the Buzz for March 29th, 2010

29
Mar

 

My work schedule has just been impossible for the past couple of weeks, hence the Buzz’s unexpected fourteen day hiatus. But I’m back, fully rested, and thrilled to announce that this blog is back in bidness, effective immediately. Thankfully, the new release wall at your local record store hasn’t exactly been a hopping hotbed of activity during my unfortunate absence, so at least we can all take heart in the knowledge in the fact that we didn’t miss much. Herewith, a recap of what has slipped past the goalie:

 

Even though he owns one of the most popular, most played songs of the millenium — the ultra-ubiquitous classic “I’ll Be” — he has largely flown under the radar for the whole of his career, having put together one of the most unheralded, underappreciated discographies of the past fifteen years, and this week, Time Life Entertainment deigns to celebrate it properly with a strong new sixteen-track collection entitled, simply,
The Best of Edwin McCain. There are some obvious omissions here — most notably “Go Be Young,” McCain’s spectacular radio smash from 2000, or the brilliantly raucous cover of James Taylor’s “(I’ve Got to) Stop Thinkin’ ‘Bout That” which stood as the high point of his forceful 1997 commercial breakthrough Misguided Roses — but all things considered, Best is a solidly representative cross-section of McCain’s strongest material — I’m ecstatic that whomever in McCain’s camp compiled this set found room for his rollicking 2006 romp “Gramercy Park Hotel,” and Sherry Ann will no doubt be over the moon to find that her all-time favorite “Write Me a Song” (which features a smashing harmony vocal from my beloved Shawn Colvin) also made the cut — and a fine, concise way to introduce yourself to a body of work you very well may have let pass you by for far too long. (By the by, you can find also find a new tune from McCain on the digital-only soundtrack for The Last SongMiley Cyrus - The Last Song (Original Soundtrack) — a new cinematic tearjerker starring Miley Cyrus, who also contributes a pair of new tracks to the project.)

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