“Say You’re Free” (Goo Goo Dolls Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Wow, it’s really been two weeks since the last video?  Well, if you haven’t seen it, search at the top of the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs music video blog for “Elderberry Wine” and you’ll see what I’ve been up to lately!  It’s my second video back from a very long four-month absence.

Tonight, I bring you a video that shows you what the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover songs blog is all about.  It’s a song sung by someone with a raspy voice and it’s totally an electric, rockin’ song.  So, I took my non-raspy voice, sat down with my Martin acoustic guitar, and put a new twist on this tune!

It’s a song off of the Goo Goo Dolls newest album, “Something for the Rest of Us” from 2010.  Let me tell you, it’s a GREAT album.  I can’t stop listening to it.  Every song is single-worthy.  These guys have gotten so good at writing a catchy pop/rock song and it shows on this album.  Honestly, I think it’s my favorite from last year.  And there were a TON of albums I heard for the first time last year.

I’ve become quite the Goo Goo Dolls fan ever since I first heard some of their songs on WCJM Internet Radio shows.  My friend (and former Laptop Sessions contributor) Jeff Copperthite would pick a song for each radio show we did.  After a while, I noticed that I liked those songs, so I bought a couple of their older albums from the early 90’s.  Now, I have all of their albums and I love them all!  Well, I should say that I love all of their “rock” albums.  They actually started in the late 80s as a punk band!  I have one of those albums (“Jed”) and let me tell you- it ain’t great.  It’s hard to believe that just a couple of years later, they came out with my personal favorite, “Superstar Car Wash”.  That album is almost 20 years old now, but if you don’t have it (and like the Goo Goo Dolls), it’s really a neccesity.

Tonight’s song is “Say You’re Free”- it’s one of two Robby Takac songs that are on the new album.  In fact, that’s about the standard now, as it has been for the last three albums.  Back in the earlier days, Robby and Johhny would split the songs.  I really liked that format- it seemed like they were trying to outdo each other.  Of course, Johnny is the guy who wrote their most famous songs like “Iris”, so I suppose he’s considered the “better” songwriter.  But, as we’ve learned from SO many bands here on the music blog, popularity doesn’t necessarily mean greatness.  Now, I won’t sit here and say that I’m not a John Rzeznik fan- I absolutely am.  But, for some reason, I absolutely love Robby’s songs, too!  My favorite from him, other than the new stuff, is “Already There” from Superstar Car Wash- it’s a great tune with some really introspective lyrics.  That’s a bit surprising, considering his punk roots and his incredibly raspy voice.  Normally, I wouldn’t like that, but I don’t think he’s doing it on purpose.  For instance, you can just tell that John Mayer sings like that on purpose, so I can’t stand it.  Same with Dylan.  But, people like Dennis Wilson and Robby Takac just have raspy voices for one reason or another and can’t sing any other way.  That I can deal with.

I chose this song instead of the better tune, “Now I Hear” from the same album because I wanted to hear how this song would come out acoustically.  I love the results and I hope it shows how great of a song it is on its own.  And, I hope Robby somehow watches this someday- I want him to know that there are fans out there that love his songs and that want even more per album!  I hope you enjoy tonight’s Laptop Session and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks with another great new acoustic cover song music video!

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“Elderberry Wine’ by Elton John (Cover)

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By Jim Fusco:

Welcome once again to a brand-new edition of The Laptop Sessions with me, Jim Fusco!  It’s been quite a while- since this past Christmas, in fact, and I’m finally back with a set of new videos.  Since my last video about four months ago was an Elton John cover song, I figured it was appropriate to come back with another one!  This one is non holiday-themed, however, in “Elderberry Wine”.

“Elderberry Wine” is off of the “Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player” album.  I have been in such an Elton John phase lately and have listened to many of his early albums.  I have plenty of favorites and plan on bringing more to you, too.  I always had a different view of Elton John: I only knew the hits and they were taken out of context.  In a way, I wasn’t a big fan because some of Elton’s big hits are kind of dated at this point.  But, I also didn’t hear them overplayed when they came out, which is similar to how much I loved Wings when I first listened to their Best Of in 2002.  I hear these songs that most other people already know (like “Elderberry Wine”, for instance) and I fall in love with them.  They just don’t come with the same stigma as they did in the 70s when they first came out.  I used to love “Another Day” by Wings.  Of course, even I can admit that it’s not that great of a song, but again, I didn’t hear it on the radio in the early 70s with all of my friends telling me how much it sucked. 🙂  The same goes for many Elton John songs, including “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” and “Rocket Man”- those are GREAT songs!  Even “Benny & the Jets” is an amazing song, especially considering how innovative it was for the time.  That beat and the sounds he used may be dated now, but when I hear it, I hear innovation.

