Author Archives: Chris Moore

“Trouble” (Pink Cover)

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For Pink chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE! 

By Chris Moore: 

Hello and welcome to another week of all-new high quality Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song music video blog material!  (Now, that’s a mouthful!)  We’ve got an exciting week lined up for you regular visitors:  one classic Laptop Session post each for Monday and Tuesday, another Phish Friday with Guest Sessions contributor Jeremy Hammond, the final edition of “Yes, No, or Maybe So: One-Sentence Reviews of 2009 Albums” (finally!), and of course, another edition of “The Weekend Review” on Sunday.  And you never know what impromptu posts will surface to cover Wednesday and Thursday.  For instance, I’ve got more than a dozen “Yes, No, or Maybe So” ‘s on the way soon, not to mention my “Top Five Rock Artists of the Decade” series that’s stagnated; it’s all a matter of timing. 

April break is coming… 

For tonight, let me begin by explaining my song choice.  You may be wondering, “Pink?  The woman?  Really?”  Well, as you can see with even a quick glance at the freeze frame below, I’ve recently undergone a serious haircut.  As part of the NHHS English dept. team, I participated in the St. Baldrick’s fundraiser to fight children’s cancer last Wednesday.  I’m not going to lie: it was a bit scary.  For one thing, I’ve never had my hair this short.  For another, I’ve had issues with my scalp being dry and itchy for years, so I didn’t know what it would look like once the hair came off.  Thankfully, all went well.  After the event, my team went out to Harry’s Sports Bar & Grill, which a few of us thought was fantastic — I mean, come on, that’s a Dr. Keck-sized pun (watch it!) waiting to happen.  

We must have looked like a band of skinheads, based on the looks we elicited from the weekday crowd… 

Back to the music.  Weeks ago, I knew that this would be coming up.  I realized that it coincided with the season premiere of the AMC original show Breaking Bad that Dana got me hooked on last year.  I took the time to look up the music that has been used on the show over its first two seasons, and I found several songs that I liked.  The wildest one, I thought, was Pink’s “Trouble.”  If I could pull off an acoustic cover of that song, now that would be fun.  I learned it that day, and I forgot about it until earlier this weekend.  I can’t tell you how weird it was to take a Pink song seriously, but I have a newfound respect for at least this song.  It’s a pretty straightforward number, and it was fascinating to me just how easily I translated it to a solo acoustic performance. 

I hope you enjoy the product!

In other Laptop Sessions news, I finally went back to my “Yes, No, or Maybe So: One-Sentence Reviews of 2009 Albums” post.  I hadn’t updated it since September 2009, so I figured it was about time I finished it off.  My main reason for neglecting it for so long was that I realized mid-way through last year that  it would make more sense to publish each review as its own post.  I’ve been doing that since 2010 kicked off, and it’s been so much more fun than the old system.  I not only added the new 2009 albums I listened to since the previous update, but I also went back through the existing entries and adapted them to the slightly new rating system I’m using now.  Essentially, each “Yes, No, or Maybe So” review has five components:  the rating, the release date, the one sentence review, the top two tracks, and an image of the album cover.  I didn’t go back through and add cover images for all 30 or so albums, but I did match them to my new rating system.  Under this easy system, an album can receive one of five scores: Yes, Maybe So, Maybe, Maybe Not, or No.  This is in line with the classic five star rating system that I use for the Weekend Review.  Over the past several months, I’ve been reconsidering my older reviews.  The more I listen and write reviews, the more I want the perfect “Yes” to be an elusive rating, a true five star record.  Before I added the “Maybe” as an option, I found that there were simply too many “Maybe So” entries that didn’t quite deserve that score, but weren’t in the “Maybe Not” range either. 

Long story long, it seems that there is a learning curve to be expected with all things. 

