Junip
It was interesting to see the amount of people that arrived at The Independent that night to see Junip, featuring Tobias Winterkorn (keyboards), Elias Araya (drums) and José González (vocals & guitar). My experience with solo artist side projects are a bit disappointing as most fans are looking for that artist’s original solo material and not the ‘band stuff’. While I would not be surprised that people were left feeling cheated, they unfortunately are in the minority. Junip is more that José González and his band.
Sharon Van Etten
Sharon Van Etten
Sharon Van Etten
Opening was the alluring and exposing Sharon Van Etten. As a casual listener for the past few months, I was quickly transformed into a dedicated listener and follower of her onstage spontaneity and digressive live incarnations. But when the between-song banter wrapped up, her songs were clearly original and compelling enough for the audience to gradually grow silent. Particularly the songs from this year’s Epic were organic and beautifully arranged like the heavy yet gentle Don’t Do it and pristine A Crime. This was a highlight for me in this year’s concert series and will be noted as such.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
[mp3] Sharon Van Etten – Don’t Do It from Epic (2010)
Junip
Junip
It’s easy to say that Junip sounds like José González: The Band, the most distinct element of Gonzalez’s performance, his vocal approach, remains and that signature guitar styling is alive in Junip’s structure. However, a dynamic and lush atmosphere is now in place and gives life to this already well-respected musician’s talent. While José solo is intimate and uncomplicated on it’s own, Junip is a whole ‘nother entity that focuses on the ensemble and not José’s campfire affection.
Junip
Junip / Click picture for more photos from the show
Junip splashed in the psychedelic with In Every Direction and To The Grain with some obvious influence in 70s space-rock. The slow moving Without You made a gentle appearance, which is the closest resemblance to José’s solo material on the album. The audience for the most part was respectful and attentive, especially to the enjoyable and somewhat fast-paced (also the percussion on this song is on the verge of comedic) Howl. But as expected, once the band came back out for an encore, which included a creepy rendition of Bruce Springsteen’s The Ghost of Tom Joad, unruly “fans” began yelling requests like “Heartbeats“! To which José responded, “Go home and listen to it!” As I said earlier, it’s their loss; for this band is as satisfying as his solo material and a great expansion on José’s already impressive sound.
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
[mp3] Junip – Don’t Let It Pass from Fields (2010)