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Ghost Tropic

Ghost Tropic

a review by Stephen Fruitman of
release format Ghost Tropic by Songs:Ohia (CD Album)

text

As Jason Molina sings on the first track of this album, this is not a generous world. However, he is not about to let it go until he has wrested it into submission, like Jacob wrestling the angel, and forced it to bless him.

For this reviewer, Molina's Songs:Ohia is one of the most refreshing and important projects currently emerging out of the middle of American geography and history. Imagine the lyrical capacity of a restrained Bob Dylan, informed by the timelessness of the American storytelling tradition from the tents of the revivalist circuit up to the records of The Band, and delivered in a quivering Neil Young voice.

Sounds like reviewer hyperbole, but the sound achieved by Molina and his accompaniment (the personnel of Songs:Ohia varies with almost every new release) with very fundamental means is immediately arresting. Songs:Ohia's self-titled debut from 1997 found Molina instantly being categorized under the lo-fi, alt.country label, but on the subsequent three full-lengths, two EPs and occassional recordings (among them a pair of CDs sold only on tour), Molina has quietly unfurled the breadth of his art.

While that fragile voice still seems to emerge from somewhere around the Civil War era, obsessed with heartache and redemption and informed by stolid moralism, his songwriting slowly matures while maintaining the admirable restraint and economy of his solid debut. The dour mood of that album was countered by some good rockin' and downright sexy interplay with vocalist Edith Frost on Axxess and Ace and further enriched by ruminations of fallen passion on The Lioness.

Still, there is something about the music of Songs:Ohia that is all of a piece, as though each song on each album is another chapter in a slowly evolving tale of Arabian nights. The main instrumental framework is constituted by Molina's acoustic guitar accompanied by a lethargic drum beat, with bass, piano, organ appearing sparsely and only when absolutely necessary. New but logical on Ghost Tropic is the spectral synthesizer of the final track, "Incantation", also notable for its uncustomary length of over ten minutes.

Songs:Ohia is a goldmine of Americana with a stark individual twist which ultimately renders it unclassifiable and essential. Posted by Stephen Fruitman at 00:00, 20 Apr 2001