December 28, 2001 GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

evening'sout

Hot music for the new year

by Anthony Glassman

Millenium madness has passed. With the coming of 2002, the first year of the new century and millenium is over, and it's time to get on with the next 999 years.

That being said, music forms the soundtrack of the age. From wandering minstrels in the Middle Ages to the smoky jazz of speakeasies in the Harlem Renaissance, music reflects where people are, what they are thinking, what they believe in and virtually every other aspect of their lives.

So what is the music of today? Take a listen to these CDs and take the pulse of the postmodern zeitgeist.

The Wage is the Stage

Ember Swift

Few'll Ignite Sound

Ember Swift is a Canadian singer and songwriter who, along with her backup band, has released a half-dozen records. She is also the driving force behind Few'll Ignite Sound, the company she started to distribute and promote her work, as well as function as a resource for

other independent musicians.

Asked if Ember is bisexual or a lesbian, her press agent said, "Ember is so mber Swift queer, she's played

Mardi Gras in Australia!" For those who don't know, Mardi Gras is Sydney's big gay pride event.

Her music definitely reflects her queerness. She is as transgressive in her mixing of musical styles and wry humor as she is upfront about her dykedom. Each track lists its "style" next to the name: funk-rock, jazzfolk, folk-comedy, cow-punk, mid-eastAsian-folk. Seriously. They're all listed.

It's a great disc, well worth picking up. It's hard to pin down, though, so those wanting it should probably ask the record store clerk to look it up instead of wandering from section to section.

Better yet, catch her live. She'll be playing the Symposium in the Cleveland suburb of Lakewood on January 17 with local goddess Tracy Marie and opening act Jotnar.

Lucky for Some

Boy George

More Protein Records

Singer, songwriter, DJ, record label head and all-around icon Boy George is back with a compilation on his own label, More Protein Records.

BOY GEOT

Much like his Essential Mix: Boy George, get ready for some major gayfriendly dance tracks. Boy likes to get people moving and keep them that way.

The album also comes with a bonus disk of a cappella tracks from his label, including Ezee Possee's "Everything Starts with an E" and Boogie Macs' "The Girl from Ipanema.” Oy.

Live in Philadelphia Voices on the Verge Rykodisc

What happens when four women, all of

VOICES ON THE VERGE

the singer-songwriter variety, bring their varied and disparate experiences to a folk band? This is what happens.

It's fairly mellow, but a certain sardonic wit informs the record. There are some jazzy touches infusing it as well; is that an oboe or a clarinet playing? Hmm... quite odd. Good, but odd.

Of course, a lot of the strangeness could have to do with the interaction of the two straight women with bisexual Beth Amsel and lesbian Erin McKeown.

They also come through Ohio on a semiregular basis, especially McKeown, who all but has her own fan club in Oberlin.

Spoon Amy Fix

Ooh, a self-released lesbian folk album. She's got her own web site, http:// www.amyfix.com, but any decent record store should be able to order the CD.

It's a cute record, kind of reminiscent of early Indigo Girls, only without the harmonizing. She doesn't seem to take life very seriously, which is probably a good idea in

the modern world.

Also, in case anyone is wondering, Fix says the comic book character Tick stole his "Spoon!" battle cry from her, and not vice versa. There are also references to licking spoons; it might be the new slang.

Curbside

I REMEMBER

DREW, I'D LIKE FOR YOU TO MEET NATHAN. NATHAN IS MOVING INTO STAN'S OLD ROOM.

HI!

um,hi.

..WHEN I FIRST MET HIM I SAID TO MYSELF, "THIS BOY HAS NEVER HAD A SINGLE REGRET IN HIS ENTIRE LIFE."

HE WAS MY DREAM COME TRUE.

our

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first

Very Introspective, Actually Various Artists

Dancing Ferret Discs

Run. Hide the children, lock up your spouses and put up the barricades. It's a Pet Shop Boys tribute record.

With a very few exceptions, tribute compilations absolutely bite. Stone Free, col-

very introspective, actually

Pure 2/5

she got they h

lecting covers of Jimi Hendrix

songs, was pretty nifty, and there have been some other good ones.

