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The BEST ALBUM COVERS of 2011 (The Year-End Awards)
Saturday, January 21st, 2012
By Chris Moore:
Even with digital releases, there are album covers. This seems to be the final facet of the artistry of the album that will survive into the next generation of music consumers, especially considering just how much we like colorful displays on our technology. Still, there’s something so much more gorgeous about a CD booklet or, even better, a vinyl LP. The five selections below – with an honorable mention thrown in because I couldn’t ignore it – are examples of the artists who still give attention to the complete package of their albums. It was a tight contest between the top three, and these are all albums worth checking out the next time you’re in a store that offers records, even if you’re only going to take a glance.
1) Sky Full of Holes – Fountains of Wayne
2) The King of Limbs – Radiohead
3) Cloud Maintenance – Kevin Hearn
4) The Valley – Eisley
5) The Whole Love – Wilco
Honorable Mention:
Helplessness Blues – Fleet Foxes
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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: September 2011 Report
Sunday, January 1st, 2012
By Chris Moore:
September was, for me, the slowest new music month of the year thus far, but if the only music released in a thirty day span is a brand new Wilco studio album, you’ll find me a happy camper each time. Jeff Tweedy and company have yet to disappoint me, and regarding The Whole Love specifically, Wilco has rarely impressed and entertained me so greatly (probably only once before; can you guess on which record?). Read on…
The Whole Love (Wilco)
Producer: Jeff Tweedy, Pat Sansone, and Tom Schick
Released: September 27, 2011
Rating: 5 / 5 stars
Top Two Tracks: “Born Alone” & “Dawned on Me”
From start to finish, The Whole Love exemplifies the Wilco experience: traces of what you’ve come to love, unexpected turns (particularly, this time around, in “Capital City”), and a careful sequencing that unites twelve distinct songs along a single thread. Bookended by relatively lengthy experimentation in the distortion-drenched, feedback-fueled romp “Art of Almost” and the pleasant acoustic twelve-minute narrative “One Sunday Morning (Song for Jane Smiley’s Boyfriend),” the majority of the tracks on The Whole Love are concise efforts, ranging from the retro-stomp of “I Might” to the lush acoustic production of “Black Moon.” On most tracks, it becomes clear that it is not so much that Wilco is an experimental band so much that they are innovative in their arrangements, in their seemingly instinctive sense of how to blend movements in songs, which instruments to bring high in the mix when, and how best to (subtly) layer in beds of synthesized sound for atmosphere. From start to finish, The Whole Love is a striking effort: one of those albums that yields up new revelations with successive listens, one that begs to be left alone when the twelfth minute of track twelve fades and cycles back into to the first tentative moments of “Art of Almost.” If you hear only one new album this year, I would posit that Wilco’s latest disc is the most expansive, complete, fully rendered of them all; a true must-listen.
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“The Jolly Banker” by Wilco (A Woody Guthrie Cover) – Chords, Tabs, & How to Play
Friday, December 2nd, 2011
Originally posted 2009-05-25 20:03:35.
For the music video of this Wilco/Woody Guthrie cover, CLICK HERE!
“The Jolly Banker”
Wilco (a Woody Guthrie cover)G C
My name is Tom Cranker, and I’m a jolly banker,
G D
I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
C G
I safeguard the farmers and widows and orphans,
G D G
Singin’ I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.When dust storms are sailing, and crops they are failing,
I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
I check up your shortage and bring down your mortgage,
Singin’ I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.When money you’re needing, and mouths you are feeding,
I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
I’ll plaster your home with a furniture loan,
Singin’ I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.If you show me you need it, I’ll let you have credit;
I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
Just bring me back two for the one I lend you,
Singin’ I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.When your car you’re losin’ and sadly your cruisin’,
I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
I’ll come and foreclose, get your car and your clothes,
Singin’ I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.When the bugs get your cotton, the times they are rotten,
I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
I’ll come down and help you, I’ll rape you and scalp you,
Singin’ I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.When the landlords abuse you or sadly misuse you,
I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
I’ll send down the police to keep you from mischief,
Singin’ I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
Singin’ I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
Singin’ I’m a jolly banker, jolly banker am I.
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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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