RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

After spending her time emoting musically on the big screen and dazzling audiences with her performance in the two-part film musical, "Wicked", Ariana Grande is returning to her pop music career. "Hate That I Made You Love Me" is the lead single off of her upcoming eighth studio album, "Petal" which is due out at the end of July. Teaming once again with frequent collaborators, Ilya Salmanzadeh, and Max Martin, the song is a bit of a departure for Grande with this synth-pop ballad having a subtle, minimalist vibe. "Hate That I Made You Love Me" deals with her complicated relationship with fame and the public scrutiny that comes with it, especially commentary regarding her appearance and body. The humorous video for the song, directed by Christian Breslauer and features actor, Justin Long, plays like a short film that involves a man who has apparently murdered his wife (played by Grande) and buried her body while he is continuously being haunted by her. Grande has also begun her long awaited Eternal Sunshine Tour on June 6th which will take her through the US and Canada before concluding in September with a ten-date stop at the O2 Arena in England.



June is the month where we celebrate Pride and here is a collection of LGBTQ+ artists who have new music out: for his upcoming sixth studio album, "Adam", Adam Lambert digs into the sounds of '90's electronic and alternative rock with the first single, "Eat U Alive"; free from her label, pop diva, Kim Petras is now independently releasing her music and the latest song is "Brutalist"; the queer Nashville-based country group, the Cowgays (made-up of solo artists, Brooke Eden, Chris Housman, and Adam Mac) have released a campy tune, "Good Hoedown"; the English synth-pop act, La Roux has dropped a new track, "Cabin Fever" from their upcoming album, "Old Flames"; Frankie Grande is currently appearing in the Broadway production of "Titanique" and has delivered a fast-paced "Pride anthem" of the number he does in the show, "I Drove All Night"; David Archuleta has dropped his latest dance-pop tune, "Love For Free" and the electroclash performer, Slayyter has the single, "Dance..." from her second studio album, "Worst Girl in America".

And with her next album, "Confessions II" due out on July 3rd, Madonna is moving into overdrive to promote this dance music collection. First she was involved with doing some playfully sexy promo on the gay networking app, Grindr and then did a mini concert in the middle of Times Square in NYC. Now, the Queen of Pop has released "Confessions II – The Film". This fourteen minute visual album directed by TORSO features the first six tracks from the upcoming album. The short film made its premiere on June 5th at the Tribeca Festival and was released three days later on YouTube. Filled with wild imagery and many notable famous faces, this dazzling musical film is an impressive reminder of what a powerful and enduring force she is as a visual stylist and performer.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

Here is a round-up of new music I'm feeling right now: Khalid and Normani team-up again (following their 2018 hit release, "Love Lies") for the latest single off the deluxe edition of his third album, "Sincere"; the new dance-charged song from Olly Alexander of Years and Years; the quirky sounds of the indie band, Japanese Breakfast and the first single from their upcoming fourth album; Sky Ferreira has finally resurfaced with a contribution to the soundtrack of Nicole Kidman's erotic thriller, "Babygirl" with an electro-rocker, "Leash"; the teaming of two of the hottest artists in hip-hop right now, GloRilla and Sexyy Red; and Adam Lambert is currently on Broadway appearing in the latest revival of the musical, "Cabaret" as the MC and has released his version of the torch song, "I Don't Care" from the show.













And here is a tribute to some music artists we have recently lost:

Brenton Wood, the r&b vocalist and songwriter best known for "The Oogum Boogum Song" and "Gimme Little Sign", passed away on January 3rd. He was born Alfred Jesse Smith in Shreveport, LA but grew up in San Pedro, CA. After deciding to pursue a career in music, he changed his name to "Brenton Wood" and broke through with the novelty song, "Oogum Boogum" he had written in 1967. It cracked the top-forty on the US pop chart and reached number nineteen on the soul chart. Wood would have an even bigger hit later that year with the follow-up, "Gimme Little Sign", becoming a top-ten hit in four countries. These two singles would remain the major highlight of Wood's long career as he continued making music throughout the following years. At eighty-three, Wood had embarked on what was planned as a final tour last year but became ill in May, forcing him to put the rest of the tour on pause.

