Brandon's Buzz

If you missed any of last week’s selections, here is a quick recap:

MONDAY: Tracey Thorn — “Oh, the Divorces!”
(from Love and its Opposite) —

TUESDAY: Joshua Kadison — “Beau’s All Night Radio Love Line”
(from Painted Desert Serenade) —

WEDNESDAY: Billy Bragg & Wilco (featuring Natalie Merchant) —
“Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key” (from Mermaid Avenue) —

THURSDAY: Joni Mitchell — “All I Want” (from Blue) —

FRIDAY: Cyndi Lauper (with Jonny Lang) — “How Blue Can You Get”
(from Memphis Blues) —

SATURDAY: Lady Antebellum — “Learning to Fly”
(from iTunes Sessions: Lady Antebellum) —

SUNDAY: Fleetwood Mac — “Steal Your Heart Away”
(from Say You Will) —

Fleetwood Mac — “Steal Your Heart Away” (from Say You Will) —

It’s not quite “Second Hand News” or even “Silver Springs,” fair enough, but Stevie and Lindsay — the greatest love/hate/hate-to-love story in contemporary music history — prove they can still make those combustible sparks fly in this thrilling third-act triumph.

Lady Antebellum — “Learning to Fly”
(from iTunes Sessions: Lady Antebellum) —

I have long thought that the brilliant Bonnie Tyler owns outright my favorite rendition of Tom Petty’s oft-covered 1991 rock radio classic, but recent developments have indicated to me that perhaps it is high time to revisit that ruling. An absolute stunner from the unquestioned band of the year.

Cyndi Lauper (with Jonny Lang) — “How Blue Can You Get”
(from Memphis Blues) —

Lauper’s new album — a soul-burned journey down into the heart of the blues — is fascinating but maddeningly uneven, but this slowed-down reinvention of an old B.B. King classic (one of two Memphis collaborations between Lauper and a never-better Lang, as compelling and as gut-wrenchingly real now as he was in his teen prodigy days) is an undeniable treat.

Joni Mitchell — “All I Want” (from Blue) —

After weeks of dragging our feet, A and I finally caught up with summer 2010’s it-indie-film The Kids Are All Right last evening, and while I’ll refrain from boring you with the specifics of a formal review, let it suffice to say that A thought it was terrible, and I thought that even though the script (and the film’s premise and conceit in general) was seriously underdeveloped, the performances — particularly Mark Ruffalo’s as a free-spirit restaurateur-slash-accidental dad to a pair of teenagers — were uniformly exquisite. And if you’re asking yourself what in hell any of the above has to do with the incomparable Joni Mitchell and/or with today’s drop of honey from the hive: this tune — a diamond from one of the ten most important, most influential albums in the history of ever — turns up at a pivotal place in the film, and reminded me in a flash that I don’t pay nearly enough respect to the magnificent Ms. Mitchell here on the Buzz, and that’s just not acceptable.

After a handful of bum weeks, the new release wall is cookin’ with gas this Tuesday, as pop music’s two strongest songwriters — who, quelle coinky-dink, just happen to be touring together this summer — face off against each other with thrilling new projects. ‘Bout damn time:

Handling the production reins for the first time, the peerless Ray LaMontagne reaches for a looser, more organic groove on his fourth studio album, God Willin’ and the Creek Don’t Rise, out this week. Recorded with his backing band, now coined The Pariah Dogs, Rise continues LaMontagne’s breathtaking knack for crafting quality folk music with a sumptuous modern edge, and he even proclaimed to USA Today last week that these new tunes are among the best songs he has ever written. Pretty bold proclamation, that. (If you’re in the mood for a bit more of the magnificent LaMontagne, you should check out “Do U Wanna” — a buzzworthy track from Mike Posner‘s much-discussed debut album, 31 Minutes to Takeoff — which is built around a frisky sample from LaMontagne’s yearning “You Are the Best Thing.”)

(more…)

Billy Bragg & Wilco (featuring Natalie Merchant) —
“Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key” (from Mermaid Avenue) —

Gruff collides with graceful in a pitch-perfect re-imagining of a forgotten Woody Guthrie classic.

Joshua Kadison — “Beau’s All Night Radio Love Line”
(from Painted Desert Serenade) —

A disenchanted deejay, a conflicted cougar, and a yearning young man in just over his head all cross paths in a sweetly whimsical romantic gem from one of the century’s most criminally underappreciated troubadours.

