G is for The Gutter Twins and Jose Gonzalez

By Gabriel

The Gutter Twins

runge could be considered the last major movement in music history, while still being a fad and disguise for (gasp!) plain old rock music. Our fascinations with techno, industrial, garage, and Brit-pop don't really count. A switch was flipped that nearly coincided with the turn of the decade. You probably know and love some of the standards like Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Mudhoney and Alice In Chains. To the best of my knowledge, the Screaming Trees and The Afghan Whigs were two of the more underrated ones, although I think the Whigs were far different than grunge but they came in with the swarm of new bands. Their music was a little more dramatic and over the top, not as abrasive as the tones from the Seattle natives. It has only been in the past two years that I really gave The Screaming Trees a chance. They're most famous for their contribution to the Singles soundtrack, "Nearly Lost You," which was always one of my favorite tracks. They made a few albums and Mark Lanegan moved on to solo work. Greg Dulli of the Whigs did the same only he maintained an outfit in The Twilight Singers. Apparently, Lanegan and Dulli have been friends for some time as Lanegan even partnered up on tracks for The Twilight Singers. Fast forward through years of solo work and the two form The Gutter Twins. Saturnalia was one of my favorite albums from 2008. The combination of Dulli's dramatics and soul with Lanegan's cigarette-smoke-stained voice makes me long for better days in music–grunge didn't make music better on its own. One of the better qualities of this work though is that the songs aren't as naïve as the albums that came from the late 80's and early 90's. The duets are a mix of deep love and haunting reflections. Grown men who've made mistakes and become disenfranchised with the times and people around them.

José González

I have a deep affection for the music of Elliott Smith. You really can't compare his work to many artists and the only one that comes to mind is The Beatles. Pretty broad considering they influenced everything we know about rock. Essentially, Smith left a pretty big hole in the genre of solo songwriters that focused heavily on acoustic guitar. José González's work really doesn't compare to Smith's, but lately he fills that void left by one of the best songwriters in recent memory. The best word to describe anything performed by González is "lush." He's relatively new and not yet widely accepted to be as great as he truly is. Everything about this work is unique—from his voice, song compositions, and the brand established by his album artwork. The simplicity of his first two albums is intoxicating. It's refreshing in that sense to know what to expect from this artist. Coincidentally, he's so good that bands like The Gutter Twins (see above) are covering his songs (see sample provided and the cover on The Gutter Twins' EP, Adorata).