Brandon's Buzz

Not much going on this week, but the good stuff is really good. Take a look:

Nothing new has been added to it, which is a shame, since this would have been one instance in which a deluxe-ified reissue would have been entirely appropriate: Blue Roses from the Moons, the riveting 1997 masterwork from the legendary Nanci Griffith, returns to print this week with a gorgeous, crisply remastered edition, and it’s well worth the effort it’ll probably take to seek this out. Anchored by a haunting update of her classic “Gulf Coast Highway” (done this time around as a stunning duet with Hootie and the Blowfish’s Darius Rucker, just the perfect pinch of smooth soul to complement Griffith’s informal folk), Roses also includes a hilarious cover of “I Fought the Law” as well as several tunes — in particular, “Waiting for Love” and “Two for the Road” — which have become integral staples in the Griffith songbook.
Buy this at once.

His terrific 2006 effort An Other Cup marked a remarkable comeback for Yusuf Islam (who once wrote and recorded under the much-beloved moniker of Cat Stevens), and this week he returns to center stage with the follow-up album, Roadsinger (To Warm You Through the Night). Only time will tell if this record contains any tunes as dynamite as Cup‘s MVP “Midday (Avoid the City After Dark),” but the incredible breadth of his back catalog — this is the man, after all, who gave us “Peace Train,” “The First Cut is the Deepest,” and “Wild World,” classics all — suggests that he’s nothing if not capable. Don’t bet against this.

In the immediate aftermath of the multiplatinum triumph of Come Away With Me six years ago, when everybody was on the hunt for the next Norah Jones, an unknown Soviet-born chanteuse name of Katie Melua broke through globally (if not here in the States) with her lovely debut
Call Off the Search. (That record’s spellbinding title track is one of the most beautiful love songs these ears have ever heard.) The material which comprised her second album, 2006’s thin
Piece By Piece, wasn’t nearly as striking or impressive, no matter how well-sung it absolutely was, and so it is that Melua finds herself at a creative crossroads on her third album, Pictures. Because I adore her warm, soothing voice, and because I know what she can do with great songs, I remain optimistic. So should you.

Also noteworthy this week:

• Her debut disc I Am landed her a surprise Grammy nod for Best New Artist a few years back; R&B diva Chrisette Michele is back this week with her latest, Epiphany.

 

• After a third place finish during season five of “American Idol,”
  Elliott Yamin‘s independently released debut album became an unexpected platinum smash. He’s back this week with the follow-up, Fight for Love.

 

• Ben Harper teams up with Relentless7 for his latest effort,
  White Lies for Dark Times.

 

• Bright Eyes’ lead singer Conor Oberst follows up his solo debut last summer with Outer South, a side project recorded with
  The Mystic Valley Band.

 

• After winning “Britain’s Got Talent” on the strength of his booming operatic voice, ordinary shmoe Paul Potts became a YouTube sensation and a celebrated recording artist. Potts is up this week with his second record, Passione.

 

• The remarkable Toni Childs (whom I am valiantly trying to lure onto Brandon’s Buzz Radio) returns from an excruciating fifteen-year recording hiatus this week with her fourth full-length album,
  Keep the Faith.

 

• And finally, one for Sherry Ann, who is no doubt thrilled to see the second and final season of her former favorite television series
  October Road arrive on DVD this week. Included on the three-disc set: a ten-minute “epilogue,” filmed exclusively for this collection, which ties up all the loose ends left by the emotional cliffhanger

names dropped with reckless abandon: "October Road", Ben Harper, Brandon's Buzz Radio, Cat Stevens, Chrisette Michele, Conor Oberst, Darius Rucker, Elliott Yamin, Hootie and the Blowfish, Katie Melua, Nanci Griffith, Norah Jones, Paul Potts, Relentless7, Sherry Ann, The Mystic Valley Band, Toni Childs, Yusuf Islam