Magnolia Electric Co. [10th Anniversary Reissue]

Reissue of the late Jason Molina's 2003 album. Two bonus tracks and demos of 9 tracks looked at here; brief review of the original Albini-produced album (which is incredible) inside. Demos are similar to Molina's solo albums- just him and a guitar, but a little rougher with some tape hiss. Some lyrics are different, songs generally more depressing than with the big arrangements.

*1.9 (9:55) Dark folk, plodding drumbeat, strings, fem backing vox, loud electric guitars; good enough to have been on the album, but more downtrodden, repetitive than that set of songs
*1.10 (3:54) Early version of "Josephine" country song, sparse acoustic guitar takes backseat to M+F vox; amazing contribution from Jennie Benford, great harmonies
*2.1 (6:56) Great version of a great song, sparse, noticeable lyrical differences, haunting desert folk
2.2 (3:10) Midtempo, loud, "backing" ooo-ooo-ooo's
2.3 (2:54) Pretty sad song, sadder than original, almost mournful
*2.4 (4:56) Molina-sung (vs. original), blues ballad
2.5 (4:25) Molina-sung (vs. original), straightforward Molina track
*2.6 (5:49) Dark, murder ballad meets Neil Young feeling
*2.7 (6:23) Slow, particularly sad, even more so given his recent death
2.8 (6.27) [1.9 demo] Dark, some jarring guitar strums
2.9 (3:35) [1.10 demo] Similar to MECo acoustic releases, brighter sound

1 (7:22) Definitive Molina track, probably my favorite song, Neil Young influence, large backing band, allegedly largely unrehearsed, essential
2 (3:21) Upbeat rocker w/ slide guitar, haunting backing vox
3 (4:21) Slower but loud, great guitars, beautiful song
4 (4:28) Angry, swirling guitars, lyrics about depression
5 (5:48) Bluesy country rock, low M vox from Lawrence Peters
6 (5:48) Bluesy country rock, F vox from Scout Niblett
7 (6:10) Blistering, pounding, angry Neil Young worship
8 (7:51) Slower, quiet, strings, haunting ballad