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The Weekend Review: October 2012 Report

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By Chris Moore:

II (Bad Books)

Released: October 9, 2012

Rating:  3.5 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “It Never Stops” & “Forest Whitaker”

The second album is always an interesting experiment for any band.  In the case of Bad Books’ II, some of the raw energy has been left behind in favor of refinement in both sound and content.  The benefit of this shift clearly goes to the continuity of the record, as the tracks feel more united than on their freshman effort.  Lyrically, Bad Books is as sharp as ever, and if anything, they have raised the quality.  Finally, in terms of the soundscape, II offers up a lush and gorgeous sequence of arrangements, masterfully orchestrating the mood and pacing.  Still, something has been lost in favor of refinement, but that may simply be the difference between the average first and second releases in a band’s timeline.  Peaking with the gems “It Never Stops” and “Forest Whitaker,” each fronting Bad Books’ signature simple-but-packed-full, low-key-but-rockin’ sound, II has a lot to offer, even if it does lack some of that unmined potential and dynamic appeal of the first record.

 

 

 

Glad All Over (The Wallflowers)

Producer: Jay Joyce

Released: October 9, 2012

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “First One in the Car” & “Constellation Blues”

Perhaps owing something to Jakob Dylan’s folksy hiatus, the Wallflowers have returned on Glad All Over intent on rocking as hard as they have in their career.  With the return of Rami Jaffee, the band has their signature keyboard/organ sounds firmly in place, and with the addition of Jack Irons on drums, they have implicitly stated their desire to return to rock ‘n’ roll proper, what with his resume as a founding member of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and history of backing such bands as Pearl Jam.  After seven years had passed since their last album (2005’s Rebel, Sweetheart), Glad All Over is precisely the type of return effort that will remind fans why the Wallflowers are one of the most underrated bands of the nineties, often written off as one-hit wonders following the chart-topping success of “One Headlight” (which, ironically enough, was only the second single off 1996’s Bringing Down the Horse).  What is clear here is that the band has reinvigorated and perhaps even re-envisioned their sound, evidenced by the sharper, harder guitar effects, additional reverb on the keyboard parts, and most notably by the presence of the Clash’s Mick Jones playing guitar and singing on the album’s lead single, as well as another track.  Still, after opening with the pulse-pounding, eerily rocking “Hospital for Sinners” and following up with the borderline funky, gloriously electrified “Misfits and Lovers,” they follow up with “First One in the Car,” a track that sounds like it was set aside from the Bringing Down the Horse sessions, only to be revealed now.  This has the effect of a nod, or perhaps even a wink, to the sound that earned them their fame, though it admittedly fits fully into the flow of this record.  “Reboot the Mission,” the lead single, takes a turn and revs up the band to create a unique sound that pushes the bass to the front of the mix and toys with atmospherics.  It serves as a thesis of sorts for Glad All Over, as the refrain features the band chorally singing, “Eyes on the prize, reboot the mission: I lost my sight but not the vision.”  “It’s A Dream” continues the rock sound they’ve unveiled on the opening tracks before moving into “Love is a Country,” a gorgeous, rolling track that was handled nicely in the official “lyric video” released by their YouTube channel.  The guitars take the fore on the following tracks, in solos on “Have Mercy On Him Now” and in riffs on “The Devil’s Waltz,” flowing back to a track reminiscent of the Rebel, Sweetheart sound on “It Won’t Be Long (Till We’re Not Wrong Anymore)” before hitting the pinnacle of the second half in “Constellation Blues,” a track that is arguably the amalgamation of all that has come before.  This may seem counterintuitive at first, as the guitars are lower in the mix, yet they’re more subtle than soft, playing an integral role even as the rhythm section takes the lead and the keyboards add layer upon layer of shimmering atmosphere.  True to the mission statement of this album, “One Set of Wings” closes the album on a strong note, offering the full spectrum of instrumentation – distorted guitars riffing and soloing, haunting organ tones, flowing bass lines, and heavy-hitting drums – as well as a vocal delivery of the lyrics that walks the line between gloomy and hopeful.  Perhaps the line of most interest here is when Dylan sings, “I have been lost, and I’m ready to be found.”  With all that this band has to offer particularly on this most recent release, one would hope that it’s time they be found for what they are: a band of career musicians capable of greatness far beyond a solitary single in the late nineties.