So, I’ve been really into early Elton John albums, my favorite being “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”.  That album is amazing and has everything.  But “Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player” is pretty good, too!  Fun fact: the title of the album was actually a quip from Elton John to none other than Groucho Marx!  That’s why there’s a movie poster on the cover of the album from the Marx Brothers’ “Go West”.

This song isn’t exactly the hardest song to play, but it certainly took me plenty of takes.  I must’ve been rusty.  I really wanted to make this comeback a memorable one, so I kept trying to get the perfect take.  Sometimes I wonder if anyone knows how much effort goes into each one of these videos- I really don’t just sit down and produce them for the heck of it.  I want to make something I’m consistently proud of.  Remember the old “Laptop Sessions” mantra: “We put an end to bad cover songs forever!”  Well, at least I’m trying to…

Finally, you’ll notice my new surroundings.  Part of the reason why I’ve been absent is because we had a 400 square foot addition put into our house by finishing our above-ground basement.  It came out GREAT and is a man cave for the ages, complete with all of my guitars, drums, a 58″ tv, and a computer room, which I’m sitting in during this video.  It’s been a lot of work over the past few months, but it’s so rewarding to see it all done now.

I hope you enjoy tonight’s video of “Elderberry Wine” by Elton John and come back for another edition of the Laptop Sessions with Jim Fusco!

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The Weekend Review: February 2011 Report

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By Chris Moore:

Don’t be shy; step right up for this, the second Weekend Review of the new year.  It’s long in coming, so each weekend until we catch up, I’ll be bringing you these month-at-a-glance reports.  I’m very happy with the focus and concision of the new format, as you’ll see below.  However, it appears to be less than iPhone-ready, so I’m working on ways to fix that.  After all, there’s nothing worse than visiting a site on your iPhone and coming to the realization that you won’t be able to read it properly.  Well, I suppose there are probably a few things worse than that, but what I mean is that there’s just no excuse in the 21st century for websites NOT to work smoothly on mobile devices, so please know I’m working on that.

I hope you enjoy reading — there’s plenty more music-related content here on the Laptop Sessions cover song music video blog!

 

The People’s Key
Bright Eyes 

Producer:
Bright Eyes &
Mike Mogis

Released:
February 1, 2011

Rating:
2/5 stars

Top Two Tracks:
“Triple Spiral” & “Jejune Stars”

 This being my first Bright Eyes album experience, I must say it’s a mixed bag: lyrically excellent, yet musically ranging from masterfully beautiful to far too weird to be listenable.  I didn’t expect the sort of alternative country sound I’d heard from Conor Oberst’s Mystic Valley Band when they opened for Wilco a couple summers ago.  However, I certainly didn’t expect the sort of spoken word nonsense that stretches for MINUTES across the beginning of the first track (which is a shame, as “Firewall” is actually quite a strong song otherwise) and resurface elsewhere. 

On paper, it is understandable why Oberst added Denny Brewer’s “shamanic vocals,” as the liner notes refer to them.  After all, they add a certain inimitable spiritual, existential ambience to the record.  They also grow old quite quickly and distract from the excellent music being laid out and the even more profoundly impressive lyrics being voiced throughout, especially on standouts like the driving  rock track “Triple Spiral” and the early gem “Jejune Stars.”  The latter track lyrically raises issues (and the bar) that will stretch throughout the remainder of The People’s Key, as Oberst sings, “Come fire, come water, come karma, we’re all in transition / The Wheel of Becoming erases the physical mind / Till all that remains is a staircase of misinformation / And the code we inherit, the basis, the essence of life … / It’s just so bizarre, is it true what we’re made of? / Why do I hide from the rain?”  He is referring, of course, to the fact that our bodies are made up – by an overwhelming percentage – of water, yet we carry umbrellas and seek shelter from the rain.

Elsewhere, though, the songs drag a bit, as on “Approximate Sunlight” and “Ladder Song.”  All in all, this could have been an outstanding album rather than one I pay a complisult (see: Community; combination compliment & insult) by writing something like:

The People’s Key falters and falls short at various points, yet there are a series of truly first-rate tracks, like the closer “One for You, One for Me,” which make the album worth the purchase, if you’re willing to skip a few tracks and fast-forward through several others.

 

Yuck
Yuck 

Producer:
Yuck

Released:
February 15, 2011

Rating:
3.5/5 stars

Top Two Tracks:
“Shook Down” & “Suicide Policeman”

 Yuck is one of the pleasant musical surprises of 2011.  The band’s debut album is a distorted, grungy, feedback-ridden gem that sparkles as often as it crackles. 