Alfa Anderson, one of the vocalist for the disco group, Chic and later an educator, has died on December 17th at the age of seventy-eight. She first got into the music business performing background vocals for a variety of artists. Fellow back-up musician and friend, Luther Vandross helped get Anderson work during the recording sessions of a new dance music group created by Nile Rodgers and Bernard Edwards. They both worked on the band's 1977 self-titled debut, "Chic" and are heard on the background of the hit singles, "Dance, Dance, Dance" and "Everybody Dance". Following one of the original lead singers, Norma Jean Wright leaving the group, Anderson was asked to replace her. Along with fellow lead vocalist, Luci Martin, Chic would go on to have many more hits, including the number-one disco smashes, "Le Freak" and "Good Times" and the top ten hit "I Want Your Love" which Anderson performed the lead vocals. Anderson also worked on other Rodgers and Edwards productions at the time for Sister Sledge and Diana Ross. When Chic came to an end in 1983, Anderson continued to work providing background vocals for other musicians during recordings and on tour.

And Sam Moore, one half of the dynamic soul duo, Sam & Dave, passed away on January 10th at the age of eighty-nine. With Dave Prater (who died in 1988), they performed together for about twenty years from 1961 to 1981 and considered one of the greatest live acts of the 1960s. They were best known for bringing the sounds of the black gospel church to pop music with their call-and-response records which included such hits as "Hold On, I'm Comin'", "I Thank You", "When Something Is Wrong with My Baby", "Wrap It Up" and "Soul Man". Moore and Prater met while each was performing individually working the gospel music circuit. After later singing together at a small nightclub, Sam & Dave officially became an r&b act. They signed with several record labels, finding moderate success but it wasn't until they met producer, Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records that Sam & Dave would go to the next level. Recording with Stax Records (which Atlantic was distributing nationally), Sam & Dave broke through with "You Don't Know Like I Know" (written and produced by newcomers, Isaac Hayes and David Porter) which hit number seven on the US soul chart in 1966. "Hold On, I'm Comin'" reached number one on the soul chart and crossed over to the pop chart, making it to the top-twenty, that same year. The duo would make their final stage appearance together on New Year's Eve, 1981 in San Francisco. Moore went to work as a solo artist performing and recording throughout the following decades, recently appearing on Bruce Springsteen's 2022 soul covers album, "Only the Strong Survive", duetting on two songs.

RANDOM SIGHTS + SOUNDS

I can't believe it's been forty years since the release of Bronski Beat's "Smalltown Boy", a distressing lament of a young man looking back on having to leave home because he's gay. This openly queer British band named after keyboard player, Steve Bronski also featured Larry Steinbachek on percussion and vocalist, Jimmy Sommerville released this 1984 single at a time when gay themes were beginning to appear in mainstream music and films although largely in Europe as the US was still many years behind seriously engaging in such discourse in pop culture. In between their songs of heartbreak, Bronski Beat also offered some much needed queer pride and political defiance to the music scene. 

When I first heard "Smalltown Boy", I was shocked and ecstatic to hear something I could connect with expressed so vividly and direct. While I personally didn't have this experience, I could fully understand and actually knew people who were having to go through this trauma. And while we have made some great advances since this song's release, sadly "Smalltown Boy" still resonates with gay people who feel forced to leave their homes in order to be their authentic selves.

