José González and St. Vincent

It's been a great week of music. Rogue Wave, Jason Collett, and Foreign Born on Tuesday, Sufjan on Wednesday, The Long Winters and What Made Milwaukee Famous on Thursday, and last night Red Blondehead-sponsored Wrens, Cities, and Barton Carroll show. All were at Bottletree except for Sufjan, which was at the beautiful Fox Theater in Atlanta. Sadly, I missed Band of Horses and Chad Vangaalen to venture over to Atlanta with Sara Leah. Although I saw BoH at Pitchfork, it would have been nice to see them in such an intimate venue. Leah made it out despite my absence and if you are very nice and eat all your vegetables, maybe she will post her review. I'll also try to write up a little something about each show and post some pictures.

Bottletree continues their run of fantastic shows tonight with Swedish/Argentinean sensation José González with St. Vincent and Death Vessel. It promises to be a night full of quietly beautiful and haunting music. I've been a fan of José's music for a while now, both his solo recordings and his recent work with Zero 7. His debut Veneer first came out in Sweden sometime in 2003, but wasn't released stateside until last year. Uncut writes, "Mentioning a new artist in the same breath as Nick Drake has become shorthand for anyone with an acoustic guitar who favors melancholy restraint. Such a comparison, however, only hints at the talents of Jose Gonzalez. The Swedish singer-songwriter marries Drake's mournful minimalism to deftly picked, Latino guitar. The results -- melodic purity, a mesmeric rhythmic drive and stark emotionalism -- are extraordinary."

I'm also excited to see St. Vincent aka Annie Clark as I have heard such great things. Annie is best known for playing guitar with the Polyphonic Spree and now she's gaining acclaim for her solo project. Her sound has been described by Gorilla vs. Bear as an "'ethereal marriage of Jeff Buckley and Bjork' and if you threw in some PJ Harvey and maybe, umm...Buckethead, you'd be about half way there." Hmm. I believe that for a short period of time, a rumor circulated that said Annie Clark is Buckethead. heh.

Just a tip...guys, if you are trying to woo a special ladyfriend...this would be the show to bring her to if you want to show off your sensitive side. José is selling out venues far larger than Bottletree, so it would be a real shame to miss it.

TONIGHT
José González with St. Vincent and Death Vessel
Bottletree (http://www.myspace.com/bottletreecafe)<
3719 3rd Ave. South
Birmingham, AL
9 PM

A José González video and a few mp3's...

"Stay in the Shade" video


José González - Crosses
José González - Heartbeats
José González - Love Will Tear Us Apart

Check out José's debut album, Veneer

St. Vincent - Paris is Burning
You can listen to more songs at St. Vincent's myspace.