason Groth, Mark Rice, Mike Kapinus, Jennie Benford, Dan Macadam, Jim Grabowski, Mike Brenner, and Coke Dares, a Central Indiana band with members who have been involved with groups such as John Wilkes Booze, The Impossible Shapes, and Cadmium Orange. And oh yeah: Both albums will be issued under the name Magnolia Electric Co., to the relief of independent record store clerks everywhere. Tracklist:

01 Don't This Look Like the Dark
02 Nightshift Lullabye
03 Leave the City
04 Hard to Love a Man
05 Give Something Else Away Every Day
06 Northstar Blues
07 Hammer Down
08 I Can Not Have Seen the Light