Their first album, "The Age of Consent" (which also featured another hit, "Why?") was their only album together with Sommerville leaving in 1985 to join another band, The Communards before going on to have a solo career. But Bronski Beat continued on with a couple of new lead singers over the years and a popular 1985 dance track, "Hit That Perfect Beat" before coming to an official end in 2018. Here are Bronski Beat's first two singles, with both reaching the top ten on the UK pop chart:





To celebrate Pride month, here is some new music by gay musicians: Adam Lambert has a sexy new single, "Lube" from his upcoming EP which will feature an exploration of queer sexuality and liberation as well as providing vocals to a special dance track from Vincint, "Another Lover" that will appear on his upcoming EP; an up-and-coming artist, Benjamin Elgar with his new single, "Shameless"; Ben Platt, who first found fame on the Broadway stage with his Tony Award winning role in "Dear Evan Hansen", has released his third studio album, "Honeymind" with the romantic video for the single, "Cherry on Top" features his fiancé, fellow actor, Noah Galvin And "A New Bohemia", the third single from Pet Shop Boys' latest album, "Nonetheless" which is a lovely ballad with the video directed by filmmaker, Andrew Haigh ("Weekend", "All of Us Strangers") and features actor, Russell Tovey:

And a new biopic, "Back to Black" is out in theaters now on the brief yet tumultuous life and career of the electrifying British vocalist, Amy Winehouse. Named after her breakthrough, international hit 2006 album and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, the film tends to fall into the standard beats of a contemporary cinematic biography yet it remains thoroughly entertaining with star, Marisa Abela convincingly portraying the complicated pop singer. But in the film, I discovered why Winehouse's 2003 debut album, "Frank" never reached these shores until after her follow-up became a mega success including winning the Grammy Award for Album of the Year.

While "Frank" had generated interest and awards in Britain and throughout Europe, the label still didn't feel it was just enough to warrant an expanded release, leaving Winehouse pissed and frustrated. Having loved "Black", I quickly got my hands on the album (which the title is indeed a reference to Sinatra who was one of Winehouse's early musical influences) as soon as I could, really enjoying it's singular blend of jazz, neo-soul and hip-hop. Yet I do tend to agree that the overall album was not nearly as cohesive and persuasive as "Back to Black". There are definitely some standout tracks with my favorites being "Stronger Than Me" and "Fuck Me Pumps":

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM . . .

NORAH JONES

For her very first holiday album, "I Dream of Christmas", Norah Jones brings her smooth and smoky vocals to a collection that offers half of the record with original songs she wrote or co-wrote with producer, Leon Michels and the rest features her versions of some familiar Christmas classics. The forty-two year old jazz-pop vocalist has delivered the perfect record to play in the background during a festive holiday party or while snuggling up to a loved one on a cold winter evening. Have a listen to one of the new songs, "Christmas Calling (Jolly Jones)":



KELLY CLARKSON

It's only been about eight years since Kelly Clarkson released her first Christmas album, "Wrapped in Red" but since the singer has expressed how much she loves this holiday, why not record another one?  "When Christmas Comes Around. . . "  has several new songs she co-wrote including the first single, "Christmas Isn't Canceled (Just You)" (which seems might be directed at her former husband), "Glow", a duet with Chris Stapleton and "Santa, Can't You Hear Me" that features Ariana Grande. And there are covers of some holiday favorites, "It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas", Wham!'s "Last Christmas", "Jingle Bell Rock" and "Santa Baby" first made famous by Eartha Kitt. Clarkson, the unexpected host of a popular daytime talk show, had a holiday special of the same title out on December 1st on NBC to promote the album and the program is now available to stream on Peacock. Enjoy a couple of tracks from Clarkson's latest Christmas album:

DARREN CRISS

Darren Criss is best known as an actor, first gaining fame on the musical-comedy series, "Glee" before making a big impression playing serial killer Andrew Cunanan in Ryan Murphy's anthology series, "American Crime Story" which would win him an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. Music has always been very important to Criss, having appeared on stage in several Broadway musicals, recording a few EPs and a featured vocalist on "Glee: The Music" soundtrack albums. And for his first studio album is a Christmas record, "A Very Darren Crissmas". But Criss had no interest in making a straight-forward holiday album. This collection features reimagined holiday classics and rarely covered Christmas tunes with country artist, Lainey Wilson and fellow actor, Evan Rachel Wood making appearances. Criss will be performing many songs off of the album during a concert at the Beacon Theatre in New York City on December 20th. This performance will also be available to livestream. In the meantime, here's a bit of some Christmas jazz-pop with Criss teaming up with Adam Lambert on the song, "(Everybody’s Waitin’ For) The Man With The Bag":

