Channeling My Inner Shirley Bassey

Now THIS is how you do gender-twisted drag! I could listen to McAlmont every single day. And covering Bassey, on my favorite Bond theme ever? Heaven.

Because Music This Good Shouldn't Disappear In The Mists Of Time

Everyone's got their favorite obscure obsessions, right? One of mine snuck into my brain today and wouldn't let go -- electronic art combo Propaganda. Their debut album, A Secret Wish, hinted at greatness, but the band disbanded soon after. (Reformations over the next two decades never recaptured the magic, probably due to the loss of iconic vocalist Claudia Brücken).

This was smart pop...and for those of you young'uns obsessed with Lady GaGa, "smart pop" is something we used to have back in the olden days, when you bought your music at an actual store, on plastic circles called "CDs," which we listened to on "stereos". Also back then, lyrics were full of things called "ideas," and we had songs that had more than three chords. [/geezer rant]

Best Albums of (The First Half of) 2009

If 2008 was a golden year for television, 2009 is shaping up to be equally historic for pop music. Sure, the industry itself is floundering, desperately searching for a profitable new business model. But while they (make us) suffer, musical artists are jumping into the breach by doing what they do best...with extraordinary results. Here are my favorites of the year so far...

15. Frankmusik, Complete Me
I'm not as wild about him as the rest of the blogosphere, but "Confusion Girl" is as fine a slice of pop as you could ever want.

14. The Bird and the Bee, Ray Guns Are Not The Future
The endlessly inventive lounge/electro act's sophomore disc lacks some of the wow factor of their debut, but it's still essential listening.

13. Fischerspooner, Entertainment
Solid musicality is evident in ever single track...a quality that unwittingly transforms them from downtown hipsters into elder statesmen of 21st-century electronica.

12. Grace Jones, Hurricane
Almost a year after its first worldwide appearance, Grace's latest opus came out in the States. But I've still got William's Blood in me.

11. Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D.
Reinvention for the world's biggest rap/pop hybrid was probably necessary...but finding inspiration in the sounds of European club music was unexpectedly fertile ground to dig into.

And now, the top ten...

10. Antony and the Johnsons, The Crying Light
Wholly unique, Antony Hegarty is the rarest of popular musicians: an iconoclast whose talent for superb songwriting can't be ignored, even in a world that gives us crap like the Jonas Brothers.

9. Phoenix, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
There are a million reasons to love Phoenix, but for me, it's their subtlety. I get something new every time I listen.

8. Maxwell, BLACK Summers' Night
Yes, this isn't officially out until Tuesday. But as someone who has worn out his advance copy over the last two weeks, I can only say...thank God, thank GOD, he's back.

7. Black Room, Pop Noir
KulPop and XO introduced me to this band (back when they were called Lorraine). Now under the name Black Room, their album got absolutely zero promotion, which is a shame, because it's features some of the finest, shiniest pop symphonies of the year. Do yourself a favor and grab it on iTunes.

6. Empire of the Sun, Walking On A Dream
EOTS is a love-them-or-hate-them kind of band: the repetitive beats, the dramatic costumes, the over-the-top makeup, the weird mythology. Count me among the "love-them" crowd. Especially "We Are The People," my favorite club track of the year.

5. Pet Shop Boys, Yes
Almost 25 years after their debut, the Boys have released one of their most accessible, most energetic albums. Considering that PSB are preternaturally melancholy, that energy is an odd fit, but ultimately a fulfilling one. "Did You See Me Coming" is their best single since 2002's "Home and Dry."

4. Passion Pit, Manners
I'm completely obsessed with this record. Seriously, I play it over and over and over. Something about their orchestrations, the daring of their imagination. It's truly exciting, beyond what you might expect from a college indie phenomenon.

3. Gossip, Music For Men
Beth Ditto is God. You heard it here first. And this record is so hot, it may be responsible for global warming.

