Molina and Johnson

Consider the collective catalogs of these two prolific masters of the new American folk songcraft: Magnolia Electric Co, Centro-matic, Songs:Ohia, South San Gabriel. Now, let's just be honest. A little bit of artistic ego and one-upsmanship can serve a greater purpose. In this collaboration between Jason Molina and Will Johnson, each seem to hold the other's talents to the fire and elevate both performance and creativity. In the friendly sharing of ideas, Molina and Johnson become two poet's poets in a workshop to craft a singular, searing elegy.

Each artist's familiar aesthetics and production styles find a new, intriguing middle ground on Molina and Johnson. Molina's documentarian, record-the-room-as-it-is ethos finds a home in Johnson's subtle atmospherics and production tweaks; and Molina's powerful tenor croon finds a fitting dance partner in Johnson's equally moving soft-gravel vox. While the individual performances from each are stunning in their own right, the musical mind meld that was captured is absolutely the occasion it should be. It was magic and, thankfully, captured for all of us to relive and enjoy.