Songs:Ohia

Ghost Tropic

Heard Here Rating:
"I think I'd rather have a cup of coffee from the Java Zone."

If you've ever heard music by Songs:Ohia, you probably won't be surprised to learn that the man behind the band, Jason Molina, is an Obie. Since graduating in 1996, with, surprise surprise, a degree in art, Molina has found in Songs:Ohia a medium for true musical exploration.

In Ohia, Molina makes music that is about the music, and nothing else. Production is spare to nonexistent on all of his albums: his 1998 release Impala on Lorain-based happy go lucky records was recorded in a living room, and 1999's Axcess & Ace was recorded live in the studio. Ghost Tropic is no more complex, beginning with the most basic aspect, the packaging. A glossy black liner features white block text with the album name and nothing else on the cover, the tracks and production credits on the inside. Nothing else.

And why not? Molina's approach to music features no accoutrements or tricks - no samples, loops or whatnot that have become the mainstay of virtually every popular music form. The experimental folk (best I could do) flows seamlessly from song to song, with no jarring cuts and never with a sense of discontinuity.

Therein lies both the strength and the weakness of Songs:Ohia's music. For while it is certainly inoffensive and generally rather pleasant, it doesn't really grab you. I'm not going to say that all music has to knock your socks right the hell off; there is definitely a certain class of music I enjoy for its ability to be unobtrusive. I do ask of great music, whatever it is, that it move me, and while Ghost Tropic is well-conceived and executed, just doesn't have that sense of spiritual oomph.