Halfway There: A Look Back at Ten (Officially Released) Jim Fusco Rarities – PART ONE

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By Chris Moore:

It will be difficult for 2009 to compete with last year’s music output, both here and abroad (so to speak).  Not only did 2008 see the release of incredible albums from bigtime artists (REM, Counting Crows, Coldplay…), but also saw the release of FMP artist Jeff Copperthite’s solo debut.  There were so many new albums released last year that I could hardly keep the release dates straight, and it really was a great year for new music.  Not all of it was amazing, but much of it was extremely enjoyable.

So, here comes 2009…

Thus far, there have been only a few notable releases in the new rock music world.  Bruce Springsteen started the year off strong with Working On A Dream.  Dan Auerbach’s debut solo release Keep It Hid was solid.  Recently, U2’s No Line On The Horizon drew a five-star rating from Rolling Stone (and questions marks from me…).  On the horizon, we now have Bob Dylan’s Together Through Life to look forward to, leaving the question: what do we new music fans have to do in the meantime?

That’s simple: look forward to the April 7th release of Jim Fusco‘s Halfway There!

The press release promises, “Halfway There may just be the best piece of music you purchase this year,” citing Fusco’s “attention to detail,” “organic effects,” and “warm sound.”  As there haven’t yet been any tracks leaked onto the web — either on Fusco’s offical site or by, um, other means 😉 — there is only one thing to do in the next two weeks as we wait for the official release…

Listen back to his previous albums!  [EDITOR’S NOTE: The new songs are now streaming online – click here.]

He has been quite a prolific artist, self-producing and self-releasing all of his previous albums.  There have been enough to merit a “best of” release in 2004.  Still, there are a lot of great tracks that have been overlooked by The Best of Jim Fusco, Vol. 1.  Thus, I’d like to share my top ten favorite (officially released) Jim Fusco rarities.

In no particular order, here goes…

Ten (Officially Released) Jim Fusco Rarities

1)  “It Makes Life Interesting” – A great song with a slow start, just drums and lead vocals.  The heartbeat of the rolling bass line makes it an instantly likeable song.  In private interviews, Fusco has made mention of a mentality that shaped his early high school through college years — namely, his response to the things he chose to do or situations he found himself in was “it makes life interesting.”  In a way, this song is a personal statement, carved out in a catchy, vocal-drenched three-minute song, ending appropriately as he sings, “And that is all that I’m going to say about that.”  Enough said, I suppose.

2)  “Mold Me” – I never understood why this track didn’t make it to the “best of.”  Privately, Jim admitted a degree of embarrassment with this track, but I immediately fell in love with it.  Fast-paced, distortion guitars, simple two-part vocals — it’s the perfect little rock package!  The song starts out at a breakneck pace, sounding like it may fly apart at any moment, and ends perfectly with a sudden stop and a fade into distortion.  It gets me going every time…

3)  “This Side Up” – Another album starter that became an instant favorite of mine, yet failed to make it to the “best of.”  For a long time, the lyrics to this song were posted on my door, next to my mirror.  I would see them in the morning as I combed my hair, and there was always something about the words that I found simple and optimistic, but very real.  And, as if the lyrics were not enough, this song features one of my favorite Fusco electric guitar solos.  Whatever he had experimented with while working on My Other Half had become fully realized by the recording of That’s All Jim — that much is apparent on this song.

4)  “I’m Gonna Find Out (About You)” – It’s built on a steady, driving beat, decorated nicely with keyboards and lush vocals.  What really stands out about this track is its combination of early Jim Fusco sound and an extended drum solo.  It’s not all that often that you find a Fusco track laced with an extended instrumental solo of any kind, and I’ve always been a fan of this one.  The structure of the song works well with the lyrics, as the instrumental portion of the song is almost 1/3 of the total running time of the song, which is perfect for a song about what happens “when I’m not around you.”

