José González is really very good. If you don't know him, then he is an acoustic singer-songwriter from Sweden, of Argentine descent, and likes doing acoustic covers as well as writing his own, very insightful lyrics. I have hard many good things about his live performances, and im seeing him at Leadmill in April. I dont think its sold out yet, have a look
here! He has two albums, im not sure which one is better, here is a selection of both.
Album #1- Veneer
Heartbeats-you will have heard this, it was on a sony bravia advert a few years ago, its a brilliant acoustic cover of a great song. I uploaded it because both songs sound completely different, musically and vocally. Here it is:
The Knife-Heartbeats
And also, Kanye West's tour DJ (a-trak) remixed this song (The original) one of Kanye's best tracks, Get Em High. It really is something special.
Crosses-back to topic, here is another of "Veneer"s singles, its been on lots of stuff, notably the OC
Album #2-In our Nature
On first listen, i wasnt too keen on this album, but now i really like it, aparently its really influenced by Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion which I am excited about reading soon.
Down the line- single no.1 from this album, with acoustic driving rythm pretty characteristic of this album.
Killing for love-my personal favourite from the album, very strong lyrics. zane lowe has been loving this track recently, maybe it will get released.
Teardrop-Massive Attacks version is just one of those songs that if you cover, you have to do it 100% right, because if you get it wrong it is just shocking, and the orignal is such a classic that it is ruined by a crap cover version. This one works not only because its acoustic (Newton Faulkner also did an acoustic cover of this song-it was shocking) but José González's voice and intonation adds so much. Its obviously not as good as the original, so i thought i'd post it here for good measure.
Woah, that was tiring. come back tomorrow for old skool monday #2 and #3 (im away next monday).
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