Brandon's Buzz

Brendan James — “Stupid for Your Love” (from Brendan James) —

One of those happy, cutesy tunes that also manages to hit home (like, how many of us haven’t done a handful of abominably stupid things in the name of (what we thought was) love?). (Incidentally, A, my favorite mathematician, reports that, off the top of his head, he can only remember nine of the numbers that succeed 3.14 in pi — to be fair, it has been years since my beloved needed to be able to — so this lovesick James kid is doing pretty swell, if you axe me.)

Lady Antebellum — “Need You Now” (from Need You Now) —

More extensive thoughts on the just-announced 2011 Grammy nominations are forthcoming — would have live-blogged the thing, as per Buzz tradition, but A and I had a small dinner party last night and I wasn’t sure we’d be done in time (turns out we were) — but get a good lingering look at your Record of the Year winner right cheer, peeps: pitted as it is against four rap-slash-hip-hop hits — Cee-Lo’s “Fuck You,” Eminem’s “Love the Way You Lie,” B.o.B.’s “Nothin’ On You,” and Jay-Z’s “Empire State of Mind,” which you just know are all gonna split that contingent’s vote that many ways — you can betcher bippy that Lady A’s blockbuster crossover smash will stand as safe harbor for all those stodgy old Academy members whom Marshall Mathers and his ilk scare the living, curdled crap out of. (Of course, the fact that “Need” is the hands-down best tune among the five singled out for recognition will certainly help carry it to the winners’ circle, but — just as with that Dixie Chicks sweep a few years ago — don’t believe for a slick second that that’s the reason it’s gonna win.)

The Pretenders — “2000 Miles” (from The Singles) —

Christmas month opens in earnest with one of my all-time favorites, which A and I heard last night as we waited for a table at one of our favorite restaurants. Even though, much like Joni Mitchell’s classic “River,” it is related to the holiday on only a superficial level, “Miles” has become the token heartbreaker on many a Christmas album, but methinks you’ll be hard-pressed to find a more moving (or more masterfully executed) version than the wistfully shattering original, on which Chrissie Hynde achingly yearns for the safe and timely return of an absent loved one. (Here’s hoping the one you adore is not two thousand miles away from you this holiday season.)

Soul II Soul (featuring Caron Wheeler) —
“Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)” (from Keep On Movin’) —

I had to drive eight hours round trip for work yesterday, so suffice to say, there was lots of iPod shuffling goin’ on, and this classic from 1989 was one of the chestnuts that popped up. I hadn’t heard this in eons (and I reckon you haven’t either), but damn if I wasn’t jamming along within seconds anyhow: one of the first bona-fide club smashes to cross over to the pop charts, no less a connoisseur than George Michael loved this song so much he remixed his own hit “Freedom ’90” to sample it. (Am I nuts, or can you trace the rise of the modern hip hop movement all the way back to this tune’s explosive crossover success?)

Kate Rusby — “The Wild Goose” (from Sleepless) —

Looking for a little bit of relief from the horrendously unamusing asswhipping that those irritating San Diego Chargers delivered unto my beloved Indianapolis Colts last night on Sunday Night Football, I flipped over to CBS for a bit during the game’s devastating third quarter to sneak a peek at the terrific Sarah Paulson — Harriet Hayes from Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, y’all — acting her astounding heart out in November Christmas, the latest teleflick offering from the prestigious Hallmark Hall of Fame. (Don’t know what the movie was even about, nor do I terribly care, but if Paulson is involved, I’m in, every day of the week.) This song was playing over the lone scene I watched, and, for a fleeting moment, I was riveted and ravished: Rusby grabs hold of a rowdy old sea shanty and unearths the purity of spirit inside its core, transforming this tale of a young boy’s desire for a flip girl who’ll never requite it into a wrenchingly ethereal heartbreaker for the ages. Four minutes of smooth, transcendent magic.

I decided to leave that unwieldy record store report on the front page for the full day today; hence, no dispatch from the hive today. But if you missed any of the rest of Thanksgiving week’s goodies, check out the recap below:

MONDAY: Semisonic — “Singing in My Sleep”
(from Feeling Strangely Fine) —

TUESDAY: Sugarland — “Every Girl Like Me”
(from The Incredible Machine) —

WEDNESDAY: Pink — “God is a DJ” (from Try This) —

THURSDAY: Dido — “Thank You” (from No Angel) —

FRIDAY: Christina Aguilera — “Show Me How You Burlesque”
(from Burlesque [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]) —

SATURDAY: Lee Greenwood — “Dixie Road”
(from The Best of Lee Greenwood) —

Lee Greenwood — “Dixie Road”
(from The Best of Lee Greenwood) —

So I’m in a retro ’80s country mood first thing this morning. Sue me.

