George Jones — “The King is Gone (So Are You)”
(from 16 Biggest Hits
A dark night in the life of a drunk, lovelorn fool: Elvis squares off against Fred Flintstone in a winner-take-all battle for a soul cast adrift in this raucous romp from a true crunchy legend.
Sara Bareilles — “King of Anything” (from Kaleidoscope Heart
To here, I’ve had precious little use for this gal, whose meandering melodies have rarely failed to drive me anything other than batshit crazy. (A quick search of the Buzz archives reveals no fewer than seven previous posts echoing that very sentiment.) But give Bareilles credit for this much: she beats the sophomore jinx big time with this funky lead single — which has clearly been influenced by doo-wop-era ditties from The Shirelles and The Marvelettes — from her forthcoming second album.
Laura Branigan — “Spanish Eddie” (from The Best of Branigan
The tune, much like the harrowingly eventful evening it chronicles, is a dizzying, elliptical riddle, set masterfully to a killer, typically ’80s synth-pop beat, but the brilliant Branigan — easily the most underappreciated of the aforementioned decade’s divas — blows the roof off the joint relaying the tale of how a man’s murder (or is it suicide?) leads to Dylan, destiny, and some damn oddly-flavored lemon gin. A mad masterpiece.
Dido — “Mary’s in India” (from Life for Rent
A spare, fabulously sly story song (replete with a twist ending that you’ll smell coming and love anyway) which proves that love triangles don’t necessarily have to be confined to soap operas.
John Mellencamp — “Case 795 (The Family)”
(from Human Wheels
A not-so-subtle reminder (courtesy of the most relevant tune Bob Dylan never wrote) that we all — the social worker, the newspaper reporter, the next-door neighbor — are in this mess together.
Tara MacLean — “If I Fall” (from Passenger
Funny how the memory works: I quite sincerely can’t name five things on this Earth that I love doing more than CD shopping with my best friend Sherry Ann, and every single time I hear this song — a moody, magnificent triumph from gorgeous Canadian chick who, sadly, never got a fair shake south of her own border — I flash back to the night ten years ago when Sherry and I stood before the new release wall inside of Hastings in College Station, Texas, and literally battled, tug-of-war style (and I am not making that up!), over the lone copy of Passenger that the store had in stock. (As I recall, I ended up letting her win, partly because I’m a nice guy, and partly because I didn’t wish to embarrass myself any further than I already had; as I was wearing a Longhorns t-shirt to begin with, I was already a clearly-marked outsider in enemy territory. Like Kenny once said, you better know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em.)
Another slow-ish week on tap, although one of the true seminal recordings of the ’90s returns to print in a triumphant new deluxe edition re-release, and that’s more than enough cause for celebration. Behold:
Never one to shy away from his own ambitious nature, the legendary Sting returns this week with Symphonicities, a gorgeous new record of orchestral reworkings of some of his best-loved recordings. To his credit, he largely shies away from the iconic hits — at very least, give the man credit for seemingly being smart enough to understand that he managed to nail tunes like “Every Breath You Take” and “Fields of Gold” and “Wrapped Around Your Finger” the first time, and that there was no need to mess with perfection — in favor of deeper album cuts, but if it has been a while since you’ve given “Roxanne” or “Englishman in New York” your full attention, this record may just be up your alley.
Melissa Etheridge — “Fearless Love” (from Fearless Love
You know, somewhere in all the save-the-world semantics that have monopolized much of her material for the last decade, it seemed as though Miss Melissa had misplaced entirely that rare ability she has always had to write those clean, catchy-as-hell (yet refreshingly adult) melodic pop songs. Consider that foolishness rectified.
One of the highlights of my daily Twitter experience is checking out the latest musings from one of my all-time favorite artists, the incredible Rob Thomas. (Yes, that Rob Thomas, and if you don’t already follow him on Twitter, you can find him by searching for “ThisIsRobThomas” from the social network’s main website, or by clicking here. For that matter, if you don’t yet follow me, you can either search for “BrandonsBuzz” or click on the Twitter link inside the maroon box of tweets in the far right column of this very page.)
