EAR PWR ~ "National Parks"

  Synths still sound synthetic to me. After all these years, decades, hell, generations, I still have a tough time not dismissing, never mind preferring songs based largely in the naked, largely overtone-less bleats for which synths are known.

  But I'm happy to make exceptions. Hell, what makes me happiest is the exceptional in anything.

  All I know for now about the band EAR PWR is this one video of hippie-like creatures dancing and cavorting in the woods for their song "National Parks". (Twyla Tharp's choreography for "Hair" (The Movie) figures into the flavors of their dance.) Did I mention they're mostly naked? No, I didn't. Nearly nude, their bodies are sweet if not entirely innocent, yet watching I never felt they stooped so low (so high?) as to be "…but tasteful" [gak!].

  Treading the line between tasteful and titillating without overstepping either way? That's the kind of balancing act one can enjoy guiltlessly. Playing burbling synths to evoke just the naturally right tones for a song called "National Parks"? That's also a neat trick. 

 Listen to / Watch it. [ ~ video NSFW ]

One can also view a batch of preview clips here.

The Axis of Awesome ~ "4 Chords" : Bringing The Funny

They call themselves The Axis of Awesome: That's a big glaring clue right there, right?

The easy comparisons are to Jack Black and Kyle Gass as Tenacious D (the Hard Rock tributaries/parodists), for lovingly skewering every strand of Pop they too can lay their hands on, or to New Zealanders Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, better known as Flight of the Conchords (from HBO's "The Flight of the Conchords"), for being similarly funny musical Aussies.

The Axis of Awesome's "4 Chords" has been a viral video for months.

What can I say to introduce "4 Chords"? As little as possible. It's a song about 4 Chords. Go! Hear it now. It's track 14 (That's right, buried at 14!) streaming here until the end of this weekend. Also, it's an easy enough search for "The Axis of Awesome 4 chords" at YouTube - that search will appear fast in a list of choices, before you finish typing it, and will bring up dozens of videos: I'd go with one called The Axis of Awesome : 4 Chords (Live) posted by Cataphract, but explore for yourself. (Then, after you're done with "4 Chords", take a pass at "Birdplane" back at the AOL stream (track 4 - you'll understand why it's better to hear "Birdplane" second IF you listen to "4 Chords" first) , and track 2 as well. Might as well shuffle them all together all at once. Although I can't recommend the entire album**, I'm happy to direct your attention to the best stuff, and point your way past the hazards.)

We'll check back here later. Listen! Now! We'll wait for you.

[... dum da doo doo doooo ... 

       hum hum hummmm... 

            ... whistling while I wait... ]

SPOILER WARNING: PLEASE DON'T READ THIS NEXT PART UNTIL AFTER YOU'VE HEARD 

"4 CHORDS"!

Everybody back? Alright, Settle down! Keep the giggling to a minimum!

It's a semi-brilliant bit of tour-de-force, isn't it?

Kinda breathtaking to hear all those songs piled up one on top of the next. It helps that they're all placed in the same key, of course, but I love that "4 Chords" gleefully skewers without prejudice, slicing through a swath of genres, and takes the wind out of all of those songs' respective sails — even the songs I love. Especially the songs I love! It's one chunk of overwrought seriousness relentlessly rendered ineffective one after another, must-avoid songs plunked down next to "Damn!, I *love* that song!" songs.

The album Animal Vehicle may not be a sighting of the future of rock comedy, but it contains a name-making schtick that, once experienced, will stick with you. Forever after, when you hear a pop hit, you'll think to ask yourself whether it has the formula 4 Chords.

**Warning Regarding Your Enjoyment Of Other Tracks On The Album: As is true about most "comedy albums", Your mileage may vary.

