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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 1, 2002)
feùruary !. 200! .' Jaat M 4 4 3 MUSIC Bitching and bluffing E te r n a lly H a rd e te r n a lly an n o y in g; D o u g h er fie rc e a n d se n sitiv e ; B lack n eed s v o ice le sso n s E ternally H ard Bitch and Animal • Righteous Babe Records ome art is, well, let’s just say it...had. People have been up in arms about the distinction between “good” art and “had" art since the beginning of civiliza tion, saying quality is merely relative. (“Some people like had art!” they say.) O ne critic has no place telling the public what is good and what is had. Well, I’m here to tell you: T his just hap pens to he my place. My astronomically minuscule place in the universe, my tiny bulletin hoard of personal opinion. And in this tiny place, I regretfully tell you: People, quality is not relative. Som e art is had for a reason. Bitch and Anim al, a seemingly radical duo, create music that is hard to listen to without cringing. Now, ironically, this is the kind of group that generally would take that as a compliment. Howev er, 1 don’t cringe at what they perceive to he their totally unprecedented raunchiness (Om igod the first song on the album is called “ Best C ock on the Block” ! Unprecedented!) or their wannabe blunt names (“ Bitch” ? Please! Meredith Bnxiks already reclaimed that one) or their white-girl rapping style or their drug refer ences (see “G an ja” ). W hat really hits my inner-cringe core is the utter lack of artistic subtlety in their lyrics and music. If they lay it all out on the table for us, do we really want to question what’s underneath? For example, on “ Boy Girl People , quality is not relative. Some art is bad for a reason. W onder” the duo sing, “Why is it so lonely/in between boy and a girl/they’re so glued down in this world/and what it m eans” and on the chorus, “ Pm trans-all-of- that-gender/l’m a bender.” What if Melissa Etheridge referred to herself as a lesbian in the chorus of her songs a la “Come to my window/I’m a les-all-of-that- bian” ? We would tire of the blatancy, we’d beg for the poetry. In my humble opinion, it’s much hotter for k.d. lang to be a lesbian singing country songs than a country singer singing about being a lesbian. Besides all that, Bitch and Animal’s second C D sounds like the score to a bad 70s movie. Oh yeah, and their fashion reminds of the movie Mystery Men (not a good thing). Oh yeah, and.... Did anyone men tion something about the artistic subtlety of writing music reviews? — Katy Davidson T he B luff Sarah Dougher • Mr. Lady Records t " ; toe is the lowly •! 1 i reporter/musi- cian who’s asked to review the new album of a musical peer! Just one month ago, I found myself in a G M C Safari minivan, scuttling down the coast of California with Sarah Dougher and her bandmate Jon Nikki, on our way to a joint gig in Santa Barbara. She was doing a short tour in support of The Bluff; I was along for the ride and the prospect of a good show. Usually if a fellow musician asks my opin ion of her album, I’m happy to give honest feedback, padded with a little mandatory reassurance that “ it’s good!” and “I really like it!" When asked to review for publication, however, Pm faced with the new challenge of presenting a moderately unbiased, accu rate representation of the recording (see Bitch and Animal above). At times I wish I were a robot. SHARE THE WEALTH DOWNTOWN @ 9 2 7 SW OAK • 2 2 6 -8 1 4 1 R emembered F aces /P rivate P laces Ben Black • Origin Records T he kind of jazz singers who grab me are ones who really own the music they per form— Patricia Barber and Dianne Reeves come to mind. Maybe Seattleite Ben Black’s voice is an acquired taste, but for my ears, it’s just too high and thin— nasal at times, hoarse at oth ers. He sounds best on quiet ballads when the lack of power in his voice is less evident. The first cut, a Sondheim tune called “I Remember,” fits that groove well. Black is gay, and many of the album’s r ' / '■ I www.justout.com or call 503-236-1252 K a t y D a v id s o n is a uniter, musician, dreamer and bicyclist who splits her time between Portland and San Francisco. O RIANA G ree n is a really picky Portland writer. rt m/ wi ll, liill S rL n , l„ Li'iiijilltni) lli<- NATIONAL KIDNEY FOI'NPATION SIEVE 'A MARCH ORME p v u in n n v i.iiN HARRI S ON TUESDAY. MARCII ,> 2((2 ARLENE S C I I \ I T / ER C 0 N C E R I II A 1.1. nmf ///•• ukm T\ , ^ (. miiu . i hi min li ii mi, bind \ D E N IMIKII \ \ l > > j T /7 t l l . - M I K S An {.veilin') o| Jn** nml I.i vi1i| Just Out subscriptions make great gifts for family and friends. songs can be interpreted with a homo spin. He has a talent for creating medleys that convey an updated message, such as in “Younger Than Springtim e” from South Pacific: “Gayer than laughter are you/sweeter than music are you” and then “Gayer than laughter am I/angel and lover/heaven and earth am 1 with you.” It also includes “Dites-M oi” with the almost poignant interpretation of the line “ Dites moi pourquoi la vie est gaie” (Tell me why life is gay). This set is rounded out with “You’ve G ot to Be Carefully Taught,” origi nally written about racism, but in this con text, the meaning can be extended to a request for tolerance of all people. The backup musicians on Remembered Faces are excellent and provide most of the jazz fla vor. Although many of the songs are foreign and obscure, it often feels more like a set of standards. The album is well mixed enough so the stronger musicians don’t overwhelm Black’s delicate voice. For a so-called jazz disc, howev er, the players are given precious few chances to solo, perhaps to emphasize Black’s only role of singer. Black sounds better on some of the foreign tunes, and when he harmonizes with himself, as he does on the haunting “Chinar Es," it bulks up his voice nicely. My hunch is he comes off better live; his striking good looks and intense gaze might enhance his repertoire, especially the torchy love songs. If you find yourself in Seattle, keep a lookout for him. — Oriana Green JP1 , / f EVERY BOOK OF GAY EROTICA ALWAYS IN STOCK! ( j ED A Night in the Barracks. Military homos. Having sex. With straight GIs. Bastards! $13. < ® > Formosa Favorites. Lush nude photos of sexy-as-sin Asian boys. Special buy. $19.95. CiU D Ride, Queer, Ride. Legendary filmmaker Bruce la Bruce spills the beans. $27.95. Fortunately, the truth is, The Bluff is good! And I really like it! The album— like her last record, The Walls Ablaze — is jangley, melodic, lyrically interesting, well recorded, fierce and sensi tive. “Must Believe” is a skiffle-style ditty, “Wide Eyed” is jumpy and melodically infec tious, the title track features a beautiful meandering guitar line. “My Kingdom” was recorded using an acoustic guitar instead of her usual electric, and it adds a welcome diversity of sound to the record, as do the drum machine beats on “System Works.” Lyrically, Dougher writes primarily about relationships: confusing relationships, strug gling relationships, overcoming heartache. (One woman in the audi ence at her Santa Barbara show said that her friend just was getting over a relationship and that The Bluff was helping her cope.) Even if I were a robot, spitting out sterile album reviews, I hardly could over look that Dougher’s sound is constantly improving. With each new album, a catchier melody, a new instrument added, a more poignant lyric. — KD N a v i ; r Standard k k 11 : All ill L'LTSlitSHiN’H >SI.ATIMES>;. $-10 S h > SliM) M imi L U . tw U . J*n cvii)l ni «I ll>r limlimim IU I fh Li I tlnmtlMdi* I •*•« 41 . 1(1 I Si.* ««• id.« i I m L jì U Ur* UUh SAITWAY l:\STIXX nr liw N L I «•{fin- nl it NÌofc L ife U| L>i!min^H.»ni
