Living Colour blow me away with their new music video "Who Shot Ya?"

Got an email the other day about the new Roxette song of the summer.
WATCH! LISTEN! to "Some Other Summer" at my YouTube playlist Best Gay Music 2016 - 9 .
The video for "Some Other Summer" currently getting lots of attention from fans is itself a fan video that caught the attention of Roxette!



The email I got fills in some details:
"a gay couple from Poland - Jakub and David recorded a video during
holiday for a new Roxette song "Some other summer". Just for fun and
totaly amateur. It got online via YouTube and the outcome exceeded all the
expectations.

It turned out that Roxette vocalist - Per Gessle saw it and published it on
Roxette Official website with his private comment [see above].
Really amazing gesture from the pop icon and huge pleasure
for them. It's really cool and happy and I'm also proud cause I was helping
them with montage :) "

Unfortunately the emailer doesn't give his name, but the "Video [was] made by Jacob, David, Chris and Michael", so I'm guessing he's either Chris or Michael!


UPDATE 2016 08 18 / August 18 2016:
A follow-up email clarified that Chris, "who did a montage", sent the email.
(I'm guessing "who did a montage" may mean editing or maybe recording the video.)

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.

Martin Swinger In Concert in New Jersey in August!And More About Martin!

Martin Swinger In Concert in New Jersey in August!

Especially excited to announce the August 15th performance at GAAMC!

Friday, August 12, 7 PM
Front Porch House Concert
Martin Swinger solo show! Admission $15
308 Meadowbrook Rd. Robbinsville, NJ 08691
Contact Maggie Marshall 609-443-0577

Sunday, August 14, 5 PM
Carmel Retreat Center
Martin Swinger solo show! Admission $15
DINNER AND SHOW: $30!
1071 Ramapo Valley Rd, Mahwah, NJ 07430
Call 201-327-7090 to make reservations.

Monday, August 15, 7:30 PM
Morristown Unitarian Fellowship
Martin Swinger solo show for GAAMC ~Gay Activist Alliance in Morris County! Donation $6!
21 Normandy Heights Rd, Morristown, NJ 07960
contact Info@GAAMC.org or call 973-285-1595.

More about Martin Swinger

"Some songs are great to dance to, and some feel good to cry to, and others are fun to sing along to.
But sometimes you discover songs that simply invite you to stop and listen.
Martin Swinger sings Songs Worth Listening To."

M O O N has risen and shines just for you!      
Watch and listen to the MOON CD Video Teaser Video

Order M O O N ($15 check) direct at:
Martin Swinger, 52 Green St., Augusta, ME 04330
OR at MartinSwinger.com

OR at www.cdbaby.com/Artist/MartinSwinger

Adult Contemporary Singer/Songwriter 
www.MartinSwinger.com
Songwriting in schools or multi-generational settings and family entertainment:
www.SwingerSongwriter.com
Improvisational singing and workshops
www.Improvox.com

Martin Swinger ~ M O O N ~ Swinger's songs are among the strongest released in 2011

Martin Swinger ~ M O O N

  It's Gay Pride Month here in New Jersey. Across the country and around much of the world, Pride is celebrated with partying, parades and festivals. But what else is available to us Queers — us Proud Gay Men & Lesbians, Bisexuals, Transgendered and Intersexed — to celebrate? How about our culture! How about creativity! How about breaking out of the box of "gay music" to discover great music by great Gay/BGILT-Q musicians?
  Yeah. How about that?