ADAM LAMBERT: THE ORIGINAL HIGH TOUR

I caught Adam Lambert at The Orpheum in downtown L.A. for his last show of the North American leg of The Original High tour on April 3rd. The runner-up of the eighth season of "American Idol" (and was robbed of winning the title, in my opinion) is an incredible vocalist and dynamic performer. After fifteen years, the popular singing competition just aired it's final episode which had allowed America to vote for their favorite singers from among your average Joe or Jane. To honor the show, contestants from every season showed up to perform and I was quite surprised that Lambert didn't appear considering he's one of the bigger artists that came from "American Idol".

He just ended a very successful worldwide tour with Queen and wasted no time returning to his solo career by releasing a new album and getting back on the road. Lambert seems to have been heavily influenced by the rock & soul style of Freddie Mercury as his third album, "The Original High" features a looser and funkier side to the singer. The record is also his most commercial using top producers like Max Martin and Shellback to help shape a slicker pop sound.

Lambert (dressed all in red in the first of three costume changes) took to his minimal stage with only a short platform in the middle but had impressive, state-of-the-art video screens behind to add an extra jolt to the show. He kicked-off with "Evil In The Night", a generic dance track from "Original High" before launching in to two of his biggest songs; the title tune from his debut album, "For Your Entertainment" and "Ghost Town", the haunting first single from the latest album.

Lambert continued to burn through many other songs he has recorded over his short time in the spotlight before reaching a tune that took us back to his early "Idol" days . His hypnotic cover of Tears For Fears' "Mad World" was a star-making moment for the singer and from the frenzied response by this audience, still makes quite an impact today. After the song, Lambert turned up the lights and began talking, which I then realized was the first time he actually stopped singing to speak to the crowd. He's an effusive charmer delivering positive energy and literally getting on a soap-box with his modest political statements.

It wasn't too long before Lambert got back to singing that delighted the largely female audience with more dance-powered songs before closing the show with the title track from his second album, "Trespassing" which was written by the singer and Pharrell Williams. He's taking a little time off before continuing his tour throughout Europe, then re-team with Queen for a mini European tour. Even through he didn't take home the top Idol prize, Lambert seems to be doing quite alright.

Here he is performing "Mad World" when he appeared on the show last month, recreating one of his magical moments on "American Idol":



And let's go back to early Adam Lambert with the music video of "For Your Entertainment" when the young singer was going through his goth period:

NEW SOUNDS

ADAM LAMBERT

After recently completing a very successful international tour with Queen, Adam Lambert is ready to release some of his own music. Now on a new record label, "The Original High" is the title of the "American Idol" runner-up's third studio album. With Swedish producers Max Martin and Shellback back on board (they produced tracks on his debut), Lambert is downplaying some of the theatrics of the past and offering some dance-influenced power pop. The first single, "Ghost Town" is a solid track that starts slowly before building to a pulsating beat, perfectly displaying his amazing voice. The album is due out on June 16th in the U.S. so in the meantime, take a look at the great video directed by Hype Williams where Lambert is serving a retro George Michael feel:



GIORGIO MORODER

Excitement is building for the first collection of new music by electronic dance pioneer, Giorgio Moroder in over thirty years. We had already gotten a very tasty taste of the album (now called "Déjà Vu" and due out June 12th) with the Kylie Minogue assisted single but now here comes another scorching track; the title song featuring the publicity-shy, vocal dynamo, Sia. Other artists confirmed to be lending their voices to the project are Kelis, Charli XCX, Mikky Ekko and the one and only Britney Spears. The Spears track is particularly interesting as it's an unlikely cover of the Suzanne Vega classic, "Tom's Diner". The duo give this song a fresh spin and it really works. Listen to the two songs below:

