How to Destroy Angels’ “How to Destroy Angels” EP (2010) – YES, NO, or MAYBE SO

How to Destroy Angels’ How to Destroy Angels EP (2010) – MAYBE

"How To Destroy Angels" (How To Destroy Angels, 2010)

"How To Destroy Angels" (How To Destroy Angels, 2010)

(June 1, 2010)

Review:

I don’t know that I’ll ever “get” the finer points of such experimental/industrial rock as How to Destroy Angels creates, yet even I can register the passive-aggressive patterns laid out across these six tracks, accented by volleys of bass, carefully constructed drum tracks, and — not to be overlooked — (Trent Reznor’s wife and bandmate) Mariqueen Maandig’s deep, rich vocals.

Top Two Tracks:

“Fur Lined” & “Parasite”

More from the Weekend Review

“Chinese Sleep Chant” (Coldplay Cover)

By Jeff Copperthite:

Assistant Editor’s note (that’s Jeff): I am in the process of re-embedding some Laptop Sessions videos that I still have.  This post was originally from 2009, but for history’s sake I have not edited the post.

And continuing from last week’s post is the song that is followed by the one I covered last week.

Now, I know that i’ve covered a bunch of Coldplay songs, and quite a few from Viva La Vida, but there’s a good reason.  Everybody loves this band.  They write catchy songs, and enjoy performing and love their fans.  How can I not want to cover this band?

This song is more of an instrumental than a lyrical song, but the lyrics are present and sung.  I initially wanted to perform this with my electric guitar hooked up to my bass amp.  However, I hit a few snags.  1) My electric strings are kind of old.  2) The bridge of the guitar sticks out of the base of the guitar a bit, making the strings a bit further from the fretboard, and therefore more difficult to play.  3) The amp is meant for bass, and I could not find a good combination of settings that made my guitar sound like a guitar.

However, practicing the song on the electric proved helpful, as it made it a lot easier to play on the acoustic.  Funny how that works sometimes.

This video came out great.  I’m very proud of this cover.

I have reached my first milestone post 100K views and hit 110K views.  I’m nearing 500 views per day on my videos, and I can’t wait to tell you when I am averaging 1K views per day.  It could happen before the year is out!

More Laptop Sessions covers

Goo Goo Dolls’ “Hold Me Up” (1990) – Yes, No, or Maybe So

Goo Goo Dolls’ Hold Me Up (1990) – MAYBE

Hold Me Up (Goo Goo Dolls, 1990)

Hold Me Up (Goo Goo Dolls, 1990)

(October 16, 1990)

Review:

The epitome of a three star album: not a masterpiece, but a solid collection of raw yet concise, grungy rock tracks that are energetic and enjoyable — Takac and Rzeznik splitting lead vocal duties and even sharing a duet is a dynamic arrangement.

Top Two Tracks:

“Two Days in February” & “Laughing”

More from the Weekend Review

“Yes” (Coldplay Cover)

By Jeff Copperthite:

Welcome to your Thumpin’ Thursday installment of The Laptop Sessions (and almost fantastic Friday as well)!

I hope all is well on your end, and that you are celebrating with your family and friends one of the two major religious holidays that are going on at this point in time.  I myself have been to two Seders in the past two nights, and i’m done until next year with those.

Tonight I have a great cover song, and to boot, it’s a 2 parter!

The song is “Yes” by Coldplay, and yes it’s another song from their incredibly popular album “Viva La Vida”.  I was so excited that when I picked this album up last year, I didn’t even look at the track list.  I put it in my CD player and heard each song on the album before I even knew the name of it.  This song and the 2nd one were my favorite.  I just liked how it tied together and it’s gentle and “pleading” beat (I couldn’t think of another word to describe it).

I find myself enjoying Coldplay’s library more and more.  They do a great job putting music together.

Speaking of people who do a good job putting music together, have you picked up Jim Fusco’s new album Halfway There yet?  I’ve only heard previews of some of the songs, and if that is any kind of indication as to the quality of this album, you best hear it and purchase it yourself.  I also am looking forward to hearing his remastered version of “What About Today?”, which is an awesome album as well.  Jim’s music always pleases.

In the meantime, enjoy this song!

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 origianal 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!

More Laptop Sessions covers