There are a great number of songwriters today that deserve far more recognition than the history books are bound to give them: Will Oldham, M. Ward, Will Sheff of Okkervil River. And now with the release of Fading Trails, it’s time to turn our focus to Jason Molina of Magnolia Electric Co.

MP3: Magnolia Electric Co - Lonesome Valley
Fading Trails catches Jason at his folksy best, somewhere between the aforementioned list of his contemporaries (especially Okkervil River) and his previous band, Songs:Ohia. It’s a dreamy folk ballad that pushes my expectations for him even further. The best part is that I’m sure he’ll exceed them when the time comes.

Magnolia Electric Co. on Myspace

So yeah, sorry for the slow pace that YANP has taken over the past week. I started school again, got a new job and my girlfriend is leaving the country for three months. Put all those together and you’ve got a Matt with far less time to partake in his favorite hobby. But I promise that after this weekend it’ll start to pick back up.