*before i start i'd just like to say a huge thank you from my heart to all you bloggers that have commented/followed me over the past couple months. the support you've given me prior to & after my diagnosis has been heartwarming & it's so nice to know that i've got so many people rooting for me. it just makes the pain easier to get through & makes it all seem meaningful. thank you thank you thank you!

welcome to wednesday's new feature 'listen & love'. each week i'll be introducing you to artists/bands i love in the hope that you will listen to them & learn to love them too! each week i'll be doing a little profile on each act & offering my honest opinion on which songs to listen to & which to avoid. this post sees the turn of the beautiful jose vanders. honestly, stuck with this post & check her out because she's so so sweet!

who is jose?

she's an absolutely beautiful english lit student from london who has won the hearts of many over the past few years - including none other than mr blog himself Perez Hilton! she sums herself up through her love of 'beards, national geographic & audience participation'. oh, & she has bloody marvellous hair.

you'll love her if you like;

sweet melodic voices complimented by plinky plonk piano & great standalone singalong choruses.

her influences include?

• polly paulusma.
• fionn regan
• sam ambidon
• & many many more!

jose's releases & tracks i recommend;

transactional language e.p: the e.p that started it all off for our jose (: it offered us sweet piano accompanied tunes such as faces going places, a little love song & new ride. 'faces going places' is perhaps the song that the majority of vanders' fans [including myself] would note as her standout track simply because it best illustrates the frivolity & fun you expect to hear when listening to jose' tunes & of course it has irresistable join in hand claps :) this video was posted by vanders way back in early 2007 - enjoy ;)

red blue black & the tortoise e.p: this cute little e.p from back in 2008 saw jose maturing but in an extremely good way! her voice became more emotionally intense & the instruments took on a whole new realm of acoustic folk music. this made for beautifully intricate songs such as 'peter pan' & 'puppets'. here's the dreamy 'peter pan': *sorry about the fan video.

literature lovers: for me, jose is like a fine wine - she merely gets better with age. her 2009 offering 'literature lovers' delivered those sweet sweet songs that her fans had been used to with her previous offerings but this time they were served up with deeper emotion & lyrical intensity. the music also took a step up & saw her piano be complimented by a plethora of new sounds & levels. highlights from this album for me include: these times, mother theresa can't dive & man on wire. here's a three song preview of the album followed by the video for 'mother theresa' (:

*jose also did a cover of death cab for cutie's 'i'll follow you into the dark'

links;

• www.myspace.com/vandersmusic *you can check out 'literature lovers' tracks here! & be sure to go read her blog about her summer tour in '08. i know it's not very 'current' but i remember reading it at the time & finding it the coolest thing on earth (: definitely a read for those aspiring artists.
• http://www.josevanders.com/
• www.twitter.com/josevanders

i hope you've enjoyed this post & you've now all become jose fans (:

i'll post soon. keep smiling & take care.