5)  “Ode to K” – The two disc album My Other Half was all about experimenting with sound and structure, as well as the overall artistry of the album — this much is apparent in the wide range of effects and vocal arrangements, as well as the cover art and booklet design.  “Ode to K” is a gem, one of only two times (both on this album) that Fusco used spoken word as the centerpiece of a song.  In this song (as opposed to “Here I Go Again,” the spoken-word album opener), he incorporates spoken word over traditional singing and a great musical arrangement.  It’s pure, very sincere, and I love it.

To Be Continued…

Click here for an exclusive sneak-peak at the album, now streaming online!

“Redemption Song” (Bob Marley Cover)

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By Jeremy Hammond:

My cover of “Redemption Song” by Bob Marley.

**  EDITOR’S NOTE: **

Originally released on the 1980 Bob Marley & the Wailers album Uprising, “Redemption Song” is the final track on the final studio album release before Marley’s death in 1981.  It is also significant for having been hailed as an acoustic folk classic by many fans and critics.

Jeremy Hammond, continuing to bring great new bands to the Laptop Sessions blog, plays a heartfelt version for you in this post, complete with a nice fingerpicking section on the intro to the song.  And, please don’t adjust your screen or worry about what you’ve been inhaling… that’s a purposeful visual effect on Jeremy’s video!  🙂

We hope you enjoy this latest installment of the Guest Sessions with our favorite contributor, Jeremy Hammond.  May it help to bring hope and peace to your holidays!

The Weekend Review: October 2012 Report

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By Chris Moore:

II (Bad Books)

Released: October 9, 2012

Rating:  3.5 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “It Never Stops” & “Forest Whitaker”

The second album is always an interesting experiment for any band.  In the case of Bad Books’ II, some of the raw energy has been left behind in favor of refinement in both sound and content.  The benefit of this shift clearly goes to the continuity of the record, as the tracks feel more united than on their freshman effort.  Lyrically, Bad Books is as sharp as ever, and if anything, they have raised the quality.  Finally, in terms of the soundscape, II offers up a lush and gorgeous sequence of arrangements, masterfully orchestrating the mood and pacing.  Still, something has been lost in favor of refinement, but that may simply be the difference between the average first and second releases in a band’s timeline.  Peaking with the gems “It Never Stops” and “Forest Whitaker,” each fronting Bad Books’ signature simple-but-packed-full, low-key-but-rockin’ sound, II has a lot to offer, even if it does lack some of that unmined potential and dynamic appeal of the first record.

 

 

 

Glad All Over (The Wallflowers)

Producer: Jay Joyce

Released: October 9, 2012

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “First One in the Car” & “Constellation Blues”

