Tag Archives: Article

The Weekend Review: April 2012 Report

Posted on by
Reply

By Chris Moore:

A Wasteland Companion (M. Ward)

Producer: M. Ward

Released: April 6, 2012

Rating:  3.5 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “I Get Ideas” & “Primitive Girl”

 

The “Him” half of nostalgia-rock act She & Him is the more veteran act of the two, and it shows on his most recent release.  A Wasteland Companion is unassuming at most times, but tends to manage that fine balance between simple and boring, leaning ever more towards “chill.”  The Zooey Deschanel – the “She” in She & Him – duet “Sweetheart” doesn’t leap out as much as you might expect it to, but I suppose what can you expect from a one-off non-She & Him album track?  As per usual, a little reverb goes a long way to making M. Ward’s vocals pop in all the right ways for his instrumental sound.  At times, he draws outside the box, as in the distortion on his electric guitar in the standout “I Get Ideas.”  Across the album, the acoustic guitar sparkles and the lyrics propel the sounds, working them into a cohesive yet artistic whole.  Most tracks fly by, many at under three minutes, but this helps to keep up the pace of the album.  When Ward drops the at-times-distracting ambient sounds and focuses on his songs for the words and music as directly as possible, the result is fantastic; and, thankfully, there are enough of those moments represented across this album.

 

 

 

What Kind of World (Brendan Benson)

Producer: Brendan Benson

Released: April 21, 2012

Rating:  2 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “Bad for Me” & “The Light of Day”

 

It’s not so much that What Kind of World is bad so much as it is underwhelming.  Early on, the album suffers from songwriting that can’t sustain the length of the tracks (and the songs aren’t that long).  Later, as the tracks are shorter, they are not as well-constructed as it has already been established a Brendan Benson song can be.  Most of the time, the songs seem more interested in being recorded versions of what must have been fun to play in the studio and would even be fun to play out live, but the overall constructions don’t stand up.  To be certain, there are moments of transcendence, but these are lost in the slow drag that is the larger trend of the album.  Those interested in more of the brilliance hinted at here should revisit 2009’s My Old, Familiar Friend, one of the great works of that year.

 

 

 

Blunderbuss (Jack White)

Producer: Jack White

Released: April 23, 2012

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “Freedom at 21” & “Love Interruption”

 

There is probably no album that Jack White could have released for his solo debut that would have fully made good on all the considerable expectations that have been building now for years.  With his talents and various influences spread throughout longer works of collaboration over the years – most recently, the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather, not to mention more subtle appearances as producer/player with artists like Wanda Jackson – there has always been a diverse range of moments where White’s influence has made itself recognizable.  Here, it is Jack White all the time, and the songs do – understandably, as on any album – fall into patterns and larger trends which are, at first, unusual for White’s work.  This all being said, given the opportunity, Blunderbuss is the deep, dark, quirky work that we expect and desire from White; tracks like the standout “Freedom at 21” and “Love Interruption,” back to back on the album, show off two sonic extremes that White has mastered.  The following song, the title track, takes it down a notch further even.  All in all, for me at least, this album suffered from the evil of high expectations.  It’s taken me the better part of the year to come back to the album again after the initial listening party that was the week after its release; what I’ve found is an excellent collection of well-written lyrics and overall eclectic songwriting: a strong album that is suggestive of the great work that is still to come from Jack White in the years to come.

 

 

 

Little Broken Hearts (Norah Jones)

Producer: Danger Mouse

Released: April 25, 2012

Rating:  3 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “Good Morning” & “4 Broken Hearts”

 

In the past, I haven’t followed the music or the career of Norah Jones all that closely.  When I learned that Danger Mouse would be producing the new album, I was intrigued.  The resulting album Little Broken Hearts is predictably subversive: slow and elusive at times but always with a strong, quirky sense of rhythm.  Of course, Norah Jones’ vocals – as they did in her appearance on the Danger Mouse-produced Rome – are a beautifully layered coat of paint applied to the dry bones of the instrumentation.  Some tracks stand apart from the rest, perhaps most notably in the opener “Good Morning.”  Much of the album requires patience, which is perhaps a way of admitting it lacks drive at times, or at best that it is artistically rendered in such a way as to make easy listening, quick enjoyment difficult.

