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June 10, 2012

“I will try and know whatever I try, I will be gone but not forever”

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Pickwick Cataldo
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Cumulus ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

The real truth about it is no one gets it right The real truth about it is we’re all supposed to try

- “Farewell Transmission”

For those who gathered on stage and off Tuesday night at The Barboza to honor the contributions that Jason Molina has made to all of our lives, the feeling in the room was distinctly different from nearly every benefit show I’ve attended. Those that I spoke with almost all had a personal story to relate about what Molina’s music meant to them, or having met the man himself in past years. He and his bands have provided inspiration for so many, and for many others at a critical time in our lives his songs were an indication that we were not alone in our deepest of miseries.

I walked in on Bellingham’s Keaton Collective tearing through a set of Magnolia Electric Company jams, the three electric guitars ably matching the density of the original songs. Someone remarked that the covers up to this point had been pretty straight. I responded that though that might be so, and as much as we’re drawn to his lyrical output, for over a decade Molina has been also cultivating a muscular guitar-driven aesthetic that at least to my mind wasn’t simply a retread of the previous three decades. That the Keaton Collective were reverently flexing their own muscles in this way felt right. As the night went on though, bands who weren’t equipped with all those axes began taking more liberties to customize their covers while still meeting the substance of the songs head on.

Prior to Cataldo’s set, benefit organizer Mark Baumgarten related that he’d received a call the day before, and that none other than Molina himself was on the end of the line wanting to send his appreciation for everyone’s concern and efforts. Then the reading of a message of assurance and thanks that Molina had later posted to Facebook marked a public acknowledgement of our concern that amounted to a strange moment of triumph and a lifting of the spirits in the room that I’ve never experienced at a benefit show like this. I think everyone just wanted to know Jason was okay, and now we do.

The generally acoustic Cataldo appropriately seized the energy of the moment, lead singer Eric Anderson at times bouncing around on stage and singing with more grit than we ever see from his mellow acoustic pop outfit. Their chosen four songs represented a batch of what I think are some of Molina’s most iconic in both sound and state of mind. The opening duo of “The Dark Don’t Hide It” into “Doing Something Wrong” are two of my all-time favorites, and when sung by Anderson it seemed like they could’ve been written by him and come from the same cycle of songs as his most recent record Prison Boxing (Sound on the Sound’s #4 Best Northwest Record of 2011). Closing with “Farewell Transmission” Cataldo delivered the song of the night, in that moment fully transforming from a subtle pop band into psych experimentalists.

Headliner Pickwick’s two songs were both deep cuts they’d reworked, and by their treatment you’d never know they were a soul band. Still present was the dark cloud, but they’d taken liberties and were going full on psych, a lot like they did for a Damien Jurado cover earlier this year. Their first song saw almost the entire band in a percussion role and getting weird, working on a throbbing rhythm with wood block and cowbell for the entire length. After telling a nice story about how Molina’s music brought this band closer together, the night’s closer of “Pyramid Electric Company” saw the six going on a full on acid trip (see the video of the story and the song below) channeling something like a Fear of Music era David Byrne and Co doing “Memories Can’t Wait.” They keep warning me that their new record won’t be quite like what anyone expects. Their approach to this song is the strongest indicator of that impending change yet.

A huge thanks goes to Mark Baumgarten for making this happen. It was a night for the ages. A full setlist of songs is below the fold.

 

 

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Cumulus ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

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Mark Baumgarten reads a message from Jason Molina himself ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

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Cataldo ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

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Jason Dodson ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

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Ben Fisher ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

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Cumulus and Ben Fisher ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

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Pickwick ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

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Pickwick ::: Photo by Josh Lovseth

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September 4, 2007

Magnolia Electric Company at Bumbershoot

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Magnolia Electric Company at Bumbershoot

After braving the chaos that was the bus from downtown and then the ticket line, we arrived just minutes before Jason Molina and friends were to hit the stage. It was early in the day so we were able to get up front and sit in the sun on the grass through the entirety of the set. Molina remarked it was far to early for this band to be on stage but it didn’t seem to phase them too much. With all of the lyrics about the dark and wolves and ghosts though, one does wonder whether Molina ever leaves the house before sunset.

