Monthly Archives: June 2010

The Weekend Review kicks off the summer this week!

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By Chris Moore:

Hi all!  I’m happy to announce that the Weekend Review is back this week to kick off summer the right way…

…with some awesome reviews!

So, look out this week for reviews of albums from the Beach Boys, Bob Dylan, and an album that just came out this year.

As a side note, I was inspired this weekend by one of my friends to write a “top ten albums” list for the first half of 2010.  I’ve copied my list below, and it’ll be interesting to see what stays the same and what changes by December 31st.  For once, I’m including no commentary.  Just the list.  So, consider it a preview of what’s to come in six months!

Top Ten Albums of 2010 (so far)

1)  All in Good Time – Barenaked Ladies
2)  Sea of Cowards – The Dead Weather
3)  Heaven is Whenever – The Hold Steady
4)  Broken Bells – Broken Bells
5)  Volume Two – She & Him
6)  Transference – Spoon
7)  Mojo – Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers
8)  Stone Temple Pilots – Stone Temple Pilots
9)  High Violet – The National
10)  Be in Love – Locksley

“San Francisco” by Brett Dennen (Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome to another edition of the Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!

I’m back again tonight after a short sabbatical.  I’m glad to present a great song, “San Francisco” off of Brett Dennen’s 2009 album “Hope for the Hopeless”.

I’ve been in love with this album ever since my friend (and boss) Bill gave me the album to listen to.  I’ve since purchased it on vinyl- you’ll see my copy behind me in the video.

I’ve also been purchasing a lot of new albums on vinyl, including Jack Johnson’s “To the Sea” and “Stone Temple Pilots”, both of which I haven’t listened to yet.  I’m getting myself ready for the STP album by listening to their previous effort, “Shangri-La-Dee-Dah”.  Jeff always used to talk about that album, so I asked for it for my birthday and I’m loving the album.  I’m so excited about the new disc!  Actually, I did listen to it once while transferring my vinyl copy over to the computer using my brother’s ION USB turntable.  Mine’s on the fritz…of course…

I’ve been taking it a bit easier lately, which is good because it’s been BUSY.  I’ve gotten a lot more done around the house and have been watching my Mets, who’ve been on a big roll lately.

I hope to keep up with this light Laptop Sessions schedule- I’ll definitely make it a point to.

Anyway, I’ve wanted to record “San Francisco” for a very long time now and was happy to get the opportunity now.  What’s cool is that Brett Dennen himself used his Martin D-28 acoustic guitar to record this album.  Hearing his great sound and great songs was a factor in my choosing a Martin, too.  Even though mine cost about half the price of his, mine’s still all solid wood and (in my opinion) sounds just as good!  Remember all the research I did?  Well, I truly believe I got the best I could for the money.

Over the next few weeks, I plan on covering songs from Ringo Starr, Scissor Sisters, Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Jack Johnson, and Stone Temple Pilots- ALL of whom have albums out this summer!  So, the cover song list keeps on growing.  So, have a great Tuesday and be sure to come back again for another Laptop Session with Jim Fusco soon!

The Weekend Review – A Weekday Report

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By Chris Moore:

Hi everyone.  I wanted to write a brief note to reassure everyone that my decreased volume of posts the past couple weeks is no cause for alarm.  Far from it — I want nothing more than to chip into the mounting number of posts that I have researched, rehearsed, planned out, and in some cases, started.

The school year ends a week from today, which means that I am officially in the grip of the craziest time of year for a teacher.  Grading is mounting almost as high as tensions among students trying to get their grades up and/or keep them as high as they are in the face of beautiful weather and a desire for summer to begin.  Come on, you remember those days…

So, I’m doing my best, but I simply refuse to rush through posts, particularly the Weekend Review articles.  As soon as school’s out (for the sum-mer, as Alice Cooper might sing), I’ll catch up with some non-weekend installments of the Weekend Review.  I know, I know… it flies in the face of all that is good and right!

But, rest assured, much more new and interesting material is on its way this summer.  For some, it’s a time to step back.  For me, I can’t think of anything I would rather do than immerse myself in the writing of songs, reviews, and more.  So, before I go, let me offer up some things to look forward to.

First, I’ll let you in on the upcoming Weekend Reviews.  In no particular order, I’ll be tackling Bob Dylan’s legendary Bringing It All Back Home, the much lesser-known 2002 Phantom Planet disc The Guest, and Jack Johnson’s most recent release, To The Sea.  The jury’s still out on if that one deserves the full Weekend Review treatment, or a more compact serving of “Yes, No, or Maybe So.”

Speaking of which, I will also be posting a one-sentence review for tomorrow.  It’s not much, but it’s a little morsel to hold you over until I get back into full swing.

For now, though, I’m going back to watching the Jack Johnson En Concert DVD — which is excellent, by the way, and makes me like the songs from 2008’s Sleep Through the Static even more than I like them individually and much, much more than I like them as an album — while washing dishes.  After dishes, it’s grading of some projects and then off to bed for me before my 5am wakeup call to the Star Trek: Voyager theme song.  Yes, that’s right.  You didn’t misread that.  Seriously, though, I highly recommend it.  I wake up much more peacefully and happily ever since I sprung for the ringtone.

Such a dork…

Okay, that’s all for now, but tune in tomorrow, perhaps as you’re waiting for your copy of the new Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers album, Mojo, to rip to your iTunes, and please be patient with me until school’s out next Monday night.

Take care until then!

“Nothingman” (Pearl Jam Cover)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to Tuesday’s installment of The Laptop Sessions! I’m a bit late with this post because I had Dynamis in FFXI this evening, and the take I did before that didn’t come out very well. So I had to do it after that.

The song I chose tonight is called “Nothingman” by Pearl Jam. It is from their 3rd album “Vitalogy”. I love this album and plan on doing a couple more songs from Pearl Jam in future sessions.

Due to an index finger injury to my left hand two months ago, I still have some problems getting the Bb chord down on an acoustic guitar. It is getting better, but you may notice a sound quality difference when I play that chord.

Tomorrow is Original Wednesday (well, literally in 1 hour 15 minutes), so look for Jim to come out with another great original song. Stay tuned!

Editor’s Note: Unfortunately, Jeff’s acoustic cover song music videos are no longer on YouTube, but we decided to keep his cover song blog posts up.  We figured these music blog entries would be good for posterity’s sake and because Jeff always gave such insightful posts each Session.  We hope to see Jeff’s impressive catalog of acoustic rock songs here on the Laptop Sessions cover songs and origianal music blog again in the future.  But, for now, please make sure to check-out hundreds of other acoustic cover songs from all of your favorite bands here on the Laptop Sessions music blog!