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The BEST PACKAGING of 2011 (The Year-End Awards)
Sunday, January 22nd, 2012
By Chris Moore:
Album covers are nice, but there is something transcendent about artists who put their full effort into designing an album package that elevates their work beyond music alone and into the realm of physical art. This year, the award for best album packaging has to go to Sonic Youth member Thurston Moore’s solo release Demolished Thoughts. Though a fairly minimalist black and white design, there are – in addition to lyrics, the presence of which is no longer a foregone conclusion – a slew of drawings and a collection of poetry to complement the music. Tom Waits’ deluxe edition of Bad As Me comes in a close second, the booklet alone being a visual and lyrical experience, and the four bonus tracks providing a little extra for the true fan. Wilco’s deluxe edition design for The Whole Love, another close contender for the top spot, offers four additional tracks (with the wry take on Nick Lowe’s “I Love My Label”) and a beautiful booklet that includes a visually brilliant set of drawings.
Each of these albums is proof positive that there are quality physical releases still being produced, even in what is clearly the age of the digital release. This being said, I couldn’t help but point out two of the many terribly thin and unrewarding packages to see the light of day this year. These are, inversely, reason to stay at home and download.
1) Demolished Thoughts – Thurston Moore
2) Bad As Me (Deluxe Edition) – Tom Waits
3) The Whole Love (Deluxe Edition) – Wilco
4) Ukulele Songs – Eddie Vedder
5) Mine is Yours – Cold War Kids
6) Tripper – Fruit Bats
7) Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
8 ) So Beautiful or So What (Deluxe Limited Edition) – Paul Simon
9) The People’s Key – Bright Eyes
10) Wasting Light – Foo Fighters (includes a piece of the original master tape!)
Honorable Mention:
All Eternals Deck – The Mountain Goats
Worst Packaging:
No Color - Dodos
El Camino – The Black Keys
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The BEST VOCAL PERFORMANCES of 2011 (The Year-End Awards)
Monday, January 16th, 2012
By Chris Moore:
This is a tough category. All of the songs on the my upcoming top fifty songs list have excellent vocals, many of which are standout performances. However, there are also songs that go unrecognized on the top fifty list that are notable for their outstanding vocals. Thus, as a rule, songs included in the top fifty list are not considered here.
I suppose you could consider this my way of sneaking in an extra ten songs that I didn’t find room for on my best songs list, but I hope you’ll consider it an additional category. These ten songs are great in their own rights, but especially by virtue of the excellence of their vocals. Some are smooth, some are rough; some are passionately outraged, some are tenderly heartfelt. Taken together, they’re the standout vocal performances of 2011:
1) “Something to Believe In” – Parachute (The Way It Was)
2) “Estate Sale Sign” – The Mountain Goats (All Eternals Deck)
3) “Blue Spotted Tail” – Fleet Foxes (Helplessness Blues)
4) “Shakin’ All Over” – Wanda Jackson (The Party Ain’t Over)
5) “2012” – The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (La Carotte Bleue)
6) “When You Wish Upon A Star” – Brian Wilson (In the Key of Disney)
7) “Talking At The Same Time” – Tom Waits (Bad As Me)
8 ) “Sunloathe” – Wilco (The Whole Love)
9) “Bridge Burning” – Foo Fighters (Wasting Light)
10) “Amy, I” – Jack’s Mannequin (People And Things)
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The Weekend Review: April 2011 Report
Saturday, December 17th, 2011
By Chris Moore:
After a much-too-lengthy absence, the Weekend Review returns. If I hope to catch up on all the months worth of music that I’ve missed, it’s going to have to be more concise. But I’m determined! Stop back soon — as the year winds down, there’s sure to be something new here just about every day, whether it be a cover song music video, a music review, or a “best of” list to celebrate the year of new music.
Loverboy
Brett DennenReleased:
April 12, 2011Rating:
2.5/5 starsTop Two Tracks:
“Sydney (I’ll Come Running)” & “Dancing at a Funeral”This album falls into that enigmatic class of records that defy a clear rating. Working on the five star system, a three star rating suggests not only an enjoyable experience but also a general mediocrity that is inescapable. One star records are unlistenable, either for a lack of interesting songwriting and/or performance ability. A five star album offers beautiful, masterful, thoughtful musical near-perfection. What Brett Dennen’s Loverboy offers splits the rating system. The first six tracks are excellent, some of the best songs of the year even – “Sydney (I’ll Come Running),” “Surprise, Surprise,” “Comeback Kid (That’s My Dog).” These songs are vibrant and upbeat, musically interesting, and catchy sing-a-longs waiting to happen. However, some of their brilliance threatens to be lost in the sidestep presented by the second half. Somewhere around track seven, Dennen flips a switch and the ostensible motivation from there on appears to be a trip down memory lane, picking up retro elements and fusing them with the sound he has heretofore established on Loverboy. “Only Rain” sounds like a take on the Grover Washington, Jr. and Bill Withers sound (“Just the Two of Us,” anyone?). “Song for Leaving” also adopts a late seventies, early eighties feel. This is to take nothing away from these songs; they are, in fact, quite good if you’re open to this brand of derivative composition. The tracks I didn’t mention – “Queen of the Westside” being the exemplar among them – I can’t say the same for. Some of these latter half tracks are masturbatory at best, like the intro tag to “Queen.” They simply lack the craftsmanship of the first six songs on this album, not to mention the songs on his previous releases. Perhaps the most perplexing aspect to note is the material Dennen chose not to include on the album. The two Amazon MP3 exclusives – “Walk Away, Watch Me Burn” and “Alone Again” – not only should have been included but also should have replaced some of the tracks on the album proper. 
