Magnolia Electric Co. at the Hideout

The new album by Magnolia Electric Co., Josephine, doesn't come out until next week (July 21, to be precise), but the band was in Chicago this past weekend for a couple of shows. What's with all the bands touring lately before their records are available? The assumption seems to be that the fans are going to hear advance copies anyway... Or maybe the bands see it as a good way to introduce their new material. In case you haven't figured it out yet, you can usually buy copies of the new CDs and LPS at the merch table at these concerts, even if the albums aren't officially available yet. And buying music straight from the band at the merch table seems like the surest way of putting money right into the musicians' pockets. The prices are usually reasonable, too — $10 or less is the regular going price for CDs. I did pick up a copy of Josephine Sunday night (July 12) at the Hideout, and so far, it seems like an excellent addition to the Magnolia Electric Co. repertoire.

It's too bad Chicago can't quite claim that MECo (to use the common abbreviation for this band) is a local group any longer. Singer-songwriter-frontman Jason Molina used to live in Andersonville, and I once had the pleasure of interviewing him during an afternoon visit to Simon's Tap. Lately, he's been living in London, but thankfully he does make it back here once in a while to play gigs.

Sunday night's show followed a gig on the previous night at Schubas, which I missed. The Hideout performance was very, very solid, with Molina and his Hoosier bandmates ripping through a fair number of new songs as well as old classics like "Riding With the Ghost." I may have said this before on this blog, but I think that's really one of the great songs of the last decade. From what I could tell from eyeing the guitar frets during this performance, Molina & Co. are playing it in a somewhat lower key than the studio version, which I have blundered my way through on acoustic guitar a few times. Guitarist Jason Evans Groth's leads and solos on the rendition Sunday night were absolutely blazing, which more than made up for the fact that the band plays this song live without the female vocals that you hear on the studio version.

Josephine is a being billed as a concept album, "an honest-to-God effort on the part of Magnolia Electric Co. to pay tribute to the life and spirit" of the band's former bassist, Evan Farrell, who died in late 2007. But it's not a straightforward record about Farrell. Rather, it is filled with references to the woman in the title. I'm still making sense of how the lyrics in this song cycle fit together, but it's suffused with longing and a sense of loss, topics that Molina has sung about before. In concert, the words sounded sincere, and so did the singing sound of those guitars.

An mp3 from the new Magnolia Electric Co. record, "Sad Little Eyes," is available for download here.
www.magnoliaelectricco.com
www.myspace.com/magnoliaelectricco

The show had two opening acts. Sally Timms played another set similar to the one I wrote about recently at Schubas, backed once again by the subtle and pretty sounds of Mar Caribe. (www.myspace.com/marcaribemusic)

The first act of the evening was a cool discovery: Elephant Micah, will calls itself "an imaginary band since 2000." Based in Bloomington, Ind., this is another one of those indie bands that basically started out as the recording project of one individual — in this case, Joe O'Connell. For this Hideout show, however, Elephant Micah seemed more like an actual folk-rock ensemble, playing some very quiet and gentle songs that had the audience silently spellbound. I later bought the Elephant Micah CD Hindu Windmill at the merch table. It's very lo-fi — the sort of recording that includes the sound of the tape-recorder being turned off at the end of songs. The intimacy of it reminds me of the first recordings by Great Lake Swimmers. I'm excited to hear what Elephant Micah records in the future with the full band.
www.elephantmicah.com
www.myspace.com/elephantmicah

Photos of Magnolia Electric Co., Sally Timms and Elephant Micah.

Hey, Chris Mills and Sally Timms

Hey, Sally Timms: When are you going to release another solo CD? I'm asking because that set you played Sunday night (June 14) at Schubas sounded awfully good. And, well, it's been a while.

Timms had a five-piece band playing behind her, with a delicate mix of banjo, mandolin, guitar, stand-up bass, clarinet, trumpet and drums, for a folky yet slightly jazzy sound. She played songs by her pal (and fellow Mekon) Jon Langford and others... even a cool version of the Mekons song "Corporal Chalkie." And, as always, she had a delightfully wry and self-deprecating sense of humor.

She was the opening act for Chris Mills, which reminds me...

Hey, Chris Mills: Could you move back to Chicago? OK, I'm sure you have your reasons for being in New York, but you're such a good singer-songwriter that I'd love to continue claiming you as one of Chicago's best. Maybe I'll continue claiming you anyway.

Mills was back in town for a one-off solo gig because he had a wedding to attend. (He played "In the Time of Cholera" at the wedding ceremony, apparently getting some puzzled looks from people unfamiliar with his music who saw that title in the program.) Mills is probably at his best when he has a full band playing him — one of the best things about this CDs is the lush and creative arrangements — but his songs also work really well as solo acoustic numbers. And that's what he delivered Sunday night, singing in full-throated gusto.

Photos of Chris Mills and Sally Timms.

Sadies, Flat Five and Dream Day

Recapping a few shows from the past week...

The Sadies were back in town Thursday (Dec. 4) for a show at Schubas, kicking off a tour with the estimable Tim Easton as opening act. The Sadies don't have a new record out (not since releasing my favorite album of 2007, New Seasons), so we didn't get any new songs, but there were plenty of great old tunes – something like 30, I think, if you include all those short instrumentals they ripped through. As always, the Good brothers were simply amazing on their guitars, and I took special notice this time that Travis was playing without any effects pedals at all, and Dallas had just a couple of rudimentary pedals. Further proof that you don't need a lot of special effects to make the guitar sing. Highlights included covers of "A House is Not a Hotel" by Love and "Shake Some Action" by the Flaming Groovies. Easton put on a good show, too, playing solo acoustic (over chatty crowd noise) and mentioning that he has an album coming out in the spring with more of a rock sound.

Photos of the Sadies and Tim Easton.

Friday night (Dec. 5) marked the return of the Flat Five, a sort of local super group combining the talents of Kelly Hogan, Nora O'Connor, Scott Ligon, KC McDonough and Gerald Dowd in an idiosyncratic cover band. Well, it's mostly covers. They play a few originals, but it's largely old pop, country, jazz, psychedelic and standard songs they clearly love. Their voices blend into truly lovely harmonies, and they have a knack for picking the sort of terrific tunes that a die-hard record collector loves. I stayed for both the early and late shows at the Hideout, and heard them doing everything from Spanky & Our Gang to the Dukes of Stratosphear, Rutles and Hoagy Carmichael. These are some special musicians who rarely put our records. You really have to catch them live to see what they're all about.

Photos of the Flat Five.

I was back at the Hideout on Sunday (Dec. 7) for a show benefitting Goldie's Place, an organization that helps the homeless get jobs. The show featured Jon Langford playing solo, followed by Eleventh Dream Day, and Eleventh Dream Day combining with Langford and Sally Timms for several Mekons and Three Johns songs. It was a lively affair, with a couple of strong new songs by Eleventh Dream Day (new album coming soon, guys? Let's hope...), sloppy but fun renditions of those barely rehearsed Mekons songs and tighter performances of the Three Johns songs. All for a good cause.

Photos of Eleventh Dream Day with Jon Langford and Sally Timms.