Put On The Playlist: Last Snowstorm of the Year

Update – NM3 just got permission from José González’s US Manager Brian to post its first mp3! (Brian rocks btw) So without any further adieu here it is: José González – Last Snowstorm of the Year (Live)
PS – González will be at the Sixth and I Synagogue Wed. Mar. 5 – Yes, I already have my ticket kids.

No this is not a band, its a song – and its actually three songs. And yesterday was actually the first snowstorm of the year here in DC…

But anyway – Low, a Minnesota slowcore band, originally released Last Snowstorm of the Year on their 2002 album Trust under the Kranky label. Low is great – their song Breaker also belongs on your playlist, but neither of these is the point. The point is that they later did a live recording of the Last Snowstorm of the Year is so good is that I pray that they one day write more verses so that it lasts longer – its that good. Its very melancholy, like many of their songs, but most of the best and most meaningful ones are.

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Which leads me to #3. Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks this song is good. José González, who I think does the best covers period (including great covers of Heartbeats, Teardrop, and Love Will Tear Us Apart), thought Last Snowstorm of the Year was so good that he should put his own spin on it. The cover is amazing – and he does what I prayed Low would do to the original – he more than doubles the length of the song! And he does this completely instrumentally – and the horns are amazing.
I really enjoy listening to different versions of the same song – not just remixes, but hearing the progression an artists mind takes them while their doing their thing (Elliott Smith‘s Miss Misery definitely comes to mind but thats a story for another time). Now, my favorite of these three versions is José González‘s because it lasts longer with Low’s live version following at a close second. But listen to all three, and make your own choice about the Last Snowstorm of the Year while the first one slowly melts here in DC.

(Sidenote – I have no idea where you can find José González’s version of Last Snowstorm of the Year, I don’t remember where I got it. But I’ll try emailing him and see if he’ll let me post it. Otherwise, shoot me an email and see what else I can do…)