Brandon's Buzz

Afro-Celt Soundsystem featuring Peter Gabriel —
“When You’re Falling” (from Volume 3: Further in Time) —

Gabriel’s obvious affinity for the quirky, odd rhythms of world music made him a natural fit for a cameo on this tune, a left-field radio hit in the immediate wake of 9-11. Considering the general tone and contents of the national conversation this past week, it was only fitting that this song would pop up in an iPod shuffle yesterday afternoon, and only predictable that I would spend the remainder of the day with its soaring chorus trapped inside my skull.

Work got absolutely nutty at the beginning of March, so the record store reports temporarily had to fall by the wayside. And now it’s freakin’ May, and A has begun to axe me if we’re ever gonna get another one. But better late than never, yes? Herewith, a quick recap of the brilliance which has populated the new release wall over the past couple of months:

• Her comeback single “A Little Bit Stronger” is a slow-burning smash this spring at country radio, and now country sweetheart Sara Evans returns with her latest full-length effort Stronger, which also contains a cover of Rod Stewart’s 1989 gem “My Heart Can’t Tell You No.”

 

• The amazing Augustana are back with a strong new self-titled
  release, the tantalizingly fine lead single from which popped up in
  Honey from the Hive earlier this week.

(more…)

Stevie Nicks — “Moonlight (A Vampire’s Dream)”
(from In Your Dreams) —

The first reviews on Nicks’ explosive comeback effort — her first original solo album in a decade — have been positively rapturous. (Even Rolling Stone‘s divinely discerning aficionado Rob Sheffield is duly impressed.) I say Dreams flails around for the first four or five tracks in search of its fate, but really stumbles into its own distinct groove starting with this stunner, a tremendously satisfying swath of supernatural romance that lands squarely in Nicks’ sweet spot. (I didn’t even need to read any of the dozens of interviews Nicks has given about this new record to recognize at once that this tune was inspired largely by the Twilight film series, which proves those movies aren’t made just for twelve-year-old tweens.)

Augustana — “Steal Your Heart” (from Augustana) —

Who could be more thrilled than me to have this spectacular band back front and center after an excruciating three-year hiatus, and isn’t it queer to discover that Dan Layus and company have clearly been boning up on their Kings of Leon in their time away from the spotlight? (I kid those guys; this new album, the band’s third, is pretty fantastic, and though they have, at least temporarily, ceded their stunningly polished sound in favor of something more organically gritty, they clearly haven’t lost their knack for crafting those exquisitely anthemic hooks.)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band —
“The Rising” (from The Rising) —

Glued to all the news coverage this morning, it feels very likely that last night’s thrilling revelation that Mr. bin Laden has been located and eliminated will, at best, be only a symbolic victory, and that this sprawling war on global terrorism will continue. Still, at least for a night, a morning, a day, it feels really good to be proud of this country, and its military, and its president, and its determination and resolve that good will triumph over evil, no matter what form evil happens to take, and no matter the cost. Watching those celebratory flash mobs that erupted last night in Times Square and in front of the White House (and, no doubt, in thousands of places that had no cameras present), it feels important to note that there were no Republicans in those crowds, and neither were there Democrats; there were only Americans, Americans happy as hell to have been served a powerful reminder that nobody here surrenders. Nobody here retreats. We — even if it takes ten years — keep our goddamned promises. We fall, and we, at times with distressing ease, allow ourselves to get temporarily distracted by senseless fools spinning their irrelevant yarns about birth certificates and bi-winning. We fall, sure, but we also rise.