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Broken Social Scene’s “Forgiveness Rock Record” (2010) – The Weekend Review

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By Chris Moore:

RATING: 2 / 5 stars

Their concept is an interesting one: record en mass with a crowd of artists whose talents and respective genres run the gamut from classical to avant-garde. When there is cohesion and purpose, the diversity contributes to some fascinating productions.

When Broken Social Scene falls short, though, the distance is vast.

With one exception, Forgiveness Rock Record falls far short of anything approaching complete success past the sixth track.  Which is a shame, because the first six tracks are so fantastic, each finding an order in the chaos of up to fourteen chefs with their hands in the pot.

Songs like “Forced to Love” border on beautiful, hinting at single-worthiness.  Ten years ago, fifteen perhaps, they may have stood a chance on commercial radio.  Consider the quirky catchiness of “Texico Bitches” or the bouncy indie rock of “Art House Director” — these are the standout tracks where, clearly, something special was tapped into.

Even “All to All,” which threatens to stretch out for too long, is a gorgeous piece that walks the line between indie and dance, owing not a little to Lisa Lobsinger’s lead.  When Leslie Feist later unfolds “Sentimental X’s,” it reads as an attempt to mimic “All to All.”  Perhaps this was purposeful, as a means of pulling the otherwise disparate pieces of the album together.

Even still, it falls short.

The opener “World Sick” hints at a truth later revealed:  Broken Social Scene doesn’t always know when to cut it short or rein it in.  On the seven minute “World Sick,” their patient unraveling of the larger concept translates, and they quickly follow up with the fast-paced three-minute “Chase Scene” as a prompt reminder that not every track on Forgiveness Rock Record will be a test of the listener’s patience.  Even as a large group, they know how to hit a groove and run with it.

This is a key aspect present in the first six tracks that disappears almost irretrievably for the remainder of the album.

Broken Social Scene's "Forgiveness Rock Record" (2010)

Broken Social Scene's "Forgiveness Rock Record" (2010)

After “Art House Director” fades, the bulk of the album kicks off with “Highway Slipper Jam,” beginning with a vocal burst that sounds like something Femi Kuti would contribute to a Brett Dennen single.  Whereas it is a fun accompaniment on the latter, it sits oddly in isolation on this seventh track.  It is not so much that “Highway Slipper Jam” is a bad song.  It is more that it is hardly a song at all.  Essentially, this track expresses what is implied by the tag “Jam”: it is little more than a drum beat and some disconnected vocals and guitars.

“Ungrateful Little Father” opens lyrically strong and catchy even, yet dissolves into a more than three minute indulgence that sounds like a dream sequence set in a casino.

From there, most of the remaining tracks either tease at something more or fall apart as echoes of other sounds on the album.  “Meet Me in the Basement” builds up to a legitimate rock song… without any vocals or anything really interesting or fresh after the midpoint about two minutes in.   As noted above, “Sentimental X’s” reads as an inferior six-minute rewrite of “All to All.”

“Sweetest Kill” is the most significant tease on the record, unfolding an alluring lead vocal and pulsing bass lines that would please, if only it didn’t hold to the established norm for all five minutes of the song.  “Romance to the Grave” will keep your interest, but there is still something lacking here that wasn’t in those first six tracks, by now a distant memory.

Then comes “Water in Hell.”

From the opening guitar run, it is clear that “Water in Hell” is more well put together than anything since “Art House Director.”  It still very much bears the Broken Social Scene watermark, adding reverb and quirky background accompaniment, but it just works.  And it works so well that you could listen for all the unique parts that are woven masterfully together, hinting at a looseness without ever falling apart, or simply kick back and rock out.

The album concludes with “Me and My Hand,” which is underwhelming, but pretty and haunting and, thus, a fitting lead-in for anyone who decides to listen to track one again. (Why you wouldn’t give tracks one through six another play, having made it all the way through, I don’t know.)

In short, I haven’t written Broken Social Scene off after this album, but the gap between their excellent songs and their unrealized and mediocre songs is vast.  Accordingly, Forgiveness Rock Records blazes admirably through the first six before falling apart, only to be temporarily revived by the standout “Water in Hell.”  Records like this perhaps serve best as a reminder of why the Beatles set the standard number of tracks at twelve and others, from Bob Dylan to Weezer, have since scaled that back to ten or even into the single digits.

