#MWE June 2023
All queer, all the time
As promised, I didn’t tweet #MWE every day of June, but all of ‘em that I did were records by queer artists. This feels like the most important time imaginable to be promoting, supporting, and lifting up queer art & artists; expect even more to come.
Pick Hits: H.C. McEntire, the bluegrass duos of Justin & Jon and Sam & Tyler, Brothers Osborne, and the second great drag country album I’ve discovered in 2023, this one from Ginger Minj. (It was a good month for country+ LPs.) Ada Rook and Arca I appreciated but don’t foresee myself returning to. Must to Avoid: Adam Lambert’s misguided, unfocused covers album. [“x” = no post that day. I’ve got some deadlines on the horizon, so this will continue to be the case through the rest of the summer.]
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Torres, Thirstier (2021): Album cover reads as a Liz Phair homage, and I def hear her here. Also murky PJ Harvey, prime Pumpkins, Breeders, a general ‘90s alt aesthetic (the good stuff). Punchy, thrusting, sexy, w/ strong songs, lots of confidence shining through.
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H.C. McEntire, Every Acre (2023): A deeply Southern album. If Bobby Gentry existed today, I’d imagine she might sound something like this, making folky roots music where the song is queen, w/ a slight rock tinge. Spare instrumentation, echoey prod help make a mood.
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Planningtorock, All Love’s Legal (2013): I want to get behind an LP exploring gender identity & sexuality, but this is some art-for-art’s-sake mess. When an entire set of lyrics is “Let's talk about gender baby/Let's talk about you and me,” there’s a problem.
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Justin Hiltner and Jon Weisberger, Room at the Table EP (2022): This bluegrass gospel EP made by a young queer & an older Jew is a true blessing: 4 origs + 2 classics that could bring nearly anyone to God (who is non-binary, btw). Beautifully played & sung.
Labi Siffre, Crying Laughing Loving Lying (1972): Occasionally sounding like Paul Simon, this gay folksinger writes and sings beautiful songs. What lets him down is the occ too-pop-friendly prod, but the more stripped-down numbers largely do his pen & guitar justice.
Bitch and Animal, Eternally Hard (2001): Sounds like a late ‘90s poetry slam, mainly political spoken/rapped lyrics w/ minimal accompaniment (lots of bongos & other percussion), all of it v feminist/queer/gender-nonconforming. = parts silly & deep, & v niche.
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Christine & the Queens, Paranoïa, Angels, True Love (2023): Occ ugly, messy, & full of moments of stunning beauty, this bilingual triple (!) influenced by Angels in America and Chris’s own coming out mostly holds my attention. His version of pop is genuinely orig.
Sam Gleaves & Tyler Hughes (2017): Hearing two gay Appalachian men playing old-time bluegrass, mostly trad & classics (Carter fam, Ola Belle Reed, Tom T. Hall), hits hard - this is *our* music, too. Harmonies are superb, playing is magical, originals great.
Fifth Column, To Sir with Hate (1985): DIY Canuck all-fem post-punk 4some use way too much Farfisa on their debut. Their politics are important (cf. “Fairview Mall Story”), but LP is fairly joyless, & songs often tend to meander. Too unfocused for its own good.
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Ginger Minj, Double Wide Diva (2021): Unlike most RPDR alum, this is neither a joke nor tacky dance-pop - it’s clearly-from-the-heart country, all co-written by Minj save for a Garth cover (!). The care in here is obv, lyrically & prod-wise. & she can sing!
Adam Lambert, High Drama (2023): A huge failure of a cover LP. I dislike most of the contempo artists Lambert’s taking on (LDR, P!nk, Sia, fucking KOL), *&* dislike these re-arr of older songs (Peebles, B Tyler, Culture Club). But he’s bold, I’ll give him that.
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Ada Rook, UGLY DEATH NO REDEMPTION ANGEL CURSE I LOVE YOU (2022): Reminiscent of BACKXWASH’s über-confrontationalism, only even more aggressive b/c she operates in an industrial/grindcore/techno space. Similarly original. Smart use of samples - & trans rage.
Peaches, The Teaches of Peaches (2000): She sang, wrote, prod it all, = (if not >) Larry Tee’s electroclash classics. Love her feminist, pro-sex lyrics; “Fuck” has unfairly painted her as unserious, but she’s serious/fun, and (obv) the one. who’s in. control.
Taylor Mac’s Holiday Sauce (2020): The “soundtrack” to judy’s Christmas show, a tribute to Flawless Mother Sabrina, is a fascinating doc, mixing standards & origs w/ songs by the VU, Enya, Frank Ocean (particularly wow). judy’s theatrical chops esp make it work.
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Rufus Wainwright, Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall (2007): Don’t always love his crooning, but brassy cha-cha “You Go to My Head” fits him perfectly; uptempo def > ballads. Rebldg orig arr v smart move, stage patter is a joy. Love the way/s he apes Judy’s phrasing.
Brothers Osborne, Skeletons (Deluxe) (2022): John (guitar) & TJ (vox) have here an LP+’s worth of great songs they co/wrote (“Younger Me” may break you), & a great prod in Jay Joyce. Their partnership just *sounds* well-oiled; this rockin’ (not pop) country hits.
Arca, kiCK iiiii (2021): She’s taken the influence of recent Björk, swallowed, reconstituted into something else even further out. These are little pieces of precious art; even in the instr trax you can hear her baring her trans soul. Delicate like shattered glass.