Musicwhore.org Music and memory

So many gay male artists are releasing new music this summer, it makes me wonder why they all didn’t put everything out in June. But muses can’t be rushed. Nor marketing plans.

Steve Grand, Not the End of Me, July 6

I listen to a lot of really serious music. I need Steve Grand to stop me from being too melancholy.

Luciano Berio, Sinfonia (Roomful of Teeth, Seattle Symphony, Ludovic Morlot), July 20

I went to the Saturday performance of this piece on the recommendation of my music theory professor.

Jake Shears, Jake Shears, Aug. 10

I’ve never really cottoned to Scissor Sisters, even though they seem to be in my wheelhouse.

Death Cab for Cutie, Thank You for Today, Aug. 17

The first two albums of Death Cab’s major label of phase made me wonder if they would follow R.E.M.’s downward creative trajectory in a similar fashion, but Codes and Keys and Kintsugi actually stemmed that tide. I’m not encouraged by the band’s comparison of this new album to Narrow Stairs, however.

Julee Cruise, Three Demos, Aug. 17

I loved Floating Into the Night, so I’m curious to hear these early drafts. A reissue of The Voice of Love also arrives the same day.

Troye Sivan, Bloom, Aug. 31

I was nowhere near the target market for Blue Neighborhood, but I liked it anyway.

Craig Armstrong, Sun on You, Sept. 7

Craig Armstrong is known more for his film scores, mostly because few of his studio albums get US releases. Here’s hoping a streaming release makes up for that drought.

Renée Fleming, Broadway, Sept. 7

A Broadway album? With Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Tell Me on a Sunday”? And a song from Stephen Sondheim’s A Little Night Music that isn’t “Send in the Clowns”? OK, Renée Fleming, I’ll bite.

Prince, Piano and a Microphone 1983, Sept. 14

Sure, I’m curious enough to check out this set of demos, but what I’d like to know is when the vinyl reissue campaign will get to the Love Symbol album.

Vinyl

U2, Achtung Baby, July 27
U2, Zooropa, July 27

Zooropa is an odd album in the U2 canon, recorded in a spontaneous rush with experiments that work (“Numb”) and some that fail (“Lemon”). Despite a lavish repackaging, Achtung Baby had not yet been reissued in stand-alone black vinyl.

Tags: craig armstrong, death cab for cutie, jake shears, julee cruise, looking ahead, prince, steve grand, troye sivan