Tag Archives: R.E.M. Songs

“The One I Love” (REM Cover)

Posted on by
2

For R.E.M. chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!

By Jeff:

LS Historian: I recorded this song in July of 2009, knowing that fatherhood was coming in roughly 5 months. I enjoyed this one because it was easy to sing over (repeated lyrics are a favorite of mine for that reason :D). A nice throwback to 5 years ago.

Welcome to Thumpin’ Thursday!  I bring you another song from another band that has been covered before.

REM is tonight’s band and the song is “The One I Love”.  It is from their album “Documents”.  The song is a good one, but i’ve always found it to be a bit repetative.  Oddly enough, the allure of REM’s music is doing things like this.  Michael Stipe has always constructed interesting lyrics and they are always open for interpretation.

Sorry for the late night post.  I was planning on this it this afternoon, but it was a good beach day.  The A/C has been on in the house for over a week, and today we finally got to be outside and not feel like it’s 150% humid.  It’s all good though.

Enjoy tonight’s cover!

My 100th “Favorite” YouTube Video!

Posted on by
Reply

By Chris Moore:

Hello all you faithful Laptop Sessions viewers!  I’m back so soon after my previous post to announce a milestone that, in all actuality, doesn’t really mean all that much to anyone other than me…

…my 100th “favorite” YouTube video!!

That’s right, today I clicked on the “Favorite” button for the 100th time since I signed up for YouTube on October 26, 2007.  I figured that it was time to take a retrospective glance back through my 100 favorite videos and choose the top ten best videos — my votes for the ten best videos on YouTube.  You may not agree with me, and you may even outright disagree with some of my choices.  But you can tell a lot about me based just on these ten.

So, without further ado, here they are in reverse order:

10)  “Please Stay” Live at the Webster Theatre

Possibly my all-time favorite moment touring with MoU, and it’s captured here on video!  We played not only the Webster Theatre but, as a last-minute promotion, the main stage!  This is probably one of my favorite songs I’ve ever written and my favorite performance — for once, I think we all felt like we had, if only for a moment, made it to the big time.

9)  Counting Crows – “1492” Live in the Studio

What a cool video — an inside peek into what the recording process looks like for one of my favorite bands, as they recorded one of my favorite albums of the year!

8)  The Wallflowers – “Beautiful Side of Somewhere”

This is the official music video for this Rebel, Sweetheart track.  It’s such an interesting concept, incredibly rendered.  I love to watch it.  I love to listen to it.  And I NEVER would have seen it without YouTube for two reasons — one, I never watch music video television, and two, those stations would never play the Wallflowers anyway.  (Which is a big reason why I don’t watch them!)

7)  Jeff Tweedy – People Talking During Concert

This is the video that officially pushed my interest in Wilco and Jeff Tweedy to the next level.  I officially felt like I had reached fan status after watching this and cracking up, loving his onstage presence and personality.  I could see Jim or I wanting to say this to some of the crowds we have played in front of!

6)  TNA: Sting arrives to help Christian Cage

One big change for me this year has been my loyal viewing of wrestling.  I never would have believed it if someone had told me even a couple years ago that I would spend every Thursday in Jim’s parents’ movie theater of a basement, eagerly awaiting the next match on TNA: Impact!.  But I do, and this video is one of my all-time favorites.  Does it get any better than seeing Christian Cage in the ring (albeit a not-so-flattering moment for him) and then seeing the lights go down, only to come back on to the sight of Sting clearing house?  The answer is no!

5)  Elliott Smith on David Letterman

One of my absolute favorite videos and truly proving the merits of YouTube, as I would never have seen this performance of Smith’s “Stupidity Tries” otherwise.  It’s not just that it’s a great performance, but I love to watch this because — if only for three minutes — the typically reclusive Smith took center stage on a primary late-night talk show, playing one of his best tracks from perhaps his greatest album.  I love it!

4)  R.E.M. – “Living Well is the Best Revenge”

This is the music video they released for this track off their 2008 album Accelerate.  What an intriguing concept: play the song in the car, while driving!  This is exactly what Jim, Mike, and I would do when we were in high school and college, just driving around and making up ridiculous songs (especially when accompanied by Alberto Distefano)!  A great YouTube find…

3)  Adam Sandler – 50 First Dates

This is the first of two videos that Jim will no doubt recall… as I played him this Adam Sandler clip about 100 times this past year.  He already had a similar clip on his iTunes that I used to beg him to play every time I saw he was on his computer with iTunes open.  It’s hilarious, classic Adam Sandler combined with a reference to the Beach Boys.  How could it get any better?

2)  Barenaked Ladies- “Pollywog in a Bog (Extended Version)

I first chose the Kevin Hearn-illustrated “Drawing” video for this list.  Then, I remembered this amazing music video for this Snacktime track.  This is one that you will enjoy — any age, any musical preference, whether you like BNL or not.  Puppets playing musical instruments, a reggae-style middle, and did I mention REALLY cute puppets?  Yet another case of BNL creating impressive work that relatively few will ever see.

