Brontez Purnell and his hottie little bottie. If this video from the Younger Lovers album, Newest Romanitic doesn’t get you going, I feel sorry for your sexless, punkless existence.
Archive for the ‘queer music’ Category
The Magnetic Fields – Realism Out Today
January 26, 2010
Aside from its obvious stance as one of the greatest releases in modern folk music, timing-wise, The Magnetic Fields’s 69 Love Songs couldn’t have hit me at a better time. I was in college and just as I was discovering how important it is to be out, the back-handed sass Stephen Merritt can deliver in one couplet is still influencing my everyday approach to conversation. Years later, the newest release, Realism, continues Merritt’s ‘big concept’ approach to making music: it’s the 2nd in a pairing with the last album. Aside from the similarities in cover art, the Nonesuch website describes it as “a flipside to Distortion, the aural opposite of that clangorous homage to industrial pop of the Jesus and Mary Chain.” While Distortion was recorded in hallways and bathrooms, using as much overblown reverb as possible, Realism was recorded in more traditional studio settings using only acoustic instruments: bouzoukis, banjos, cellos, violins, accordions, tubas, tablas, “even a smattering of mellifluous falling leaves.” The lack of electricity on this record is taking me back to the 69 Love Songs days, there is even a borrowed melody or two. Merritt’s ability to influence with his three minute pop songs cannot be underestimated, I’ve posted some covers below (all reblogged from The Opening Acts). Also, the song “From a Sinking Boat,” the track on Realism recorded entirely in Stephen’s bathroom. The band has recorded a five-part video series about the making of the album here, and they’ll be playing two shows in Chicago at the Harris Theater on March 7th and 8th. Tickets here.
The Magnetic Fields – From a Sinking Boat
Actor Slash Model at Las Manos Gallery
January 21, 2010
Not stopping long enough to breath, Actor Slash Model recently released their 2nd record Things You Can’t Keep and have been playing a steady amount of local shows to back it up. The strength of the songs is quite a testament to their talent, considering that Simon Strikeback and Madsen Minax just finished and are still screening their amazing documentary about trans musicians. Add to that Minax’s new band, The Homoticons, and knock me over with an unproductive stick! How do you get all that in? You can ask them this Tuesday at Las Manos Gallery, where Actor Slash Model is playing a concert along with Slow Teeth and The Homoticons. 5220 N. Clark (Clark & Foster)
$5 / 8pm. Bigger post on the record in a little while, for now just get to the show.
New Xiu Xiu
January 7, 2010
The latest lineup change for Xiu Xiu only reinforces that Jamie Stewart IS the name. He’s been the only constant member of the band and thankfully has maintained a quality level unmatched by a lot of his mopey contemporaries. In an interview I did with him several years ago, he emphasized how collaborative the project was, but let’s be real. His quivering voice and aorta-as-faucet lyrics are what give Xiu Xiu its identity, and no one dies a cathartic death on record and on stage like he does. I remember standing in the sweltering heat at Pitchfork one year and he pretty much shut everyone up and made the audience cry. Quite a feat, for a festival of scenesters. The new album is called Dear God, I Hate Myself and is available for Pre-order right now at Kill Rock Stars (vinyl dorks take note, there is a limited edition YUMMMMMMY). The first free mp3 is available for download here, it’s called “Gray Death” and is pulsing, pathetic and totally amazing.
Mary Ralph’s Top Ten Reflections on Being Suddenly Disabled
December 30, 2009
Mary Ralph plays guitar and sings in Chicago’s Scotland Yard Gospel Choir.
On September 24th, my band was in a horrific van accident. We all survived, but some of us were left with injuries which have greatly affected our lives. After spending time with a wheelchair and a walker, I left the hospital & have spent the past two months walking with a cane.
1. My relationship with my body has changed completely. When I was in the hospital, I found myself watching footage of BMX bikers & NBA basketball games, & cursing myself for spending so much of my spring & summer indoors.
2. People are always going to stare. I’ve found myself marveling that there was a time when I could disappear in a crowd & become invisible.
3. Strangers often ask what happened or offer a “feel better!” I always think how different, how inappropriate, that question would be if I was not going to recover from my injuries or if any of my bandmates had not survived.