Perhaps owing something to Jakob Dylan’s folksy hiatus, the Wallflowers have returned on Glad All Over intent on rocking as hard as they have in their career.  With the return of Rami Jaffee, the band has their signature keyboard/organ sounds firmly in place, and with the addition of Jack Irons on drums, they have implicitly stated their desire to return to rock ‘n’ roll proper, what with his resume as a founding member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and history of backing such bands as Pearl Jam.  After seven years had passed since their last album (2005’s Rebel, Sweetheart), Glad All Over is precisely the type of return effort that will remind fans why the Wallflowers are one of the most underrated bands of the nineties, often written off as one-hit wonders following the chart-topping success of “One Headlight” (which, ironically enough, was only the second single off 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse).  What is clear here is that the band has reinvigorated and perhaps even re-envisioned their sound, evidenced by the sharper, harder guitar effects, additional reverb on the keyboard parts, and most notably by the presence of the Clash’s Mick Jones playing guitar and singing on the album’s lead single, as well as another track.  Still, after opening with the pulse-pounding, eerily rocking “Hospital for Sinners” and following up with the borderline funky, gloriously electrified “Misfits and Lovers,” they follow up with “First One in the Car,” a track that sounds like it was set aside from the Bringing Down the Horse sessions, only to be revealed now.  This has the effect of a nod, or perhaps even a wink, to the sound that earned them their fame, though it admittedly fits fully into the flow of this record.  “Reboot the Mission,” the lead single, takes a turn and revs up the band to create a unique sound that pushes the bass to the front of the mix and toys with atmospherics.  It serves as a thesis of sorts for Glad All Over, as the refrain features the band chorally singing, “Eyes on the prize, reboot the mission: I lost my sight but not the vision.”  “It’s A Dream” continues the rock sound they’ve unveiled on the opening tracks before moving into “Love is a Country,” a gorgeous, rolling track that was handled nicely in the official “lyric video” released by their YouTube channel.  The guitars take the fore on the following tracks, in solos on “Have Mercy On Him Now” and in riffs on “The Devil’s Waltz,” flowing back to a track reminiscent of the Rebel, Sweetheart sound on “It Won’t Be Long (Till We’re Not Wrong Anymore)” before hitting the pinnacle of the second half in “Constellation Blues,” a track that is arguably the amalgamation of all that has come before.  This may seem counterintuitive at first, as the guitars are lower in the mix, yet they’re more subtle than soft, playing an integral role even as the rhythm section takes the lead and the keyboards add layer upon layer of shimmering atmosphere.  True to the mission statement of this album, “One Set of Wings” closes the album on a strong note, offering the full spectrum of instrumentation – distorted guitars riffing and soloing, haunting organ tones, flowing bass lines, and heavy-hitting drums – as well as a vocal delivery of the lyrics that walks the line between gloomy and hopeful.  Perhaps the line of most interest here is when Dylan sings, “I have been lost, and I’m ready to be found.”  With all that this band has to offer particularly on this most recent release, one would hope that it’s time they be found for what they are: a band of career musicians capable of greatness far beyond a solitary single in the late nineties.

“Not Myself” (John Mayer Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome — one and all — to an all-new acoustic rock cover song music video!  Yes, it’s a mouthful, but it’s the best way to describe this music blog that you’re viewing.  Whether you’re a regular visitor or this is your first time, I hope you’ll see how much work we’ve put into the design, the variety of bands represented, and the quality of content for each post.  We don’t just record a video; instead, we write substantive text posts to give you something interesting (we hope!) to read as you listen to the session of the day.  Whenever possible, we share information about the band or our individual processes for recording the videos — and we hope that you find the reading worthwhile.  We certainly have found these songs worthwhile and devote a lot of time to learning, practicing, recording, and writing about them.

Which brings me to my video for this Saturday session.  Today, I picked John Mayer’s “Not Myself,” a great track from his great album Room For Squares.  Yes, it may be an over-publicized album (having won many awards and much notoriety when it first came out) and it may be better known for such hits as “Your Body Is a Wonderland,” but it is so much more than these aspects would suggest.  I still think this is John Mayer’s best album to date, as it combines great songwriting with great sounds, blending acoustic and electric elements nicely.  Possibly my favorite John Mayer song, “Why Georgia,” is on this album, not to mention another close runner up, “Love Song for No One.”

And I’ll always have an odd memory of this album.  When I first bought it and started listening to it, I was hooked and couldn’t get enough of it.  It gradually became the album that I would listen to in the shower and sing along to, practicing and enjoying singing.  Now, this was before I had a portable set of speakers for my iPod, so I would put the CD in my stereo and blast it loud enough to be heard down the hall, in the bathroom, with the water running for the shower.  (I obviously only did this when no one else was home.)

So, I was thinking about songs that I really would like to learn and record, and “Not Myself” immediately came to mind.  I’ve always liked the structure of the song and the overall mood of the studio recording.  I hope I’ve done it justice and that you’ll enjoy listening to it!

Don’t forget to hurry home early, hurry on home (as Warren Zevon would say) for Jeff’s video tomorrow, then hurry even faster for the man, the myth, the legend — Jim Fusco! — on Monday.  (And I must assure you that this warm reference to Jim has nothing to do with the fact that he gave me the best birthday present a man like myself could ever hope for — an all-expenses paid set of recording sessions at Fusco-Moore Studios and his creative input as producer on my new album!  I’m more excited than I can quite explain in words right now to think about what my songs will sound like with his expertise and creative input, especially based on what his new unreleased music sounds like.)

See you next session!