“A look at Jeff’s Music History – Part 1” – A Laptop Sessions Reflection Article

Posted on by
Reply

By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to your Thumpin’ Thursday post here on guitarbucketlist.com.  I have decided to bring forth another article for your perusal and enjoyment.  And this one has even more of a “personal” touch to it.

Now, let me preface this with the following news.  I eclipsed 80,000 views last Friday, and as of today I already have 8.2K views.  My channel has increased it’s per-day view total to ~350 views per day across 130+ videos.  I’m pleased to report that my video cover for America’s Song “Horse With No Name” has literally just crossed 10K views, which means that this video has about 12.5% of my total viewcount.  It is also the first video for the entire site to have a single viewcount over 10K views.  It continues a great month for myself and for us in this new year.

Some of the things I get asked by everybody I know – family, friends, students, and acquantinces – are “How long have you played music?”, “What instruments do you play?”, “What was your first instrument?”, and “Have you ever had or taught lessons before?”.

While each is relatively easy to answer, the one that not many have ventured to ask is “How did you go from a lanky middle school student to the classy gent you are now?”

Ok, i’m kidding about that last one, although the answer to that one is “Lots of Porterhouse steaks.”

But the answer to the other questions respectively are “17 years”, “Trombone, Bass Guitar, Guitar, Drums, Percussion, Trumpet, Tuba, Euphonium (it’s easier to say than “Baritone Horn”), French Horn, Cello, Double Bass, Piano, and a little bit of Flute”, “Trombone”, and “Had lessons for Trombone, and have taught lessons for Trombone, Piano, and Guitar”.

But seriously, the one I don’t get asked often is “How have you learned how to play so many instruments, and what have you done in your ‘musical history’ since you learned to play?”

Well, as a treat for you loyal visitors to our site, you get to read the long answer to that very question.

I went to Moran Middle School and entered as a very skinny kid who had just gone through a tough summer of realizing that my parents were getting divorced.  Not the best of times for sure.  It wasn’t long into the year that I realized I needed glasses and was going to further my current nerd image.  I had to walk home from school as well, past the same people, and not spending too much time talking to other people walking home (all my friends took the bus).  In April, the music teacher Mr. Rossamando, whom I had said hi to frequently, pulled me aside and pointed out that I had rather long arms.  He asked me if I’d be willing to give the Trombone a try.  I agreed to give it a shot, and he said to start meeting with him during the final period of the day.  I forget how often I got to have lessons, but I think it was twice a week.

He taught me how to read music, and how to produce sound out of the trombone.  I got to take one home with me over the summer and we resumed practicing the following year.  I also tried out for the choir and played in the entry level band, aptly called “Cadet Band”.  I was a fast learner and was bored with the material, so I looked forward to 8th grade when I could hopefully play in the other two bands – the “Concert Band” and “Stage Band”.

I got my wish and played in those two bands, plus sang in the Chorus.  I was broadening my musical horizons through the year, and also had drama exposure the previous year with a lead role in a weird but cool play called “Night of the Living Beauty Pageant”.  I was also in the play in 8th grade, but I forget the title and what it was about.  All I remember about it was a fight I had with my friend Marc one day.

Then I went to High School.  All I remember about Freshmen year was that I didn’t like the music teacher Mr. Houlihan all that much, and ended up not signing up for music in the 2nd half of the year.  I even left my Trombone in the music room, completely forgetting about it.

Then I heard Mr. Rossamando was coming to teach there in Sophomore year.  Since I really enjoyed working with him at Moran, I decided to sign back up for band in Sophomore year.

He was so surprised to report to work that August and see my Trombone there, he called my house over the summer!  I told him that I was looking forward to returning, and that I had forgotten the instrument over the summer.