"Déjà Vu" - Giorgio Moroder featuring Sia (2015) mp3

"Tom's Diner" - Giorgio Moroder featuring Britney Spears (2015) mp3

"No Place In Heaven", the fourth album from Euro-pop star Mika won't arrive until June but we have an excellent video for his latest single "Talk About You" to enjoy in the meantime. Looking handsome and quite dapper, we see Mika playfully going through a colorful cardboard cut-out world filled with back-up dancers. It's quite charming and a lot of fun:



You might think this music video is simply the latest by Sia for "Fire Meet Gasoline", a track off her successful album, "1000 Forms of Fear" but you would be wrong. This is actually an ad for Heidi Klum's new line of lingerie and features the super model and actor, Pedro Pascal from "Game of Thrones". It's beautifully strange and sensual, just like you would expect from a commercial but also works to promote the music:




Finally, here is Todrick Hall covering Beyonce's entire musical career in just four minutes. Nothing more to say as this amusing clip impressively speaks for itself:

VH1 DIVAS 2012

VH1 has decided to revive their "Divas" series although the concept has already been stretched thin as they've pretty much covered all of the very few, true divas in existence ( and in some cases, more than once). Part of the inspiration for this revival was the loss this year of two truly important female voices in musical history; Whitney Houston and Donna Summer as the show honors these legends with a tribute and celebration of their legacy.

The problem lies with a large number of the artists rounded-up for this special which features Kelly Rowland, Ciara, Keri Hilson, Demi Lovato and Miley Cyrus that adds up to a group of mostly thin-voiced, second-tier singers with none of them having any serious potential as future "Diva" recipients.

The exception were, surprisingly, a couple of pop singers that could actually belt who were selected by election on reality television; "American Idol" winners, Kelly Clarkson and Jordin Sparks who provide vivid musical numbers with Clarkson bringing the mostly female audience to their feet with her latest single, "Catch My Breath" from her first greatest hits collection while Sparks sizzles in a show-stopping number accompanied by r&b powerhouses, Melanie Fiona and Ledisi as they performed an energetic Whitney Houston medley.

Another "Idol" alumni , Adam Lambert was the host of the program and honorary "diva" who kicked-off the show with dramatic flair, reworking the 1983 Bowie hit, "Let's Dance". Later, in true diva fashion, during the Donna Summer segment with Rowland and Hilson, Lambert leaves the ladies in his glittery dust as he effortlessly out-sang them both.

The rest of the show fell flat with Ciara doing a brief dance tribute to Michael Jackson before performing a lackluster new song, "Got Me Good", some band called Metric who is supposed to honor Deborah Harry but only offers a truly horrendous version of "Heart of Glass" and wearing punk drag, Ms Cyrus unconvincingly covers Billy Idol's "Rebel Yell" that has about much bite as a teething infant. Although she is already a big star in her native Britain, Paloma Faith is trying to repeat her success here but based on her performance of her song, "Picking Up The Pieces", there ain't much chance of that happening.

"VH1 Divas"specials are a great way to look back to single-out female musical greatness but it appears like it will be forced out of existence. Taking a long, hard look at the current musical landscape, there doesn't seem to be too many future divas on the horizon.

HOT AND FRESH OUT THE KITCHEN

"TRESPASSING" - ADAM LAMBERT

On his follow-up to his 2009 debut, "For Your Entertainment", "American Idol" runner-up, Adam Lambert has released the album he really should have made first. "Trespassing" still has a few rock elements but the out and proud singer is now ready to put on his dancing shoes.

With the help of producers, Dr. Luke, Pharrell Williams and disco music legend, Nile Rodgers, Lambert lets loose on some glittering, throbbing tunes that are fun and made with some serious ass-shaking in mind.

