hey stephen-
welcome! wanted to say i enjoyed your article and also wanted to recommend 2 other artists to add to the list of ones that you are currently listening to as you listed some of my favorites and my favorite type of music too...I call it 'music to wallow to'. I recommend for you: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds & Richard Buckner. Thalia Zadek is considered the 'female nick cave' and richard buckner is angry yet depressed acoustic folk with some of the best lyrics ever....also, Jeff Buckley's Grace and any Tom Waits can easily fall into this grouping too...just some more suggestions for ya....
-jess @ tallgirl productions

thank you very much, Jess. "Music to Wallow To"---very appropriate. I can't seem to do anything else these days, but wallow. And I like it!

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds. My friend, Emily, encouraged me to listen to them a few months back saying, "You need to listen to this." And she was right. Goddamn, goddamn--- the album, "No More Shall We Part" drives me up a wall. I only know that one, and Murder Ballads, which I find even more distressing. I'm excited about the new album.

Tom Waits, I think is absolutely awesome. But Richard Buckner, I do not know. I'll check him out. And I've also been meaning to get some Jeff Buckley.

Thanks, again, Jess. I'm glad you enjoyed reading.

Is this the tall girl from High School Reunion?

Songs: Ohia Drop Two Electric Co LPs, Demos
Capitalizing on utilities deregulation, Enron-stylee

Ryan Goldman reports:
Imagine a world of vinyl: AC/DC on one side and Jackson Browne on the other. This spring, Jason Molina brings this sonic conflict from your headphones to your hometown as Songs: Ohia kick up dirt on a short tour of the Midwest and Europe, making a special stop in Austin, Texas for this year's bloated-and-loving-it South by Southwest Conference. Dates:

02-08 Chicago, IL - The Empty Bottle
03-09 Louisville, KY - Aslan's How Art Gallery*
03-10 TBA
03-11 Columbia, MO - Shattered*
03-15 Austin, TX - Buffalo Billiards (SXSW showcase)
03-16 Denton,TX - Rubber Gloves+
03-17 Fayetteville, AR - JR's Lightbulb Club+
03-18 Lawrence, KS - Replay Lounge#
03-19 St Louis, MO - Rocket Bar#
03-20 Omaha, NE - Sokol Underground#
03-21 Iowa City, IA - Gabe's Oasis#
03-22 North Manchester, IN - The Firehouse#
03-23 Chicago, IL - Schubas#
03-24 Bloomington, IN - Vertigo#
03-28 Groningen, Holland - Vera
03-29 Rotterdam, Holland - Rotown
03-30 Haarlem, Holland - Patronaat
04-12 Geneva, Switzerland - l'Usine
04-14 Paris, France - Mains d'Oeuvres
04-15 Hasselt, Belgium - JJ Records (early show)
04-15 Hasselt, Belgium - MOD (late show)
04-16 Brussels, Belgium - AB
04-17 Diksmuide, Belgium - 4ad
04-18 Tilburg, Holland - 013
04-19 Amsterdam, Holland - Paradiso
04-20 Utrecht, Holland - Ekko

* = with Six Parts Seven
+ = with Six Parts Seven and Impossible Shapes
# = with Impossible Shapes

As Pitchfork previously reported, Songs: Ohia will also bring you and your cousins Magnolia Electric Co. via Secretly Canadian on March 4th. The new album will feature the ten-piece backing band that played on the Mi Sei Apparaso Come un Fantasma Italian live album, lead vocals on two cuts by Songs contributor Scout Niblett and Friend O'Molina Lawrence Peters, backup vocals by Jennie Benford (Jim & Jennie & the Pinetops), and engineering by Steve Albini, all recorded live at Chicago's Electrical Audio Studio. Originally planned as a double album, the vinyl release of Magnolia will include a second, bonus album of demos. Here are the tracklists for both:

Magnolia Electric Co.:
01 Farewell Transmission
02 I've Been Riding with the Ghost
03 Just Be Simple
04 Almost Was Good Enough
05 The Old Black Hen
06 Peoria Lunch Box Blues
07 John Henry Split My Heart
08 Hold On Magnolia

Bonus demos album:
01 The Long Dark Blues
02 Just Be Simple
03 The Old Black Hen
04 I Made the Change
05 Peoria Lunchbox Blues
06 Whip-Poor-Will
07 The Big Game Is Every Night
08 Hold On Magnolia

Not to be outdone by double album upstarts like Grandaddy, Songs: Ohia will also release Pyramid Electric Co. this spring, a collection of stripped-down solo numbers by Molina on vocals, electric guitar, and piano. Pyramid, Molina's 284th album since 1996, was recorded by Mike Mogis at Presto Recording Studios in Lincoln, Nebraska two Novembers ago, and will be a vinyl-only release.