Lemonade

Diver

True Panther

This is pleasant enough to listen to, but there isn’t a lot of substance here either. The way the band uses 80s/90s R&B is enjoyable musically and lyrically. It’s also a sound that has been done to death, and there isn’t enough of their own sound in the mix to really define them as anything more than an update, one that could have had more heft and originality. So, something good for playing in the background, for dancing, but not so good for anything that requires a lot of thought. http://www.facebook.com/lemonadetheband

Andrea Weiss

Check Yo Ponytail 2

Light Asylum Chelsea Wolfe, Tearist, Violet Tremors and Slow Motion DJS.

Self-Released

The latest mixtape from Light Asylum features these bands/DJs, and it moves from early 80s new wave disco, through late 80s electronica, the 90s with a great reimagining of NIN’s Sin, to Bauhaus like goth at the end. The pace is fast and frenetic, a full 33 minutes of everything-and- the-kitchen-sink dance music, perfect for clubbing, and for getting anything done that needs to done fast It’s a lot of fun to listen to, and the energy will leave anyone feeling refreshed and ready for whatever comes next.

Andrea Weiss

.LIGHT ASYLUM http://www.lightasylum.com/ CHELSEA WOLF http://www.chelseawolfe.net/TEARISThttp://www.facebook.com/pages/TearistVIOLET TREMORS http://www.facebook.com/Violet.Tremors2

The Dig

Midnight Flowers

Buffalo Jump Records

This New York band seems to be taking the Arcade Fire’s The Suburbs as their starting point. Not as a clone band, but for their own music, warm mellow pop. They are wise about relationships, and they know themselves well. They are calm on the surface, but below that disquiet, mostly about the vexing situation they’ve gotten themselves into. The music reflects that, while highlighting their gentle quirks, and idiosyncrasies. A very good debut, full of promise for a great young band.

Andrea Weiss

https://www.facebook.com/thedig

MEN will make you dance. Their melodic, very catchy music instantly gets me shimmying around whatever room of my apartment I’m in. They will also make you get active--about feminism, G/L/B/T/Q rights, and many other issues. That makes them a favorite of mine.

Recently, I had a chance to interview JD Samson, leader of MEN, gender outlaw, and a very cool person. I thank her very, very much for answering my questions.

Andrea Weiss: This is really good feminist dance/rock. Do you feel like you’re carrying feminism onward?

JD Samson: I’m really happy to be involved in another wave of feminist art. I think I'm a carrier of the movement. Not the only carrier. But I have my hands on things for sure.

AW: Do you want to make people think as well as dance?

JD: I want people to use their brains while they do everything they do. I want artwork to always be conceptual. Not everyone has to understand, but the work I do is important in my own soul because it has multiple meanings and it is a way to express interest in what goes on around us as human beings.

AW: How do you feel music has changed since the 90s, especially for out artists?

JD : In the 90s I think people were actually talking about things in music. REM, B52's, Nirvana, these bands ruled the airwaves, and their music was self reflective and it was political. Nowadays I think we are lacking that sense of humanity. we are looking at music as a shallow background thump. An avenue of which to get us somewhere simple. Not complex. I think that goes for out artists as well. We are trying to fit in to the mainstream. Even I can admit I try. But then in the end i come out feeling like I need to be me. That's what is important.

AW: MEN is one of the most visible out bands. How do you feel about L/G/B/T/Q issues moving into the musical mainstream?

JD: Like I said I hope for LGBTQ artists to be able to maintain their own spirit and selves while being respected for who they are.

AW: Who are your influences.

JD: Tribe-8. Talking Heads. Young Jean Lee.

AW: What comes first, music or lyrics?

JD: Depends on the song. Every one is different. Sometimes I write words and then sing them to melody. And sometimes melody happens with words that don't make sense. And then I fill it in.

AW: Do you feel your music is making a difference, as in making people inspired to get active?

JD: I hope that people see someone who cares about the future. That people are inspired to move around and start thinking about how we can change. that we are all inspired to think about art together in a room. All of this I wish I can do.

AW: Are you happy with Obama on L/G/B/T/Q! rights?

JD: I think Obama has done more than a lot of other presidents in terms of LGBTQ issues and I hope he will do more in his next term.

AW: Any good music we should we be keeping an ear out for?

JD Kimann Foxman, Creep, Anika, Light Asylum, Venus X

Andrea Weiss

Dot Hacker

Inhibition

ORG Records

A very mellow experimental rock band from Los Angeles, Dot Hacker is made up of Josh Klinghoffer, Clint Walsh, Eric Gardner and Jonathan Hischke. Klinghoffer plays guitar for the Red Hot Chilli peppers, and the rest of the band have played with people ranging from Beck to Gnarls Barkley.

But within the enjoyably mellow, somewhat danceable music are edgy lyrics about alienation, confusion, weariness, depression, and sadness, all sung with out any self-pity, whining, or anti-social content. These are great lyrics. Dark themes are dealt with smartly in the right ways.

This full-length debut is a follow up to an EP out earlier this year, and both are extremely good. May many more albums follow from this band. [www.orgmusic.com/artists/dot-hacker/]

Andrea Weiss

Portland Cello Project

Homage

Self Released

This is a really cute idea. Take classical music, a mini orchestra composed mainly of cellos, and have it cover hip-hop. While the idea does work, as this is good music that is fun to listen to, the joke can make one wince. Not because it’s a good joke on classical music, but because it covers up the non-stop homophobia and sexism of hip-hop.

