Wow, I sure am glad it’s Friday. I’m exhausted. Not the kind of exhausted where you want music that will re-energize you, but the kind of exhausted where you want something nice and soothing to help you turn off and unload the week’s worries.
Solo Piano, an album by an artist known cryptically as Gonzales, is that kind of music. (It’s also, incidentally, my go-to early morning ease-into-the-day music, which is a similar if not identical vibe.) As you might gather from the title, it’s just a guy playing relatively simple songs on the piano. Hard to say why I find it so delightful, but I do. (It was originally released in 2004, but got a U.S. domestic re-release this year.)
Some folks might know Gonzales as a DJ who makes electronic music, mainly electro. Some might know him as producer that’s worked with artists like Peaches and Jamie Lidell. He also produced the album Let It Die by Canadian artist Feist, and then played a cover of the song “One Evening” on the remix album Open Season.
Anyhoo. That’s a lot of talk to introduce such a quiet, modest song: “The Tourist.” Enjoy.
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