Picking favorites is a funny thing.
Funny because there’s a hint of remorse attached, a kind of symbiotic apology for the favorites not picked.
Which brings me to Jolie Holland’s 2023 release Haunted Mountain, a record title also used by collaborator Buck Meek of Big Thief—Meek appears on this record and he released his own record called Haunted Mountain also in 2023. Kinda hippie communal, right?
As you may already know, I have a soft spot for Big Thief’s kinda hippie communal music and band member Adrianne Lenker’s solo work so this connection to this Haunted Mountain comes as no surprise. To me (Tom Waits is also a fan of Holland).
If this Big Thief connection also leads you to believe that this Haunted Mountain is a wonderful, rich, country/folk-inspired ramble of a record, you’d be right. Of late I find myself playing Haunted Mountain over and over for its welcoming weird warm embrace.