While I am absolutely sure that the PCP is not homophobic and sexist, nor is its music, when so many suffer from the effects of homophobia and sexism, reducing the original hip-hop songs this orchestra covers to an ironic joke is bad irony and an unfunny joke. Why? Because it still is a cover up, and a cover up G/L/B/T/Q people and their straight allies don’t need. As a lesbian, I was not amused. In the end, caveat emptor. [http://www.facebook.com/portlandcelloproject]

Andrea Weiss

Andre Williams and the Sadies

Night and Day

Yep Roc Records

All-star albums like this one aren’t supposed to work. Too many moving parts, and nothing meshes. Or it works for a song or two, and the rest is dross.

Night and Day is one of the rare albums of this type that does work from start to finish. The sessions for this album began in 2008, when Williams was 70 and still addicted to drugs and drink, but clean by the time the sessions were finished. The result is a great album, an album that Williams and producer Jon Spencer worked hard to get everything to mesh, and it’s to their credit that they formed a good team and synced everything up just right.

Williams does have a lot to say: everything from, “Jail ain’t no fun,” to, “stay out of Mississippi,” to his dark take on being poor in America, and thanking God that he’s still alive (Williams is Jewish.) His tender side is shown in his duet with Sally Timms on “That’s My Desire,” and his giving the woman he dated and took good care of back to her boyfriend after he gets out of jail on “Your Old Lady.” There is also the romance of “Hey Baby.”

Musically, punky blues and country. The Sadies are wonderful throughout. Timms and Kelly Hogan’s sublime backing vocals on “I Got to Get Shorty Out of Jail,” and choice cameos from the likes of Jon Langford, the Gories, Matt Verta-Ray of Heavy Trash, and Danny Kroha. Put them all together and this is an album that rolls adroitly and sprightly rocks hotly and nimbly. It will be out May 15^th. www.thesadies.com

http://www.yeproc.com/artists/the-sadies

http://www.facebook.com/TheSadies

https://twitter.com/#!/thesadies

Andrea Weiss

Willis Earl Beal

Acousmatic Sorcery

Hot Charity/XL Recordings

Lo-Fi folk, blues and rap. Lo-Fi not by using vintage equipment, but because found instruments, a $20 microphone, and a cheap karaoke machine recorder was all he could afford, working as a night porter in a motel in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

These songs are very compelling. He makes more music, more good sound from found objects and a roughly recorded guitar than a whole band could do in a million-dollar studio. And while the lyrics speak of bad times, down times, boredom and listlessness, the music, and his singing, is so strong that a cloudy day becomes a whole world, with all a world like that has to offer.

Tom Waits, a favorite of Beal, sometimes did music like this, although a bit more produced. So did Taj Mahal, and while there is a lot of Waits here, there is also a lot of Mahal’s warm, rounded sound, too. That Beal could be placed in their context says a lot about how good he is, how talented he is, and why this album is absolutely perfect for quiet and late nights. [http://www.willisearlbeal.com/]

Andrea Weiss

Club Sounds: An Interview with Slick Shoota:

I don’t go to clubs often, so I am not as fluent in club music as I could be. But I do know good club music when I hear it. Slick Shoota is one of the good ones. His music jumped out at me the first time I heard his EP, and gives me a charge every time I hear it. He is a producer from Trondheim, Norway, and this is his debut EP. He was also kind enough to answer a few of my questions, and I thank him for that.

Andrea Weiss

Andrea Weiss: What do you want your songs to mean to people?

Slick Shoota: I just want people to enjoy the tracks basically, the meaning of the tracks will vary from person to person i guess, that's what's beautiful about music isn't it, you make your own soundtrack to life with the tracks you feel fit to any given situation. If it's in the club though, I want people to feel like they can't resist dancing and brocking out. I mean, i can make deep tunes that's not really dancefloor destroyers but my main aim is to create a vibe that makes people want to have a good time.

AW: Do you start with a rhythm or melody when writing songs?

SS: Most of the time it's the drums, cause that's the basics of the tune and if you have a solid drum groove i find it's easier to build around that. I don't have any "rules" as to how i approach a tune though. I can sit and just browse my sample library for ages and if i find a sample that has potential, I can work with chopping that up first, for a good while, try different variations and then build the rest of the tune around that.

AW: You use vocals so well, who are the vocalists, and how did they contribute to the writing of the lyrics?

SS: It's mostly just samples chopped up to the unrecognizable to be honest, unless it's remixes where the original has great vocals like the Murder Mark - Bad Bitches Drop It Low remix I did. I definitely want to work with real vocalists on my own original tracks in the future though!

AW: How did you get started in music?

SS: I was a big jungle and drum n bass head from an early age, so it was from getting into that scene that I wanted to learn production as well. So I just started trying out software and stuff like that you know. After a while i took a years music production course and learned producing more professionally. I've always had school and jobs and stuff taking up alot of time though, so it's first like in the last three years or so i feel like I've created my own sound that I'm comfortable with.

AW: You mix styles very well, does that help you open up a song, and play around with it?

SS: Thank you. It's not something I think about when starting a track. I just find a vibe and go with the flow. A while back I found myself a bit tied up in "the rules" of genres and how other peoples production sounded. I think I've managed to get away from that though. Now I just make a tracks, no matter the vibe or style, in my own way.

AW: I hear jazz and 70s R&B in the mix. Are they two types of music you’ve been influenced by?

SS: I don't listen to it that much, but yeah I'm definitely influenced by it through sample culture and that. I'm a bit all over the place that way i guess, I just love blending all different styles and make club music you know!

Slick Shoota

8 Bit Beauty EP

Loose Squares

The voices pop out of the mix, joyfully and excitedly, singing Slick’s name, and other things like “I love you”. The music flows alongside, nimbly, like a ball in a pinball machine, and just as much fun. Slick Shoota, a club artist from Norway, made his first EP for Loose Squares a dandy, fun to dance to, and also fun doing anything involving motion. A great debut all around.

Andrea Weiss