The two best albums of the year are by queer artists. Rufus Wainwright's Poses ( Dreamworks ) and Amy Ray's Stag ( Daemon ) were released early in the year, so I've been listening to them for a long time. The good news is that I haven't gotten tired of listening to either. No other album released this year compares to Poses. Wainwright outdid himself with his second CD, going beyond fulfilling the promise of his debut album. For her first solo disc, Indigo Girl Ray distanced herself from her band's trademark sound, working with The Butchies, Joan Jett and Kelly Hogan, among others, to create a sound as unique as the artist herself.
Sam Phillips returned to her acoustic roots on the dazzling Fan Dance ( Nonesuch ) , her best and most subtle album to date. Formerly of the band Shudder To Think, Nathan Larson was one of several artists who released solo albums after their band affiliations came to an end. Anyone who has heard Larson's film score work ( High Art, Boys Don't Cry ) won't be surprised by the accomplished Jealous God ( Artemis ) .
If you think that television is getting gayer every season, you ought to go to the movies. Among the best movies of the year, gay or straight, the film version of Hedwig & The Angry Inch has a soundtrack on Hybrid Records to match. I don't know how it happened, but I was able to see the pre-Broadway production of The Producers twice while it was in Chicago. The Columbia cast recording does a superb job of capturing the manic energy of the show.
I hope that someday there will be a male version of LeTigre. For now I'm glad to have the radical and political, and occasionally humorous, lesbian dance band LeTigre, and their album Feminist Sweepstakes ( Mr. Lady ) giving me something to think about while dancing. Speaking of dancing, Basement Jaxx out-Princed Prince on their brilliant Rooty ( Astralwerks ) disc, while Gorillaz fall somewhere between the politics of LeTigre and the pizzazz of Basement Jaxx on the self-titled Virgin debut.
Young Texan Shea Seger's The May Street Project ( RCA ) is one of the most promising debut discs of the year. The two best any-occasion-party albums were the very British Death By Chocolate's retro self-titled Jetset debut and The Avalnches raucous and spirited sampla-delic Since I Left You ( Modular/Sire ) .
Alice Ripley, most recently on Broadway beside Lea DeLaria in The Rocky Horror Show, did a couple of remarkable things on her debut disc Everything's Fine ( Sh-K-Boom ) . She wrote all of the songs and she managed not to sound like a Broadway actress trying to rock out.
1. Poses...Rufus Wainwright ( Dreamworks )
2. Stag...Amy Ray ( Daemon )
3. Fan Dance...Sam Phillips ( Nonesuch )
4. Jealous God...Nathan Larson ( Artemis )
5. ( tie ) Hedwig & The Angry Inch...OST ( Hybrid ) / The Producers...OCR ( Columbia )
6. Feminist Sweepstakes...Le Tigre ( Mr. Lady )
7. ( tie ) Rooty...Basement Jaxx ( Astralwerks ) / Gorillaz...Gorillaz ( Virgin )
8. The May Street Project...Shea Seger ( RCA )
9. ( tie ) Death By Chocolate...Death By Chocolate ( Jetset ) / Since I Left You...The Avalanches ( Modular/Sire )
10. Alice Ripley...Everything's Fine ( Sh-K-Boom )
11. Tropical Brainstorm...Kirsty MacColl ( Instinct/V2 )
12. ( tie ) The Bluff...Sarah Dougher ( Mr. Lady ) / Angels & Cigarettes...Eliza Carthy ( Warner Brothers )