4. People are often self-absorbed. I can’t count the number of times people have bumped into me, let doors slam on me, or not slowed their vehicles as I made my way through a crosswalk. It is a minor thing, but so infuriating when you are just struggling to live your life as you once did.
5. Strangers also have the power to make your day. I remember the first concert I went to after the accident, the waitress at Lincoln Hall was amazing. Without making me feel awkward, she checked on me every time she passed by my seat. When everything in the world feels like a challenge, sometimes an unexpected ally can change everything.
6. My college mentor was in a car accident when she was young that left her face disfigured. I remember her explaining her aversion to pictures by saying it wasn’t her face — her face had been changed by a steering wheel and then a plastic surgeon. I came out of this remarkably unscathed, but something as little as chipped front teeth has caused me to do double takes whenever I’m in front of a mirror.
7. It’s very frustrating sometimes, this whole experience. In my weaker moments, I find myself thinking how unfair it is to be carrying all this emotional baggage related to the crash, things that other people couldn’t possibly understand; and it is my job to excuse all the boneheaded shit people say to me because, hey, they couldn’t possibly understand.
8. Always wear your seat belt.
9. Everyone needs & deserves health care. I am one of the extraordinarily lucky people who has employer-provided health insurance. I simply cannot explain how much it has meant to me that I have spent the past three months focusing on my recovery, not fearing an ever increasing debt. Everyone deserves that. No one in America should go broke as they are fighting to survive.
10. I am very lucky. I flew out of a moving vehicle and I survived. I think about that everyday of my life. This has been the most difficult experience I’ve faced, but I know it could have been so much worse. I am so very lucky to have my band mates with me. We have been blessed with the most supportive families, friends, and music community. That’s what kept me going in those first few days. Thank you.
For more information or to give to the Scotland Yard Gospel Choir Recovery Fund, please visit http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/news/sygc-van-accident.
[I would like to send a heartfelt thank you to Mary for taking the time to reflect and make this very personal list. My friends in SYGC are near and dear to my heart, Chicago is a better place because of them. While Mary is insured medically, some of the other band members are not, and aside from those costs there is also the issue of gear replacement and income loss. Please consider donating using the link above--Erik]
Salem’s Been Busy
December 17, 2009
It wasn’t too long ago that the universe anointed Salem with the greatest gift: cred. Buzz. WORD OF BLOG. A steady output of limited, (and pricey) 7″ singles and some mixtapes later, and this is an actual bona-fide underground sensation. I’m saying that a little tongue in cheek, of course. Unless you are a BUTT Magazine reader or totally goth, most people haven’t heard of them and looking further down the road, pop fans won’t have this. The music Salem makes isn’t close to easy listening. Half the time they are off key, the rap songs sound like you are playing the record at the wrong speed and they are SO ELUSIVE with the booking and contacting. What keeps me interested in the band is what it means for the future. I mean, I LIKE Salem’s songs…who else can say they invented “goth juke?” Their sound can be the lighter side of My Bloody Valentine or the twisted side of Lil Wayne, all with a homegrown Kraftwerkian feel. What I’m most geeked about is how many bands Salem will influence. The late 00′s are frought with a glossy nostalgia that while rewarding, is not necessarily reflective of the dark times we are enduring. The musical effects of the current unrest will be engaged in a few years, and I’m on the record as saying that Salem will have their filthy, black-as-ink tendons in future pop stars’ ears. Mark my words: while pop fans won’t be into this, the people making the pop music will list them in their liner notes. Check out the excellent mixtape Salem made for We Make It Good, and try and nab their forthcoming split 7″ with Tanlines over at the Fader. All their shit will be worth $$ in the future, TRUST.
