Sophie B. Hawkins has finally released her first live album, Bad Kitty Board Mix. The double-disc set includes her breakout hit, Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover, as well as two versions of As I Lay Me Down, which were recorded in Sydney and Seattle. Ever the entertainer, the multi-instrumentalist humors the audience prior to breaking into sweetsexywoman. Even the overlooked Walking On Thin Ice and No Connection are so solid, it is hard to imagine that Hawkins is only accompanied by two other musicians. The collection's realness and personality are unbridled. Hawkins is currently working on her next studio album and is composing material for a Broadway musical per her Web site.
Best known as a comedian, Sandra Bernhard seamlessly incorporates music into her routines. Bernhard is back with the enhanced disc Everything Bad & Beautiful. No stranger to tackling covers, the outspoken comic has a go at Missy Elliott's Pussycat and scores with Lita Ford's Kiss Me Deadly. In addition, the bonus track Perfection has dialogue pulled from Everything Bad & Beautiful set to a dance beat. Moreover, Bernhard slings her trademark barbs: Bob Dylan, Mariah Carey and Britney Spears are not spared from her wit. Lastly, not only has Bernhard posed for Playboy, but her character on Roseanne, Nancy, has been one of the few openly gay reoccurring characters on prime-time TV—even though that still doesn't make up for Hudson Hawk. Expect Bernhard to return to comedy and music with her new show Plan B From Outer Space.
I continually draw strength and inspiration from rock veteran Joan Jett. She has done it all—come out nonchalantly, start her own label before it was trendy and appear in the Broadway production of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Her latest, Sinner, solidifies Jett's icon status. Guitar chords and eyeliner remain intact on Fetish and the coming-out anthem Everyone Knows. The sexy vegan even challenges the current political climate on Riddles and gender-identity issues on Androgynous. The video for A.C.D.C. has tongues wagging, leaving tabloids guessing if Jett is linked romantically to vixen Carmen Electra. Jett's music is also used prevalently throughout the queer independent film Secondary High. The forthcoming movie Neon Angels is based on Jett's former band The Runaways.
For Placebo's new video, the group asks fans to submit clips of themselves lip-synching to the British trio's take of Kate Bush's Running Up That Hill. Now the clip is a favorite on YouTube. Originally from the bonus disc of Sleeping With Ghosts, Running Up That Hill was featured on the TV show The O.C. and will be included on the digital album, Covers, among Placebo's renditions of Depeche Mode's I Feel You and Sinead O'Connor's Jackie. Bassist Stefan Olsdal is openly gay and kisses another guy in the video for Meds. In reaction to the banning of an anti-discrimination bus from entering Lithuania's capital, Olsdal wrote HOMO across his chest and engaged in a long kiss with lead singer Brian Molko during a recent concert in Vilnius, Lithuania.
Like Placebo, GloveBox is a partially queer band. The Australian outfit features two out women among straight guys. When I spoke with lead singer Mishka during the band's first tour of the U.S., she said that her and drummer Sair's sexuality is not even an issue with her bandmates. Mishka's voice draws comparisons to Billie Holiday's, but I would sooner liken her vocals to those of Angela McCluskey ( Telepopmusik, The Wild Colonials ) . Self-described as electro-organic-super-pop, this eponymous debut is produced by keyboardist extraordinaire Grainger K. Lock. Heard on the TV show Dirt and seen on Logo, GloveBox is making itself more hands-on stateside.
Most artists ended up going solo after working with a group. This is not the case with The Marc Silver Band, which formed while Silver was recording the album Stonethrowers. Rich in harmonies, the bluegrass sound is made more accessible as heard on Nectar Sweet And Rare, Claim Him Jesus and the southwestern-flavored Lay Me Down. The band creates music with the intent of touring to colleges and festivals. Stonethrowers hits the target and is available via iTunes and CDBaby.
Reuben Butchart returns illuminating on his sophomore album, Golden Boy. Once the pianist for Antony And The Johnsons, Butchart is joined by Antony Hegarty on the duet All There Is To Tell. Upon listening, Butchart's classical and soul influences are more than apparent. He does not have to title a track So Much Soul as he does here; we already know he's got it. The beaming Golden Boy is out now. Butchart's debut Dusk won the 2003 Outmusic award for Outstanding Debut Recording.
What is a pride party without a colorful mix CD? G CD Global 1 offers a disc loaded with dance and electronic music and another leaning more toward rock and folk. Highlights from this Woobie Bear Music release include Sandra Grace's dance-floor-ready Do You Have A Lover?, Jinx Titanic's I Love A Boy and MADSTAR's Kosheen-like About A Boy. Closing the set, Kendall ponders the unanswered question Who Farted On The Dance Floor ( at Studio 54 ) ? Spanning all genres, G CD Global 1 has something for everybody.
She has committed 'Murder On The Dancefloor,' and now Sophie Ellis-Bextor is returning to the scene of the crime with her third solo outing, Trip The Light Fantastic. However, the only criminal act here is Ellis-Bextor's lack of stateside support. Her debut, Read My Lips, was a smashing success abroad, yet is only available here via import shops. Do not let the lack of a record deal get you down. Trip The Light Fantastic is a phenomenal return to form for her, boasting collaborations with Fred Schneider and Cathy Dennis. Once the raven-haired beauty sings the chorus on the set's hit single, Me and My Imagination, I find myself levitating above my daily woes. With an energetic mix of '80s dance and pop, it is no illusion that Trip The Light Fantastic is a contender for the summer's soundtrack.
There is nothing like ice-cold electronic dance music to cool you off during those dog days of summer. Benny Benassi's Cooking For Pump-kin offers the necessary relief. The Italian DJ behind the anthem Satisfaction has remixed hits for the likes of Goldfrapp, OutKast and Moby. Boy George best describes Benassi's sound as 'dirty electro house at its best,' per Benassi's Web site. Cooking For Pump-kin intertwines mixes of Depeche Mode's Everything Counts and Moby's Go! among club favorites such as Sono's Keep Control, Benassi's own comical Who's Your Daddy and an updated version of his masterpiece Love Is Gonna Save Us.
Also on the dance tip, the uber-talented Marcella Detroit lends her well-known voice to Loverush U.K.'s latest single Mystery To Me. Available via iTunes, this track has remixes by Disciples of Sound, Mal Black-Pucha and there is even an acoustic version. Detroit, who performs blues under the name Marcy Levy, was a member of the glam-goth duo Shakespear's Sister and co-wrote Eric Clapton's Lay Down Sally.
Donna Summer's I Feel Love revolutionized music as we know it. This 1977 classic has been sampled or covered by several artists including Madonna, Kylie Minogue, Soft Cell, MiMi Ferocious and The Blue Man Group. Add Public Domain to the list. Accompanied by Sunscreem's front woman Lucia Holm, Public Domain puts a harder edge on this staple. This trance incarnation can be found on iTunes and multiple import dance compilations.