What is most impressive about Yuck is their sense of ebb and flow, clearly evident through the arrangement of tracks here.  The smoother sound and brighter vocals of “Shook Down” slip in after two tracks where the garage rock mentality ruled and where even the vocals were run through with distortion.  Then, by the end, that pedal-processed guitar sound sneaks back in just in time to make the transition to the dirty-sounding “Holing Out.”

This is the sort of well-planned craftsmanship that helps to hide the fact that this is a first album.  If nothing else, Yuck is one of the noisiest, most energetic rock albums of the year.  It isn’t perfect – the noise overtakes the tracks here and there and the quality fades noticeably by the end – and, in fact, the final two tracks are wholly unnecessary and should have been cut entirely, shipped off to bonus track land.  (Which reminds me, if you buy this album – which you should, I highly recommend it – don’t waste your time with the bonus track editions.)

In modern music criticism, I feel as though something has been lost, namely a sense of appreciation for the rock essentials: riffs, solos, catchy choruses, snappy lyricism.  Yuck has all these components.  Although I was initially put off by the level of grunge that absolutely pervades several tracks, I’ve come around to the careful sonic mastery displayed by the band more and more with each listen.

The final verdict?  Not perfect by any means, but one of the most exciting releases of 2011.

 

The King of Limbs
Radiohead 

Producer:
Nigel Godrich

Released:
February 18, 2011

Rating:
4/5 stars

Top Two Tracks:
“Codex” & “Little by Little”

 Even longtime Radiohead devotees appeared thrown by this release.  The sessions for the record were announced… a whole week before its release, and the band decided to release the album a day early because… well, why not?  With all the moves that make them an interesting band for reasons outside the music, Radiohead ushered The King of Limbs into their long tradition of norm-breaking practices. 

The music itself is strikingly sparse at times, but this does not – and is surely not meant to – conceal just how much attention has been paid to subtlety.  The percussion is particularly notable this time around as clicks and clacks and clangs and taps abound.  Additionally, there is a riff-driven feel at times, though not in any traditional sense.  In many ways, this is another of those albums from Radiohead that are clearly produced using fairly standard instruments, yet where just how to reproduce these sounds and songs would prove elusive.

Truth be told, I am not a fan of Radiohead: I fall firmly into the category of liking OK Computer and thinking much of their other work is seriously overrated.  That being said, In Rainbows (2007) changed my mind a bit – and even made my top albums of the decade list.  The King of Limbs continues my reappraisal of the band, particularly when the breathtaking, heartbreaking beauty of a song like “Codex” and the oddly catchy nature of tracks like “Morning Mr. Magpie” and “Little by Little” are undeniable.  The acoustic loop on “Give Up the Ghost” and even the nearly-instrumental “Feral” add texture and unpredictability to the mix, as the lack of a clear single or rock sensibility threaten to flatten the record.

All told, the eight tracks of The King of Limbs offer the perfect length for an album of subtleties and stripped-down, built-back-up beauty like this; any shorter, it couldn’t be called an album, and, any longer, it would lose its momentum and appeal.

And so, for the first time in my life, I offer up to you a review of Radiohead that includes my seal of approval.  It’s not the most rocking record, but that’s not the point.  It is, however, a starkly beautiful album of subtle complexities and unique qualities, quirky enough to be interesting but not so much as to be alienating.

 

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WCJM Free Internet Radio Station: “The All-American Show” – 2001

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By WCJM Free Internet Radio:

After the conflict in the country in September, 2001, WCJM decided to heighten its American Pride.  The entire free Internet radio cast, minus Jeff, gathered in the studio and picked out their favorite songs that deal with America.  From Simon and Garfunkel to Justin Hayward, this show will definitely get you in an American mood!

This show is where Jim Fusco finally tried to show up everyone else.  He wrote ten pages of material for both the Food Critic and his new segment, The World Report.  The cast was a little tense after arguments about paying attention to the skits, but got out of that mood very quickly when they heard the various comedy segments.

Without a doubt, the funniest Stuffy D. Bear segment ever was heard on this show.  Stuffy showed his American pride by singing his own rendition of “God Bless America”.  He also expressed his utter longing for his brother Stuffo by singing his own song, “Stuffo Come Home.”

The cast even sang the National Anthem at the beginning of the show, making the absolute worst rendition of the song since Roseanne!  And it might be worse than that!  So, if you’re not a fan of Dave’s singing, skip past the first two minutes, but stay tuned for the rest of the All-American Show!  This is classic comedy radio at its best!

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