It was also that summer I started to teach myself how to play the bass guitar.  I listened to various CD’s and tried to play along to them on the bass.  I also went through 3 levels of lesson books over the summer.  During that phone call with Mr. Rossamando, I asked him if he could consider letting me play bass guitar for a Jazz Band if he were to create one (our high school hadn’t had one in a while).

So, slowly I got back into music that Sophomore Year, and played in the Concert Band.  Mr. Rossamando announced he was going to create a Jazz Band for the following year, and I asked to play Bass and/or Trombone in it.

I ended up playing both, because another student Andrew wanted to play bass as well.  We alternated roles – when he played bass, I was on trombone, and when I played bass, he was on trumpet.  The band amassed quite a few songs, got to play live in some coffeehouses and for the town, and had a great time in all our performances.  Meanwhile, I got to sing in the “Show Choir” that year with the unforgettable Mrs. Zola, and play in the Concert, Jazz, Pep Band, and the aforementioned Show Choir.

Meanwhile, I got to learn how to play the Piano and received a Yamaha PSR-320 Keyboard, which my mother bought for me after hearing that I wanted one.  Using this, I got into MIDI tracking, and experimented in writing MIDI files from some game music (which you can still find at http://fftjrc_2.tripod.com/), and also began to compose my own.

This was in 1997.  It was this point where my music history becomes a lot fresher in my mind.  However, I will share this information in Part 2!

I hope you enjoyed this glimpse into my musical childhood, and I hope you look forward to the 2nd part, which will be posted in 3 weeks.  Next week, I will have another acoustic cover for you, and after that I hope to have a cover of a song that apparently nobody is sure how to play yet.  However, I think I have figured out part of it.  And I hope I get to play it for you – it’s a rocking song!

Until then…

“Development of a writer” – A retrospective by Jeff Copperthite (Part 3/4)

Posted on by
Reply

By Jeff Copperthite:

In my last installment of this miniseries of articles, I gave some insight into my love of video game music, and some of the things that genre has caused me to do.  For the final part, i’d like to bring it back to original composition work, live music, and help bring it full circle.

In the first part, I mentioned that I took part in many musical endeavors in high school.  Nearly every band or music ensemble that existed, I took part in.  I sang in choir, played trombone in the concert band, double bass in the orchestra, electric bass and trombone in the jazz band, and whatever else needed playing for musical productions, talent shows, and even some Senior Court jam sessions w/ Scott.  I taught myself how to play all the instruments I play with the exception of Trombone.

In 1997 I joined a band that was fronted by a guy named Dave.  I was only part of the band for a few months because my work schedule conflicted with when they wanted to practice and write.  It was a mutual parting and I held no animosity to them, nor they to me.  We did get a couple of live shows in those 3 months, and they were fun to jam with.

I didn’t really play with any bands again until senior year, when Scott asked me to play bass at the talent show (I forgot the name of it, but the idea was for students to display various arts on the stage, be it music, dance, or the like) with another friend of ours named Brian.  The three of us were going to play Dave Matthews Band covers in our act.  We learned about 7 songs (could’ve been more or less) and our performance was actually played towards the end.  I also played bass w/ Brian on drums for one of our other mutual friends’ Lindsay to do her rendition of the song “Fever”.  Funny thing is I still know how to play all these songs on the bass.

Our show was liked by the school that we were asked to play at the school’s other talent event called “EATA” (Evening At The Arts).  Our year was the kickoff for this show and again, it was meant to be a display for all the talents of the students at our school.  Except this time, there were events going on at multiple locations.  I myself loved the idea and the three of us jumped at the opportunity.  Scott & I played the open-mic as a bass/guitar duo, and it was easy to do because for the few weeks coming up to the show, we sat in the senior court playing tunes from the show (we had expanded to other covers as well, such as “With A Little Help From My Friends”).  I think we even collected a few bucks.

That show was awesome.  Somewhere i’ve got a picture of us playing at that show.

