For Vanity Project chords & lyrics, CLICK HERE!
By Chris Moore:
Hello and welcome to another week of rock’n’roll related intrigue at the Laptop Sessions acoustic cover song music video blog! This is an exciting time for the blog, as we have consistently been pumping out more quality material for you than any time since the session-a-day project ended. This week, for instance, you can look forward to your typical Monday and Tuesday excellence in cover song music video form, a final Jimi Hendrix-themed edition of “Yes, No, or Maybe So, Retro,” two more installments in the “Top Five Rock Artists of the Decade, 2000-2009” list, a Guest Session on Friday by an all-new contributor (bringing back an oft-covered band), AND it’ll all be tied up by a full length Weekend Review on Sunday.
Not bad for a free blog…
Tonight, I bring you “Wilted Rose,” a song from the Vanity Project’s 2005 self-titled debut release. For those of you unfamiliar with the Vanity Project, this is the title of former Barenaked Ladies co-frontman Steven Page’s solo album. Well, it’s not technically a solo album in the strictest sense of the term, but for all intents and purposes, The Vanity Project is a Page solo album populated mainly by collaborations with Stephen Duffy. Page and Duffy have been swapping lines and tunes for years, and many of their co-written efforts have been recorded by the Barenaked Ladies. Here, Page is able to record those songs that simply weren’t a clear fit for the Barenaked Ladies.
I couldn’t believe one of us hadn’t already recorded this song for the blog — after all, it was included in the official MoU chordbook, even though it was only a rare live track. In addition, this is the right time to have Steven Page on the brain, as the first of two Page solo efforts is due in stores tomorrow. Now, tomorrow’s release is the less-anticipated A Singer Must Die, a collection of ten cover songs performed with the Art of Time Ensemble. Although I’m much more interested and excited for his first solo album proper, Page certainly picked out some interesting tunes to cover — the title track from Leonard Cohen and “For We Are the King of the Boudoir” by the Magnetic Fields to name a couple. Some of his other choices boggle my mind — why re-record “Running Out of Ink” so soon, for example? Or why attempt an Elvis Costello deep track like “I Want You” when Fiona Apple’s cover version is already the quintessential take on it?
Overall, I can’t imagine quite what this album will sound like, but I’m very excited to hear it. There’s only one problem: even Newbury Comics didn’t include it on their “new releases” list.
You know your release is under the radar when not even Newbury Comics is aware of its existence.
I honestly would have pre-ordered it to get it complete with Page’s autograph, but I couldn’t see spending the full price of the CD plus a considerable fee for shipping and handling. Thus, I’ll need to get creative and soon!
Until you get a chance to listen to (or even find) A Singer Must Die, I hope you enjoy my music video of the night.
See you next session!