We all like to get the most for our money, but the greater desire should always be to get consistently excellent music that begs for multiple listens – a desire that Forgiveness Rock Record on the whole, for all its solid tracks, simply can’t satisfy.

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The Weekend Review: February 2012 Report

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Go Fly A Kite (Ben Kweller)

Released: February 7, 2012

Rating: 4 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “Jealous Girl” & “Mean to Me”

When I saw Ben Kweller open for the Barenaked Ladies a couple years ago, I was floored by this performer who managed to blend a wide variety of influences and crossed the genre lines while maintaining a coherent, high adrenaline rock show.  For months afterward, as I picked up his albums, I struggled and largely failed to find anything to match what I had experienced live.  Now, with Go Fly A Kite, Kweller has finally recorded an album that properly expresses all his strengths, alternating between electric rockers and softer acoustic tracks, all the while maintaining a power pop energy that works to his strengths.  Mainstream music critics will largely ignore this album.  Nicholas Moffitt of VZ Magazine went so far as to call it “likeable,” but not before qualifying even this statement with “fans of Kweller and power pop.”  Is Go Fly A Kite the next great rock album?  I’m not arguing that, but it is one of the few albums in recent memory that relies only upon instrumentation and vocals for its energy.  There are no computer tricks employed here: only good, old-fashioned human performance.  There isn’t a clunker in the bunch, and the track listing steadily unfolds larger ideas and themes (not to mention the diorama-style CD packaging, which is one of the most imaginative I’ve seen).  Forget Moffitt’s qualification: if you’re a fan of rock and upbeat, energetic music, Ben Kweller’s latest is a must-hear.

 

 

 

Kisses on the Bottom (Paul McCartney)

Producer: Tommy LiPuma

Released: February 7, 2012

Rating: 2 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “My Valentine” & “I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter”

A confession before I commence: I’m admittedly predisposed to a bad taste in the mouth upon hearing a well-established artist has decided to record an album of covers.  (I know, I know: I write reviews predominantly for a cover songs music video blog.  But, to be fair, we post them for free and for practice in between our regularly-scheduled albums of originals.)  A brief history of just a few of the cover albums that should compel a roll of the eyes: Michael McDonald’s Motown (2003) and the following year’s oh-so-creatively titled Motown Two, all five volumes of Rod Stewart’s The Great American Songbook series (2002-2005, 2010), and perhaps the most disappointing fall into the valley of covers: Eric Clapton’s Me and Mr. Johnson, a follow-up to 2001’s excellent Reptile album, followed in 2010 by a disappointing album of covers – Clapton – masquerading as his latest solo album.  So, when it comes to albums of this ilk, I approach with caution.  In this case, it is not so much that McCartney’s Kisses on the Bottom is a bad album.  It clearly is a very well-thought-out, passionately rendered record.  And yet, on the heels of a string of masterful solo releases – Chaos & Creation in the Backyard (2005) and Memory Almost Full (2007) being probably the best of his career – this collection of traditional pop could do little else than fall short after five years without a new McCartney album.  For what they are, the songs are really done quite well.  It is clear from interviews with McCartney and his producer Tommy LiPuma that this was a labor of love, and it was even revealed that he held off on this project out of desire to avoid any allegations of jumping on the covers train (he even referenced Stewart’s Songbook series).  In the end, the clear standout is “My Valentine,” which just so happens to be one of two McCartney originals on the record.  Coincidence?  I think not.  He has referenced his next album as being along the same vein as the Foo Fighters’ analog, garage rock Wasting Light (2011), so I and others like me can rest easy on that.

 

 

 

Deep Space [EP] (Eisley)

Producer: Eisley

Released: February 14, 2012

Rating:  2.5 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “Lights Out” & “Laugh It Off”

This pretty much fits the archetype of the EP: not bad, not great, just a little something to fill the silence between records.  If you enjoyed last year’s outstanding The Valley, then you’ll most likely enjoy Deep Space [EP].  Or, you could save yourself the five bucks and return to The Valley for more songs and a more fulfilling experience.