Tracey Thorn — “Oh, the Divorces!” (from Love and its Opposite) —

My vacation last week was thoroughly lovely, but I have been positively itching to return to the Buzz (love ya, Sherry Ann), and I can’t think of a woman I’d rather return with than the gorgeously gifted Thorn, who, as far as flawlessly refined, finely etched stylists go, has nary a peer. (Rolling Stone‘s Rob Sheffield once proclaimed that she could sing the shell off an M&M.) And in this new hyper-saturated celebrity culture through which we’re all attempting to negotiate our way (to say nothing of that scary “sanctity of marriage” debate that has stampeded back into the national conversation in the last week or so), her bittersweet musings on the shaky marital affairs of those we know (and those we think we know) couldn’t be more relevant. Or more strangely moving. Or more satisfying.

Even if she did cheat by picking two songs per day, the marvelous Sherry Ann did utterly remarkable work writing in my stead last week while I was off on a much-needed vacation. (Can I be the only one who foresees a blog of her very own in the not-too-distant future?) I’m back at the helm tomorrow (and with a brand new track from one of my all-time faves, at that), but if you missed any of Sherry Ann’s inspired choices last week, here’s a quick recap:

MONDAY:

Foo Fighters — “Home”
(from Echoes, Silence, Patience & Grace) —

Sheryl Crow — “Home” (from Sheryl Crow) —

TUESDAY:

Kenny Chesney — “The Boys of Fall”
(from Hemingway’s Whiskey) —

Fountains of Wayne — “All Kinds of Time”
(from Welcome Interstate Managers) —

WEDNESDAY:

Cary Brothers — “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”
(from Under Control) —

Joshua Radin — “What If You” (from We Were Here) —

THURSDAY:

Lee Ann Womack — “I’ll Think of a Reason Later”
(from Some Things I Know) —

Joey + Rory — “Cheater, Cheater” (from The Life of a Song) —

FRIDAY:

Pearl Jam — “Just Breathe” (from Backspacer) —

Pearl Jam — “Yellow Ledbetter”
(from Rearviewmirror [Greatest Hits 1991-2003]) —

SATURDAY:

Bruce Robison — “The Good Life” (from His Greatest) —

Kelly Willis — “Not Forgotten You” (from What I Deserve) —

SUNDAY:

Candi Staton — “Young Hearts Run Free”
(from Young Hearts Run Free: The Best of Candi Staton) —

One Eskimo (featuring Candi Staton) — “Kandi”
(from One Eskimo) —

Candi Staton — “Young Hearts Run Free”
(from Young Hearts Run Free: The Best of Candi Staton) —

One Eskimo (featuring Candi Staton) — “Kandi”
(from One Eskimo) —

Although she never really went away, disco-era diva Candi Staton has suddenly hurtled back into the mainstream, having spent the past couple of decades as a gospel singer. She has been popping up everywhere lately, with people covering her hits (more on that in a bit) and sampling her songs. So in honor of her brilliance, we’re bringing the week to a close with my favorite Staton tune, “Young Hearts Run Free” — the story of a woman whose husband has walked out on her and the children — which, like most everything that hit in the late ’70s, is set to a four-on-the-floor beat. Trust me when I tell you, there is nothing quite like shaking your ass to a dance floor anthemn about divorce! (And trust me again: if you haven’t yet heard The Swell Season’s nifty take on this disco classic, that’s a fallacy that should be immediately corrected.) Staton is also back on the radio dial of late courtesy of that fantastically quirky British band One Eskimo, who lifted a sample from Candi’s “He Called Me Baby” for their bizarro smash “Kandi.” Get to know this gal, kids. Trust me a third time: you won’t regret it.

Bruce Robison — “The Good Life” (from His Greatest) —

Kelly Willis — “Not Forgotten You” (from What I Deserve) —

When I was six years old, I attended my first concert, a Sylvia show. I remember singing along in the bleachers as she belted out her country classic “Nobody,” and over the past three decades, I have been to concerts by the likes of George Michael, Elton John, Chris Isaak, Bruce Springsteen, The Eagles, and pretty much every country act to cross the plains of Texas, including Tim McGraw, George Strait and Garth Brooks. But I have never been as excited for a concert as I am about the one that I am attending tonight. My favorite female singer of all time, Kelly Willis, is making a pit stop here in the Texas Panhandle for a charity event, and I will be there to hear every dulcet tone that drips from her lovely lips, and in honor of an event that I can finally cross of my bucket list, I give you these two songs. The first is from Bruce Robison (or, as he is affectionately known at my house, Mr. Kelly Willis), whose “Good Life” tells the story of a man drinking in a bar and missing his lady — typical country music fare, sure, but delivered in a way that only a Texas boy can. We already covered my all-time favorite Kelly Willis song earlier in the week, but “Not Forgotten You” — a tune that describes the process of getting over a bad breakup and the realization that one day it really does stop hurting — comes in a very close second. So as I take off for what is for sure to be an unforgettable night of music, take this opportunity to get to know Mr. and Mrs. Willis. I promise you won’t regret it.