In House #1616: New Releases From Jolie Holland, Mark Pickerel

Another busy new release Tuesday is upon us this week as we get to the third full-length from singer-songwriter Jolie Holland. Springtime Can Kill You continues the unique style Holland established with her first two releases-- equal parts Billie Holiday and Patsy Cline, moving between smoky, jazz-age speak-easies and twanged-out, blue-eyed soul with ease. What is quickly evident, however, is a decreased reliance on traditional song structure: the title track, for example, meanders in and out of tempos, the all over percussion never really settling into a comfort zone. "This baby is the picture of a lovesick, convoluted mind," Holland writes in the album's liner notes, perhaps best capturing the feel of the song cycle. Luckily, the rest of us reap the benefits of that sickness.

Jolie Holland

Also out today is the debut release from Mark Pickerel and his band the Praying Hands. Given the sound on Snake In the Radio, it's hard to imagine that Pickerel orginally got his start as the drummer for the Screaming Trees, before going on to contribute his chops to the likes of Nirvana, among others. Chris Isaak meets Tom Waits has been one of the combinations thrown out as a descriptor of Pickerel's music. Nick Cave's probably in there somewhere, too. In any case, the debut is easily some of the most tasty country noir this side of Jim White, and it out-noirs him by a longshot.

Mark Pickerel

In House #1616.
Airdate: 5/09/06
Focus: New releases out today from Jolie Holland, Springtime Can Kill You, and Mark Pickerel, Snake In the Radio. Plus, new music from Frank Black, Neko Case and more.


BONUS MP3s-
Jolie Holland:
"Crazy Dreams" (MP3) and "Springtime Can Kill You" (MP3)

Neko Case: "Hold On, Hold On" (MP3)



PLAYLIST

In House PODCAST #103