New CDs by GLBT artists

Last month, the queer music world seemed to be in a tizzy over the announcement that Sony Music, in conjunction with Logo founder Matt Farber, was launching a record label for queer artists under the moniker Music with a Twist. This is not the first foray by a major label into that territory. Anybody old enough to recall Atlantic Records’ roster in the mid-1990s might remember that they were home to out artists such as Jill Sobule, Melissa Ferrick and Extra Fancy. Perhaps less a label than a gay marketing brain trust, Sony Music also launched the short-lived Pink Tank around the same time.

Fast forward 10 years, give or take: With gay sitcoms and other TV series, gay cable networks and gay films all the rage in Hollywood, why not pay a little more attention to gay musicians? After all, coming out didn’t really hurt Elton John, k.d. lang, Melissa Etheridge, the Indigo Girls or Rufus Wainwright, among others, did it?

As someone who has been writing about music, queer music in particular, for a dozen years, I have heard my share of worthy (and unworthy) music released on major, smaller and independent labels. While I don’t see the point of, say, Elton, k.d., Melissa, Amy, Emily or Rufus joining the ranks of a specifically queer-identified label, it probably wouldn’t hurt. On the other hand, there are numerous indie queer musicians who have been working hard, building up their followings, and recording and releasing albums, many of which surpass their major-label brothers and sisters (see Brady Earnhart). What follows is a rundown of recent releases by independent queer artists who, for all intents and purposes, may actually benefit from a little major-label attention (read financial support).

Levi Kreis could be this year’s poster child for queer male musicians. Easy on the eyes, Kreis appears to be readymade for those in the visual packaging department. With a voice that sounds like he just finished taking his bows in the Broadway production of just about any recent musical, Kreis should have no trouble reeling in listeners. He also accompanies himself on piano and writes (or co-writes) catchy pop tunes, the best of which include “I Should Go,” “With You,” “Hardly a Hero” and “Just this Good,” on One of the Ones (Tango Blues).

Cindy Bullens has already done her time on major labels. Before she was out, Bullens released albums on Casablanca and United Artists in the late ’70s, and when she made her comeback in the late ’90s, she recorded for Artemis. Her new album, Dream #29 (Let’s Play/Blue Lobster), featuring Elton John (for whom she sang backing vocals a number of years ago) on the title track, has a blues-pop attitude – best realized on “Jellico Highway,” “Box of Broken Hearts,” “Mockingbird Hill” and “Too Close to the Sun” – and deserves to be heard by the wider audience a major label practically guarantees.

Like Bullens, Rick Berlin had a taste of the major-label spotlight when, as a member of Orchestra Luna, he was signed to Epic in the ’70s; and in 1982, his Boston-based band Berlin Airlift’s full-length debut album was released on the CBS distributed Handshake Records. Berlin worked in various musical incarnations during the years that followed, and on Me & Van Gogh (Hi-N-Dry), he goes it alone, with just his voice and a piano. The openly gay Berlin is at turns dramatic (the title track, “Criminal”), theatrical (“The Ride,” “A Letter,” “Beerbelly”), reminiscent of Jimmy Webb (“Party Dress,” “Do You Still Love Me?”) and never less than completely original and inspiring.

The recipient of a multitude of awards, including the 2005 Outmusic Award for Outstanding Songwriter, Rachael Sage hit her stride with her 2004 album Ballads & Burlesque. She continues that stride on The Blistering Sun (MPress), expanding her keyboards and vocal-driven sound with the inclusion of a horn section (“Alright, OK,” “Wildflower,” “Lonely Street”), an accordion (the character song “93 Maidens”), some wah-wah guitar (on the soulful “Violet or Blue”), strings (“Paperplane”), as well as a return to Ani DiFranco-like spoken word (“Hit Song”). Also known for her colorful stage persona, Sage’s appeal is practically limitless.

