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Chris’ Mix (Vol. 1): Music I Discovered in 2008 – Playlists on Parade

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By Chris Moore:

As promised, this second edition of Playlists on Parade will feature my first “music discovery” playlist.  For those that missed the first post, I wanted to put together a series of my favorite songs of 2008.  Rather than restrict the lineup to those songs that had been newly released in 2008, I decided to include my favorite songs I had first heard during the year.

Now, I should note that I put this list together in late April of 2009, so I lumped in a few songs that were technically released in 2009.  That being said, I was careful this year (2010) to make a more pure 2009 version for the second volume.

I hope you’ll enjoy the brief notes I’ve included below, and that you’ll check out these great tracks if you haven’t already heard them!

1)  “I Got You” – Stone Temple Pilots

If you like “Sour Girl,” then this is a second STP song you should listen to.  Not as dynamic as “Sour Girl,” but a great track nonetheless.

2)  “Pot Kettle Black” – Wilco

Up until the 2010 release of BnL’s “You Run Away,” this was my number one most-listened-to song on my iPod hands-down.  And there’s a reason:  this is one of the best little numbers off Wilco’s turn-of-the-millennium classic Yankee Hotel Foxtrot.

3)  “What Love Can Do” – Bruce Springsteen

(Okay, so this is technically from 2009 and should have ended up on Volume Two…)  Why this wasn’t the lead-off single for Working on a Dream, I’ll never know.

4)  “The Joke’s On Me” – Jordan Zevon

Compared to his father, a legend and a genius of a songwriter, Jordan Zevon’s album falls a bit short.  Still, there are some winners, like this wonderfully sardonic track.

5)  “Low Light” – Pearl Jam

I actually included this PJ song not because it was my favorite, but rather because it seemed to fit the straightforward rock and roll feel I was trying to set with this playlist.  A subtle, but superb track.

6)  “Come Around” – The Counting Crows

A great track off of what is perhaps the second greatest Counting Crows album, Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings – my choice for first would, of course, be Recovering the Satellites.  “Come Around” has it all: it’s upbeat, catchy, and is lyrically and instrumentally entertaining.

7)  “Supernatural Superserious” – R.E.M.

I was generally non-plussed by most of R.E.M.’s albums and deep tracks that I had heard before Accelerate, but “Supernatural Superserious” is an exemplary sample from what has quickly become one of my favorite rock albums.

8)  “At Least We Made It This Far” – Relient K

Relient K is a band that I grow fonder of with each new release, and 2008’s EP was no exception.  While my jaw dropping was reserved for a piano version of “Who I Am Hates Who I’ve Been,” the slot on this playlist had to go to this new track.

9)  “Brother” – Pearl Jam

What a lost gem!  It’s not so difficult to see why Jeff Ament almost quit Pearl Jam when Stone Gossard held firm to his desire not to play this song any longer.  Phenomenal.

10)  “Looking Forward to Seeing You” – The Golden Smog

This is a pretty good sampling of the Golden Smog sound, including some background work by Jeff Tweedy.

11)  “Impossible Germany” – Wilco

I discovered Wilco in 2008, and they were the band that I listened to more than any other that year.  I was going through some sadness, particularly in the last third of the year, and Wilco’s sound was what I needed for commiseration and for a rebirth.  For an example of the latter, I’ve included “Impossible Germany.”  Please take note of the beautiful dual guitar solos.

12)  “Hey, That’s No Way to Say Goodbye”  – Leonard Cohen

I went back in time a bit farther for this classic Cohen track.  He was a singer/songwriter that I had certainly heard of, but had never actually heard any songs performed by him.  This was one of my favorites, even more so after I figured it out on guitar.

The Weekend Review: May 2012 Report

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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.

“In Dreams” (Roy Orbison Cover)

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By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to another terrific Thumpin’ Thursday edition of The Laptop Sessions. Today I bring you a new artist, and the next entry into our “Title Track” series. This also goes out by request from Rory, so thanks for this request!

Roy Orbison becomes our latest artist to enter our library and I am covering the title track from Orbison’s 1963 album “In Dreams”, naturally titled “In Dreams” (Yeah, like I needed to type that twice). This is a great mellow song, has a unique structure (read: none), and showcases Roy’s incredible range and voice. Orbison really had a gift and I am glad that future generations like me get to experience his music over and over like this.

I definitely want to cover more of Roy’s work in the near future. It really is amazing how many songs are by him that float around the radio stations.

Title track week continues tomorrow with Jim’s 2nd pick, then closes on Saturday with Chris’ 3rd pick (including his AWESOME original Wednesday pick from yesterday). Be sure to keep coming back as we approach the halfway mark of session-a-day!

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!

“Sex and Candy” (Marcy Playground Cover)

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For Marcy Playground chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Chris Moore:

After both technical difficulties and more than my share of human error for the night, my “Chris Moore Monday” post is here!  Not only am I posting a video tonight for the best acoustic cover song music video blog known to man — and humble, too! — but this is actually the first of a double header that will conclude tomorrow night.  Since Jim is away for one more “Jim Fusco Tuesday,” I didn’t want to see anyone go without new material for even a day more.  So make sure to check back tomorrow for an all-new cover song and music video.

Tonight’s song is one that would have made me blush in 1997, and to be honest, it still does.  Back in late ’97 and early 1998, Marcy Playground’s “Sex and Candy” was everywhere, particularly if you listened to a modern rock radio station.  (CT locals may remember the alternative station Rock 104’s hey day in the nineties.)  At the time, this song broke the record for most consecutive weeks at number one on the modern rock charts — 15 weeks, to be specific.  Meanwhile, this song catapulted Marcy Playground to one hit wonder status, peaking at a solid number 8 on the Billboard Hot 100.

To this day, I’m not exactly sure why this song was such a big hit at the time.  Structurally, it’s a very simple song, and the vocals are very straightforward.  I think the song’s success can be attributed to its provocative lyrics and John Wozniak’s distinct vocals.  Fortunately for me, “Woz” as he refers to himself has a vocal range that is well within my own, at least on this song!

There are two reasons I’ve chosen this particular song for tonight’s session.  The first is that it reminds me of a time when I was first becoming interested in music, listening to the radio and just beginning to buy CDs at the overpriced Sam Goody’s store in the mall.

The second reason will be explained in tomorrow night’s session…

You know, another sign that this song was successful is that “Weird” Al included the chorus of “Sex and Candy” in his “Polka Power!” polka medley.  If only I, too, could one day have a song parodied by the man, then I would truly know I had earned success.  But, until then, I’ll just have to enjoy the new “Weird” Al video for his new song, “CNR.”  It’s a style parody of the White Stripes and the video was produced by JibJab, so it’s all the more hilarious.  While I thought the “Skipper Dan” video a couple weeks ago was enjoyable, this one is truly great — it made me laugh out loud a couple times and want to watch it again.

Okay, so that’s it for me for now.  I’ll see you back here, same Laptop Sessions time, same Laptop Sessions channel for an all-new “Chris Moore for Jim Fusco Tuesday” cover song music video.

See you next session!