Not all punk was serious or angry: here’s The Toy Dolls, who were insane live, a speedfreak’s dream. (The 1st song is dedicated to my NYC friends.)
Category: music
Kevin Barnes: Of Montreal and Of the Next Wave
Posted by – August 29, 2010
This interview with Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal is too cool. Wow: queer straight guys are really starting to exist. It makes me so happy.
The void came in handy when the family moved to staid Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. His brain still smoldering, young Barnes disappeared into his music. When he wasn’t writing songs about his desperate lust for girls, he was fantasizing about being attracted to boys. “I was more feminine than the other straight guys, and I got picked on,” says Barnes, who speaks in a fey whisper, so this is easy to imagine. “I was like, if I’m going to get picked on, I might as well be gay. Then I would at least have a support group, and we could isolate ourselves and be in that world together.” Being gay also seemed more interesting. “I romanticize homosexuality. Most of the gay guys I met were smart and so many of the straight guys were dipshits, especially in South Florida. I wanted to be part of the more elegant caste.” But Barnes never found a serious boyfriend—making out has been the extent of his homosexuality, which is why he says he’s not gay. “I’ve never had a connection where I wanted to tear a guy’s clothes off. I’ve been open to it. Maybe I haven’t found the right guy.”
Wow. It’s been cool for women to admit to such things for a long while now, but for guys? Not so much. Ah, brave new world, you can’t get here fast enough.
Two Tune Tuesday: Off the Beaten 80s Path
Posted by – August 17, 2010
I was recently at my brother’s wedding, and I remembered the song “Heaven” but not the group – I initially thought it might be Martha + the Muffins.
Bye for Now
Posted by – August 6, 2010
This Leadbelly track came up in my shuffle just as I was finishing packing, so enjoy it while I’m driving west & away.
Two Tune Tuesday: Sly & the Family Stone
Posted by – July 20, 2010
After James Brown, their tracks have to be the most heavily sampled; some of you, I bet, will know snippets of melody from some other song. I’m regularly disappointed when I hear a Sly Stone riff and it turns out to be some song I’ve never heard and not the original.
“A pretty face / a pretty face / & oh what a gorgeous mind…”
Two Tune Tuesday: Dusty Springfield
Posted by – July 13, 2010
(Apparently it was only the daughter of a preacher man who could ever reach her, by the way.)
Happy Birthday Deborah Harry
Posted by – July 1, 2010
Debbie Harry turns 65 today. This is her at 63:
May we all look so good – and point out bullshit as clearly – as we enter our 6th decade.
(h/t to Lena)
Two Tune Tuesday: Inspired by Juneteenth
Posted by – June 29, 2010
I went to a Juneteenth celebration – yes, here in Appleton, Wisconsin – and one band did a bunch of familiar R&B; I don’t know if it’s age or what, but I have really started to love the soul side of things. Philly soul next week!
Classical Music (& Class)
Posted by – June 23, 2010
Lawrence University, where Rachel & I work, has a Conservatory as well — which for me means tons of free, cool music. I go see a lot of things I never went to see in NYC; as I was explaining, in NYC, classical music often costs a lot, and when it doesn’t, it means sitting with a million people in Central Park to hear/see it. Ditto for opera, and often for jazz, too.
Here, I go a lot, although I’ve never known much about classical music, and along comes this cool series from Atlantic Monthly about how to listen to (& appreciate) classical music. I’ve had people give me CDs (the music medium, not the type of trans person) in the past, but for me – live is the thing. I prefer all of my music live & in person, pretty much, & now feel like I’ve been incredibly spoiled to have so much of it around so much of the time as a NYC resident. I went to see a Chinese classical performer, here, for instance, & couldn’t remember where I’d seen someone play that kind of instrument before, until I remembered: the W 4th Street subway. It’s one of the things I miss most, all the found music in NYC – guys playing plastic buckets, folk singers in Washington Square Park – but the Con makes up for a lot.
Two Tune Tuesday: Franz Ferdinand
Posted by – June 15, 2010
Maybe you’ve had enough Franz Ferdinand
Two Tune Tuesday: Drugs
Posted by – June 1, 2010
I was recently explaining having been straightedge in the mid 80s to friends who’d never heard of it, and heard tell that these days, straightedge kids drink but don’t do any illegal drugs, & to that I say: feh. The whole idea was to be raw to the universe, with no pain-bearing barriers. & For the record, some of us weren’t self-righteous or judgmental; we just got tired of being asked if we wanted a beer.
FWIW, I never did like most of the music made by straightedge bands, but preferred music by guys like Mark E. Smith, who “took some of these.”
Athens Boys Choir
Posted by – May 21, 2010
As a kind of postscript to Amos Mac and Original Plumbing here’s Athens Boys Choir:
Athens Boys Choir is a he, not a them, and he comes with a huge sense of humor. I’m sure plenty of people won’t appreciate what he’s up to, along the lines of: is he a trans guy? or a drag king? both? is a man who wants to date a man but who can handle a vagina a gay man or what?
I don’t know, but I love it.
Two Tune Tuesday: Power & Beauty
Posted by – May 18, 2010
These two ladies have gorgeous voices. You might know Corinne Bailey Rae from her “I’d Like To” (which, imho, is one of the sexiest come on songs ever recorded), and Janelle Monae has a new CD out 
Do take note of this bit of lyrics from “Sincerely, Jane:”
Teacher, teacher please reach those girls in them videos
The little girls just broken Queen, confusing bling for soul
Danger, there’s danger when you take off your clothes, all your dreams go down the drain girl
Sing it!
New Rufus Wainwright
Posted by – May 4, 2010
I already did a Two Tune Tuesday, for Rufus Wainwright, so today I’m just going to tell you he’s got a new record out, called All Days Are Nights: Songs for Lulu, and there’s a cool review of it in Viceland.
He’s also on tour all over the place (but when will he be in Milwaukee, at last!)
I have no idea what Rufus Wainwright fans are called. Rufusians?
Pirate Metal Extravaganza
Posted by – May 3, 2010
Adam Ant Live – for the first time since 1995. There’s a track list at ALF, and a great review – including Adam’s post-show meltdown – by my old friend Helen Howard.
Red Scab Returns (or, Adam Ant is Back)
Posted by – April 29, 2010
Oh, because I have to: I just read the first really good interview with Adam Ant in forever and a day, AND he’s shown up on boingboing as well.
I guess you know you’re famous when a costume company sells a pre-fab costume of you, eh?
Adam Ant is playing live again, which pretty much kills me because I’m not in London. He’s also turned up for gigs with Gary Numan, and the Glitter Band.
But he’s also playing with a new band, and has finally figured out that people want to hear him do the old punk stuff, like “It Doesn’t Matter” and “Red Scab.”
I so wish I could be there, but at least he’s back.
Two Tune Tuesday: Got a Groove?
Posted by – April 27, 2010
I’m not much into “music to do drugs by” but these two tracks have appealed to me lately: the Hot Chip has some New Order resonance, and Animal Collective – at least this track – strikes me as an odd combo of Paul Winter and Adrien Belew.