Outside of the head shaving and blog posting, life has been good recently.  Busy, to be sure, but good.  I’m still deep in the middle of a Star Trek: Voyager viewing marathon with Nicole, and I couldn’t be happier to indulge my dorkier tendencies.  I’ve also been busy musically in a couple different ventures.  The first is my next album, titled simply The 2010 Project for now, that I’m only just now taking seriously.  After almost four years since Love Out of Fashion, I decided it was about time I took some ownership of my next project.  So, I’ve polished and restrung my acoustic and electric guitars, borrowed my sister’s bass guitar, and taught myself how to use loops in GarageBand.  There are only two missing pieces that I am in the process of researching:  first, a guitar pedal to replace my Zoom pedal (lost to battery acid damage…) and second, a good USB microphone to record vocals, harmonica, etc.  I’ve had such an itch to record recently that I’ve been playing around with demo versions of some of the fully written songs. 

I’m excited that they don’t sound nearly as cheesy as my previous attempt at synthesized drums on Looking For You‘s “Shut Up, Bob”! 

Outside of the recording, I’m still deciding which songs will make the cut, what concept/theme I think should drive the record, and I’m still writing verses, middles, and lyrics to finish off several songs that have been incomplete for days, months, or even years.

My other project involves the band I’ve jammed with on and off since I first started teaching.  This go-round, there are five of us — a lead guitarist, me on rhythm (electric!), a keyboardist/harmonica player, a bass player, and a drummer.  They’re all terrific musicians, so I definitely feel like I need to be on my toes constantly.  Specifically, we’ve been practicing to play two songs for the Teacher Talent Show this Thursday: a parody of Bob Marley’s “Jammin'” (based on the challenges of using the Xerox copier at school) and a parody of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.”  I haven’t really rocked out since MoU’s last show, so being up on stage Friday to rehearse was great.  We’re playing in the school’s beautiful theatre, and my bandmates have furnished us with some powerfully loud amps.  We jammed on each song for about fifteen minutes straight last Friday, and I played “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” until I thought my left hand was going to fall up and all the muscles in my arm would snap.  Any guitarist who’s played rock music knows that this discomfort is all code for having a great time!

So, at long last, I’ll leave you to my cover song music video for the week.  As for me, I’m off to the BK Lounge to kick off TNA night part two (after last night’s very entertaining PPV).

See you next session!

 

“Ziggy Stardust” (David Bowie electric cover)

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By Federico Borluzzi:

This isn’t an acoustic cover as the previous ones that I used to submit here…

I played this song with my electric guitar with a light distorsion and I hope it does sound good! This is a great song from The Rise And Fall Of Ziggy Stardust And The Spiders From Mars by David Bowie (1972).

** EDITOR’S NOTE: **

I have a reason to be personally excited about this song — a while back, I recorded my first David Bowie cover, of “Hang on to Yourself.”  That song is the one that precedes “Ziggy Stardust” on the aforementioned 1972 album.

Now, thanks to Federico, we’re happy to present the title track of the album, a song that ranked in the middle of Rolling Stone‘s 500 Best Rock Songs list recently.  As usual, Federico has done an excellent job of stripping a song down to its basic elements, and electric guitar was a great choice for this one.

As a final note, I’m very happy to be able to promise you some great Federico Borluzzi sessions in the coming weeks and months, as I’ve recently built up several songs in reserve.

So, without further ado, enjoy this one and be sure to hurry back for more!

Music Review: “Together Through Life” by Bob Dylan

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RATING:  3.5 / 5 stars

By Chris Moore:

For many avid music listeners, it feels as though Bob Dylan has indeed been together with us through life.

He started out simple in the sixties — just an acoustic guitar, harmonica, and his aged-before-its-time voice.  By the end of the decade, he had gone electric, gone back to acoustic, and gone to Nashville to aid in the popularization of country rock.

Before the seventies were out, he recorded covers, rediscovered rock, discovered female background singers, and found God.  The next two decades were hit and miss — although any true Dylan fan will tell you that even Knocked Out Loaded has its charms…

Since 1997, Dylan has released what many refer to as his comeback trilogy (Time Out of Mind, Love & Theft, and Modern Times), although he has cryptically referred to Love & Theft as the first in a trilogy.

