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PO Now - Songs: Ohia - "Love & Work: The Lioness Sessions" (11/23) - 3000 copies


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Hijacked from someone on the official Jason Molina board (thanks, jacob_evans!), this re-issue is up on just Amazon right now. Described as a "box set," it'll include reproductions of some of Molina's ephemera and totems from the period. I know I recognize some names of the songs on the second disc, but it sounds like most of them are previously unreleased. Very, very excited for this set. BM listing reveals limited translucent purple vinyl, 3000 copies worldwide.

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https://www.bullmoose.com/p/28165830/songs-ohia-love-work-the-lioness-sessions-purple-vinyl-2lp-translucent-purple-vinyl-ltd-to-3000-globally

 

 https://www.amazon.com/Love-Work-Sessions-Songs-Ohia/dp/B07HPY5TK4/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1538607482&sr=1-1&keywords=the+lioness+sessions

 

Disc: 1

  1. The Black Crow

  2. Tigress

  3. Nervous Bride

  4. Being in Love

  5. Lioness

Disc: 2

  1. Coxcomb Red

  2. Back On Top

  3. Baby Take A Look

  4. Just a Spark

 

Disc: 3

  1. On My Way Home (Lioness Sessions outtake)

  2. Never Fake It (Lioness Sessions outtake)

  3. From the Heart (Lioness Sessions outtake)

  4. It Gets Harder Over Time (Lioness Sessions outtake)

  5. I Promise Not To Quit (Lioness Sessions outtake)

Disc: 4

  1. Neighbors Of Our Age (Lioness Sessions outtake)

  2. Pyrate II (Even Now) (Lioness Sessions outtake)

  3. Velvet Marching Band (Lissy's Sessions)

  4. Raw (Lissy's Sessions)

  5. Already Through (Lissy's Sessions)

  6. Wondrous Love (Lissy's Sessions)

 

Quote

The Lioness is the first Jason Molina project to fully turn away from the battlefield folk and deconstructed Americana of earlier Songs: Ohia recordings. At the dawn of the 21st century, the album felt modern. It aligned Molina with a new set of peers — Low, Gastr del Sol, Red House Painters and, most importantly, the influential Scottish band Arab Strap, whose producer and members were crucial in the creation of The Lioness. The avant-garde tones and arrangements of Arab Strap are absorbed here into Molina’s songwriting to create what would become, for many acolytes, the archetypal Songs: Ohia sound. Love & Work: The Lioness Sessions, the box set reissue, will serve as the seminal log of the era, complete with lost songs, photos, drawings, and essays from those who knew Molina best. We know Molina was diligent in both love and work. He treated songcraft like a job at the mill, and his approach to romance was not so different. We know that when he fell in love with his wife, he was dutiful in his adoration. There were strings of love letters and poetic gesture. Included in this edition are replicated examples of this relentless love — an envelope with a letter from Molina, a photograph of Molina and his to-be wife, a postcard, a Two of Hearts playing card, and a personal check for one million kisses. Some of these items were gifts he would send to his new love from the road; others, like the 2 of Hearts, were totems he’d carry with him around this time as a symbol for his burgeoning love. And so, the head-over-heels album that is The Lioness has its workman counterpart. Nearly another album’s worth of material was recorded in Scotland during the album sessions. While similar in tone and structure, the songs seem to deal in the grit and dirt of being. These are songs for aching muscles getting soothed in the third-shift pub. But they’re also examples of Molina’s diligence as he constructs what would be the essential elements of The Lioness. In addition to these outtakes, we also have a 4-track session made weeks earlier in London with friend James Tugwell. Comprised of primarily guitar, hand drums and voice, these songs are raw experiments that mostly serve to illustrate Molina’s well of words and ideas. But then, there is the devastating Sacred Harp hymn “Wondrous Love.” While he may have had his new love in mind, one can’t help but think of Molina’s legacy as he softly warbles “Into eternity I will sing/Into eternity I will sing.” You don’t have to try too hard to mythologize Molina. He did all the work for you.

 

Edited by simple_torture
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5 minutes ago, fish said:

Thanks for that! Can't imagine it'll be lower elsewhere, although I will watch to see if SC has any special add-ons.

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Just now, TheCowboyPoet said:

I'm disappointed it's not Sojourner or Mi Sei Apparso Come Un Fantasma, but The Lioness is one of my favourite JM albums, so I'm excited regardless.  

There's a part of me that wishes those would roll out sooner, for sure, but there's no way to complain about the quality of the releases that have come out--SC is taking very good care of these (perhaps ironically, the MECo reissue, an album so many people love dearly and holds such mythic status, was maybe the most underwhelming, since so many of those demos were already available). 

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2 minutes ago, simple_torture said:

There's a part of me that wishes those would roll out sooner, for sure, but there's no way to complain about the quality of the releases that have come out--SC is taking very good care of these (perhaps ironically, the MECo reissue, an album so many people love dearly and holds such mythic status, was maybe the most underwhelming, since so many of those demos were already available). 

Yeah, you're right for sure. I'm always happy with more Molina work, SC has done a good job keeping a steady stream of releases coming. 

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6 minutes ago, jrodan said:

is Mi Sei Apparso Come Un Fantasma supposed to be put back in print in the near future? i figured that one was lost to the cosmos due to it being on a small italian (i think it was italian) label.

No news. I have tweeted at SC about it with no response. I'm sure they have at least shared rights to it, due to their contracts with Molina. Would be nice to have someday, even if it's a bare-bones reissue.

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44 minutes ago, simple_torture said:

No news. I have tweeted at SC about it with no response. I'm sure they have at least shared rights to it, due to their contracts with Molina. Would be nice to have someday, even if it's a bare-bones reissue.

yeah, i have a copy, but it isn't super quiet. from what i have read it wasn't a very clean press. would be nice to get something that sounded as intended.

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Great memories of Lioness. I sought out the original LP when it was OOP for a while, had to buy it 2nd hand on ebay. The guy who sold it to me included a hand-written note about how much he loved it (and a link to his Soundcloud for his Molina-inspired music). The stories about the recording sessions were some of my favorite parts of the biography that came out last year. Really enjoyed the story behind the lyrics of "Lioness."

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