Living & The Dead

Jolie Holland

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 7, 2008)
• Original Release Date: October 7, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Anti
• ASIN: B001EN46DY
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #23,232 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Product Description

With a vocal style hailed by the Village Voice as "sultry and sweet, despairing and lonely", Jolie has experimented in the past with various settings for her unique, jazz-inflected voice. This time working with such collaborators as M. Ward (She & Him, My Morning Jacket) and Marc Ribot (Tom Waits, Elvis Costello), she has embraced both the rocking side of her roots, and the compositional possibilities of the studio, multi-tracking her voice for the first time. The results have intensified the evocative moodiness of her music but also brought out a rollicking looseness.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars nearly perfect, completely captivating, January 23, 2009

By	gonzobrarian - See all my reviews

Sometimes there appears a voice heard on the periphery, and once you hear it you can only hear it again and again; it's like eating at the Bellagio Buffet, with all the style and variety there is no option but to consume more until explosion is imminent.

Such is the case with Jolie Holland. As with other alt-country sirens such as Neko Case, Holland is deliciously, completely captivating, particularly on her new album The Living and the Dead. Her voice is so full and nuanced that without careful attention to her lyrics one can and probably will hang on her every note like a shipwrecked Greek sailor.

More so than on previous releases, Holland raises the tempo on this album, making it more accessible for newbies. And though I am scrambling to recollect the milieu of her past releases, I can say that The Living and the Dead is more oriented toward rock `n roll than it typically would be a clever mash of blues, folk and country. Another reason why I favor L&D is the inclusion of some first rate guitarists such as M. Ward and Marc Ribot lending their talents.

As if Holland didn't already emulate the alt-country / southwestern genre at its most unique, this particular album cements her emergence. Mexico City, Corrido por Buddy, and Palmyra are immaculate, with Fox in its Hole and Your Big Hands as the other standout songs. Though quality, the remaining songs just don't reach the heights as the others, and thus the album as a whole is slightly incomplete for me; were a different closing song chosen rather than the more frolicky Enjoy Yourself, L&D would have been less anti-climactic and thus perfect.

4.0 out of 5 stars Living & The Dead, September 23, 2009

By	Bjorn Viberg (European Union) - See all my reviews

Living & The Dead being Holland's 4th studio album and her 2008 release is yet another album that I picked up as a chance listen at my local library. The sound reminds me of Jewel and Sheryl Crow. Her lyrics are very witty and thought worthy. The booklet contains all lyrics, some quirky photographs and a list of whom plays what on each track. The album received good reviews when it was released and Allmusic and ChartAttack gave it 4/5 which is what I give it as well. 4/5.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Unabashedly Delicious, October 12, 2008

By	S. Dixon (Buford, GA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is Jolie Holland's most listener-friendly album to date. (And I love everything she's ever done.) She has emerged from the haunting darkness of "Springtime Can Kill You" to an exuberant, confident, rockin' masterpiece. I have been playing it continuously since I got it; I'm so grateful to have music like this to fall in love with.