"Gimme that old fashioned morphine.
What was good enough for my grandpa...
is good enough for me."

Sometimes I come across an artist that makes me wonder how on Earth I could possibly not have been exposed to her before. Until I found Jolie Holland on my computer, I don’t think I had ever even heard the name. Somehow, her two albums got imported to my computer from my roommate, ML, and I just stumbled on to them the other day. Her first album, Catalpa, caught my ear; I was charmed, pleasantly surprised. So I moved on to Escondida, and that's when I thought, 'whoa. hold up. girl, where you been all my life?'

I imagine some might find it a bit contrived - I'm pretty sure she's feigning a Southern accent half the time - but I'm a sucker for this kind of music. Jazzy, quirky, soulful, and just old school smooth. A girl born into the wrong era, probably loves Kerouac. Songs about San Francisco. Music made for record players. Clarinets and jazz mutes. It's real simple, people.

Real nice find, ML.