I can't be the only who changes out their music like their sweater/shorts drawers as the seasons change. Toward fall I get very rootsy with kd lang, Neil Young, and Tom Petty; winter gets more morose with Casey Stratton, David Sylvian, Tori Amos and Damien Rice; while spring brings Pet Shop Boys, Saint Ettienne and Girl Talk. Then summer comes with a sound all its own.
Currently I'm sitting here writing this loading all three Deee-lite albums into my iPod and chair dancing to "Picnic in the Summertime." Deee-lite, way due for a reunion/comeback, are the overlords of happy beats from the '90s. They ruled the gay clubs at the tail end of the '80s and into 1990 with "Groove Is In the Heart," off World Clique, but then never really captured that same vibe again. Luckily we have others from that era just as joyous: Cece Peniston, Soul II Soul and Betty Boo all come to mind. Or if you need to get more current, get The Gossip's Beth Ditto's EP or the new full-length by Hercules + Love Affair, who've both made incredible homages to that house sound recently.
We're gay, so dance music is our go-to for summer tunes, but also consider getting sexy with some Sade or Tracey Thorn as well. They are, in my book, the two best vocalists of our time and both just take you away on a small cumulus cloud of joy with anything they do.
Finally, if rolling down the windows and cruising boys is your thing, Sade may not work. Give them something that says butch cool like Def Leppard's Pyromania album (the only real Def Lep CD) or De La Soul's classic hip hop masterpiece 3 Feet High and Rising. Both have great speaker power and say, "He might be straight; I bet I can have him though."
Whatever your groove is, make sure you groove responsibly and with many, many others. Summer music is all about getting it on with others, just like life.
Come check Moose's grooves at two new gigs at Downtown Bar and The Glenwood this summer.