The songs chosen were primarily from the latest two efforts by the Chicago band, and were decidedly toned down for the mid-day crowd. Some dancer’s came down for a few songs and then Molina commented that they weren’t really a “boogie band” and the set slowed down quite a bit after that.

Sadly, unlike previous tours they didn’t bring the lap steel player along so that element was sorely missed by yours truly. Also unlike previous visits the ROCK was only notched at a solid 4 instead of a blistering 8 or 9, but then again that might just be reflective of their latest material. More guitar solos were definitely in order. Nonetheless I really enjoyed the set, while others with me were a bit disappointed, mostly due to the aforementioned lack of rock. For my money though, a great if mellow start to the day.

Magnolia Electric Company at Bumbershoot Magnolia Electric Company at Bumbershoot Magnolia Electric Company at Bumbershoot Magnolia Electric Company at Bumbershoot Magnolia Electric Company at Bumbershoot
March 2, 2007

Magnolia Electric Company Announce West Coast Tour

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Josh will be thrilled about this… one of his favoritest bands is about to be back in the Pacific Northwest. And apparently when people say west coast tour, they also mean midwest. Apparently west coast is west of the mississippi. I’m on my lunch break and I’m running late, but here’s the dates. More pontification to come. But the PNW dates are highlighted just for you guys.

Magnolia Electric Co. Tour Dates

03/21/07 Dubuque, IA – Busted Lift 03/22/07 Lincoln, NE – Knickerbocker’s 03/23/07 Rapid City, SD – TREA w/ The Thermals + We Have Hooks For Hands 03/24/07 Missoula, MT – Dauphines w/ Dan Decon & Video Hippos 03/26/07 Bellingham, WA – The Nightlight w/ Son Volt 03/27/07 Seattle, WA – The Showbox w/ Son Volt 03/28/07 Portland, OR – Crystal Ballroom w/ Son Volt 03/29/07 Eureka, CA – The Pearl w/ The Rubberneckers 03/30/07 San Francisco, CA – The Fillmore w/ Son Volt 03/31/07 Petaluma, CA – Mystic Theatre w/ Son Volt 04/01/07 Sacramento, CA – Fool’s Foundation w/ Christian Keifer 04/03/07 Los Angeles, CA – El Rey w/ Son Volt 04/04/07 Solana Beach, CA – Belly Up Tavern w/ Son Volt 04/05/07 Tucson, AZ – Rialto Theatre w/ Son Volt 04/06/07 Sante Fe, NM – College of Santa Fe 04/07/07 Boulder, CO – Fox Theatre w/ Son Volt 04/08/07 Lawrence, KS – Bottleneck w/ Rocky Votolato + Drag The River 04/09/07 Iowa City, IA – The Mill 04/12/07 Athens, OH – Baker Theatre w/ Southeast Engine + Travels + Shipwreck 04/20/07 Louisville, KY – Headliners w/ Son Volt 04/21/07 St. Louis, MO – The Pageant w/ Son Volt

Tip of the Hat to My Old Kentucky Blog

October 20, 2006

A reason to vacation in England next April

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Just like everyone else in the world I have a love/hate relationship with Pitchfork. But they are great for news about many of my favorite bands. This friday brings us news about the “Dirty Three-curated All Tommorows Parties festival” happening in Somerset England, April 27-29, 2007. Dirty Three themselves will be playing as well as a solo Nick Cave, Low, and SOTS favorite Magnolia Electric Company.

At certain moments when listening to Ocean Songs and Horse Stories, Dirty Three’s two best albums in my opinion, I realize that I would give my left nut and more to see Dirty Three live.