Christina Aguilera — “Show Me How You Burlesque”
(from Burlesque [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack]) —

On the Waterfront it is most certainly not. But A and I took in a screening of Burlesque — the new showstopping movie musical starring uber-divas Cher and Christina Aguilera — the night before Thanksgiving, and found it to be two hours of good, trashy fun. Essentially, it’s Coyote Ugly on the left coast: instead of Violet, our heroine’s name is Ali; and instead of Jersey, she hails from Iowa; and instead of dancing on a bar, she dances on a stage; and instead of being a songwriter, she’s a singer who falls in love with a songwriter. Considering that the lion’s share of the action centers on beautifully becleavaged dancers in a seedy-ish Los Angeles nightclub (translation: boobies galore, urry scary last one of them thrust up toward the heavens), the film is surprisingly tame; indeed, the only outright nudity I can recall is the brief glimpse we get of actor Cam Gigandet’s supple, beauteous backside just prior to the nubile ingenue’s requisite tender deflowering. Still, Aguilera proves to be a stunningly capable actress — true enough, she’s smarly surrounded by pros who prop her up at every turn, including Veronica Mars‘ Kristen Bell (playing smashingly against type as a hard-assed alcoholic dancer livid by the sudden arrival of a corn-fed rival), Stanley Tucci (the gay costumier who, in a fun twist, stumbles across a little happiness of his own), and the indomitable Cher (and you’re fuckin’-A right, we still love her when she’s 64) — and that patented over-the-top, blast-through-the-boombox vocal style — the same one that tends to make her albums, on the whole, such tough slogs — fits right in in this fanciful milieu, particularly on tracks like “Show Me,” the film’s triumphant closing number, which allows the astonishingly gifted Aguilera a shot to loose her emotional bondage and let all the good stuff fly, honey.

Dido — “Thank You” (from No Angel) —

Thankful for lots today, but chief among them, I’m thankful for the fact that, for some two and a half years, I’ve had this funky, fabulous forum through which to express my thoughts on whatever. And I’m thankful that, on almost 44,000 occasions over those same two and a half years, those thoughts have touched a chord with all of you who have come here. Happy Thanksgiving to you all.

Pink — “God is a DJ” (from Try This) —

Pink’s sweet spot has always been her uncannily brilliant
ability to create divinely danceable music that is deeply rooted in her own peculiarly jagged brand of rock-hued badass attitude. Her new greatest hits record, released last week, stands as a terrific career recap, but I was crushed to find that what I’ve always found to be the strongest example of Pink’s aforementioned talent — the startling second single from her unfairly maligned third album — didn’t make the cut. Feh.

Sugarland — “Every Girl Like Me” (from The Incredible Machine) —

Give this much to the incredible Jennifer Nettles: even when the song she is singing lands on the slight side, the effervescent exuberance of her vocal performances is often so ingratiating and infectious that you invariably find yourself surrendering to her bewitching charms. (I keep going back and forth between this and the amazing title track whenever I try to pick a favorite song from Machine, one of the few of this fall’s blockbuster releases that I’ve been able to sit through more than once, warts and all.)

Semisonic — “Singing in My Sleep”
(from Feeling Strangely Fine) —

Rob, you got it a hundred percent correct, sir:
love really is a mixtape.

Access Hollywood‘s Shaun Robinson pre-empted the hive today, but if you missed any of the rest of last week’s tunes, you can find a quick recap below:

MONDAY: Jerrod Niemann — “What Do You Want”
(from Judge Jerrod and the Hung Jury) —

TUESDAY: Patrice Pike and the Black Box Rebellion — “Miss Ramona”
(from Fencing Under Fire) —

WEDNESDAY: Joni Mitchell — “If I Had a Heart” (from Shine) —

THURSDAY: the cast of Glee (featuring Gwyneth Paltrow) —
“Forget You” (from Glee, The Music: Volume 4) —

FRIDAY: Cowboy Junkies — “Hollow as a Bone”
(from Miles From Our Home) —

SATURDAY: Lee DeWyze — “Me and My Jealousy”
(from Live It Up) —