This one inhabits that shadowy limbo between "cool" and "sucks." At almost exactly 69 minutes, with 15 tracks, there are a variety of takes on the Pet Shop Boys' dancy ouevre. Mostly, they come from a new wave/industrial viewpoint. They're all danceable, but some seem more like someone making a joke at the listener's expense. Others, like Endanger's version of “Suburbia," are actually pretty darn groovy. The Boys' seminal tune, "West End Girls," is almost completely unrecognizable, falling into the land of the darkwave.

The Frogs

Evening Primrose Stephen Sondheim Nonesuch Records

Stephen Sondheim is one of the most respected composers of the last half of the 20th century.

I WAS INTIMIDATED AND GAVE HIM NOTHING BUT ATTITUDE.

kiss

WAS A BLISSFUL COUPLE OF YEARS...

Primary Areas of Practice Includes

Criminal Defense

Commercial and Civil Litigation

Wills/Durable Power of Attorney

Domestic Partnership Agreements

SO WHATCHA DOIN'??

WRITING.

DIT

DASH

DIT

SCRIB

SCR

HEY; NATHAN! CHECK OUT WHAT I NABBED AT THE VIDEO STORE: THE LAST COPY OF "BEAUTIFUL THING THE GAY TEENS-IN-LOVE FILM! YOU WANNA WATCH IT WITH ME TONIGHT?

His musicals are considered prime examples of what the form can be at its greatest. Into the Woods, for one, is the perfect mix of humor, innocence, violence and seduction, set to absolutely otherworldly music. And, of course, Sondheim's gay.

STEPHEN SONDHEIM

Evening Primrose

Now, however, Nonesuch Records is releasing two lesser-known Sondheim works on one disc. The Frogs

is based on an

ancient Greek

comedy, while Evening Primrose was adapted from a John Collier story.

The Frogs was produced by the Yale Repertory Theater for one week in 1974, while Evening Primrose was written for an ABC theater anthology series called Stage '67. where it appeared. Together, the two are the only Sondheim works that have never been released in their entirety.

That has now changed.

Nathan Lane, who tore up Broadway with his role in the revival of Sondheim's A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, sings with Brian Stokes Mitchell and Davis Gaines in The Frogs, while Theresa McCarthy and Doogie Howser, er, Neil Patrick Harris perform Evening Primrose. Who knew the kid could sing?

For devotees of musical theater, this is an absolute must-have. Two lost works by the master are enough reason to buy it, but it also comes with 66 pages of liner notes in a nice slipcover case. Good sounding and goodlooking.

GEE. SOUNDS LIKE FUN, DREW, BUT I'VE GOT OTHER PLANS SORRY.

EVENTUALLY, I ADMITTED TO MYSELF THAT I WAS MAD ABOUT HIM, AND HAD BEEN, RIGHT FROM THE GET-GO.

by Robert Kirby

BEAUTIFUL AND A LITTLE BIT FUCKED UP...

YEAH? WELL, WHAT YOU'VE GOT TO SHOW FOR YOURSELF IS A HELLUVA LOT MORE THAN WHAT I'VE GOT! THINK ABOUT IT: ALL I DO ALL DAY LONG IS SERVE ESPRESSO TO PEOPLE, AND I'M NOT EVEN GOOD AT THAT! I HAVEN'T EVEN PRACTICED ON MY GUITAR IN TWO YEARS! I'M A FAILURE.

I TOLD HIM EVERYTHING, INCLUDING

THOSE

THREE FAMOUS

WORDS..

DREW! YOU..

I REMEMBER A LINE FROM THIS WOODY ALLEN MOVIE THAT ASKS," IS A MEMORY SOMETHING YOU HAVE, OR SOMETHING YOU'VE LOST?" IN THIS CASE, I THINK IT'S BOTH.

LOVE YOU.

BUT NATHAN MY IRRESISTIBLE DREAMBOYWILL NEVER EVER BELONG TO ANYONE EXCLUSIVELY.

PRIMERICA J

Amember of citigroup

2001 BY ROBERT KIRBY-

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