I first became aware of LD Beghtol via his performances on the Magnetic Fields’ 1999 magnum opus 69 Love Songs. Since that time, I have become acquainted with LD’s other musical projects, including the bands Flare and moth wranglers. The “experimental countrypolitan deathpop” of his new band, LD & The New Criticism, brings all of his influences to bear on the album Tragic Realism (Darla). Fans, gay and straight, of The Arcade Fire are almost certain to be smitten by this disc, which includes standouts such as “Always the Last to Know,” “When We Dance (At Joe Orton’s Wedding),” “Laughing at You,” “Too Old to Die Young,” “In Blue” and “Unpaid Endorsement.”

Queer trio Grizzly Bear do the neo-folk genre (Devendra Banhart, Sufjan Stevens) proud on Horn of Plenty (Kanine). The influence of early Liz Phair is also deeply felt throughout. The expanded reissue of this 2004 release now comes with a bonus disc of remixes by out remixers such as Soft Pink Truth and others.

Speaking of Liz Phair, Sweet Chastity (Luv-a-lot) by Dan Fishback (Cheese on Bread) is an homage to the brazen singer/songwriter. From the cover photo, a nod to her self-titled 2003 disc, to the haunting piano of “Piano Song,” to the sexual exploits of “Silent Tea,” to the breathy “The News Today,” to the guitar on “Bad Canary” (as well as the Phair name-check), you could call it Exile in Gayville. The disc also retains the spirit of Fishback’s CoB work on other tracks.

Queer hip-hop artists, from Scott Free to Tori Fixx to God-dess and many others in-between, are creating some of the fiercest and most original rhymes you are likely to hear. On The Lemonade Incident (www.socetew.com), Soce The Elemental Wizard wastes no time in getting down to business on opening track “I Am (So Gay)” – where he raps, “I am the gayest MC on the planet/I got more men than Janet.” And with what follows, including “Bad Hair Day,” “Selling Out” and “Same Three Spots,” I gladly take him at his word.

These days, if you turn on gay cable network Logo, you are likely to see Billy Porter. The openly gay singer/songwriter shares his coming out story in one of the station’s promos. It’s easy to imagine a voice and talent as big as Porter’s getting lost in a recording studio. So it’s logical that he would want to do a live album, as he did with At the Corner of Broadway + Soul (Sh-K-Boom). In addition to more than a half dozen original co-compositions, Porter unleashes his powerful pipes on songs by Stephen Sondheim, Ricky Ian Gordon, Adam Guettel and Jason Robert Brown, as well as on a roof-raising reading of Tom Eyen and Henry Kreiger’s “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” (from Dreamgirls).

It’s not fair to judge Eric Himan’s talent based on One Night Stands… (Thumb Crown), his new live album. The sound quality is surprisingly poor, which is an issue when it comes to live recordings. Diehard Himan-heads will want the album, however, for the two previously unreleased live numbers, “In My Shoes” and “Let it in,” and the previously unavailable studio track “Bartender.”

Out guitarist Mimi Fox, who can be heard alongside other out guitarists including Patty Larkin and Kaki King on the La Guitarra album, has returned with her own album, the double-disc set Perpetually Hip (Favored Nations). Both discs contain Fox’s interpretations of jazz and American songbook standards, although she performs with Harvie S., Billy Hart and Xavier Davis on the first “band” disc, and goes it alone on the second “solo” disc.

Space doesn’t allow for more details about other noteworthy independent queer artists, but does permit me to mention The Color and the Light (Red Panda) by Jennifer O’Connor, Lullaby for a Junkie (www.andymullenmusic.com) by Andy Mullen and the Shapeshifters, Black Doves (Funzalo) by Amelia White, The Other Side (Cornerworld) by Lou, Trouble from the Start (Machine Heart) by Lisa Moscatiello, Frolic & F*** (Bully) by Ariel Aparicio w/The Hired Guns, Dig Right in by Andy Moore (www.playinout.com), Denying the West (Johann’s Face) by Das Kapital (featuring former members of The Atari Star), Parody of Pleasure (www.threedollarbill.net) by Three Dollar Bill, the self-titled EP by Lisa Jackson + girl Friday (www.lisajacksonandgirlfriday.com) and Barre Handed by Tony Barre (www.barreparts.com).