I tell this story often when I’m asked to revisit some of the more memorable moments of our short, but storied existence as Daytrotter Inc. I think I embellish it more than needs to be (as I learned when the involved wrote and said that she had a lot of fun that day recording), but to prove a point one should use any method available at hand. George Bluth Sr. used a man without a hand to teach his children lessons such as, “That’s why you always leave a note.” I tell this story as a way to illustrate when a recording becomes more than a recording. We’ll be the first to admit that sometimes, no matter how well and sweet a recording we do turns out, it might just be a recording and nothing more – something great to listen to, but the rich texture and the asides don’t exist. A song can be sad on many days, but what we’re really searching for in a sad song is the personification of that sadness – if at all possible – to make it flash us and leave the most lasting of impressions, more lasting than a birthmark. When Jolie Holland arrived found us on this day last fall, one of the very first things she said to us – behind a head of dead black hair with blood-red streaks and from out of a humongous coat with an equally cloaking hood – as we climbed the steps was, “It’s been a bad day.” Not to be cruel or insensitive, but down deep in the gut, I did a backflip because Jolie Holland does bad day so well – she turns it into a gourmet feast of deliciousness. She kept her hood up for the better part of the short-lived session, hunched over the piano in a stare-down. I like to say that we got lucky that she hadn’t had a great morning to that point because when Jolie can use something like a shitty beginning to a day as an advantage, as a way to spin beauty from it, the benefactors outnumber the birds. We’re treated to a naked dose of melancholy that cries wet but productive tears that can be easily empathized with by gobs of us. That’s the way she was that day and to have been given the opportunity to capture it forever on this here tape is quite an honor. It’s a snapshot and a lovely one. Other occurrences with this session included having her touring partner David Dondero stop by to hang out with us for a spell. Good fella that we hope will come back and visit again with intentions of recording. Our very own Bambi also drove Jolie to a closed Thai restaurant in a wild goose chase for food that ended in no wild goose. – Sean Moeller

First song
The Future (Jolie Holland) [3.52MB] [4428 downloads]


— unreleased
When I wrote this song, I was crying, just sort of holding onto the piano, and then, the day after, the venom of the break-up was entirely gone for me. The song never made me sad again. It’s as if it just worked for me, like a magic bullet.

Second song
Bellingham (Jolie Holland) [3.26MB] [3961 downloads]


— unreleased
This song describes one young artist’s experience in Bellingham, Washington, which he compares to the first level of hell, in Dante’s Inferno, where everyone has gone who was neither hot not cold, where the suffering is not that awful, but then no one seems to notice. It is part of an entire record of songs based on true experiences, told in the format of Dante’s Inferno, by Stefan Jecusco, under the guise of “the rank stranger” — try looking for his MySpace page — the man is a powerhouse of strange forces.

Third song
Honey Girl (Jolie Holland) [4.19MB] [4007 downloads]


— unreleased
This is for our local honey of the San Francisco Bay Area, Miss Shoshi Perrey, god bless her.

Fourth song
Springtime Can Kill You (Jolie Holland) [2.87MB] [3807 downloads]


– original version appears on Springtime Can Kill You
As Brenda Biundo says, “Springtime can kill you if you resist the bloom.”