Part of my job here at The Independent Life is to be able to describe an artist’s sound. After all, it’s hard to discuss a band or musician without saying, “they remind me of this” or “they sound a bit like that.” And normally this isn’t an issue—that is until you get to a guy like Josh Garrels.

For the uninitiated, allow me to attempt this anyway. Garrels is a Hoosier-born (that means Indiana) solo artist who melds everything from Caribbean-laced folk songs to freestyle rhymes and rhythms. Some songs feature a full-on rock band while others flow on acoustic finger picking akin to a gentle stream. In short, a Josh Garrels album moves with chaotic tenderness from one end of the musical spectrum to the other.

Case in point, the two videos below are both absolutely golden.

First, check out Josh’s absolutely killer rendition of “Killing Me Softly”:

http://www.youtube.com/v/9xs0Q6MMiJg&hl=en

Then once you think you have his style pegged, check out the brilliantly moving “Yahweh.” Just don’t say you weren’t warned:

http://www.youtube.com/v/oaL6eK3G6FQ&hl=en”></param><param

This entry was posted on Friday, May 9th, 2008 at 9:44 am and is filed under The Independent Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.