  Martin Swinger, much to his own surprise, was the first to record a full-fledged album of music directed at an audience of Bears — and we hairy, often bearded, likely as not (how shall I put it?) meaty men have as a group, I'm afraid I must report, barely noticed. That CD, BearNAKED, arrived in 2000, often with a furry frame hand-glued to the edges of the case by Swinger and his husbear themselves.
  M O O N  arrives after years (since 2004) without a new CD from Swinger, partly due to that undeserved lack of notice. A true labor of love, the results transcend the limitations of producing a CD independently. I haven't room here to praise every wonderful song, but will expand on this review over the coming weeks at my new blog.
  "Little Plastic Part" starts as an amusing observational song: "I was cleaning, vacuuming the room…/ The motor faltered… I'd broken… some Little Plastic Part/ …that makes the whole thing work/ …It's never gonna start/ cause there is no replacement for that Little Plastic Part." Then comes a twist and — well, that would be telling. I wouldn't ruin it for you.
  "From Your Gravity" is as beautiful a song as you're bound to hear this year. And its video can be seen at my new Bill Realman Radio blog. According to Swinger himself, "Gravity [was] inspired on Route One driving from Houlton Maine to Presque Isle, following the large scale model of the solar system. And [by] a difficult phone call. My sweetie and I worked it out and are still together celebrating 25 years!"
  But "Gravity", in my not so humble opinion, is not even one of the three best songs on the album. That honor goes to the three songs that conclude M O O N — "Wooden Boy", "Betty Boop & Buddha" and "Music In The Rafters". Together those are the three strongest songs at the home stretch of any album I've heard in years.
  Swinger's website MartinSwinger.com features the story behind the song "Wooden Boy" (and much more). What inspired it is important, of course, but I'll allow you to discover that, too, for yourself. Because although most of us, we — you and I — are not ourselves likely to have suffered under the same condition as "Wooden Boy"'s inspiration, I can attest to knowing his same feelings as a child. Thinking back to at least as young as 8 years old, I felt a deep connection with Disney's Pinocchio, even becoming him for Halloween. Then in high school, nearly a decade before I took on the name Realman, among the ways I saw my life were two long poems I wrote titled "Real Life Stories" and "Real Life Dreams". I have seen my experience, my sense of hiding inside for some reason, some need, reflected in the people around me, in their quiet shyness, in their angry lashing out. It's tough enough for most people to express their loneliness and depression. Why it is practically taboo to admit deep disconnection from the world, I don't know. It's the universality of "Wooden Boy" that matters most, more than its origins. And I've not heard its like before.
  Martin Swinger is just as deft at having fun and being joyful as he is at expressing anything else. "Betty Boop & Buddha" has been delighting audiences in concert for years now. Friends, upon hearing it has arrived on CD at last, have confessed how eagerly they've awaited it, and how much they want M O O N  for it if nothing else. " One simply cannot help going from zero to happy when "Betty Boop & Buddha" plays. It's an inspired pairing, a romance for the ages, and you'll be tapping your extremities, wiggling your wiggleables, and committing every "Bop-bop-a-loo-bop" and "Boo-Boop-i-Do" to memory, as with each verse Nirvana comes closer to fruition.
  As if that one-two punch of the poignant and the joyful weren't enough, finally "Music In The Rafters" brings the album to its gentle, rousing conclusion. When I hear "Rafters" — and I can barely stop playing it — I am reminded of the finest performers in the American Folk tradition, of the Pete Seegers and Holly Nears, and of the finest songs, of the "Rainbow Race"s and "We Are A Gentle Angry People"s. Launched from the sight and sound of a bird's nest being built, from modest "…songs of hunger being answered / as little wings learn how to fly / and make music", a sweet wise plain philosophy takes flight in song.
  "Rafters" is filled with small inspired moments, little touches like the just-subtle-enough cymbal to illustrate "shimmering", the doubled flutters of strumming guitars not tethered to each others' strum, the pull of a sense of community with the addition of mandolin and handclaps for the final rounds of the chorus, the complex but understated lead vocal, the duet vocal by Kathy Slack and the vocal harmonies, enhanced, I'm told in the credits, by "ImproVox + Referendum = Hot Buttah!" It could all have turned out too precious, but feels found afresh. One can only imagine the depth of preparation it took to enable such spontaneity in the performances.
  If ever there was a song that epitomizes what I mean when I say "Music is the Highest Common Denominator," "Music In The Rafters" is it. "Rafters" is like a gift you didn't know you wanted but love dearly from the moment you've received it.
  I've been praising the hell out of M O O N  and especially "Rafters" and, until now, I've silenced the voice of restraint. I know the disappointment of raised hopes dashed. But I can't be dishonest about "Music In The Rafters": The recording itself is a great example of how to open up a great song with great arrangements, production and recording. (And kudos to all those credited in the liner notes whose names I can't fit here.) But scratch that, focus just on the melody and lyrics, and "Music In The Rafters" deserves to take a place of honor among the great songs of our lives.
  Unlike all the manipulative demands of contemporary Pop musicians to herd fans into acting "impulsively" ("Put Your Hands In The Air!" "Say 'Hey'!" "Dance!"), Swinger wants to reach you one-by-one, and one-on-one. Maybe once, twice a year, an album greets my ears with songs that often cause me to tear up in witness to their beauty. It's an intimacy I can't tell you of; it's up to you to put yourself in a place where your heart is open to be touched, to let the music touch you. I wouldn't casually encourage you to embrace such artistic intimacy. Embrace the M O O N, and let the M O O N  touch you. And, as requested in big, bold letters at the end of the lyric booklet, Please Sing!

©2011 Bill Stella. Dancing To Architecture™, HowToFindTheBestMusic™, Bill Realman Radio™, Highest Common Denominator™ by Bill Stella.    All ©, ® & ™ items included in the column for review purposes are ©, ® & ™ their respective owners.

WU LYF ~ "Dirt" (video) ~ World Unite and Love You Forever / The Lucifer Youth Foundation

One word: Phenomenal.

Some more words: This could be big.

Please start watching the video -- experience the music -- before reading any further. 

Now that I'm writing a music blog, I've entered the fray of music promotion. Which is usually equivalent to hype and heightened egotistical opinions.  I intend over time to make a case for good music based in more than that, in music that appeals to better aspects by which to appreciate music than trends and sheep-like behavior and based, yes, even in facts.

I'm short on facts this time. I just discovered WU LYF within the last 24 hours. I'll report what I learn as I learn it. But...

Meanwhile...

DAMN. If I hadn't lived through several decades of posing reality-checks against my gut-check instincts that this song, that this band will be huge, this space would just be filled with over-the-top raves.

Here's one: WU LYF could be the biggest thing since N....
Here's another: Whatever WU LYF releases this year could be the greatest collection of Rock and Roll since S....
You're following where I'm going here?

I try to check my instincts to rave against my desire to let you, my friends, discover music on your own. Unless I've lost my moorings, I prefer not to praise as much as I'd like, and let the music surprise and delight you on its own merits.

With "Dirt", I could discuss politics, I could describe the video, I could pull musical precedents out of my ass and display them so you could give me coolness-points for pointing out how these present things sound something sorta like previous things we loved. And feel free to consider all those things I could talk and talk and talk about ON YOUR OWN. But I love "Dirt", so --

Nah. Let "Dirt" speak for itself.

Listen to the sound of the next wave crashing on shore.

©2011 Bill Stella. Dancing To Architecture™, HowToFindTheBestMusic™, Bill Realman Radio™, Highest Common Denominator™ by Bill Stella.   All ©, ® & ™ items included in the column for review purposes are ©, ® & ™ their respective owners.

Imperial Teen - videos from their catalog

The most recent Imperial Teen album is The Hair The TV The Baby & The Band

"Imperial Teen is back! With sly style and knowing sass, Will, Roddy, Jone and Lynn return with their trademark infectious hooks and impeccable pop sensibilities. Let the party begin! The Hair the TV the Baby & the Band is the first Imperial Teen record in over 5 years, but it never misses a beat. It’s a career defining album for sure. On first listen you can just feel how much fun these guys and gals are having making music together. From the upbeat shimmy of “Shim Sham” and “Sweet Potato”, to the more reflective cool of “Room With A View” and “What You Do”; from the full on romp of “Everything” and “One Two”, to the seductive vamp of “Fallen Idol” -- every song seems pitch perfect. You can sense that this is a band that is comfortable in its own skin. Recorded with longtime collaborators Steve McDonald (Redd Kross) and Anna Waronker (That Dog), The Hair… captures the raw spontaneity and chemistry that make Imperial Teen such a unique group of friends and musicians. The members of Imperial Teen have kept themselves busy since last we heard from them, as the title of this album references. But there is no denying that when these four come together, they are more than the sum of their parts. They are a family, and the joy that they share in making music is infectious. So put on your best party shoes and come along for the ride. It’s guaranteed to be fun. Give this record a listen. We think you will be impressed." [--provided by artist reps]

	http://imperialteen.com http://www.myspace.com/imperialteen

First Exposure: Martin Swinger ~ M O O N

Martin Swinger ~ "Gravity" ~ M  O  O  N

According to Swinger himself, "Gravity [was] inspired [by] driving on Route One from Houlton, Maine to Presque Isle, following the large scale model of the solar system. And a difficult phone call... My sweetie and I worked it out and are still together celebrating 25 years!"


It's as beautiful a song as you're bound to hear this year.


I'll have plenty more to say about  M  O  O  N  in the days ahead, but for now enjoy "Gravity" with the knowledge that, in my not so humble opinion, it's not even one of the three best songs on the album. That honor goes to the three songs that conclude  M  O  O  N  -- "Wooden Boy", "Betty Boop & Buddha" and "Music In The Rafters". Together those are the three strongest songs at the home stretch of any album I've heard in more than a few years.


Martin Swinger's website features the story behind the song "Wooden Boy" and much more. MartinSwinger.com 

Pick up your copy of  M  O  O  N  here.

 

©2011 Bill Stella.  Dancing To Architecture™, HowToFindTheBestMusic™, Bill Realman Radio™, Highest Common Denominator™ by Bill Stella.   All ©, ® & ™ items included in the column for review purposes are ©, ® & ™ their respective owners.

The Fire Apes ~ "A Life In Letters"

The Fire Apes ~ A Life In Letters

My review for this album can also be found at the link above.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun, smart and *committed* Pop-Rock., May 24, 2011

By 

Bill Stella "Bill Realman Stella" (Somerville, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Life in Letters (MP3 Download)

The best way I can describe how much I like this album is to admit I really should be writing other reviews. Deadlines loom, I need to contact musicians and promoters, my editor is encouraging but nervous. Yet I'm here writing about The Fire Apes, a band I'd never heard of until today, but whose newest album A Life in Letters has compelled me to listen a fourth time through while I finish up this review. At this moment of discovery, I can't keep them to myself. But allow me the concession of forgoing being literary to just describe the album track by track.

1. It's Over = Weirdly, the song at track 1 makes less impact on me than I think was intended because it seems directed at the vast post-Emo audience of My Chemical Romance or the retro-pop followers of Cheap Trick at their most overwrought. Patience.
2. Killing Me From the Inside = The Fire Apes here remind me of Oasis (in full, imitation 1967 mode) here. If that works for you, you'll like it. (But my love of 60s sounds and Oasis' version of them don't get along.) Then, things get much more interesting.
3. Hey Kate! *** = Hey Kate! leads with pop-song mastery where other bands wish they could follow. For instance, it would fit comfortably as a prime track on any Fountains of Wayne or Jimmy Eats World album. Don't dismiss it because it uses the hook every pop-punk band in the 90s & 00s, and don't underestimate the ska-beat turnaround preceding every chorus. It just works.
4. Cause You Don't *** = Convincingly makes its case to stand alongside similar White Stripes, Vines, and Hives tunes with a blues-y structure and a heavier bottom. But theirs comes complete with harmony vocals reaching crescendoes via a building suspended chord, just like George Martin taught the Fab Four.
5. If Things Don't Look So Good Today = With it's cha-cha middle-8, it's a bit cocktail-lounge. But the Rickenbacker jangle of electric guitar strings cuts through the synthetic strings.
6. Only You Could Make Me Happy *** = Believe it, man: This is it. A prime example of delirious, hyper-committed power-pop, the kind most recently epitomized by Bouncing Souls. But you could hear echoes in it of a long line of bands mining the genre, leading with the best of Cheap Trick and including The Romantics, The Records, The Kings, etc etc.
7. Don't Break My Heart *** = A big change of pace from the rest of the album, built around that McCartney-esque British dance hall two-step. With rinky-tink piano out of almost every 70s record trying to evoke a feel of early-20th-century nostalgia. Plus "bah-bup-ahs"'s right out of The Turtles' playbook. And a horns chart that sneaks up on you until it practically takes over.
8. 3 O'Clock (So Long) *** = A Roger Daltrey-like vocal-dominated intro leads to riffs which could be an alternate arrangement for "I Can See For Miles". Altogether early Who throughout.
9. I *** = Their vocals out-sing The Turtles, but for an over-reaching middle-8. "I" is a half-Zombies, half-Turtles pop obsession.
10. Lori *** = Begins with a fanfare. Mines that familiar One-Look-and,WOW!,-I'm-In-Love theme, but keeps up the melodic inventiveness, skirting the 80s' obsession with the Nah-nah-nuh-NAH-nah minor third melody only during the middle section, but they're forgiven after it's followed with a great guitar solo. It leads to the album title's appearance in the lyric. Ends the album (and I'd guess likely their concerts as well) in glory.

Over the decades I've become familiar with too many bands that have hit success with far less going for them in the grooves (he said, showing his age). And I've seen too many bands with piles of good songs (The Brains, and the aforementioned Kings and Records) not get very far. The Fire Apes' songs have broken in to the area of my brain packed with catchy songs. The Fire Apes deserve a break, and you can provide it. Give them a break, the chance to rattle around playfully in your personal area stuffed with catchy rock songs: Break out your wallets.

[forgive me for not knowing why amazon's graphic (the code below) doesn't load to the blog, as best as I can tell. For at least a day, I'm leaving the code in the entry, until I'm certain it's not visible. Anyone who can clue me in to what I should do to get it visible - your help is appreciated. Thanks!]

<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050IWV7C/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&tag=billrealmanst-20&linkCode=as2&camp=217145&creative=399349&creativeASIN=B0050IWV7C"><img border="0" src="http://ws.assoc-amazon.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&Format=_SL160_&ASIN=B0050IWV7C&MarketPlace=US&ID=AsinImage&WS=1&tag=billrealmanst-20&ServiceVersion=20070822" ></a><img src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=&l=as2&o=1&a=B0050IWV7C&camp=217145&creative=399349" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" />

 

©2011 Bill Stella.  Dancing To Architecture™, HowToFindTheBestMusic™, Bill Realman Radio™, Highest Common Denominator™ by Bill Stella.   All ©, ® & ™ items included in the column for review purposes are ©, ® & ™ their respective owners.

Architecture In Helsinki ~ Contact High

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxjcszKEcHE

Architecture In Helsinki: Their perpetual subtle and explicit moments when what-went-before is not the same as what's-happening-now lend a delectable taste of invention to most of their recordings.
"Contact High" continues their tradition of inventiveness, but with an air of sophistication that is inspired.
Previously, AIH were tribal wildlings, barely honing magically coincidental moments of order out of a chaos that seemed derived from whatever was hanging around and useful. Then, as I understand it, band leader Cameron Bird moved to Brooklyn, and here now they have this unique, savvy, contemporary dance-floor compatible sound that floors me as I want to find a piece of rug to cut.
What, I wonder, happened in Brooklyn?

Soapbox time: If anyone still believes (the reason for this Soapbox will become clear shortly) that Gay folks love Disco, Club music and Broadway (and to a slightly lesser extent the European Classical traditions) because of some innate genetic predisposition or cultural imperative -- GET OVER IT. Gay folks generally still find themselves attracted to those styles because the momentum continues almost as strong as ever, following decades when those were the musical styles most open to Gay folks either being Out or being most able to push their digits out of the closets. Rock and Roll, by comparison, has had its Glam Rock, and The Kinks' "Lola" and the androgynous aspects of The Beatles and The 'Stones, plus a few threads of gentler music and artsier types that wove around, but even today few people acknowledge Gay and Bisexual people behind every kind of mainstream rock from Little Richard to the Four Seasons to Judas Priest to Pink. Whether the credited front-of-the-stage, album cover artist or someone essential behind the scenes, Gay people are everywhere as creators of Rock and Roll -- But we're more often pushed into a closet there or self-repressed and recriminated there throughout its history than we are within Club music or Broadway. And that extends to Now.
Which (and here we go) leads to the incessant, continuous, ongoing guessing game of dealing with musicians whose art and image causes one to wonder "So are they Gay?"
As much as anyone, I wish this was a nearly-boring question, on the par of "So are they married?" I don't ask out of prurient interest. (Though I'll admit I'm only human, and musicians who are Gay and who I find are attractive men capture an extra helping of my attention.)
I ask because it should be more common-knowledge information.
(And here we really are getting to the point(s)):
The video for "Contact High" is a treasure trove of gaydar-inducing images.

• The lead character is androgynous. Short sideburns and some facial hair is not much to go on to establish male gender. But that's all we get.
• Sure, it's a men's suit. But a woman with a similar appearance and not-large breasts could fit those clothes.
• The hands have painted fingernails. But by being disembodied, they put extraordinary weight on fingernail polish as a secondary indicator of gender. One could perhaps be being deceived -- playfully, as part of the pleasures of confusion.
• Confusion itself - the sense that something is not quite right - is part of the video's underpinnings. It's a confusion that heightens desire. It leads to giving in to a kind of mysterious pleasure.

And yes, alright, I'm behaving highly analytical about a fun, beautiful video, one I have no desire to ruin. But, to me, it sometimes would be satisfying to learn whether an artist or musician is merely using Queer images, imagery that (in the language of the academic) is not hetero-normative, or whether a person, especially the musicians, especially the musician with the lead vision for the music, is simply telling us something about their sexuality.
If there was no video, the song "Contact High" comes with a vague bit of business possibly not intended as but conceivably a clue too: the several tiny moments when the falsetto male lead vocal sings "boy / you". Set in a song-style both similar to the spirit of AIH's past but with much more clean, "artistic" appeal, one can determine that the vocal is treated at those words to make the word "boy" both a little clipped to cause it to almost sneak by, and to make it pop.

I have never heard anything stating that anyone in Architecture In Helsinki is Gay or Lesbian or Bisexual or Trans or Queer or what - or Hetero for that matter (though I may vaguely recall I may have read about a band member's wife or girlfriend).

But I have to wonder -- aloud, in this instance -- whether Cameron is writing about a same-sex experience, something more or less new to him, in "Contact High".

Or perhaps it's just an interpretation with which I would like to enjoy it. Anyone with insight (or other comments) are welcome to respond.

Still, finally it remains, well, weird and bizarre are the only words for it, that in the vastness of what is broadly termed Indie Rock -- all the hundreds, no, thousands of bands and musicians percolating at levels that tend to barely dent the pop charts if they appear there at all, all these amazing creative folks, outside of a handful who identify as LesBiGayTr (and usually cultivate part of their fanbases among Queer folks), and another handful of Out Queer musicians who have done the right thing and mentioned the truth about their sexuality (whether they market themselves as such or not) -- there are not vast lines of Out Gay musicians stretching as far as the eye or the iPod can see.

Come Out, Come Out, wherever you are. Please.

Meanwhile:
Architecture In Helsinki are about to go on the United States & Canada leg of their tour. Dates below (the second digit : the ".06." : is the month, June) are taken directly from their website.

01.06.11	Henry Fonda Theater • Los Angeles, CA
02.06.11	Great American Music Hall • San Francisco, CA
03.06.11	Slim's • San Francisco, CA
04.06.11	Wonder Ballroom • Portland, OR
05.06.11	Venue • Vancouver, BC

06.06.11	Neumo's • Seattle, WA
09.06.11	Varsity Theatre • Minneapolis, MN
10.06.11	Lincoln Hall • Chicago, IL
11.06.11	The Mod Club • Toronto, ON
12.06.11	La Tulipe • Montreal, QC
13.06.11	Paradise • Boston, MA
16.06.11	Webster Hall • New York, NY
17.06.11	Black Cat • Washington DC
18.06.11	World Cafe • Philadelphia, PA

Anyone who could score this poor-boy (financially) tickets to their New York or Philadelphia gigs, please contact me! (See up top, at the end of this blog site's header.)

 

 ©2011 Bill Stella.  Dancing To Architecture™, HowToFindTheBestMusic™, Bill Realman Radio™, Highest Common Denominator™ by Bill Stella.   All ©, ® & ™ items included in the column for review purposes are ©, ® & ™ their respective owners.

Galactic - "Heart of Steel" featuring Irma Thomas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVWDyzZCKNg

[HCD][DTA]

Galactic: An amazing, underrated band with guest vocal by Irma Thomas, an amazing, underrated, veteran R&B master.

"Heart of Steel": My theme song for the day, one of them for the year -- the newest addition to my list of life songs. [Remind me to share that list some day.] 

√ Check the groove. √ Check the multi-tracked vocals. √ Check the lyric. 

¿ Wonder how something this brilliant didn't rise to the top of charts around the world.

 ©2011 Bill Stella.  Dancing To Architecture™, HowToFindTheBestMusic™, Bill Realman Radio™, Highest Common Denominator™ by Bill Stella.   All ©, ® & ™ items included in the column for review purposes are ©, ® & ™ their respective owners.