TransVocalizers — Gift Giving Ideas/Year End Music Review

Well, we just survived the first of the “big three” days of the season — Thanksgiving, or Turkey Day, if you will. If you were one of the truly demented souls who ventured out on Black Friday — and came out unscathed — I guess that’s proof of survival of the fittest. Maybe your shopping is done. But, if not, you now have just over three weeks.

Making it to Christmas, then on to New Years (and hopefully surviving New Year’s Eve), we are then given the opportunity of another year, and maybe your own individual chance at any personal do-overs you might need.

But, until then, let’s focus on Christmas shopping. For the past few years, I’ve used this December installment of the column (along with the companion Perpetual Change column) to offer very brief updates of the musicians and their music that have been featured throughout the year. All or any of the music discussed here, which represents several genres, would be ideal gifts for the music lover on your list. When possible, the contact information for each artist has been included. Many of the better known Internet music retailers also carry most of the artists written about in TransVocalizers throughout the year.

Justin Vivian Bond

Lady Bunny

Drag legend Lady Bunny was our first installment for 2012. While she regards herself as more of a comedian than a vocalist, she does have DVDs released that showcase her entire range..

Justin Vivian Bond

Justin Vivian is another legend, featured three times in TransVocalizers in 2012-January 30th, and also in February and again in July. Justin is best known as one of New York City’s most popular cabaret performers. In February, a review of his Dendrophile CD was posted, with another review of his most recent project, Silver Wells presented as the July column. Both of these albums are excellent productions, and offer a showcase of Justin’s work, which can range from sparse sounding tunes, to jazz, to full on productions. In the case of the Silver Wells project, Justin also shows that he has a very good ear at picking out cover tunes from other artists that work well for his voice and presentation.

Other projects by Justin Vivian Bond include his debut EP Pink Slip, Justin Bond Is Close To You (a reinterpretation of The Carpenters classic Close To You album), and two CDs as part of the duo Kiki and Herb — Do You Hear What We Hear? and Kiki And Herb Will Die For You At Carnegie Hall. There are also DVDs available, as well as many YouTube videos, and Justin is also an author.

David de Alba

Speaking of legends — seems to be a theme here, doesn’t it? — TransVocalizers ran a two part interview with David de Alba in March and May. In August, links to several of David’s liver performance videos were posted. David de Alba is best known for his Judy Garland impersonation, which he developed as a cast member at San Francisco’s iconic Finnochio’s club.

While David does have an extensive catalog of self-produced CDs, most are now out of print and very hard to find. There are DVDs available as well as YouTube performance videos. It doesn’t look like David de Alba will be retiring any time soon.

Jackie Beat

Jackie Beat is another long time performer who was one of the first artists featured here. While she is best known as a cabaret performer, as well as a comedian and singer, she is also a member of the band Dirty Sanchez. It’s with this act that various albums have been recorded. While some are hard to come by, you can access their website  for more information.

Foxxjazell

Foxxjazell

Foxxjazell was first mentioned in this column in February of 2011, with CD reviews posted in March and August of that year. She has two previous albums, Introducing Foxxjazell, and Boy, Girl, Whateva…, and has been working on her newest project, entitled Elevation, for the past few months. In September, TransVocalizers posted an interview with Foxx in which she discussed the filming of her video for the song NYC Love which is part of the upcoming album release. Recently, she offered a link to another new video, Sickening, also from the album. This can also be viewed on YouTube and iTunes.

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Max’s Kansas City 1976

Last month, TransVocalizers featured a a review of a rare album (yes, an album, as in vinyl record LP), entitled Max’s Kansas City 1976. The project featured several acts that played the legendary club in New York City during that era. One of the more prominent performers on the record was Wayne/Jayne County and her back-up band, The Back Street Boys (NOT the boy band by the same name.) While I found the original vinyl album in a used record store, I learned that it has also been released on CD. County’s three tunes on the album are definitely worth the effort to find this project. If nothing else, it’s a piece of history that takes a look at the beginning of the punk music scene, as well as the place and influence that drag artists had at that time. (The CD is available through amazon.com)

Lala McCallan

Lala McCallan

Lala McCallan has been featured here before, but I definitely want to call attention to her again. In June, we posted a very brief mention concerning a remarkable video Lala released for her tune Get This Party Started, A Modern Rococo Fantasy. Truly a classy, no-expense-spared production. She has been working on a full length DVD for some time now, and hopefully we’ll have news of it soon. (This video, along with many others, can be viewed on YouTube.)

New music throughout the year

This year also saw the release of many new mainstream projects that have kept the dance floors packed, and concert halls well attended. While space doesn’t permit an exhaustive list of all the remix discs that came my way, I would like to offer my recommendation of albums that caught my attention for various reasons.

My Life II… —  Mary J. Blige
Seasons Of The Soul — Rumor
Born To Die — Lana Del Rey
F**K U Betta — Neon Hitch
Picture Show — Neon Trees
Magic Hour — Scissor Sisters
Push And Shove — No Doubt
The Spirit Indestructible — Nelly Furtado

Granted, they’re not all dance material, and in the case of bands such as No Doubt and solo artists such as Rumor, the music they present is different that what you might be used to hearing, and it’s not what would work on the dance floor, but nonetheless, it’s excellent material. And of course, this is only the proverbial scratch on the surface of all the music that has been presented here throughout the year, and doesn’t even come close to giving a decent idea of what all is out there. There’s literally something for everyone.

And last but not least — NEW MUSIC

Kat Graham

I Wanna Say — Kat Graham

This is a remix disc of Kat Graham’s song I Wanna Say, taken from her album Against The Wall. The disc contains four remixes, and a video for the song will be released soon as well. Kat Graham is also an actress, and is currently on the CW series, The Vampire Diaries.

So, an early Merry Christmas to all our TGForum readers. Thanks for reading the column throughout the year. And please, show support for the artists in our community who are out there making all kinds of music — something for everyone — and pick up some last minute gifts of new tunes for family, friends, and loved ones, even your boss.

Tags: featured, music

Category: Music