George Thorogood & The Destroyers ~ 2120 South Michigan Avenue

It has been over 30 years since Thorogood's second album forced its way anachronistically onto late 1970s radios. His latest isn't the blast of take-no-prisoners ground-staking "Move It On Over" (and its predecessor) was. This one hangs around 2120 South Michigan Ave, once home of Chess Records in Chicago. But it's a worthy set for the dedicated electric bluesman to unleash on fans and casual followers alike. His takes on blues standards are solid, reviving and re-masculating already meaty tracks such as "High Heel Sneakers" and "Spoonful".  For an album that's a tribute from start to finish, that lifts riffs unapologetically, that borrows freely from his heroes' inventions, small changes refreshen these songs in surprising ways. For instance, "Bo Diddley" arrives with a high-toned bongo popping in cahoots with the rhythm of the tom-tom, and growly reverb specifically assigned to some instruments adds a familiar but distinctive otherworldly atmosphere.
In fact 2120 South Michigan Ave is so well-engineered it earns a phrase among those reserved for my highest praises: It doesn't draw attention to itself. If young ears now are anything like mine were, they take for granted that music is superbly well recorded (and that "lo-fi" is used for effect). A kind of muddiness was a constant characteristic of old Blues records; even revivals of the 70s and 80s sometimes chose to include some unseparated muddled sounds to evoke previous eras, even though by then it was easy enough to avoid. On 2120 South Michigan Avenue, every instrument is crystal clear, each is placed authoritatively in audio space, volumes are carefully balanced. This kind of attention to detail, the kind that is routinely taken for granted by young and old alike (— the kind that too often is not applied or abandoned on too many current albums where "experiment" is a euphemism for "inexperienced amateur" —) makes a huge difference in the enjoyment of sounds that depend on hundreds of unwritten variations and variables per song to express oneself, to provide heat and energy and passion.
2120 South Michigan Avenue is produced by Grammy winner Tom Hambridge, and features guests Buddy Guy and Charlie Musselwhite. 
Thorogood frames the album with two OK originals, title track "2120 South Michigan Avenue" and "Going Back" (listen for the guitar squeal that pans across the stereo channels). Unfortunately they're just as needlessly nostalgic as they sound. And with "Going Back"'s line "Back when the Blues was king", his well-intentioned, authentic passion tips into inauthentic historical revisionism. But that's the only false note on a sizzling hot summer album.

B+

You can listen to George Thorogood & the Destroyers' 2120 South Michigan Avenue here until the end of this week.

Let's call what has gone before the "Soft Opening"

Hi, and thanks for your patience!

Why the long stretch between posts? The short answer is I really need to find a paying job. The slightly longer list includes a long-planned visit with Portland OR friends (I didn't pay for... Yet.), and several SNAFUs around the house that took full priority over everything else. (Feel free to email me for details. I could use the opportunities to network. And to vent.)

I intend to make a habit to post at least twice a week from here on in. Every Monday or ASAP each week I'll post about the best new albums streaming online this week. Plus I'll add at least one more post during the week about other finds.

My natural focus of late has been on music by Out Gay musicians -- who I sometimes refer to as "Out musicians" or "Outmusicians", whether they are members of the OUTmusic organization or not. This focus will shift now, to include the full spectrum of music that impresses me, whether they're Outmusicians or not. That must seem a strange thing to have to point out, but I find that most music reviewers in Gay papers, websites and other media tend to write about, to put it in the most cliched form but the most frequently cited form possible, "Music Gay People Like". Meaning: Divas, Dance and Club Music, Broadway Show Tunes, the "American Songbook", lip service paid to the (Euro-)Classical Music form, and the occasional smattering of Out musicians, usually big established stars like George Michael or k. d. lang.

My take is different. I have little inclination, no inherent attraction "because you're Gay", to like most of the above styles. (I say "most" because the American Songbook is so undeniably and consistently brilliant that it influences my love of music generally, whatever the genre.)

I have a deep passion to explore every genre of music -- including those I don't typically get a kick from, because I've learned that exceptions to my expectations create exceptional music.
And I want to share it all with you. Or, as much as I possibly can.

From now on, as I have been, I'll identify those Out Gay musicians I know of. It's ridiculous to have to mention that, but that's the society we live in: a world that both denigrates and denies opportunities still to all but a select few out musicians, and ghettoizes and special-cases those who do come out.

Blechh! I've been over the need to ghettoize from the start of my Out musician-seeking journey. When you read here that someone is Gay, I'm simply celebrating who they are, and often simply breaking the silence will do.

Meanwhile I've got coming up a batch of music from people who, so far as I know, don't identify as Gay, don't market to the Gay market (whatever the fuck that is), don't come up on my radar as anti-Gay, and make mighty good music. Same as anywhere else, people visiting websites for Gay folks should know about them -- and that is what I aim to do.

Here we go.
Full Start.