Not long afterwards, Scott asked me to contribute some recordings to some original songs he had written for an English Project.  The three songs we recorded would become known as our first EP, which was simply called “English Project”.  How appropriate.  The songs that we recorded were patched together rather quickly because he had recorded the guitar part by himself, so I had to put drums and bass on top of that.  Although for a rookie effort, it worked out nicely.

Around this time I also helped Jim put together some MIDI productions that he used for a project (which class?) on MacBeth, putting some songs to varying points of that play.  It was fun to lend my growing instrument collection (which at that point included the Yamaha PSR 320 I had done MIDI on previously, and the Roland Electric Drum Set I still own and use).

Scott & I had a great reception from his recordings, and we were encouraged to record them more formally, along with four more songs.  That album would become “First Stitch” by Quilt.

That reminds me, we came into that name because we saw it on a license plate while going to Sam Ash to get my bass and amplifier.  I still have the bass, but the amplifier met it’s demise last year (you’ll have to check the blog from March of last year to read all about that).

Scott & I continued to record songs, and our duo still is active.  We have recorded two additional albums and one EP since “First Stitch”.  The albums are “Patchwork” and “Expressions” (the latter of which featured my writing exclusively), and the EP was called “Blanket of Death” (which i’ve mentioned already contains some of my favorites from Scott’s writing).

Well, I’m going to stop this for the evening, as it is late.  I’ve decided there will be a part four about a month from now.  Too much music history left to write about.  Stay tuned for that, and i’ll be back next week for another regularly scheduled laptop session!

The Weekend Review: May 2012 Report

Posted on by
Reply

By Chris Moore:

Strangeland (Keane)

Producer: Dan Grech-Marguerat

Released: May 4, 2012

Rating: 3 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “You Are Young” & “Sovereign Light Café”

For better or for worse, it has been confirmed time and again since their debut that Keane is a good song.  Strangeland continues the trend, and though there are certainly a handful of standouts, the first three tracks set the tone and pace for what is left to come.  There are other piano-based bands that have released more innovative material – Jukebox the Ghost, for instance – and why Keane has taken the leap to such tremendous fame and success (five consecutive number one albums, among other achievements) is still a mystery to me.

 

 

 

Rize of the Fenix (Tenacious D)

Producer: John Kimbrough & John King

Released: May 11, 2012

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “39” & “Classical Teacher”

What was the first sign Tenacious D are back with a new album and ready to rock?  The penis, testicles, and wings of fire on the cover were pretty much a dead giveaway…  It would be easy to dismiss half-rock/half-comedy duo Jack Black and Kyle Gass as merely aimed toward shock value and vulgarity, but even a superficial reading of their work reveals serious musical talent and an expansive vocabulary of stylistic and cultural references.  Rize of the Fenix doesn’t quite rise to the level of mastery set on their 2001 self-titled debut, but it would be difficult to imagine any album recapturing the raw hilarity of that record.  Instead, Rize presents high-adrenaline rock and roll from start to finish, with some interesting tangents and very funny sketches filling in the transitions.  It all culminates in the funny, beautiful “39,” a song that conjures Bob Seger at the peak of his popularity with, of course, some vulgar descriptions added to the standard fare for good measure.

 

 

Ten Stories (mewithoutYou)

Producer: Daniel Smith

Released: May 15, 2012

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “Grist for the Malady Mill” & “Cardiff Giant”

With Ten Stories, mewithoutYou offer a taste of what albums once offered with more regularity: a concept album that involves music, lyrics, and artwork in the grander scheme of its vision.  In this case, the “ten stories” are ten tracks that unfurl the tale of a train crash involving a traveling circus in 19th-century Montana, a story cycle inspired by a book that lead singer/songwriter Aaron Weiss read before the making of Ten Stories.  What is brilliant about mewithoutYou’s latest release is not any one piece in particular, but the manner in which all the components come together: the uncommonly interesting, strong lyrics voiced loudly and with a sense of urgent abandon as appropriate to the subject matter, coupled with carefully orchestrated music that moves smoothly between soft and serious and loud and nearly unhinged.  All in all, the listening experience ends up being like what I imagine it would sound like if Neil Young set out to make a hardcore record.

