For the fogey-at-heart, Clapton is a trip down Memory Lane with a set of covers recorded on high quality modern doohickeys; for anyone searching for a creative pulse, turn your interests elsewhere — this is a Clapton who has yet to regain what was lost post-Reptile.
(And, for the record, I may dry heave if I read one more review praising the overplayed ho-hum predictability of “Diamonds Made From Rain” and “Autumn Leaves.”)
(P.S. I considered simply writing: “Clapton: the brilliantly original title says it all,” but I wouldn’t want to be harsh.)
Top Two Tracks:
If I had to choose, “Everything Will Be Alright” & “Hard Time Blues”
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
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!
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
It is the best and truest mark of artistry in the music industry, and sales are no indication of significance. Sequencing and thematic continuity, sonic experimentation within a basic set of familiar parameters, a healthy range of types and topics: these are the standards by which to judge an album.
The album.
It ascended into an art form in the mid-sixties under the careful work of artists like the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Beach Boys. It was taken to new heights with the experimentation of later bands, from the concept albums of the Moody Blues to the spin-off success of artists like Bruce Springsteen. The album – and rock in general – saw a rebirth in the nineties, with the work of those like Weezer, the Wallflowers, the Barenaked Ladies, and a slew of others who led a surge of excellent rock music.
These days, the album has faced a crossroads. Specifically, with the advent and surge of digital sales, the physical formats of music are on the chopping block. Still, with the rise of vinyl sales even as CD sales continue to decline, there is hope yet. And, contrary to an army of naysayers, there are still excellent albums being made. This year, as with the past several years that I have been tuned into a vast array of albums, I would say there are about five albums that will undoubtedly stand the test of time and compete for top spots when I eventually get around to my Best Albums of All Time list. Which, at this point, might have to wait until I hit retirement.
But, for the moment, you have my Best Albums of 2011 list, and if you’re interested in reading more about any of these albums, you can access my Weekend Review report (including star rating, production info, and a full review) by simply searching the album title and band name in the search bar above. And, of course, if you see reason for disagreement or any gaps in my list, it’s up to you to leave comments below.
1) The Whole Love (Wilco)
2) The King is Dead (The Decemberists)
3) Last Night on Earth (Noah & the Whale)
4) Wasting Light (Foo Fighters)
5) Bad As Me (Tom Waits)
6) Unfortunate Casino (Gerry Beckley)
7) The King of Limbs (Radiohead)
8) Yuck (Yuck)
9) Lasers (Lupe Fiasco)
10) W H O K I L L (The Tune-Yards)
11) The Graduation Ceremony (Joseph Arthur)
12) Vol. 2: High and Inside (The Baseball Project)
13) Collapse Into Now (R.E.M.)
14) Move Like This (The Cars)
15) The Valley (Eisley)
16) Cloud Maintenance (Kevin Hearn)
17) I’m With You (Red Hot Chili Peppers)
18) Alpocalypse (Weird Al Yankovic)
19) No Color (The Dodos)
20) Nighty Night (8in8)
Honorable Mention:
The Way It Was (Parachute)
The Dreamer, The Believer (Common)
Editor’s note: this post was originally published before December 2015; the exact original date is uncertain.
Well, it seems that I won’t be able to post the set-list for tonight’s Pearl Jam concert in real-time after all, due to either issues with the site or my WordPress app or both.
Instead, let’s talk new music!
It’s been two weeks since the first third of the year flashed by, and it’s been quite a year for new music. Perhaps my surprise and excitement is due to the fact that I didn’t have high hopes for this year. After all, nearly all of my favorite bands have put out music very recently (i.e. the past two years). And yet there have been more than enough new releases to pick from these past four months.
Some artists, like Ringo Starr and Jakob Dylan, continue to put out music that lives in the shadow of their greater efforts of the past. Others, like the Barenaked Ladies and Spoon, have somehow managed to create some of the best music of their lengthy careers. Still others, such as She & Him and Broken Bells, are creating music and casting the shadows that future efforts will need to live up to.
This year has certainly had its hits and its misses, and it got off to an eclectic but ho-hum start, but I have already been hooked by five outstanding records. Now, only one of these has received my five-star stamp of approval (All in Good Time), but the other four are a full four stars without question (Broken Bells, Volume Two, Heaven is Whenever, & Sea of Cowards).
The latter four albums represent an interesting range of sounds and influences. Broken Bells have found a compelling sound by blending the rock basics with some more experimental, synthesized sounds. She & Him give you the eery feeling that you’ve stepped into the past without actually sounding dated. The Hold Steady have put together the best all-out rock and roll album of the year, to be sure. And the Dead Weather present an out of control frenzy of rock, this time around with more single-worthy songs and considerably better continuity as an album.
In the midst of the outstanding and the forgettable are some interesting records. Take American VI: Ain’t No Grave, Johnny Cash’s final posthumous release of new material. It certainly doesn’t stand up to IV or even V, but it is such a beautiful that includes a perfect closing track for his long and storied career. Steven Page’s first solo effort incited extreme reactions from most fans and critics, divisions in both categories respectively hating it for being so unlike his other music and loving it for… well, the same reason, I suppose. As for me, I’ve very much enjoyed A Singer Must Die, although I rarely listen to it in the car and I’m very anxious to hear his first solo album proper, which should arrive later this year. (And, to be fair, I downgraded it from four to three and a half stars in deference to what a full four stars should really represent.)
If you haven’t been listening to the first albums of the new decade, then you’ve been missing some real gems. And, if you’ve missed my reviews along the way, I’ve compiled them below for your reference. I’ve even translated my “Yes, No, or Maybe So” reviews to the standard five star system for your ease. I’ve been listening constantly to the four listed as “coming soon” — between rounds of BnL, She & Him, and the Wallflowers, that is.
New Albums, 2010:
Y Not (Ringo Starr) – 2.5 stars
Transference (Spoon) – 3.5 stars
Realism (Magnetic Fields) – 2.5 stars
Heligoland (Massive Attack) – 2 stars
A Singer Must Die (Steven Page with the Art of Time Ensemble) – 3.5 stars
American VI: Ain’t No Grave (Johnny Cash) – 3 stars
Broken Bells (Broken Bells) – 4 stars
All in Good Time (Barenaked Ladies) – 5 stars
Volume Two (She & Him) – 4 stars
Women & Country (Jakob Dylan) – 2.5 stars
Forgiveness Rock Record (Broken Social Scene) – coming soon!
