giveaways! yay

I am a HUGE fan of etsy...and also of contests where you can win free things. So if you want to win a really awesome handmade journal, you can visit http://somewhatvoluble.com/2009/04/07/blogoversary-giveaway/ and enter to win one.

The journals can be found at Kreativlink's etsy shop.

:) Happy Wednesday!

I usually like the original, but...

Just discovered a wonderful rendition of a song called "Hand on Your Heart," originally performed by Kylie Minogue. Can't say I'm a big fan of Kylie's. I heard José González's version first, and then had a brief moment of confusion/shock after hearing what the original sounded like. It was definitely more cheezy, pop-tastic 80's-ness than I could handle. But González turned it into a simple, heartfelt love song marked by his simple acoustic sound that I love. As a general rule I usually like original versions best, simply because, well, they are the original. But definitely not this time. Also, I found the song on youtube- it was one of their "recommendations" for me. Who knew those might actually turn out to be good? Anyway, I feel like it would be comparable to Simon & Garfunkel covering Britney Spears in terms of the genre comparison. Yeah. Crazy. But I think it takes talent to find great lyrics hidden in a song like this one. I mean, Kylie Minogue, who knew? Not that she wrote it or anything.

Of course, this isn't the first time I've been more than impressed with one of his covers. He also does a fantastic version of The Knife's "Heartbeats." I'm going to go out on a limb and assume most people have never heard of The Knife (or José González, for that matter)...they are both worth checking out. 

Also, in reference to the "Hand On Your Heart," I love José González's video for the song. It's kind of strange, which is probably partly why I like it. You can find the video here. 

He's also covered a couple Bruce Springsteen songs that I haven't listened to yet- but they're next on my list.