the first couple songs are slick and interesting, but after awhile this veneer wears thin. i just want someone to hand the guy another instrument. i mean, he’s not even that good. i could understand it if he was a virtuoso, but seriously, i can play as well as him, and ive never considered myself to be a very good guitar player. ive just been playing for over 10 years, so i guess im..whatever.
the point is that if youre going to stick with one instrument, youd better be one of two things:
1. virtuoso
2. damn good songwriter

jose gonzalez is neither of these things. some of the songs are good, dont get me wrong, but i cant imagine him sitting in the studio, play through once, add a couple overdubs, and say, “yep, that one’s done, thats a keeper.”
all these songs sound like sketches, and none of them are particularly good. his vocal lines are flat and follow the guitar lines closely, and whatever words he’s saying are partially drowned out because of it. and again his guitar work is mediocre. i suppose if you listen to a couple songs every now and then, hes not bad, but to sit down and really listen to the entire album is a bore.

i was just reading on him, and i hate how people feel this need to validate the artist based on their background. i guess it kind of makes sense, there’s too much music to just say “yea, they met in college and they play folk indie trip hop stuff, its pretty good.” its easier to move records if theres a shtick.

I was all set to talk about Grey’s Anatomy, Season One this week. I thoroughly enjoyed the 9 episodes of season one. I have strong feelings about all the characters. I love that it is a rich, multicultural world they live in where race isn’t forgotten but also isn’t dominant. These are characters that could exist in the real world. I could go off on this topic for a good 500 words but then Binns, Hardaker, Sia and José González showed up and blew my mind.

I’m actually a little underwhelmed by Sia’s performances on The Garden. 3 albums in and it isn’t fresh anymore. It sounds more like work and less like her usual whimsy. Great work, mind you, but the emotional freedom of their previous collaborations isn’t quite there. It doesn’t matter, though, because this is José’s time to shine. After having Crosses and Today and This Fine Social Scene and Dreaming on constant rotation for a couple days, I picked up Veneer and got even more wrapped up.

There’s something infectious about his voice. It commands attention. It reminds me of another José. González performs with the same certainty in his voice that Mr. Feliciano has on his rendition of California Dreamin’. These are just men with their guitars singing songs from their hearts. It is raw and sensitive and beautiful. And I can’t quite get enough of it.