Songs: Ohia: In Between the Desert and Jungle

I know I just can't get away with telling how difficult it is to describe bands, their songs and the feeling these songs impose on someone - in this case - me. This is why I wanted to have this blog. My critical success factor here, as I have set it, is being able to describe a band's music to everyone, even those who cannot hear.

Kicking off with this very entry, not the first guess for a band name one would say. You might think Songs: Ohia is a compilation of songs about Ohio where the one-piece band actually is hailing from; or songs dedicated to the Hawaiian tree "Ōhi‘a lehua". The real origins is an allusion between these two. After some minutes of googling, you come to find out that the band is basically classified as an indie band - such a broad term that falls narrow to define something-more-than-indie bands. Like alternative rock bands are no longer alternating anything, indie bands are today independent of nothing. They are all mainstream now, which is not something to criticize, but only a sign that trends have changed since the late 80s. These are just fancy tags to identify certain labels and give you a feeling of what you could expect from such bands: An artificially decreased level of commercialism, a so-called meticulous approach to avoid catchy partitions, lyrics that tend to shift the focus which used to be limited to sex and drugs and rock n roll.

Songs: Ohia is a band centred by Jason Molina, who used to play the bass guitar in a heavy metal band before getting involved with this project. The ultimate band is nothing like heavy metal, you just could not tell. When I say centred, it does not necessarily mean that he is the boss when it comes to deciding but more that the songs are concentrated around Molina's quality of singing and guitar playing. Molina sings like he's talking in an imperative manner. He wants you to hear him, hear what he wants to say: He calls! He's always talking to someone, trying to convince you. He has a fairly simple and plain way to do this. His voice is calming, never disturbing, never awkward.

Jason Molina draws influence major influence from underground bands he encounters during his tours. As he puts it in a recent interview, "Another important thing that happens is I am exposed on tour to dozens and dozens of very interesting bands that either open for Songs: Ohia or pass along their recordings to me. I love to hear this underground stuff, there are so many great ideas and so much hard work that goes on there that I really count it as an important influence on my own music. I wouldn’t say one band individually, but as a whole, these things have their place." It is hard to find any specific signs of mainstream or classical influence in his works. However, it is possible to find materials resemblance with Neil Young, Will Oldham and Alasdair Roberts. Production genius Steve Albini's contribution is priceless in such a unique band's recordings.

One of the first things you realize about Molina's guitar playing is that there is definitely a country, folk-rock and western aspect to the sound he makes. However, all of these terms are again too generic to define the band's particulars. The ultimate feeling I get is closing my eyes and imagining I am in the middle of a North American desert. Just picture cactuses, a horizon void of people or any sign of modern structures – only bushes swirling among the sands. It is almost evening and the only settlement nearby is a Native American settlement. People have gathered around a paleface, waiting for him to play for them. Molina picks up his guitar and is influenced by the exhilarating atmosphere. He speaks to everyone's hearts, to theirs and ours.

You will definitely find something archaic and/or gloomy in the songs. Something from the darkness of four o'clock in the morning, something that belongs to thousands of years before Christ in the moonlit shores of Nile. You will imagine two blue lights, a dead crow, and a black viper.

I first met Songs: Ohia, when Molina screamed on the radio: "I will swim to you!" He repeated this outcry dozens of times. At that moment, there's no choice left than to turn the volume up and listen closely. With only one sentence, you are bound to comprehend a whole novel-full of story. What crashing and intense feeling could ever make someone invoke so desperately. Molina travels and listens to ghosts on some of his songs. He does what the ghosts tell him to do. He's sort of obsessed with the idea that people are ghosts. He compares himself and other people. It is possible to see this as a metaphor, underlining how people can see inside you or per se ignore you.

Once any kind of music gives you that intimate feeling which makes you want to cry your lungs out, you know that you've found good music. After that, the genre, the notes, the lyrics, the arrangement, nothing matters. You can find it in any kind of note, in any word, in any part of the world. Because, although people live differently, talk differently, act differently, all the people "feel" the same way. Especially emotive responses towards music do not differ among cultures, once the necessary background for that kind of music is established. This is rather a strong argument to refuse any kind of bias or prejudice to any certain type of music and Songs: Ohia proves to be universal music in this sense.

Songs: Ohia'a songs are like a rattlesnake (mainly caused by the brushy style of the drums on many songs), it will crawl to your feet and climb up your legs in a decent manner, making decent sounds - nothing to be alarmed about, nothing artsy at first sight. Many people may quit at this stage, with a quick decision, judging on the every day patterns they find in the music, without actually waiting for the ultimate bite. Once the snake is in your arms, you would not be able to get away. Some songs, especially those ornamented by tropical essences, will carry you deep down to the woods, toxicated in a good sense and abandon you lying on a rock. When you wake up, eccentric bird sounds and a silent waterfall will be the only thing you hear. You'll try to figure out where you are. It will take some time until you realize that you're lying on your couch, your eyes closed and your body in mere incantation.

Songs of Ohio is not something you can devour or consume in a single course. Likewise, it is not something you can just drop immediately. Out of all the swagger and wannabe sophisticated music, this band stands out and shouts out trying to make us remember a message from a jungle full of ghosts from ancient history at the coasts of the river Nile: With a pure mind and clear message to us all: "Just Be Simple Again!"