Description

This vinyl reissue contains two previously unreleased Songs: Ohia tracks (Debts and Pilot & Friend) and alternative versions of two songs that would later appear on Songs: Ohias Impala (Hearts Newly Arrived (Hecla Session) and One of Those Uncertain Hands (Hecla Session).

Songs: Ohia trades in the slow gallop of their debut for a more rocking beat on this Hecla & Gripper. This 23-minute, eight-song EP released on the Secretly Canadian label features Jason Molina at his lyrical best, eschewing some of the obliquity of the first Songs: Ohia release. Percussionist Geof Cummings backs Molina on most of the album. The songs have a particular urgency and an unfinished quality to them, as if they are sketches for something to come; and performance and spontaneity were stress above giving them a polished sheen. The song Tenskwatawa from the first Songs: Ohia full-length is reworked here and renamed Reply & Claim. There is also a Conway Twitty cover thrown in for kicks. ~ Jason Nickey