Brandon's Buzz

Last week was full of fabulosity. This week: decidedly less so. Be careful out there in record store land this week:

• That wacky, brilliant troubadour Josh Rouse takes another dramatic left turn with his bilingual latest, El Turista.

 

• The magnificent Patty Larkin celebrates a quarter-century as a top-flight recording artist with her latest album, 25, which features exactly that many tracks and exactly that many guest stars — among them: Mary Chapin Carpenter, Suzanne Vega, Janis Ian, and the divine Shawn Colvin — and I’m bringing her to Brandon’s Buzz Radio later this month to talk about it.

 

• Country star Gary Allan returns with his latest effort,
  Get Off on the Pain.

 

• With Gnarls Barkley on an indefinite hiatus, supermaverick producer/artist Danger Mouse has teamed up with James Mercer (frontman for The Shins) to create Broken Bells, and their
  hotly-anticipated self-titled debut arrives this week.

 

• I was crazy about their propulsively brilliant last record — 2007’s underrated Baby 81 — and now, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club follows up with their latest, Beat the Devil’s Tattoo.

 

• Ultra-irritating cartoon band Gorillaz are up with their latest,
  Plastic Beach.

 

• If you have yet to take a chance on Train‘s magnificent fifth album,
  Save Me, San Francisco, it’s on sale for the irresistible price of $7.99 at both Best Buy and Amazon.com through Sunday. So for God’s sake: forgo one grande latte this week and buy. this. album!

 

• Finally: don’t laugh, but season seven — and the first one which featured my beloved Nia Peeples — of my old TV favorite
  Walker, Texas Ranger arrives on DVD this week, as does the incredible Mo’Nique and her Academy Award-winning performance in Precious.