2. Napoleon, Bohemians Won The Series and the Little Guy Joined The Band
My favorite find of the year is this Swedish retro-soul act, who mix the satirical melancholy of Morrissey with the effervescence of Marvin Gaye. The perfect summer beach party album. My favorite song of the year: "I Try To Despise The Ugly Ones (But The Beautiful Ones Keep Turning Me Down)".

1. Lily Allen, It's Not Me, It's You
No one is more surprised than me that Lily is at the top of my list...after listening to her 2007 debut, I wrote her off as an Amy Winehouse wannabe. Boy, what a difference a producer makes! Greg Kurstin of The Bird and The Bee gave Lily a new focus and an au currant instrumentation. "The Fear" could well be the song of the post-Bush generation, and "Fuck You" might be the equal rights anthem we've all be searching for.

And now, some other categories...

Best EP: Del Marquis, Character Assassination
Best Show Album (Tie): Original Broadway Cast, Rock of Ages; New Broadway Cast, Hair
Best Retrospective: Annie Lennox, The Annie Lennox Collection
Best Mashups: Bootrospective, Pet Shop Boys

Honorable Mentions (In Alphabetical Order): Alcazar, Disco Defenders; Basia, It's That Girl Again; Depeche Mode, Sounds of the Universe; The Juan McLean, The Future Will Come; Junior Boys, Begone Dull Care; Kelly Clarkson, All I Ever Wanted; Kristine W, The Power of Music; Lady Sovereign, Jigsaw; Morrissey, Years of Refusal; Original Cast Record, Road Show; Royksopp, Junior

And The Rest Of 2009 Looks Good, Too: new albums on the way from Sade, Adam Lambert, Prefab Sprout, Imogen Heap, Lucky Soul, Dragonette, La Roux, Corinne Bailey Rae, Kleerup, Modest Mouse, The Roots, The Avalanches, D'Angelo, and Mika, among others.

The (Few) Disappointments So Far: U2, Noisettes, Daniel Merriweather, Antigone

A Disturbing Stonewall Anniversary Moment

40 years to the day from the historic Stonewall Rebellion -- when police raided the namesake bar and arrested patrons on trumped-up charges because they were gay -- the same thing has happened again, in Texas. Why isn't this kind of brutal police bigotry national news? And for that matter, why aren't the major television networks covering the Stonewall anniversary at all?

It's important for all LGBTQ people to celebrate this moment, and to enjoy ourselves and our few hard-won freedoms. But the important flipside of pride, as Quentin Crisp famously noted, is the absence of shame. It's important that we make sure we are heard, seen...and that prejudice like that in Ft. Worth isn't allowed a place in the 21st century.

A Lesson In Karma: When Big, Hypocritical Celebrity Bloggers Get Exactly What They Deserve

H

If you follow me on Twitter, you know that I've delighted greatly in this story over the last few days; in my opinion, anyone who punches He Who Shall Not Be Linked in the face should be celebrated as a national hero. Few daydreams give me more pleasure than the ones in which I give Perez a massive beatdown. Call me a bastard if you want, but to paraphrase Stewie Griffin, I say Perez's uppance has finally come.

Yes, I know, violence is never the answer...especially when there's barely even a question. If there's anything to be learned from this sad affair, it's this:

1) Perez is an unaccountable liar. (Turns out Will.I.Am didn't punch him at all, as he claimed. It was a bodyguard, and Perez knew it, but he decided to drag Will's name through the mud anyway.)

2) It is now acceptable to admit to liking the Black Eyed Peas' new CD, The E.N.D.

3) The true savagery of this story isn't Perez's exaggeration of the "punch" (breaking news -- Perez somehow survived), but his use of a particularly homophobic epithet that led to the fracas. If you haven't heard, Perez ended his verbal catfight by calling Will a "faggot." Yes, kids...the big fat homo is a big fat 'phobe.