Enjoy this single from the album:

"Never Close Our Eyes" - Adam Lambert

"LITTLE BROKEN HEARTS" - NORAH JONES

"Come Away With Me", the 2002 recording that first brought Norah Jones to the world's attention in a very big way. That album sold well over twenty million copies and won the jazz-pop vocalist five Grammy Awards including Album Of The Year.

The singer's soothing sounds evolved to include country, folk and alternative rock on her following albums, so now with her fifth release, "Little Broken Hearts", Norah Jones has decided to go even further with her music. She collaborated with producer, Brian Burton (or as he is better known, Danger Mouse) for the first time on his project with Daniele Luppi with their album, "Rome". That helped opened her up to push her music in a more dramatic and experimental way. Much like Adele's hit album, "21", the songs on "Little Broken Hearts" were inspired by the sad end of a relationship.

Sample the eerie title track:

"Little Broken Hearts" - Norah Jones

"MASTER OF MY MAKE-BELIEVE" - SANTIGOLD

I honestly didn't know much about the background of singer, Santigold but I always thought that she was some musical artist from another country but I just discovered that she's actually Santi White, an American from Philadelphia. I made that assumption based on her 2008 self-titled debut which didn't sound at all like your standard American pop as she included an interesting collage of rock, punk, dub and Europop to sound.more like some otherworldly music.

Santigold is now finally back with her second release,  "Master of My Make-Believe" that was partially recorded in Jamaica which lead her to add dancehall to the mix. Inspiring and innovative, Santigold is a fascinating artist you should definitely check out.

This is a great song:

"Big Mouth" - Santigold

"A JOYFUL NOISE" - GOSSIP

Gossip, a three piece dance-punk band that consists of guitar/bassist, Nathan "Brace Paine" Howdeshell, Hannah Billie on drums and lead vocalist Beth Ditto, have come back together for their fifth album, "A Joyful Noise".

 Following Ms Ditto's fiery solo EP last year, the band now has seemed to have moved even further in to a dance/pop sound with this album being produced by Brian Higgins who is part of the production team of Xenomania. They are responsible for the hits of the British all-female pop acts such as Girls Aloud, The Saturdays and The Sugarbabes. Despite this slight change in direction, Gossip retains their edge with some sparkling new songs.

Here is the first single from the album:

"Perfect World" - Gossip

This is the music video for the second single, "Move In The Right Direction":



"OUT OF THE GAME" - RUFUS WAINWRIGHT

After recording alternative-rock albums, a tribute to Judy Garland and a classical opera, Rufus Wainwright has released his most radio-friendly album in his career. "Out Of The Game" was produced by Mark Ronson who worked with Duran Duran, Lily Allen and Amy Winehouse with the songs coming from the Canadian singer's recent experiences such as the birth of his daughter, the death of his mother, folk singer, Kate McGarrigle and his new home in Montauk, NY.

I can usually only take Mr.Wainwright's voice in small doses but Mr. Ronson's production has slightly smoothed out his more eccentric impulses and surrounds his sound in a pleasing way while making sure that this remains clearly a Rufus Wainwright album.

"Perfect Man" - Rufus Wainwright

This video for the title track features actress, Helena Bonham-Carter looking unusually sexy:




"OUR VERSION OF EVENTS" - EMELI SANDE

Emeli Sande, a songwriter and soul vocalist from Scotland who is already a sensation throughout Europe with her debut album, "Our Version of Events" which hit the top of the U.K. charts on it's release in February. The album has just come out here stateside and while she's been compared to another British singer currently having huge success here, (Adele is actually Sande's first name), Emeli Sande is able to mark her own territory with thoughtful, emotionally uplifting songs and passionate vocals.

Sande opened for Coldplay on their tour in Europe earlier this year and she will return when the band hits North America later this summer.

"Next To You" - Emeli Sande

Take a look at the video for the stunning ballad, "My Kind of Love":

 

Scissor Sisters has a new album out, "Magic Hour" which includes this terrific track, "Baby Come Home". I love this very inventive music video for the song:



JLo and Pitbull have teamed up again for the song, "Dance Again" and they made a very steamy video for it.: