I wasn’t too fond of this album on the first listen, but it has definitely grown on me. I don’t think that it’s as good as their last two albums, but I’d still recommend this as a great Summer listen. I can’t wait to see them in concert at the Hollywood Bowl. That should be amazing!

I was all set to talk about Grey’s Anatomy, Season One this week. I thoroughly enjoyed the 9 episodes of season one. I have strong feelings about all the characters. I love that it is a rich, multicultural world they live in where race isn’t forgotten but also isn’t dominant. These are characters that could exist in the real world. I could go off on this topic for a good 500 words but then Binns, Hardaker, Sia and José González showed up and blew my mind.

I’m actually a little underwhelmed by Sia’s performances on The Garden. 3 albums in and it isn’t fresh anymore. It sounds more like work and less like her usual whimsy. Great work, mind you, but the emotional freedom of their previous collaborations isn’t quite there. It doesn’t matter, though, because this is José’s time to shine. After having Crosses and Today and This Fine Social Scene and Dreaming on constant rotation for a couple days, I picked up Veneer and got even more wrapped up.

There’s something infectious about his voice. It commands attention. It reminds me of another José. González performs with the same certainty in his voice that Mr. Feliciano has on his rendition of California Dreamin’. These are just men with their guitars singing songs from their hearts. It is raw and sensitive and beautiful. And I can’t quite get enough of it.