Prince’s Legacy: ‘Set your mind free’
PRINCE ROGERS NELSON was as loved by fans at the end of his life as at any time of his career. When he took the stage of the 2015…More
Browsing: Music
Blog Posts
Short Reviews
Reviews of David Bowie’s album Blackstar, and the books: Batty Bwoy and Making a Scene: Lesbians and Community across Canada, 1964-84.
More
Musical Inventions
Describing Sondheim as “a classically trained composer who chose the theater over the concert hall and Broadway over the opera house,” Mordden points out classical influences everywhere in the master’s scores
More
Sappho Transfigured
IT SEEMS everyone’s boarding the Sappho boat these days, eager to travel with the ancient poet and tell the world who she was. One person well qualified to be Sappho’s herald and interpreter is singer, songwriter, and musician Jeri Hilderley, who pays homage to the poet with a stirring new CD, Time Traveling with Sappho.
More
Janis Ian Brings a Lesbian Classic to Life
IT WAS just about fifty years ago that singer–songwriter Janis Ian had her first hit, “Society’s Child” (1967). Nearly a decade later she released “At Seventeen” (1975), which became her signature song. Since then, she has had a multifaceted career as a recording and touring artist, and she is an accomplished writer of essays, science fiction, and an acclaimed autobiography.
MoreHow David Bowie Bent My Gender
I AWOKE one morning in January to a message from my friend Roy in England that just said, “Sad day for music.” A sense of dread welled up. I…More
What Ever Became of Lesley Gore?
Personally, as Tolliver writes, while she sang about young love and boys, Gore knew as a teen that she was a lesbian. She didn’t dare to come out to her family, much less to her fans …
More
Arts Briefs
Reviews of the film Compared to What? The Improbable Journey of Barney Frank, Madonna’s album Rebel Heart, the play The Submission.
MoreThe Hijacking of Lesbian History
THIS YEAR, as America’s two oldest women’s music festivals—Michigan and National—prepare to celebrate landmark fortieth anniversaries, a number of powerful organizations have signed a petition against the Michigan festival, endorsing an economic boycott of all artists who perform there.
More
Short Reviews
Reviews of Framed Butterflies by Raad Rahman, and Matthew Connor’s album Farewell Motel.
More