In amongst chattering with his friends and fans, Rob has a regular feature on his Twitter feed that he calls, simply, “Song of the Day.” There are no frills here, and no expansive ruminations: just a song title — and the name of a singer to whom the named tune corresponds — which presumably Rob is either listening to that very moment or otherwise just generally enjoys. The range of Rob’s choices can be a bit scattershot; sometimes he chooses a new-ish title, and others, he goes for a bona-fide blast from the past. Some days, he selects a superstar-sung classic that urrybody can hum along with, and others, he reaches into his hat and pulls out an obscure ditty that, probably, only he can sing in the shower. (Wednesday’s “Song” was Van Morrison’s “Into the Mystic,” one of the all-time greats; before that, “Moves” from The New Pornographers and “Come Rain or Come Shine” from Ray Charles; recent titles from the past two weeks or so have come from the disparate likes of Suzanne Vega, The Black Keys, Cat Stevens, Soul Coughing, and — heads up, Sherry Ann! — Jason Mraz and The National.)
July enters with a bit of a whimper, but in the wake of the wallet-buster that was June’s stunningly stocked music slate, I’m good with taking a breather this week. Don’t fall completely asleep at the wheel, though; there are a couple of titles that require your attention today, and they are as follows:
Once upon a time, a remarkable artist by the name of Alex Band was the brains and the brawn behind a now-defunct pop band name of
The Calling. The band got their big break in the summer of 2000 with a cameo appearance in the smash film Coyote Ugly, in which they performed the song that would become their signature classic, “Wherever You Will Go.” The heart-tugging tune exploded at radio in the immediate wake of 9/11, and it seemed as though The Calling was on their way to glory, but record company troubles and a crippling case of band infighting punched holes in the ship, and they parted ways after their highly-touted 2004 sophomore disc failed wholly to launch. Band has laid low for the past few years, but he’s back at the plate this week with his hot solo debut, We’ve All Been There, and I’m thrilled to announce that I am taping a conversation with Band this week, for airing later this month on Brandon’s Buzz Radio, in which we’re going to discuss all of this and so much more.
If this website’s statistics are correct — and I have no reason to believe they aren’t, though I’ll confess I haven’t independently verified to be true what follows — then you are currently reading the Buzz’s one hundredth record store report. It’s very difficult to comprehend that I’ve written a hundred of these already, but they say time flies when you’re having fun, alas. Check out who’s helping us pass the century mark this week:
For their latest project, the brand new double-disc set Staring Down the Brilliant Dream, those marvelous mavericks Amy Ray and Emily Saliers — better known as the Indigo Girls — have combed through the recordings of all their live shows from the past four years and compiled a collection of thirty-one of their favorite performances and moments. A handful of Indigo classics — “Closer to Fine” and “Shame On You,” among them — are included, although the gals largely (and admirably) choose to bypass the obvious hits and dig deeper into their discography to fill out this album. The results, at times, are plainly electrifying: “Moment of Forgiveness” (a gem from their overlooked 2002 record Become You) shines as a stripped-down acoustic ballad; newer staples like “Get Out the Map” and “Kid Fears” remain fabulous; and the brilliant Brandi Carlile considerably livens up a cover of
Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right.”
Another jam-packed week on tap at your local record store, as two of music’s brightest talents return with much-anticipated new projects. Too bad only one of same manages to soar:
As part of a duo with his twin brother Evan, he scored a pleasantly melodic radio hit called “Crazy for This Girl” in late 2000, but despite a keen sense of his abilities as a vocalist and a couple of strong records, it seemed as though long-term commercial success in the music business was just not in the cards for Jaron Lowenstein. But not so fast: using the moniker Jaron and the Long Road to Love, Lowenstein is back in the game this week with
Getting Dressed in the Dark, his debut album as a solo act. The first single “Pray for You” — a hilarious kiss-off dedicated to a gal who clearly done this boy ten kinds of wrong — is a burgeoning smash at country radio, and, if his Facebook updates are any accurate indication, Jaron sure is a charmer. This could be a sleeper hit of the highest order.
“Fine, you know, ‘We’re a free country… except for you guys over there.’ Well that’s all well and good, until you’re standing over there, and it’s for some ridiculous reason that everybody decides to pick on you. Either you’re a free country or you’re not a free country: if somebody isn’t free in your country, that means your freedom is up for grabs, too.”
— Grammy-winning pop icon (and longtime civil rights activist) Cyndi Lauper, discussing her continuing battle for total equality for gays and lesbians in this country, on The Joy Behar Show.
