I think the stars are just the neon lights, Shining through the dance floor, Of heaven on a Saturday night, And I saw the light, I saw the light...

trying to make a post under 100MB with the music of jason molina in its many manifestations (solo, song:ohia, magnolia electric co.) is like trying keep dry while swimming in the sea... or perhaps a more fitting allution would be trying to catch the horizon of the prairie sky... in both cases, the journey is impossible but a rewarding drift- old roads are mapped from memory, new paths are traversed... magnolia electric co. just released a new album (josephine) which i am really enjoying, so i guess that is a catalyst for the post, not that one was needed... anyway, i narrowed it down to 19 songs that i love both musically and lyrically (i figured i'd include some lyrics as well)...

1. Songs: Ohia - Two Blue Lights (One's got the diesel fuel on her breath, One's got the damp taste of the earth on it, Two blue lights...)
2. Songs: Ohia - The Long Dark Blue [Farewell Transmission Demo] (After tonight if you don't want us to be, A secret out of the past, I will resurrect it, I'll have a good go at it, I'll streak his blood across my beak and dust my feathers with his ashes, I can feel his ghost breathing down my back...)
3. Songs: Ohia - John Henry Split My Heart (John Henry split this heart split this full moon heart, Swing the heaviest hammer you got, Hit this one out of the park...)
4. Songs: Ohia - I've Been Riding With A Ghost (See I ain't getting better I am only getting behind, I am standing on a crossroad trying to make up my mind, I'm trying to remember how it got so late, Why every night pain comes from a different place, Now something's got to change...)
5. Songs: Ohia - Farewell Transmission (The real truth about it is my kind of life's no better off, If I've got the maps or if I'm lost, The real truth about it is there ain't no end to the desert I'll cross, I've really known that all along, Mama here comes midnight, with the dead moon in its jaws, Must be the big star about to fall...)
6. Songs: Ohia - Coxcomb Red (And I wanted that heat so bad, I could taste the fire on your breath, and I wanted in your storm so bad, I could taste the lightning on your breath, I watched you hold the, son in your arms while he bled to death, he grew so pale next to you, the world is so pale next to you...)
7. Songs: Ohia - Lioness (Whether you save you me, Whether you savage me, Want my last look to be the moon in your eyes, Want my heart to, Break if it must break in your jaws, Want you to lick my blood off your paw...)
8. Songs: Ohia - Tigress (It's difficult not to worry about what happens next, Certain looks sort out confused looks, And certain looks sport confused looks, And I watched us talking in the mirror, And you put on that look, That says this little star wishes she weren't single...)
9. Songs: Ohia - Steve Albini's Blues (See the light of the afterworld shining on the ruins, It's the light of nowhere else burning to the west, See its sulphery shine...)
10. Songs: Ohia - Didn't It Rain (If they think you got it they're going to beat it out of you, With work and debt whatever all else there is, You got to watch your own back, Try to see the light of goodness burning down the track, Through the blinding rain through the swaying wires, If i see you struggle i will not turn my back...)
11. Songs: Ohia - Captain Badass (Brown eyes, your pulse is getting hotter, Brown eyes, your pulse is getting quicker, Quote Captain Badass: "I am setting your heart on fire, So when you leave me, I will burn on in your soul," You won't have to think twice, If it's love you will know...)

12. Magnolia Electric Co. - It's Made Me Cry (You can live a long time, In such a little while, Once you've gone as far away as you can go, Until you come home...)

13. Magnolia Electric Co. - Lonesome Valley (Out here the ghost wears the feathered crown, Of blues and the sickle moons, To watch over the lost horizon...)
14. Magnolia Electric Co. - Hammer Down (When its been my ghost and the empty road, I think the stars are just the neon lights, Shining through the dance floor, Shining through the dance floor, Of heaven on a Saturday night, And I saw the light , I saw the light....)
15. Magnolia Electric Co. - The Dark Don't Hide It (You said you only wanted friends for long enough to get rid of them, You found the kind you knew would only kill you, So you surrounded yourself with them...)
16. Magnolia Electric Co. - Hope Dies Last (I made it hard by forgetting the night when the fire didnt answer to the flame, the fire didnt answer to the flame...)
17. Magnolia Electric Co. - Whip-Poor-Will (So all you folks in heaven are to busy ringing bells, Some of us down here ain't doing very well, Some us with our windows open in the southern cross hotel...)
18. Magnolia Electric Co. - Josephine (Some folks see the horizon, And never need to know how it all ends, Leave the Shadows behind, Don't go chasing after them...)
19. Jason Molina - Division St. Girl (Painted up Division St Girl, She's a pretty denim queen, Bird of paradise eyes, Bird of paradise dieing eyes, But I could sight read those slangy lips, I could sight read those hips...)

Download Link: http://www.yousendit.com/download/cmcyQmtYQzMzS3BMWEE9PQ

All artwork by the amazing william schaff, who has created album covers for songs:ohia, okkervil river, kid dakota, among others... please go take a look at his work its amazing, ignore the merch, and take the time to go through the pages of his work at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/samsa1973/