Music section: Metro Weekly

Retro Grooves: Electric Guest

You may be surprised where Electric Guest takes you on Mondo, but you most certainly won't be disappointed

Published on May 24, 2012, 2:32am

There's a new R&B-flavored electronic rock band on the scene, and there's a reason listening to Electric Guest's debut album will remind you of contemporary acts as disparate as Beck and Gorillaz, or Gnarls Barkley and Broken Bells. The reason, of course, is Danger Mouse, aka Brian Burton, who produced Electric Guest's impressive Mondo just as he has with the above-mentioned acts. Burton was actually in Gnarls Barkley with Cee Lo Green, and Broken Bells is his current band with ...[more]

Martyr Complex

National Philharmonic offers D.C. premiere of Debussy's ''Saint Sebastian'' piece

Published on May 17, 2012, 3:44am

Was Saint Sebastian gay? History is actually iffy on the subject. But the celebrated, martyred Christian is sometimes referred to as ''a homosexual icon,'' in large part because he helped foster paintings of male nudes (featuring subjects other than Jesus). Yet since the Renaissance, the proclaimed patron saint of soldiers and athletes has inspired many artists, straight and gay, to create works of stunning beauty. ''There's a lot of symbolism definitely for gays in Saint Sebastian,'' says Stan Engebretson, who ...[more]

Reflective Rufus

Mark Ronson has helped refine Rufus Wainwright's sound, but you can't help imagine how great ''Out of the Game'' might have been

Published on May 9, 2012, 2:49pm

Rufus Wainwright is 38 going on 60. His new album Out Of The Game starts with an older man's jokey lament about his wilder days and ends with bagpipes and a solemn hymn that could serenade a funeral. In between are a number of songs that track at a leisurely pace as Wainwright lyrically surveys how his life has changed, or offers wistful thoughts of the future. ''Long ago when I was young and innocent, they brought me here,'' he ...[more]

Black Bluegrass

Carolina Chocolate Drops drum up interest in little-known genre

Published on May 3, 2012, 12:12am

The black string music tradition predates the blues. It even influenced and echoes what is today commonly known as traditional folk and bluegrass. But don't worry if you haven't heard of it. Even one of today's most popular practitioners of what you might call black bluegrass only discovered it less than a decade ago. And to think Rhiannon Giddens's family is from the same town in North Carolina where one of the genre's greatest fiddlers lived. ''It just goes to ...[more]

Mercy McKay

Compassionate cabaret/pop artist Nellie McKay has displayed impressive musical versatility in her decade-long career

Published on April 19, 2012, 8:00am

''I often think, 'Where's Rosie when you need her?''' laughs Nellie McKay. Rosie O'Donnell was nowhere to be found last year, after the New York-based cabaret/pop artist McKay performed a couple workshops of a musical about two gay soldiers during World War II. Yank! A WWII Love Story apparently lacks funding to do a full production. ''I think heterosexual producers are really scared of a gay love story,'' says McKay (pronounced ''ma-KAI''). ''And that's pathetic. I just think they need ...[more]

Broadway Rock

Gavin Creel's stunning new album offers far more than just sweet, syrupy, show-tune-style songs

Published on April 19, 2012, 7:56am

Gavin Creel is a two-time Tony-nominated actor (Hair, Thoroughly Modern Millie), who's currently gearing up to star in the national tour of The Book of Mormon. But if you expect only sweet, syrupy, show-tune-style songs on Creel's new album, you're in for a rude awakening. The stunning Get Out opens with a bristling guitar riff and Creel singing in a dry, menacing tone. ''If I gave you the sun, would you bathe in it baby?'' Creel croons at the launch ...[more]

Latin Romance

Opera singer Jesús Hernández sings his heart out at Source

Published on April 15, 2012, 11:43am

''I really enjoy this and it would have never happened if Placido had not invited me to his program.'' Of course, Placido Domingo would have never known of Jesús Hernández's singing talent if the Mexican-American had only asked the opera giant for an autograph as he originally intended. '''I wanted to ask you if you'd be willing to listen to me,''' Hernandez recalls spontaneously querying Domingo after a concert in San Antonio in 2007. '''I'm planning to study voice seriously, ...[more]

Muscle Opera

Artisphere presents an opera partly inspired by muscle magazines

Published on April 12, 2012, 4:40am

''I think this may be the first time that anyone has dealt theatrically with gay physique magazines,'' says Michael Korie. Before there were official gay magazines – or an established gay rights movement – there were homoerotic muscle magazines, some of them even editorializing pro-gay sentiments. And those muscle mags partly inspired Positions 1956, an opera the librettist Korie has written with gay composer Conrad Cummings at the imprimatur of UrbanArias. The opera premieres at Artisphere this weekend as the ...[more]

Rapp Star

Anthony Rapp, one of the first openly gay leading men on Broadway, is still mining his ''Rent'' success

Published on April 12, 2012, 4:39am

''When I do events or concerts, most of the fans that stay afterwards are female,'' says Anthony Rapp. ''It's not like it's a secret.'' Nope, it's no secret at all -- Anthony Rapp has been out since before Rent – approximately two decades now. For much of that time, he was nearly alone as an openly gay leading man, on Broadway or anywhere – this was before an openly gay Neil Patrick Harris, or an openly gay Sean Hayes. Not ...[more]

Shock-Pop Diva: Madonna's 'MDNA'

Madonna seems more single-minded in her pursuit to shock on her new experimental album ''MDNA'' than ever before

Published on March 29, 2012, 5:24am

Some fans might have paused on hearing the first single, ''Give Me All Your Lovin'.'' Others might have skidded on ''Gang Bang,'' the second track on MDNA. And, in fact, there are more jarring tracks to come on Madonna's new set, which ranks as one of the most experimental albums in her oeuvre. From the get-go Madonna has garnered attention through shock, but in many ways she seems more single-minded in that pursuit here than ever before. It's as if ...[more]

Recent Music Articles