José González - "Veneer" (Imperial Recordings)
Of course, the first question is "does it live up to the hype?" Well, it's a damn fine record, but I'm not sure I'm ready to throw my Nick Drake CDs out the window. I was kinda bummed to find they included so much previously released material on here from José's previous EPs, but what can you do? It's all A-quality stuff, I just worry he only has a finite amount of songs in him. I also think I'd like to hear a drier, more close-mic'd recording from him in the future, but that's just my personal taste. In this world of 60+ minute albums, some folk may feel cheated by "Veener"'s 30-minute runtime, but I think it suits the music perfectly. Any more would be overkill. I'm not ready to declare this a classic, but it's still a strong contender for my year-end list.