 

 

 

 

Sounds from Nowheresville (The Ting Tings)

Producer: Jules De Martino

Released: February 24, 2012

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “Hang It Up” & “Guggenheim”

Don’t let the modern production qualities fool you: there is more here than the extensive list of “engineers” and “mixers” in the credits would have you believe.  The critics have called the Ting Tings out for this and any number of other criticisms: the album is too short, too frivolous, inane, etc.  What they have missed – and what most tracks on Sounds from Nowheresville have to offer – is energy and ambition, subtle touches in the harmonies beyond what is more readily apparent in the synthesized sounds, not to mention the centrality of Katie White’s guitar (yes, that is a real instrument in the mix and it is the female lead singer playing it; if only for that, I have reason to respect this album).  “Hit Me Down Sonny” and “Hang It Up” are as bright, cool, and catchy as you would expect, and yet other tracks like the passionately delivered “Guggenheim” and the tender, acoustic-based “Day to Day” and “Help” express the range the band has to offer.  While this is definitely not a development I would have expected, I have to admit that the Ting Tings have put out one of what will probably be the best albums of the year.

 

 

 

Rooms Filled With Light (Fanfarlo)

Released: February 28, 2012

Rating:  3.5 / 5 stars

Top Two Tracks: “Shiny Things” & “Lenslife”

On Rooms Filled With Light, Fanfarlo have done a nice job of bringing a certain bright quality to the domain of oft-introspective synthesized music.  Aside from channeling a bit too much Ric Ocasek in his vocals at times, Simon Balthazar and company have recorded and sequenced a cohesive and purposeful record that boasts elements of artistic intention while maintaining pop-ready hooks, riffs, and overall production quality.

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“No Lights, No Sound” (New Music – Original Song by Indie Songwriter Chris Moore)

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By Chris Moore:

Tonight is the beginning of a side project that will take me as late as next summer to complete…  a new album!  You may be asking yourself, okay, so you’re going to record another new album.  It’s about freakin’ time.  And you may also be wondering what that has to do with the Laptop Sessions.

Well, I’m going to tell you!

Having been thinking so much recently and having been so inspired by a number of factors — not the least of which are hearing some leaked tracks from Jim’s forthcoming release and some awesome new albums this year by songwriters like Brian Wilson and bands like R.E.M. — I have been working on and arranging tracks for a new album, ironing out arrangements, finishing lyrics, etc.  Now, I bring my motivational and promotional project to the Laptop Sessions…

Every three weeks (or so, once we hit the new year), I will release a demo of another track from the new album.  Not only will I release the tracks, but I’ll do so in order!  Thus, tonight, I bring you what will be track one of my next album.  Now, in the spirit of the Laptop Sessions, I bring this song — “No Lights, No Sound” — to you as a recording of only my third complete performance of the song ever.  In other words, I rolled out of bed, finished writing the lyrics and the entire middle section, and recorded this demo.  This is hot off the presses.  This is the song in about as early a form as you’ll see here on this music blog.

And, that being said, I hope to get an amazing, yet fairly affordable producer to make it the perfect opening track!  (Anybody know a good producer, by any chance? ;- )  I’m thinking either Rick Rubin or Jim Fusco.  I figure I’ll send out for a bid in a couple of months and see what’s in my budget.  (Actually, no offense to Rubin, but I’d take JIm any day.  Even though he does NOT wear a fashionably immense and flowing beard…)

As you listen to the demo, you might notice that it’s a bit slow at first for an opening track.  I’ve since worked out a better version of the tempo I’d like to use, and I hope to have it build up right after the chorus and incorporate drums, bass, etc. before getting to a solo and eventually ending with a repeat of the first verse with only an acoustic and lead vocal.  But, we’ll see what the finished version holds.

In closing, this really puts the pressure on me to finalize my track listing and finish writing these songs.  I plan to record them as soon after writing them as possible, which will make it all the more interesting to look back and compare them to the final versions some day!  (And I don’t doubt that some won’t make the final cut, or that I’ll change the order as I go, but I’ll try my best to decide an order soon and stick to it.)

I truly hope you enjoy this side project for me here on the best acoustic cover song and original music blog in the universe!!  Don’t forget to come back tomorrow and Friday for a double dose of one Jeffrey Copperthite…

See you next session!

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