Candi Staton. The Gossip. Nemesis.______
This year saw a lot of underdogs up for the challenge of competing against mainstream acts; however, there were also unmentionable corporate output disguised as artists. Let's take a moment to reflect 2006's musical highlights.
The Gossip gives queer youth something to talk about with its outstanding videos. Look no further than Listen Up! and the title track from Standing in the Way of Control. The former has an all-girls party dancing to Beth Ditto's cry for freedom. The latter is a mini-pride fest with rainbows galore. Ditto is a relief to the indistinguishable size zero singers, as she promotes a positive awareness of different body types.
French DJ Bob Sinclair sends out a message of world peace and harmony in his terrific video series. The cuts World Hold On, Love Generation and Rock this Party ( Everybody Dance Now ) are pulled from his album, Western Dream, with Sinclair making Hitchcock-like cameos.
The year's most disappointing video is Madonna's Jump. This hurried clip could have been so much better. But Jump falls flat, reeking of a low budget Dead or Alive video. We all know Madonna is capable of soaring and Jump is a messy disappointment that never gets off the ground.
Logo offers the best reality show with Jacob & Joshua: Nemesis Rising. Just don't call the guys Nemesissy. These openly gay identical twins from Montana can sing and clearly show their differences here—more so than just remembering that Jacob is the blonde and Joshua is the brunette. Other than seeing the twins' dynamics, the show's high points include Barry Manilow giving advice in the studio for Nemesis' upcoming debut, Rise Up, and a montage of photos of the twins performing as kids.
Veruca Salt makes a comeback with IV, the strongest album of the year. Yes, they still have it. The opening tracks, So Weird and Centipede, boast the band's musical progress while keeping the guitars plugged into the amplifiers. IV also contains more pop-oriented material like The Sun, which is pulled from the 2005 EP Lords of Sounds and Lesser Things. It seems Louise Post has healed some, but not completely, from Nina Gordon's departure from the group over seven years ago.
Get it Wet, by Dirty Sanchez, has been stuck in my head since summer. Jackie Beat and Mario Diaz square off perfectly over the chant like verses with DJ Barbeau's flawless rising to a climax. The infectious Get it Wet is the song of year, and not just because it drags Justin Timberlake and his overplayed SexyBack waywardly back to the Mickey Mouse Club.
The year's best concert belongs to Mew. These Danish rockers not only opened for Kasabian in September at the Metro, but returned to Chicago's Double Door as headliners. Pulling material from the breakthrough Frengers and 2006's And the Glass Handed Kites, Mew mesmerized the crowd with its moving showstopper finale of Comforting Sounds.
Joshua Klipp sings with himself on the duet of the year. What's so special about that? The trans Klipp makes history by using his pre- and post-transition voices for the number. To hear clips of Little Girl, go to myspace.com/cutelittlewhiteguy.
Walk to the Moon, by Persephone's Bees, is the 'should have been a single' of the year. The buzzworthy debut, Notes from the Underworld, features the breakout singles Good Day and Climbing, but it is the Pink Floyd-inspired Walk to the Moon that is out of this world.
The best transition from actor to musician goes to Rain Phoenix of the Papercranes. Both Jared Leto and Dylan McDermott also showed off their artistic versatility, but Phoenix reigns as she dabbles in college rock and folk music on Papercranes' full-length debut, Vidalia.
Shiny Toy Guns is the hottest new goth band. Check out the video for LeDisko. Here, the stage performer morphs into a creature of the night and everybody looks better with lots of eyeliner.
Beloved British pioneering industrial act Nitzer Ebb did not wane on its mighty comeback this year. On the heels of releasing a hits collection ( Body of Work ) and remix package ( Body of Rework ) , Nitzer Ebb stole the show at Detroit Electronic Music Festival before embarking on a stateside tour.
Annie Hardy has been singing Chris Isaak's Wicked Game even before she formed her current group, Giant Drag. Practice makes perfect, as Giant Drag's rendition is the cover of the year. Before playing it live, Hardy jokes that she wrote this ode for her then-lover Isaak and now she's reclaiming it as her own. Hardy's rough voice is perfectly accompanied by her gritty guitar on Game, which is the bonus track on the re-release of Giant Drag's debut, Hearts and Unicorns.
In 2006 Cat Power risks overexposure but plays it off coolly. Her Matador outing, The Greatest, was reissued with new packaging, albeit with the same bluesy track listing. The Living Proof singer also appears on Ensemble's eponymous debut and entered the realm of electronica by singing on the Faithless track A Kind of Peace for the dance outfit's latest, To All New Arrivals. On top of all of this and touring, the singer-songwriter also released the eMusic Session EP this year.
Gay Games VII Chicago 2006: Let the Games Begin beats out the competition as the year's best compilation. This Centaur release contains memorable moments from the Opening and Closing ceremonies plus queer favorites. This package is a winner with its all-star line-up of artists, including Heather Small, Ari Gold, Kristine W., Jody Watley, Jimmy Somerville and the cast from Avenue Q.
The best makeover is awarded to Candi Staton. On her first secular album in over 20 years, Staton shows us she can completely 'run free' of her gospel and disco image with her latest, His Hands. Part R&B and part blues, the You Got the Love singer delivers sentiment in the style of Shirley Bassey, with a reminder of where Staton's roots truly are.
