Tag Archives: music reviews

“High Water” (Bob Dylan Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Trivia: Yes, the title is actually “High Water (For Charley Patton)” — but, that’s just too long for YouTube’s liking. Isn’t that just like Bob Dylan? Always breaking the rules…

Hello and welcome to Monday’s installment of the Laptop Sessions! Today, I bring you a song off of Dylan’s 2001 Love and Theft album. At first, it was one of my least favorite on the album, but the more I listened to it, the more I really got into its dark sound and interesting lyrics. I actually decided to record this one today because my voice is almost entirely shot (and I figured, hey, what better time to play a contemporary Dylan tune?). I recorded about five takes of this song, and four of the outtakes were due to coughing. Because I couldn’t really sing all that loud, I dropped the pick and moved closer to the microphone — I’m glad I did, since it seems to work for this song.

I’d like to say again how much fun it was to play some of MoU’s new songs live at the SCSU Talent Show at the Lyman Center last Wednesday. I really encourage you to do one of the following:

1 ) Watch the live videos on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/user/jimfusco.com/albums.html ,

2) Hear the recorded versions in full off the brand-new Homestead’s Revenge album at http://jimfusco.com/albums.html ,
or, if you like the songs,

3) Buy the album!

Okay, that’s enough shameless plugging for today… 🙂 Thanks again to all who have been watching my videos — it’s really exciting to keep seeing my total view count rising. It makes this project all the more fun!

See you next session!



“Hey, Johnny Park!” (Foo Fighters Cover)

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By Chris Moore:

Hello and welcome to this weekend edition of the Laptop Sessions video blog! Today’s acoustic cover song is from the Foo Fighters, a band that my fellow songwriter Jeff Copperthite has covered several times before. I’ve only gotten into this music within the past few months, after a faithful YouTube viewer and fan of the Laptop Sessions requested that I cover the Foo Fighters song “Everlong.” I went out to the store, bought the album The Colour and the Shape, and immediately got into it. For those of you who don’t know me, you need to understand that I’m a big fan of well-packaged CD’s, and this was the 10th anniversary remix with a nice, lengthy booklet and a shiny cover. Now, this may have coloured (pun intended) my perception of it, but what I really liked about the album was its overall progression. It begins with an electric guitar and Dave Grohl’s subdued vocals on “Doll,” a song that gradually builds up and suddenly ends after about a minute and a half. The next song, “Monkey Wrench,” is pure energy and rock’n’roll. The album continues to rev up and slow down and vary as it goes. Previously to this, I had only heard their In Your Honor album. I love the concept — one disc of electric songs, one of acoustic music — but I found it unremarkable.

I haven’t quite perfected my version of “Everlong,” but this is another great track from the album to tide you over while I practice that one. “Hey, Johnny Park!” is a title that I have yet to understand — Foo Fighters fans please help by commenting here!! — and it certainly made me stretch my range a bit, but I love the guitar intro/riff and it really translated pretty well as an acoustic cover song, as the other Foo Fighters covers by Jeff did.

Without further ado, here’s your official Saturday Laptop Session — don’t forget to check back tomorrow for another quality Copperthite cover…

See you next session!


The BEST PACKAGING of 2011 (The Year-End Awards)

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By Chris Moore:

Album covers are nice, but there is something transcendent about artists who put their full effort into designing an album package that elevates their work beyond music alone and into the realm of physical art.  This year, the award for best album packaging has to go to Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore’s solo release Demolished Thoughts.  Though a fairly minimalist black and white design, there are – in addition to lyrics, the presence of which is no longer a foregone conclusion – a slew of drawings and a collection of poetry to complement the music.  Tom Waits’ deluxe edition of Bad As Me comes in a close second, the booklet alone being a visual and lyrical experience, and the four bonus tracks providing a little extra for the true fan.  Wilco’s deluxe edition design for The Whole Love, another close contender for the top spot, offers four additional tracks (with the wry take on Nick Lowe’s “I Love My Label”) and a beautiful booklet that includes a visually brilliant set of drawings.

Each of these albums is proof positive that there are quality physical releases still being produced, even in what is clearly the age of the digital release.  This being said, I couldn’t help but point out two of the many terribly thin and unrewarding packages to see the light of day this year.  These are, inversely, reason to stay at home and download.

1) Demolished Thoughts – Thurston Moore

2) Bad As Me (Deluxe Edition) – Tom Waits

3) The Whole Love (Deluxe Edition) – Wilco

4) Ukulele Songs – Eddie Vedder

5) Mine is Yours – Cold War Kids

6) Tripper – Fruit Bats

7) Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes

8 ) So Beautiful or So What (Deluxe Limited Edition) – Paul Simon

9) The People’s Key – Bright Eyes

10) Wasting Light – Foo Fighters (includes a piece of the original master tape!)

 

Honorable Mention:

All Eternals Deck – The Mountain Goats

 

Worst Packaging:

No Color – Dodos

El Camino – The Black Keys

“Big Me” (Foo Fighters Cover)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

Laptop Sessions Historian UpdateOn the day 6 years after he recorded this song, Jeff has reuploaded it to his Youtube channel and it is now available for your viewing pleasure or displeasure (hopefully pleasure). Enjoy!

Welcome, for the first time in 6 weeks, to Thumpin’ Thursday!  That’s right, after a brief hiatus for an awesome acoustic cover song by Mike, I am back for my regularly scheduled Thursday video.  I’ve got a short but awesome one for you today.

One of my favorite albums in my teenage years was the album “Foo Fighters” by the band of the same name.  At the time, I listened to this album countless times.  I can probably play most of the songs on the album and the lyrics are easy to recall.  The song I have chosen is “Big Me”, which was a single from the album.  You may recall the music video (yeah, like MTV plays music videos anymore – they used too) is a spoof of old Mentos’ commercials.  I’m sure you can find it on Youtube on countless users’ channels.

I usually don’t record short songs, but my next video will be a slightly longer song, and could be a new band as well!  You’ll have to wait and see.

Come back tomorrow for Friday’s edition, where Jim will wow us again.