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RuPaul Red Hot
Having milked what appears to have been a joke for ten years and two worthwhile singles it appeared that pop culture's favorite transvestite supermodel had very possibly hung up his stilettos to retire to the proverbial gay nightclub in the sky. Not so, according to the press release that accompanies his latest album, REDHOT. Citing a newfound inspiration in light of "what's happening socially and politically in the world right now," RuPaul felt that nothing could benefit the post-9/11 world better than another album full of slick, if unremarkable, dance music laced with tongue-incheek vocals.
mas-cabaret album titled Ho Ho Ho and boasting the faux-single I Saw Daddy Kissing Santa Claus, it may be hard to get excited about any new RuPaul record, let alone one bearing the weight of a mission statement.
Despite its aspirations, however, REDHOT fits neatly alongside RuPaul's best work, which is to say it features slickly engineered dance music and highly excitable, if forgettable, vocals.
RuPaul spends much of the album delving into topics that rarely stray from statements of his fabulousness, none of these exercises more successful than the first single, Look Good Feeling Gorgeous, which replicates the call and response infectiousness of Supermodel (You Better Work) if not its intensity.
RuPaul does take respite from vanity to confront issues as pressing as racism on My Love Sees No Color and as topical as gay marriage on Love is Love, though the arguments He loves me, I love him too/ What on earth does that have to do with you? probably won't sway conservative lawmakers.
lawmakers. RuPaul's latest may be less of a dance floor revolution than fodder for Dance Dance Revolution, but after ten years of the same stink thats probably better than expected.
Grade: C+
If you get ecstatic about the thought of a RuPaul album, just go out and buy his debut Supermodel to the World. If you're just interested in gay music, however, just listen to some Elton John. Trust me
—Ahsan Latif
The Faint Wet from Birth
Since they sprung out of Omaha, Neb., six years ago. The Faint have been as evolutionary as they have been revolutionary. Originally a Pavement/Pixies inspired conglomerate, the band has since morphed into both a new new-wave outfit as well as a group of electro dance anthem purveyors. On its latest, Wet From Birth. The Faint incorporate mixed parts of both past and present into one of the best albums of the year, solidifying its status as
one of the most important and innovative bands in America.
Though more guitars are added and the string section further empowered, Wet From Birth doesn't deviate a great amount from The Faint's last album, 2001' Danse Macabre. The greatest disparity between the two is in vocalist Todd Baechle's performance and function. On Danse Macabre, Baechle spat dark, cryptic lyrics about anger, death and suburbia; short, morbid stanzas often under a digitized guise. On Wet From Birth, his vocal exports of love, fear and inadequacy erupt to the forefront, letting them serve as an integral element of the song — not simply as disguised words interspersed with frenetic beats and shrieking synths.
Standout tracks include How Could I Forget, a story of a verbal exchange between an introverted intellectual and a shallow fashionista sung over the rumbling shakedown of a Jackie Trent interpolation and Southern Belles In London Sing, a gorgeous electro/string infusion. Wet From Birth's most lighthearted track, Erection combines ratty guitar and double entendre into one of the best songs maybe the only song ever about inconvenient engorgement.
Buy this album if you wish to become a better person and help save the world.
Grade: A
Faint over the Faint? See also:
Kraftwerk, Computer World
Dave Brush
Dave Ruigh
9.23.04 Jayplay
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