Now, less than a year away from a new decade and one more than that from his 50th anniversary in the recording business, Dylan has released his most fun and accessible album in years.  “Together Through Life” may have the nostalgic sound and rusted, creaky voice that has been characteristic of Dylan’s recent work, but the subject matter and the tone of the songs is refreshingly light…

…for Dylan, that is.

Upon first glance, the title of the third track – “My Wife’s Home Town” – suggests a song of fond recollection about a spouse’s origins.  And yet that is not the case at all.  As Dylan repeats in the chorus, “I just want to say that hell is my wife’s home town…”

The song concludes with a chuckling sound from Dylan that is reminiscent of the gutteral laugh in Elvis Presley’s Christmas classic “Santa Claus is Back in Town.”  This song is a prime example of the alteration in tone on this most recent Dylan release.  As the cover would suggest, love is a recurring topic that is approached with directness and a sense of humor that wasn’t evident on Modern Times.

For many reasons, Modern Times is a technically superior album — lyrically, instrumentally, and in terms of overall progression.  That being said, Together Through Life is perhaps the most accessible of Dylan’s post-millenium recordings.  The songs are short — most are in the 3-4 minute range — and the album only gets better as you listen, track after track.

“Beyond Here Lies Nothin’,” the album starter, is a nice opening that lyrically toys with the listener, seeming at its face to be a song about a dedicated relationship.  Dylan sings, “As long as you stay with me, the whole world is my throne.”

“Beyond here lies nothin’,” he continues, “Nothin’ we can call our own.”

By the end of the song, you are left to wonder whether the narrator is staying in his relationship for love — the kind of love that reduces all outside elements to “nothin'” — or because there is simply nowhere else, nowhere better, to go.

The true highlights come during the second half of the album (side B, for those of you who purchased the vinyl edition).

“Jolene” fits firmly into my long list of favorite songs with a girl’s first name for a title — BnL’s “Maybe Katie,” the Beach Boys’ “Wendy,” and Fountains of Wayne’s “Hey Julie” to name a few.

Likewise, “Shake Shake Mama” is perhaps the most rockin’ number on the album, although it is a fairly standard blues progression.

Finally, “I Feel a Change Comin’ On” is the best song on the album.  Lyrically, instrumentally, and compositionally (a middle AND a solo!), this song has a catchy chorus and comes as a bit of a surprise as the ninth and penultimate track.

“Life is Hard” and “It’s All Good” act as bookends of sorts to the album as a whole, the former setting the theme early on and the latter bringing it all to a conclusion.  As is typical of the album, Dylan plants his tongue at least lightly in his cheek and turns a cliched phrase into the perfect chorus.

At the end of the day, Together Through Life will not be remembered as one of his best albums.  In a sense, though, it was never intended to be.  It came on quickly, surprising even me when its existence was announced a month before its release in Rolling Stone.  Apparently, Dylan hit upon inspiration after co-writing “Life is Hard” with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter for the Olivier Dahan film My Own Love Song.

Dylan’s spacing between album releases has been 4-5 years for as long as I can recall, and this one came a mere three years after its predecessor.

While the time between releases is a unexpectedly brief and the fact that he collaborated on all but one song (“This Dream of You”) is surprising, it was perhaps not a shock that Hunter is the collaborator.  After all, Dylan and the Dead have a longstanding relationship and mutual respect.  Truly, according to Dylan, his tour with the Dead in the eighties revitalized his passion for performing at a time when he was losing that particular spark.

Now, like an all-star pitcher who is starting on fewer days’ rest than usual, Dylan’s performance on Together Through Life may not be epic, but it is still amazing.

“Folsom Prison Blues” (Cover by Chris Moore)

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By Chris Moore:

I’ve always loved this Johnny Cash song; his songs often remind me of my grandfather and father and of my youth. That being said, no, I have never shot a man nor can I personally relate to this song. But, that being said, Jim was reminded today of another Johnny Cash performance that utilized the same chords, so thus there is a little surprise in the middle for all you Fusco-Moore fans out there…