José González

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I first stumbled upon José González somewhere in my subconscious when I saw a Flickr photo set by someone who was on location when they shot that cute Sony Bravia commercial in San Francisco. You know the one...with all the neat multi-colored bouncing balls. ! Anyway, the song "Heartbeats" captured my attention but soon after hearing it, my existence turned to the cold, calculated world of electronic music. Not to say that I have never really jonesed for the soothing sounds of that coffee house bard stuff, I just really have to be in the mood to not move to my music.
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Then something strange happened. While lost in the jungle of my new found affection for the cathode ray-cool of the likes of Ladytron, Kavinsky, and MSTRKRFT, I heard something eerily familiar while listening to group from Sweden called The Knife. It was a little darker and a bit more up-tempo, but there was "Heartbeats" again. Except instead of conjuring up images of brightly colored bouncy orbs, the only thing I could think of was how terrifying Karin Andersson would look singing this love song with her face in black light (you just have to know The Knife to appreciate that).
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Around this time the 2007 Coachella Arts & Music Festival came and I was hellbent on getting up close for Teddybears, yet another group from Sweden. To accomplish this, I had to get there early and see the two acts before them, forcing my way to the front of the tent where the crowd had gathered to see...José González!
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I only managed to hear the last two songs of his set, but I was completely sold, practically forgetting why I came to the stage in the first place. José was up there effortlessly pouring his heart out with just a guitar and a vast empty stage, and the tent was dead silent. The only two songs I managed to hear were covers of Massive Attack's "Teardrop" and Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy." At this point, I nearly cried. It could have also been because of the vast amount of happy smoke being puffed at the side of the stage that I was on.
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Needless to say, I couldn't wait to invest more time and energy into listening to what José González was trying to sell me. I bought both of his albums and poured over material relating to the singer. I am a covers junkie and even though José writes a lot of his own material, some of his best stuff comes from making (dare I say) others songs better...or at least different. From Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart," to Massive Attack's "Teardrop," there is a craft in how he finds the perfect song to cover. I was surprised to re-discover Zero 7's album The Garden which was made exponentially terrific by their use of José on the track "Crosses" and "Futures." If those songs do not haunt you after hearing them, then you have no soul. I also discovered along the way that despite the Latin roots of his name, José González is actually from Gothenburg, Sweden...the same exact town that The Knife is from! I love when life is like a palindrome in that way. No wonder I fell in love with the dark nature of José González's music.
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I promised myself that if José ever came within a two state radius (I do live in Florida after all...two is my limit), that I would be there. You cannot imagine the Tiger Beat glee I felt when I learned that he would be playing The Social, mere blocks from my house.
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The show was amazing...and sold out. I was shocked. Well, not shocked, but I was pleasantly surprised that half of Orlando recognized quality when they saw it. Sadly, the show sold out before my best concert pal Stephanie was able to grab a ticket but she was kind enough to stand outside with me until the doors opened. Love her!
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Supplied with just a guitar and a piece of wood to tap his foot on, José González took the stage with almost a hero's welcome and again, the venue fell silent. There comes a time when the imperfections of live make the texture of the experience that much better, and José González is a textbook example of this. Somehow, the vibrato and tone of his voice on songs such as "Crosses" and "Killing For Love" seem to double and almost become an instrument as obvious as his guitar. Quiet and humbled by the attention that follows him, he did manage to impishly smile and request that we clap along...but only if you knew the song.
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The set and performance was incredible with nearly every song from Veneer being covered as well as a large amount of songs from In Our Nature. One of the highlights was again, his masterful selection of a cover...this time Kylie Minogue's "Hand on Your Heart" which brought even the chattiest kids at The Social to a halt.
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If José wasn't already near perfect in my book, I learned that this entire tour is completely green by partnering with Reverb, a non-profit organization designed to educate and engage music fans and promote environmental sustainability. José requests biodegradable catering products and a reduction of plastic water bottles; González and Reverb will calculate the CO2 footprint of the tour and neutralize emissions from venue energy use, ground transportation, flights and hotel accommodations by supporting clean renewable energy projects. In fact, the back of my José González sticker explained how part of the purchase of my ticket will go to off-set the carbon footprint left by the tour.
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See below for more information on José González and to see photos from my Flickr set.
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Skinny Tie Flickr Set
José González official site
José González Wiki
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