Fistful of Mercy’s “As I Call You Down” (2010) – Yes, No, or Maybe So

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Fistful of Mercy’s As I Call You Down (2010) – MAYBE SO

(October 5, 2010)

As I Call You Down (Fistful Of Mercy, 2010)

As I Call You Down (Fistful of Mercy, 2010)

Review:

Unexpectedly soulful, As I Call You Down is the standout acoustic release of the year; together, these three singer/songwriters (Dhani Harrison, Ben Harper, Joseph Arthur) have created some beautiful harmonies and thus developed their own unique sound, borrowing here and there from the Thorns’ playbook (and hopefully picking up the torch that the Thorns dropped after one release back in 2003).

Top Two Tracks:

“Father’s Son” & “Fistful of Mercy”

“Days of Wonder” (Wallflowers Cover)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

This song comes per request from Dylan81 on Youtube.

I’m going for the hat trick on Wallflowers songs, and doing the album opener from “Rebel, Sweetheart” called “Days of Wonder”. It is a terrific opening song full of cheer, reflection, the usual writing of Jakob Dylan.

This song has a driving beat that is difficult to reproduce on the acoustic guitar, and I have only learned how to play this song for 24 hours now. Still, this version is nice and cool. I hope you enjoy it.

This also represents my first non-quick capture attempt at these videos. All i’ve figured out so far is how to cut off the “hitting the stop button” part at the end, and I got text at the beginning. As far as the song is concerned, I like how it turned out, but from now on i’ll try to increase the lighting in the room – especially when filming at night.

Thank you for your request! If there is a song you’d like me to consider for fusco-moore.com’s Laptop Sessions, please send me a message!

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 original 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!

“Looking for the Next Best Thing” (Warren Zevon Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

This is a great Warren Zevon song and I really wish I could have included the solo in the middle! Still, I had a lot of fun learning it and am proud to include a Zevon song in my repertoire. As I’ve seen Jim and Jeff build their list of bands/artists that they’ve covered, I’ve definitely begun writing my own list in my head, and this artist is a big check. I’ll definitely be playing more from him, if I could only decide which song I want to play next. Probably “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner”…

Best Packaging of 2012: A Weekend Review Special Edition

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By Chris Moore:

The BEST PACKAGING of 2012

 

For this year, I’ll reserve my perennial rant on the decay of the album as an art form and the loss that is represented by the turn to digital delivery of music.  Instead, I’ll take this opportunity to point out three special albums this year that embraced the possibilities that are available for expanding the vision of the album to a more total view, including the physical representation of the themes and images of the music and lyrics.  The highlight of the year was Fiona Apple’s The Idler Wheel…, which presents drawings and handwritten lyrics which give the sense of flipping through a writer’s notebook.   Go Fly A Kite can be  fitted into place as a 3-D diorama, which is unique at the very least, not to mention that the lyrics include chords.  Finally, The Sound of the Life of the Mind is brilliantly designed, but for the fact that far too much space is taken up by names of fans who bought into the project as sponsors, particularly considering that there are no lyrics in the CD version, which is a shame based on how artful they are.

 

1)  The Idler Wheel… – Fiona Apple

2)  Go Fly A Kite – Ben Kweller

3)  The Sound of the Life of the Mind – Ben Folds Five