Wasting Light
Foo Fighters
Producer:
Butch VigReleased:
April 12, 2011Rating:
4.5/5 starsTop Two Tracks:
“Arlandria” & “Rope”Hands down, one of the best rock albums by any band in recent memory. Wasting Light reminded me what a rock album is supposed to be like, and it would not be overstatement to say that the Foo Fighters – surprisingly, given their (in this writer’s opinion) bland album sequencing ability – have encouraged a reconsideration of what I have liked in recent music. As I’ve stretched out my tastes and sensibilities, I may have forgotten the value and the appeal of a scorching opener like “Bridge Burning,” a riff-centric single like “Rope,” or a raw, guttural track like “White Limo.” “Arlandria” is classic Foo Fighters at their prime, blending smooth vocals into all-out screams of choruses and torrents of distortion guitar blasts. The album takes a fade to a degree after the halfway point, but this even the second half is eminently listenable. I haven’t had a good thing to say about a Foo Fighters album since The Colour and the Shape, but Wasting Light breaks that drought. One of the best of the year, and my favorite rock album since R.E.M.’s Accelerate in 2008. 
So Beautiful or So What
Paul SimonProducer:
Phil Ramone & Paul SimonReleased:
April 11, 2011Rating:
1.5/5 starsTop Two Tracks:
“Rewrite” & “So Beautiful or So What”Paul Simon has, without question after the critical reception of this album, received some sort of honorary status as an untouchable. That So Beautiful or So What has earned such high praise is an otherwise indecipherable phenomenon to me. If reverb hadn’t been invented previously, then I might understand the fuss. Sure, the vocals are smooth, even beautiful in places, but the lyrics are juvenile and the songwriting is structurally loose, depending on certain sounds and feels to guide the track rather than true progressions and thoughtful crafting of movements. Turns out I find much of it beautiful, but I’m strongly in the “so what?” camp. Take note, though: it’ll make for pleasant background music at your next gathering of fifty- to sixty-somethings. 
Nine Types of Light
TV on the RadioReleased:
April 11, 2011Rating:
3.5/5 starsTop Two Tracks:
“New Cannonball Blues” & “No Future Shock”In the manner its sounds and sequencing flow along the same lines as its synthetic medium, Nine Types of Light is a success. When it does find a catchy line or beat, however, TV on the Radio seem to rely too heavily on it, often failing to develop much beyond what is established early. This criticism, however, should not undercut the standouts, like the cool “No Future Shock” and the fuzzy, dance trip of “New Cannonball Blues.” -
“Times Like These” (Foo Fighters Acoustic Rock Cover Song) – The Laptop Sessions
Friday, July 8th, 2011
Originally posted 2008-04-17 09:46:15.
By Jeff Copperthite:
Welcome to your Thumpin’ Thursday edition of The Laptop Sessions. Today I bring you a song by request. It’s one of the Foo Fighters most well known songs, and most agree that the acoustic version of this song is better than the original, full-band version.
Well, the song is “Times Like These”, of which there is a terrific video of Dave Grohl playing the song on the acoustic, with piano and string accompaniment on Youtube.
I had just purchased new guitar strings and this is the 2nd video I recorded with them. I had recorded this song in the same session as my previous video, but the new strings make this song sound a heck of a lot better, so I did it again.
The song is off their great album “One By One”. I’ve always been a Foo Fighters fan since their original self-titled release.
I hope this translates well to the acoustic version, although you may notice that I do not do the “screaming” chorus, because my voice…well, it just isn’t suited for screaming.
I hope you enjoy today’s edition, and keep checking http://www.laptopsessions.com for more from FMP, and for pictures/video from our live performances!
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Choose Cover Songs from over 100 Bands: Welcome to the Laptop Sessions music video blog! Here, you'll find cover songs, original music, & music reviews updated every weekday! We hope you enjoy the acoustic covers, free mp3s, chords, tabs, and music reviews here on the site! |
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