Bastardgeist – S/T
December 15, 2009
* Album art by Michael Earl Phillips
There is a distinct sometimes, when the morning’s too young, maybe after an intense discussion the night before, you are looking at a FULL day ahead, put on your headphones and the first few bars of a record create an emotional vortex. Perplexing panic and calm at the same time, it’s the moment when the sound of commuting fades and you have a private arrest while being crowded by strangers. Bastardgeist’s self-titled album does that. Recorded at home with a minimal set up, it starts off with the song “Flee to the Hills” a soft but gripping introduction to songwriter Joel Midden’s past few years. Looped field recordings, manipulations of a kalimba (thumb piano), live drums and his ghost-like vocals come together to form a stream of sound that is cautious but loose; if Sufjan Stevens took some Valium and tried to write an Animal Collective song, he might be able to approximate Midden’s lonely, hopeful pictures. Skewed harmonies reminiscent of Kyp Malone and Tunde Adibempe, glitchy melodies recalling Mum, and feminine, crushed-on Cocteau Twins are clouded by rhythms that go back and forth between shaky and hip-hop. Perhaps a deliberate masking of lyrics plays into the record’s mystery; if these ten tracks tell you anything about Midden, it’s that he’s on a path to find beauty from escape, however vague and brittle it may be. Bastardgeist’s world is intimate and earthy, messy and pretty, and Chicago is blessed to be included. Midden has been in label talks for his debut and this is the kind of stuff Pitchfork eats up, so take notice NOW. Stream some tracks off his myspace and I’ll keep you up to date with shows, release dates, etc.
I Blogged For BUTT
December 10, 2009
It’s true. A little while ago, they put a call out for writers, and I snapped that up like it was BOGO dress shirts from Express (I don’t have lofty fashion goals…not YET, anyway). For my first contribution, I interviewed Marc Ruvolo, a sweet sweet honey bear that has a tribute to Klaus Nomi call Aspic Tines. The interview went well and I hope to do more for the BUTT Blog. Head over to the post and won’t you leave a comment? PREESH.
The Ballet – Bear Life
December 7, 2009
Greg Goldberg’s approach to making music feels like trying to date a totally eligible, totally aloof bachelor. I want more but he rarely sends me anything. He and his band, The Ballet are all busy people – Phd’s, new families and living the Brooklyn life have prevented them from touring outside of NYC with any regularity, but two albums in they make some of the best indie pop this side of McCarren Pool. The latest, Bear Life, gets a boost in production, replaces their past string arrangements with synth lines and boldly blasts out of the lo-fi charm of their first, Mattachine! That one sounded like the best possible outcome of inviting your music school friends to play cello in your folk band, and the results were like DIY interpretations of If You’re Feeling Sinister. For Bear Life, keyboards have inherited that riff-making responsibility, and thankfully the transition is seemless. If continuity is the intention, and it certainly sounds like it is, it might be the precision in orchestral detail that makes the 2nd outing sound a lot like the first. For instance, you can easily swap out the keyboard melodies for their previous organic sounds, however, a timid step forward is still exciting when you are looking for something real, no? Song effects and layers push the chords into solid “arrangement” territory and the change is satisfying. Single-worthy entries like “House on Fire” and “Chinatown” carry a pop torch handed down from OMD and Stephen Merritt alike, even if they don’t stray too far from their favorite minor keys. Greg’s bedroom croon hasn’t gotten out of bed yet, either–his sexy, sleepy rasp makes the most of his limited range and each listen reveals a more confident take on his personal growth and intimacy. Unfortunately, the biggest chance taken on Bear Life doesn’t reap the rewards. “Personal Transformation” features Scott Matthew on vocals–he sang the entrancing folk songs in John Cameron Mitchell’s Short Bus- but this Ballet track buries his subtle, Antony-like inflections enough to warrant a subdued retake. That said, the misstep is entirely forgiven; the nerdy head-bobbing going on a date with The Ballet gets you is the stuff you make personals ads for. This being their second record in almost four years, who knows when you’ll see them again, soak it up now.
You can download the first single, House on Fire over at The Pirate Ship, Bear Life is available for mail order and itunesing as well.
NERD ALERT: A Bearded Poker Face Parody
November 30, 2009No secret: TPR hates Lady Gaga. She’s Matthew Barney snapped into a slim jim. A short mannequin whose outfits wear her, not the other way around. If her songs had anything going for them, it’d be a different story but she sounds like late-period Madonna, nothing at all to be proud of. That, and her infinite costumes have no context–they are there to shock, not rooted in any kind of movement except cold hard cash. If my gays could please take a pause and stop acting like Grace Jones never happened, I’d be really happy. The above video takes Gag’s song “Poker Face,” and makes it into a font ode. More lip synching otters and art homos, please.