13. Mahogany Soul...Angie Stone ( J )
14. The Tijuana Sessions, Vol. 1...Nortec Collective ( Palm Pictures/Mil )
15. Biota Bondo...Iffy ( Foodchain )
16. Ten New Songs...Leonard Cohen ( Columbia )
17. Restless Night...Julianna Raye ( 3 Crows )
18. Because It Feel Good...Kelly Hogan ( Bloodshot )
19. Is This It...The Strokes ( RCA )
20. ( tie ) Brokenwingtrick...Kate Schutt ( Wild Whip ) / Rose Polenzani...Rose Polenzani ( Daemon )
21. Never Mind The Context...The Moth Wranglers ( Magnetic )
22. ( tie ) My Shirt Looks Good On You...Catie Curtis ( Rykodisc ) / Sunny Border Blue...Kristin Hersh ( 4AD )
23. The Incomplete...Glenn Tilbrook ( W.A.R./Quixotic )
24. ( tie ) Let It Come Down...Spiritualized ( Arista ) / The Invisible Band...Travis ( Epic/Independiente )
25. Lemonjelly.ky...Lemon Jelly... ( XL/The Beggars Group )
26. Life On A String...Laurie Anderson ( Nonesuch )
27. Room For Squares...John Mayer ( Aware )
28. The Incredible Moses Leroy's Electric Pocket Radio...The Incredible Moses Leroy ( Artemis/Ultimatum )
29. Reveling Reckoning...Ani DiFranco ( Righteous Babe )
30. ( tie ) The Id...Macy Gray ( Epic ) / Now...Maxwell ( Columbia )
31. ( tie ) Shrp Knf Cts Mtns...The Atari Star ( Johanns Face ) / Maroon...The Webb Brothers ( Atlantic/Mews 5 ) ; Music Typewriter...Maureno Veloso ( Hannibal ) / 32. Strange Little Girls...Tori Amos ( Atlantic )
33. Mobilize...Grant-Lee Phillips ( Zoe )
34. Someday My Blues Will Cover The Earth...His Name Is Alive ( Beggars Banquet/4AD )
35. The Houston Kid...Rodney Crowell ( Sugar Hill )
36. musicforthemorningafter...Pete Yorn ( Columbia )
37. Look Into The Eyeball...David Byrne ( Virgin/Luaka Bop )
38. Grand and Ashland...Jenny Choi & The Third Shift ( Ona )
39. Gold...Ryan Adams ( Lost Highway )
40. Whole New You...Shawn Colvin ( Columbia )
41. Phantom Moon...Duncan Sheik ( Nonesuch )
42. Indoor Universe...Paula Frazer ( Birdman )
43. Weezer...Weezer ( Geffen )
44. Play It Cool...Lea DeLaria ( Warner Brothers )
45. Salesmen & Racists...Ike Reilly ( Republic/Universal )
46. Everybody Got Their Something...Nikka Costa ( Virgin )
47. ( tie ) All Is Dream...Mercury Rev ( V2 ) / The Coast Is Never Clear...Beulah ( Velocette )
48. Psychcedelicate...Slumber Party ( Kill Rock Stars )
49. Once We Were Trees...Beachwood Sparks ( Sub Pop )
50. Amnesiac...Radiohead ( Capitol )
The rest in this order:
East On Sunset...Kevin Henry ( Coastal ) / Onka's Big Moka...Toploader ( Epic ) / God Bless The Blake Babies...The Blake Babies ( Zoe/Fort Apache ) / The Day We Met...Suede ( Easily Suede ) / Love & Theft...Bob Dylan ( Columbia ) / Dig...Boz Scaggs ( Virgin ) / Ben Folds...Rockin' The Suburbs ( Epic ) / Acoustic Soul...India.Arie ( Motown ) / The Beat Goes On...Liz Callaway ( Fynsworth Alley ) / Valentine Heartache...Melissa Ferrick ( Right On ) / Idiology...Mouse On Mars ( Thrill Jockey ) / Skin...Melissa Etheridge... ( Island ) / Trouble In Shangri-La...Stevie Nicks ( Reprise ) / Month Of Sundays...Chamber Strings ( Bobsled ) / Okeeblow...Scapegoat Wax...Okeeblow ( Grand Royal ) / Stephen Malkmus...Stephen Malkmus ( Matador ) / Essence...Lucinda Williams ( Lost Highway ) / Ralph's World...Ralph Covert ( Mini Fresh ) / Mandy Moore...Mandy Moore ( Epic )
