Live: Jose Gonzalez

 José González was in Los Angeles recently on the tail end of what has seemed like close to two years of endless touring.  While most of you probably heard his debut record, Veneer, in 2005 (or 2004 or 2003!) it's refreshing to know that the public still has interest in the artist and his music.  We were fortunate enough to have José stop by our offices yesterday to hang out and play a couple of acoustic songs for us.  We'll have that audio and video up on the site soon, so keep an eye out for it.  José did mention that he will be heading back home to Sweden in about two weeks where he'll begin to work on a new record...can't wait for that one.

Last night José González and his guitar played at the Vista Theater in Silverlake which is actually a movie theater but will have acoustic-y-mellow- live music every once in awhile.   The theater is a historic building and has been restored to it's original glory, so it felt very much like a classical performance.  Everyone was sitting, not one cell phone, giggle or whisper could be heard while the songs were being performed and the sound traveled surprisingly well throughout the cavernous room.  I have seen José perform before and I am always amazed at how one man can be so captivating, but I guess that is what true talent does.  It enthralls an audience to the point that one almost forgets that anyone or anything else is even in the room except for the music.  José worked his way through most of Veneer in just over an hour and then came back and played a couple of covers including a version of Massive Attacks' "Teardrop" that was pretty incredible.  Towards the end of the show José remarked that he was going to play two more songs which received a cacophony of boos from the audience that prompted José to respond,through a mischievous smile: "But they're REALLY good songs!"  A great moment from the shy troubadour that endeared him even more to an already swooning audience.  Oh, and he wasn't lying...they were both amazing songs.

Here's some stuff from José González.  Go buy Veneer and look for him next year on the road again.  Check out his MySpace page to hear some streaming audio.

And check him out live at Intonation Music Festival back in June from the LG Invades Intonation feature.

Download Jose Gonzalez - Heartbeats.mp3

Download Jose Gonzalez - Born In The USA (live).mp3