October 09, 2006
Jolie Holland
As I sit here in my single room at the Excel Inn in Naperville, IL, I thought I would tell the world about one of my most recent musical discoveries. Its been a great month for me in terms of discovering new music. I have come across about four or five different new groups that have really touched a chord with me. Ive already mentioned The Duhks and Ollabelle recently. Let me also direct you toward The Mammals. All of these groups combine very rootsy, traditional music with a more modern, indie twist.
But of all the music that I have discovered lately, the one artist that has made the deepest impression on me is by far Jolie Holland. I cant even describe how talented this girl is. She grew up in Houston, TX but has been living for a long time on the West Coast. Several years ago she cofounded a group in Vancouver, BC called The Be Good Tanyas. The Be Good Tanyas are themselves a formidable group that have put out two incredible albums and are about to release a third tomorrow. Holland is featured prominently on the debut album for The Be Good Tanyas called "Blue Horse," but she left the group after that project to pursue a solo career. She has since released three solo albums: "Catalpa," "Escondida," and most recently "Springtime Can Kill You." I have been listening to all three of these albums and frankly, I have been stunned. Her voice gives me the shivers. I dont feel like I can even do justice to her in my own words, so I'll copy down some review blurbs:
"Some songs have been stripped back so far that they no longer have any relationship with American Folk and Blues, instead sounding as if they’ve wafted in from Mali’s Festival in the Desert. Others suggest Billie Holliday grappling with Appalachian mountain music. Strange organic rhythms of indeterminable origin pulse softly, often at odds with the melody. Holland drifts on and off the microphone. There is some whistling. You will be stunned into silence. You will not know why. "- Sunday Times
"revel in the haunting vocals and retro charms of Jolie Holland…Catalpa, which rewards repeat listeners with sweet melodies and a down-home approach that make it seem as if these tapes were unearthed by the Library of Congress in some sort of cultural archeological dig in the Appalachians. It's a work of unsettling beauty that evinces a sense of déjà vu." -Chicago Sun Times
"Some artists gain affection through accessibility; others impress with grand accomplishment. And then there are those like Jolie Holland, who seem to hear things the rest of us can't. [She] wields a voice like something a schizophrenic coalminer's daughter stole from a Sufi mystic's grave…it takes hard listening to find the thread of sense that runs through her crazy-quilted reveries, but once you've grasped hold, you wonder at the mind that put it all together."- Harp
"She does for folk, fiddle and country what Billie Holliday did for the blues, wrapping her unforgettable voice around each note and taking it somewhere you wouldn't have ever thought of; though the minute you hear her, you realize it was the only right place the note could go."- Salon
Hope this inspires you to check her out! She will absolutely blow your mind!
Posted by todd at October 9, 2006 11:59 PM