And, the moment you’ve all been waiting for…

1)  Super Troopers – Farva food scene

Okay, this comes with the disclaimer that this is some mature language in this clip.  And by some, I mean a lot.  But it is, hands down, my favorite YouTube clip of all time.  It is my favorite moment in the Super Troopers movie.  It makes me laugh no matter how many times I play it, and I’ve played it a lot.  If I played the Adam Sandler clip for Jim 100 times, then I played this one for him 1,000 times!  And, whenever I watch or even think of it, I am reminded of spending fun, relaxing times with my closest friends of all-time, watching late-night movies, eating late-night snacks and Taco Bell, drinking fruity-flavored beers, and just enjoying life.  So, this video wins based on all the criteria I can think of — number of times played, memories evoked while viewing, overall quality, etc.  Go ahead, you know you’re interested…

http://www.youtube.com/chrismooremusic

Okay, I can’t resist.  Here are the “HONORABLE MENTIONS:”

– “Sting Custom Titantron (TNA Theme)” – Very appropriate (and oft-employed by yours truly) while turning the light off and on, appearing with a baseball bat to beat up a friend.  Jim can vouch for this one!

– “The Wallflowers – ‘One Headlight’ (Feat. Bruce Springsteen)” – The clip isn’t the best quality, but the performance is top-notch, the duet is a match made in heaven (in my mind, at least), and I would have completely missed out on this great video if it hadn’t been for YouTube!

– “Cowboys of Moo Mesa intro” – For some reason, I found this online after a conversation with Jim and just played it and played it.  And played it.  And played it some more.  I think Jim, Mike, and I will someday do a full-band version of this… that’s how well we know it now!  And YOU tell ME — how many people do you have in your life that know the “Cowboys of Moo Mesa” lyrics by heart?  There you go ladies, that’s at least one reason to look up my number and cross your fingers…  🙂

Music Review: Indie Music Songwriter Jeff Copperthite’s New Album “Greenlight”

Posted on by
Reply

RATING:  3.5 / 5 stars

By Chris Moore:

Typically, when an artist releases his first solo album, it lacks the polished sound that a more experienced artist would offer. However, this is certainly not the case with Greenlight, as Jeff Copperthite has been recording albums with his band Quilt since 2002. Although collaborator Scott Poglitsch wrote the majority of the songs on their first album, Patchwork, Copperthite wrote all the tracks for Expressions, their subsequent 2003 release. A solo record has been inevitable for some time.
Now, five years later, the aptly titled Greenlight has arrived.

The opening track, “Shadows of Your Dreams,” fades in to unveil Copperthite’s careful balance of guitar riffs, characteristic double-tracked lead vocals, subtle backing vocals, guitar solos, and drum fills. This is an excellent opener, setting the tone and laying the groundwork for what he is capable of.

Track two turns it up a notch, kicking off with a snare shot reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s infamous 1966 live version of “Like a Rolling Stone,” which was preceded by a taunt from a crowd member and Dylan’s command for the band to “play f***ing loud!” “Home” is far from angry, but it has all the energy of the aforementioned Dylan tune and is clearly the single of the album. Here, the vocals are even more honed and the guitar solos blend even more smoothly into the veneer of the track, providing accents and filling out the song.

As “Home” fades out, the title track begins tentatively with a minimalist arrangement, putting emphasis on the lyrics and eventually building up to include more prominent drums and acoustic guitars. The song details Copperthite’s journey, which can be taken either literally as a drive home (which is a nice follow-up to the previous track) or more symbolically. Each verse follows the progression of a traffic light—first red, then yellow, and finally green. In between he explains his journey, progressing from “Standing still in my life” to relating how “Inspired by the life I hold, I took the wheel and drove. I feel invincible; everything is manageable.” He seals the deal with another well-executed guitar solo.

“Jam Session” gives Copperthite the opportunity to focus on his instrumental skills, highlighting the piano and, as if he hadn’t already demonstrated his devotion to them, guitar solos.

The fifth track, “What Not To Do,” begins with bass, minimal drums, and then acoustic guitar, soon followed by the most prominent backing vocals of the album. This is not a surprising choice of arrangement, considering that this is a cover of a song penned by labelmate Jim Fusco, who is known for his Brian Wilson-esque devotion to harmonies, and his girlfriend, Becky Daly. (The song was specifically written to be given to him and was part of a musical swap that the two participated in.) An acoustic guitar solo continues the trend to good effect.

Copperthite gets angry for “$500,” directing his distortion guitars and biting lyrics at his former landlady, as he explains in the digital booklet. This is a great placement for this song, as it infuses new energy into the track listing. It is the oldest of the songs—recorded in 2004 when he had first considered a solo project—but adds a new, emotional dimension to the album that is further explored in “Aware.” The seventh track is not angry; rather, his concern is, “Oh I’m not able to see what goes on without me; here I can only be aware of what is around me.” While he concedes that “Perhaps I am scared of something that’s not there,” he is still concerned and can’t quite get the thought out of his mind. In a sense, this song focuses on his acute awareness that he simply cannot always be aware of what is happening.

“Searcher,” the eighth track, is Copperthite’s arrangement of a song originally composed by Yasuaki Fujita for “an old Nintendo game.” He writes in the liner notes that this was the first song he recorded before beginning to write new material for Greenlight—perhaps it was this song’s driving beat or combination of distortion-heavy guitars and piano riffs that inspired Copperthite to continue to write.

The final song is a healthy blend between slow ballad and upbeat rocker, opening with subdued electric guitar and vocals and gradually building up with drums, bass, and distorted guitars to the chorus, which can in and of itself be connected thematically to many of the album’s other tracks.

It is apparent that Copperthite put his heart, soul, and sweat into the creation of Greenlight, and for that reason, it is one of those rare albums that authentically exposes the songwriter, for better and for worse. In a year filled with superstar releases—Ringo Starr, R.E.M., and Sheryl Crow, among others—this is an essential album, if only for its celebration of honesty and of all the components of great rock’n roll.