Jose Gonzalez played Hollywood last night. It was my first time at Hotel Cafe, a small bar-style venue that features a dank alleyway entrance. I usually favor the east side of town, but I thought that a partially sit-down joint was a more appropriate setting for the soft-sung Swede.
The first I heard of Jose Gonzalez was through his cover of The Knife’s “Heartbeats.” I’m not exactly sure who I am indebted to for the recommendation… it was either Gorilla vs Bear or The Catbirdseat; but regardless, I fell in love with his songs, classical guitar work, and James Taylor-like voice (no, in a good way). At times, he is almost a deadringer for Nick Drake - at least in the guitar - his voice more focused than Drake’s casual whisper. I think this is one of the reasons that his songs about love feel so romantic. “Heartbeats;” clearly the crowd favorite, was perhaps the best example. His clear, yet delicate vocal delivery transforms The Knife’s Carribean-flavored electronica into an intimate poem between lovers. When he reaches the bridge, “And you / you knew the hand of a devil / And you / kept us awake with wolves teeth / Sharing different hearbeats / in one night,” one cannot help but to fall in love with the portrait painted.
He played a wonderful set to a packed, entranced audience. The crowd was so silent that you could hear his foot delicately tapping the beat, as well as the cars driving by on an unusually wet street outside. I thought the wave-like sound helped the atmosphere, but he had a couple endearing missteps, and I wondered if Hotel Cafe’s lack of sound insulation was distracting him. He played a good selection of songs from his 2003 album, and a few great covers including Kylie Minogue’s “Hand On Your Heart” and Massive Attack’s “Teardrop” to close out. For an encore, “Sensing Owls” and a song I didn’t recognize followed; the unknown song being perhaps the best song of the night. Amongst the crowd, Andy Samberg and Kirsten Dunst were sitting in front of me, and I overheard Adam wondering if he was falling in love with Jose after a couple songs. I think we all felt that way.
: José González - Crosses :
: José González - Heartbeats :
: José González - Sensing Owls :
: José González - Heartbeats (Sony Bravia commercial) :
[…] I’m almost embarassed to have basically rented a space on the floor at The Truobadour this weekend. But really, there was a long lull without many decent shows, so it was a nice change of pace to have so many to go to. The Troubadour is without a doubt my favorite venue in L.A. (though Hotel Cafe was a pretty nice intimate spot), so of all places, I’m glad that they have stepped up their schedule. The sound is consistantly good, but I feel like they may have updated their lighting system, because it seemed noticeably good (2 of the bands commented as much), and there is now, regretably, a smelly and annoying smoke machine. […]