Molina And Johnson — Molina And Johnson

Jason Molina of Magnolia Electric Co. and Will Johnson of Centro-matic got together for 10 days to drink, shoot BB guns and work on an album together, and the result definitely isn't a new Simon and Garfunkel.

With the exception of the song "Almost Let You In," there's little in the way of truly obvious collaboration beyond some complimentary backing vocals on each other's songs. Instead, the album very much unfolds like a polite each-take-a-turn adventure where Johnson fronts one song, then Molina, then Johnson, then a Molina song... all with the occasional instrumental or double shot to break the formula.

The most exciting moment is probably "34 Blues." A typical otherworldly Molina-sung number, it benefits from some sort of fractured and mysterious organ/concertina/accordion intrusion. It's the sort of moment that recalls when Molina would have Arab Strap or Mike Mogis help craft the music behind his Songs:Ohia project and represents the good in when two musical minds get together.

The rest of the songs are fine, too. The problem I have with this album isn't musical. If you're a fan of either of these two, you'll be perfectly satisfied with their respective contributions. That said, there's little here to show these two tangibly pushed and elevated each other artistically.

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