October 11, 2006

Magnolia Electric Company – Neumos – October 10, 2006

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Magnolia Electric Company with Soft Drugs, Bottomless Pit Neumos, Seattle October 10, 2006

As I begin to write this review, within minutes of returning home from the show, I am completely satisfied yet hotly dissapointed at the same time. How can this be? Let us start with the dissapointment: None of my all time favorite songs were played. “The Dark Don’t Hide It” or “Werewolves of London” or even “Doing Something Wrong.” None of them. I only say this because if anyone is a Jason Molina superfan, it’s me, and if I am not hearing any of the favorites, something is very wrong with the situation. Maybe that is just what happens when you have such a prolific writer, as Molina is, who writes enough new material for multiple albums each year.

While I may not have heard my fantasy setlist, Molina and his bearded band of merry men were certainly having fun and turned in a quality performance. Turning on with “Hammer Down” was a crafty maneuver, drawing the rather sparse crowd right in with an old favorite, and starting off with one of their strongest songs. To be perfectly honest I’m still only lukewarm on their newest Album “Fading Trails” as no song stands out, and in general it just sounds softer and less rough edged. Live though, the edge comes out, and I wasn’t left feeling like Molina had gone soft. No song, new or old, sounded the same as the album recording, and most have a more uncontrolled lets-have-fun-with-this-song-and-play-around-on-stage feeling when played live.   The highlight of the show turned out to be “Riding with a Ghost” which was played with a potentially never-ending intro (a la “Cortez the Killer” Built to Spill Style) and a vigor that produced the biggest cheers of the night from fellow mustache club attendee’s. I was definitely not wearing enough facial hair or western attire to fit in to the normally overgroomed Capitol Hill hipster crowd. The dude to chick ratio was 8-to-1 in my totally unscientific estimation, and with confidence I can say more than half were hiding behind a cookie duster of some sort.

After arriving late and missing Soft Drugs I was introduced to Bottomless Pit, a prog-rock outfit with no real singers, just two dudes who were basically talk-singing. The crowd seemed to be really into them, but at the risk of sounding pretensious and snide as other music bloggers so frequently are, I haven’t seen a more boring band in a long time. Boring music. A boring performance. And let me tell you folks, two borings do not negate one another. But everyone else seemed to like them and people were buying plenty of stuff at the merch booth, so who am I to say really.

October 10, 2006

Show of the Week – Sufjan Stevens, My Brightest Diamond

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This Sunday Sufjan and his merry band of musicians will be at the Paramount. Having seen him in both a small club and a festival I can categorically say that smaller is better. We’ll have a review for ya (and maybe some pictures of wings) on Monday. Shara Worden of My Brighest Diamond (and also a Sufjan backup singer) has been getting alot of hype on the blogs recently so I am highly interested in checking her opening act out.

We’ll also have a few other show reviews since this week is so packed. Magnolia Electric Company is tonight, so I should have something up on that tomorrow. Math and Physics Club are playing a CD release on Saturday (with BOAT and the Seaworthies) at the Sunset so we’ll have a review of that as well.

September 13, 2006

Sound Bites

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Slated to come out March 17, 2007 is a set of Unreleased Elliot Smith Tracks and B-Sides.

Cold War Kids along with Elvis Perkins and Dr. Dog played at KEXP yesterday. So much Silence has the goods.

Pitchfork reviews the new Magnolia Electric company effort Fading Trails. More notably than the score, a respectable 7.4, is the quality writing of the reivew. Hat’s off Zach for doing two things: making me want to listen to the album even more than I already did, and for producing a very inspired piece of music writing.

August 26, 2006

Sound Bites

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John Darnielle Writes a column about his new album. Via largehearted boy

Sterogum reviews the recent Bookeater benefit in NYC with a performance by Sufjan Stevens and David Byrne together. The Bookeater event that is happening during Bumbershoot this year doesn’t have nearly the lineup.

The ever prolific Jason Molina released new his solo album “Let Go, Let Go, Let Go” on Tuesday August 22. The new Magnolia Electric Company album “Fading Trails” is available online. It should be available offline Sept 12. Via skulls across america.