 

 

 

Born and Raised (John Mayer)

Producer: John Mayer & Don Was

Released: May 22, 2012

Rating: 3.5 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “Something Like Olivia” & “Queen of California”

After stepping back into familiar soundscapes for 2009’s Battle Studies, Mayer has switched it up again, this time donning a cowboy hat and experimenting within the country genre.  As could be expected from a popular songwriter working within this genre, Mayer’s work drifts in and out of the predictable yet does not confine itself to the current standards of the genre.  The result is a steady helping of pleasant, even pretty songs that amount to an easy listen.  You won’t find anything groundbreaking here, but you will find a steady stream of songs that clearly belong together.  Mayer experiments with a reprise of the title track, something he hasn’t implemented previously.  There are standouts, such as the upbeat, catchy “Something Like Olivia” and the solid album starter “Queen of California.”  Throughout, the quality is fairly steady, strengthened by stronger tracks (“Shadow Days,” “Walt Grace’s Submarine Test, January 1967”) sprinkled amongst the more lackluster fare.  At times, there is a feel which can only be traced to an early-seventies Dylan sound, a comparison made all the more tempting by Mayer’s nod to the Bard in one line (“if you see her, say hello”).  Overall, this won’t be considered a great effort at the close of Mayer’s career, but it is a solid installment in his catalog.

 

 

 

Once Upon Another Time [EP] (Sara Bareilles)

Producer: Ben Folds

Released: May 22, 2012

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “Sweet As Whole” & “Lie To Me”

Once Upon Another Time works well as an EP, though I could scarcely imagine an entire album at the pace and tone offered by this effort, though I imagine that is the point of, and perhaps the best reason for, recording an EP in the first place.  As could be expected from any effort with both Sara Bareilles’ and Ben Folds’ respectively impressive creative stamps upon in, Once Upon Another Time offers a strong and creative sequence of tracks.  It starts off as low-key as can be with the largely a cappella title track and slowly building to the drum-backed frustration of “Lie To Me” before backing off to the simpler yet catchier piano-driven tones of “Sweet As Whole” and the final, expansive song “Bright Lights and Cityscape.”  “Sweet As Whole” is the clear standout and stands as perhaps the clearest marker that this is indeed a Bareilles/Folds collaboration: it is pretty and heartfelt yet emotionally wrought and catchy and largely rendered in the base, vulgar language of informal speakers of English.  It seems at first to clash with the sound of the music or even the EP as a whole, but, after a few listens, one should be hard-pressed not to sing along with this perfectly placed climax of the EP.

 

 

 

Magic Hour (Scissor Sisters)

Producer: Scissor Sisters, Calvin Harris, Stuart Price, Alex Ridha, & Pharrell Williams

Released: May 25, 2012

Rating:  4.5 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “Year of Living Dangerously” & “San Luis Obispo”

Just when it seemed that the Scissor Sisters outdid themselves with the outstandingly fun Night Work (2010), they return a mere two years later with an album like Magic Hour, an album that artfully experiments with juxtaposition: of modern and classic sounds, of expansive gems and singles waiting to happen, and of seriously rendered lyrics and what can only be described as a mixture of funny and vulgar.  The list of standout tracks would be longer than the list of songs that fall short, what with tremendous work like the lush, gorgeous “San Luis Obispo,” the foot-stomping, fist-bumping “Baby Come Home,” and the richly textured “Inevitable.”  “Let’s Have a Kiki” is no throwaway and, in fact, begs a sing-along.  And, of course, there is what seems to be the heart of the album, the thesis that drives the work around it: “Year of Living Dangerously.”  All in all, the Scissor Sisters have outdone themselves again and continue to make some of the best, most innovative and engaging music of their generation.