If you're like me, you got hip to Perez's poisonously hypocritical bullshit years ago, and this new wrinkle is unsurprising. But like the (totally gorgeous and brilliantly funny) FourFour pointed out yesterday, most people do not realize that Perez is a human wastebin; in fact, he's one of the most successful bloggers of all time, benefiting from lowest common denominator gossip and hateful idiocy. In a medium where great, passionate, talented writers like Nathaniel struggle and work incredibly hard to be professionally successful, it's a travesty that Bigmouth has a wholly undeserved platform for his adolescent bile.

I know Perez has recently been reinventing himself as a nascent equality advocate. But that's as phony as his hair color. Exposing Carrie Prejean last spring was really, really easy...and both she and Perez got a lot of mileage out of that shared moment. Now that his true nature has been revealed -- even after being called out by GLAAD, he refused to apologize for the epithet -- it'll be interesting to see if his fans stick by him...or decide to move on to better, wittier, funnier gossip sites. Or at least, sites that don't call people "faggot" as a slur.

UPDATE: Finally he's apologized, from the bottom of what he calls a heart.

Getting Pumped (For Gay Pride)

There's no better way to get in the mood for Gay Pride this week than to watch the greatest documentary about LGBT history ever made: The Times Of Harvey Milk. If you only know Harvey's story from last year's Sean Penn film, or (gasp) don't know him at all, this is required viewing. And it's free on YouTube, which makes it the perfect I-should-be-working diversion.

And to all the disappointed, weak-willed gay political leaders in America fumbling the marriage debate (yes, that means you, Barney), this is what courage is SUPPOSED to look like.

ModMusic: Kristine W "The Power Of Music"

In the life span of dance divas, thirteen years is an eternity. So who can blame Kristine W, after seven releases, thirteen Billboard #1 dance hits, a life-threatening battle with leukemia and a vastly changed industry, for changing up the formula on her new CD, The Power of Music? How long can a dance artist keep the bass and beats going?

To claim that The Power of Music is "new" is itself a reinvention; four of the album's sixteen tracks -- "Walk Away," "Never," a cover of Diana Ross' disco confection "The Boss," and "Love Is The Look" -- have been previously released in the last two years, all to massive club success...with a fifth single, "Be Alright," poised to join them. Like all dance artists in these uncertain times, Kristine is experimenting with formats (EPs, CDs, web releases, etc.), release dates, delivery mechanisms, and styles (the era of Timbaland-style production having mercifully come to an end...now if we can only get rid of Auto-Tune).

But a funny thing happened to Kristine on the way to her fourth full-length recording...she dipped her toe, ever so gently, into nostalgia. "Be Alright" isn't a dance floor stomper, but a midtempo pop-rock riff (courtesy of guitar legend George Lynch) that wouldn't be out of place on a Celine Dion or Shania Twain disc from the 90's. (I confess to vastly preferring the remixes, including the Boris Blind Faith Mix, which you can download for free here.) Snatched from the 1980's, iconic rapper Big Daddy Kane offers up an overblown guest appearance in the album's title track. To top it off, Kristine cribs from her own back catalog with a re-recorded version of her 1994 single "Feel What U Want."

In fact, it isn't until one reaches "Never," a quarter of the way through The Power of Music, that Kristine's signature house-disco asserts itself and the disc begins to soar. "Never" is a phenomenal work of thundering energy, featuring fierce wails over an insistent pulsing beat. A superb new bootie-shaker called "Window To You World" is the obvious follow-up single, and "Groove's Inside" recalls underground legends like Alison Limerick and Shawn Christopher.

Kristine's one Achilles Heel, balladry, has occasionally thrown off the flow of previous recordings; neither her powerful voice, nor her disposition for synths and drums, suit the form well. Luckily, The Power of Music sees only two of them, and only one is truly misguided ("Not So Merry Go Round"). Experiments with guitars and retro stylings aside, The Power of Music keeps a dancefloor legend in the currents of modern pop without sacrificing what put her there in the first place.