Out today is the beautiful new album from Jose Gonzalez. Mute reissued his first album "Veneer" about 2 years ago. So this is his second album. But his first real album for Mute. It is called "In Our Nature." I will admit that Jose Gonzalez is not for everybody. I was not even sure if he was for me for a long time. It took me a little while to give in to Mr. Gonzalez. Most of his popularity initially came from his brilliant little cover of "Heartbeats" by the Knife. It was used in a commercial that everybody seemed to watch on the internet.  I am not sure if the commercial sold more Sony Bravia LCD TVs. But it for sure sold thousands more copies of his debut album "Veneer." I think I actually heard his version of this song before I even heard The Knife. I would eventually become obsessed with their version as well which was on their album "Deep Cuts." Jose and The Knife share more than just this great song. They both come from the land of Sweden.

 Jose Gonzalez was born in Sweden but his parents are from Argentina. His music doesn't really sound like the mix of ABBA and Astor Piazzolla that you might expect from a Swedish Argentine. It has more of a minimal Nick Drake sound. Beautiful little minimal indie rock with just mostly guitar and vocals. He is sort of known for his covers and performs many of them live. His version of "Love Will Tear Us Apart" is almost as magical as the original. He also has a cover on the new album which he has already been playing live for the last couple of years. The song is "Teardrop" by Massive Attack. It took me a while to actually even recognize it. Which is very impressive since it happens to be one the most overplayed songs of all time. The Massive Attack version with vocals from the wonderful Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins is fantastic. But I have heard that song so many times over the years that I had pretty much decided that I never needed to hear it again. And I also love Cocteau Twins more than anything. So it is a hard original to compete with. But his version is just as brilliant but completely different.  The whole album is  absolutely beautiful. It is simple and uncomplicated. Just a great album. Jose Gonzalez is actually one of those people that deserves any fame that he has acquired over the last couple of years. I just hope all those fans he got from that commercial don't forget about him. He has managed to create a second album that is just as good as the first. I am going to go listen to it again right now. And unlike that original Massive Attack song that he covers, I am not even close to being over Jose Gonzalez.

RCA / Columbia Pictures Home Video 60644

This was in the L.A. Times on September 8th. Another severely underrated Los Angeles band is gone, at least for now… I was fortunate to catch their last show at Macarthur Park before they quit. It was a good little fix until their eventual return. If you haven’t bought a copy of their last album, Die Cowboy Die, you are missing out on an East L.A. classic and one of the best albums that came out in 2006.

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Quetzal breaks for a busy sabbatical


Quetzal, the ground-breaking Chicano fusion band from East L.A., is on sabbatical. Bandleader Quetzal Flores and his wife, lead singer Martha González, left last week for a nine-month sojourn in Veracruz to study the work of women in son jarocho, the fabulous, Afro-folkloric music that has long inspired them. This is primarily Martha's mission. She received a Fulbright fellowship for the trip, which could yield a CD of original works by the women of the fandango scene. Afterward, she and Quetzal, with their toddler Sandino, are headed to Seattle, where she plans to enroll in the doctoral program for women's studies at the University of Washington.

Quetzal will be busy too. He plans to form an acoustic quartet with fellow guitarist Ramon Gutierrez-Hernandez of Son de Madera, one of Mexico's best new son jarocho groups. And he continues to produce for other bands, including the recently released CD by San Diego's B-Side Players and the upcoming album by L.A.'s Monte Carlo 76, with new vocalist Marisa Ronstadt.

 HARLEY

Harley, a Black Labrador Retriever, is almost four years old. She is best pals with Lori, who works as a manager at the Berkeley Amoeba Music store.  The two start every day by going up to Lake Chabot for an invigorating morning walk/run. "My other dog Cody passed away and someone who worked at Amoeba put me in touch with someone whose dog had just had a litter. All seven of the litter were girls," recalled Lori. "Organic dairy farmers out in Cloverdale  -- so we went out there and saw her at 4 weeks and then at again at 7 weeks old when we picked her up." Lori notes that Harley has a good "dog friend" in a fellow AmoebaDog. "I share an office with Naomi and Harley and Liebchen (scroll down to see her profile) get along really well together," she smiled. 

KAHLESS

Kahless (rhymes with Payless) is an Australian Cattle Dog and is the best friend of Paul Vasquez, who works in the world music section of Amoeba Music Hollywood. Recently Paul recalled that fateful day three years ago when he and Kahless first crossed paths. "It was one afternoon in April 2004; I was looking for a dog at the animal shelter in Pomona. I looked at plenty of animals, but none of them really caught my eye. On the way out, I saw a picture on a bulletin board of a dog with beautiful eyes and super crazy spots. I looked to my left, and there he was in his little cell. I went to him and knelt down to see his reaction. No barking, no weirdness, just eye contact and a wagging tail. All of a sudden he put one of his paws through the bars onto my knee. That was it. I chose him and he chose me. We've been best friends ever since."

Gil Cerezo, lead singer from the band Kinky, was the guest DJ at Nativo last Wednesday. After another great set from Mexican Dubweiser, Gil went on in front of a somewhat pensive crowd of Kinky fans and just tore it up. It was a straight-up Hollywood style party set, complete with mash-ups, classic party rock songs, Latin pop and techno-house blended with such ease. Soon people lost their inhibitions and filled the dance floor. I’m not a fan of 80’s music at all, but when Gil mixed the 80's Latin pop group Flans into Quiet Riot, he had me shaking my head in disgust yet still dancing. That’s a sign of great DJ -- someone who can get you up to dance to music you don't really like! Gil (pronounced Hill) had fun and plans do another set in the future at Nativo, so stay tuned! Nativo happens every Wednesday @ Zanzibar in Santa Monica, with resident DJs Sloe Poke, Mando Fever, Mexican Dubweiser and yours truly, Gomez Comes Alive!