Ellen Demos’s debut recording Osmosis is a jazz vocal workout that will jar your senses and move your soul. Demos reaches far down into her being and convincingly uses her vocal talents to her advantage by making her voice the primary instrument on the album.
A techno context for her music isn’t that unusual. Sarah McLachlan’s music career has soared because she is an open-minded artist….
You probably wouldn’t be too far off-base if you called Ari Gold the “poor man’s Justin Timberlake.” It might be a bit more accurate, however, to describe him as the “gay man’s Justin Timberlake.” This young Jewish boy from the Bronx grew up with a taste for R&B and has tethered that to his music in a most unorthodox manner.
At the forefront of every great movement there are great people directing those movements. The legendary gay Latino parties that have surfaced in past years in New York clubs such as Milk and Cuchifrito and Los Angeles habitats like Circus and Arena have had such leaders, and at the top of that heap on each coast have been openly gay artists T-Pro and Angel C.
Ani DiFranco has always been a do-it-yourself kind of girl, and she proves it with Educated Guess, her 20th album and first solo project in a decade. Not only did she write all the music and lyrics, sing both lead and backup, and play all the instrumentals, but she recorded and mixed the entire album herself on a vintage eight-track reel-to-reel.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy’s “Fab 5”—Ted Allen, Kyan Douglas, Thom Felicia, Carson Kressley, and Jai Rodriguez—teach straights how to get their groove on. Highlights include an exclusive new Duran Duran song, “Sunrise.” This is better than their earlier reunion efforts, with an infectious, driving groove.
Melissa Etheridge isn’t the only one who is fortunate when it comes to her new album Lucky (Island). Her loyal legion of fans, who stuck with her through dark and low-key CDs such as Breakdown and Skin, are richly rewarded with the joyful and celebratory spirit of the new release (in stores February 10). Sexy and romantic, most of the songs on Lucky come in the wake of Etheridge’s courtship and subsequent marriage to actress Tammy Lynn Michaels.
Richard Greenberg’s gay baseball play Take Me Out may have recently gone to the showers on Broadway after winning numerous Tony awards and a Pulitzer for best 2003 drama, but the rainbow flag continues to fly high and proud over the Great White Way. If you’re anywhere near 42nd Street, there’s a show to match the color you prefer.
Set amidst the bustle and frenzy of New York City, On_Line is a 21st-century take on the classic romantic comedy. The film centers on John (Josh Hamilton, Urbania, “Serge” in Absolutely Fabulous) and Moe (Harold Perrineau, Oz, Woman on Top), two friends who operate Intercon-X, a live erotic website, and the array of hilariously mismatched relationships that arise in and around the site.
Sisters are doing it for themselves. Yes, the writer (Alison Tilson), director (Sue Brooks), and producer (Sue Maslin) of the film Japanese Story are all lesbians. Tilson has also penned Frictions: An Anthology of Fiction by Women, among other works. Maslin, developer of GeckoFilm Productions, is an independent film and television producer who has won a number of awards. Brooks is also a multi-award winner herself.
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