My Amazon Reviews: Drake Jensen “Retro”

Full Speed Ahead In Reverse
5 Out Of 5 Stars

Everyone's favorite out Canadian Cowboy, Drake Jensen, has set the control of his Wayback Machine for his new "Retro" album. Doing a covers album is always a risky venture as you're just as likely to step on a sacred cow than give a song proper respect. Drake walks that balance really well here, making his retro-world a place where Cyndi Lauper cuddles up to George Strait as easily as Pam Tillis plays footsie with Billy Idol. The thread that ties it all together is Drake's honey sweet voice, which, at times does resemble Strait's. It's not a completely country album, but you'll be surprised at just how much Lauper's "I Drove All Night" sounds with just a hint of Texas. Ditto for Idol's "Eyes Without A Face."

That's part of the fun of "Retro." There are a couple of die-hard country standards here, including the late Dan Seals' heart-breaker, "Everything That Glitters is Not Gold" and Strait's "Amarillo By Morning." He's also unafraid about some gender switching covering Tillis and Reba McEntire ("You Lie"). He also steps up to the plate to do a duet (originally by Seals and Marie Osmond) with Tia McGraff for "Meet Me In Montana." There are other artists here that you may be familiar with, some maybe not, But the result is pure; "Retro" may be a collection of oldies, but Drake Jensen makes them sound just like you'd want them to.

I can also recommend Drake's other studio albums linked below. "Stand By Your Man" is a good kicker single.

     

My Amazon Book Reviews: Douglas Whaley "Corbin Milk"

The Spy Who Fell In Love
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Corbin Milk has a dilemma. Well, several dilemmas. He's a top spy for the CIA, who have no qualms about using the fact that Corbin is a drop dead gorgeous gay man as sexual bait while working undercover. His new found lover wants Corbin to stop using his sexual prowess on his spy missions. And to top it off, his supervisor is a closet case who wants a night in the sack. These are the main twists turning about in "Corbin Milk," a thriller in three parts.

First is a mission to the Middle East, where Corbin must find his way into a super secure palace. Then a trip to Amsterdam, to take down a sadistic Russian into rough sex, and then the most tricky mission of all...making a secure relationship with the new love of his life, George Yancy. All the while, he has to fend off the snooping supervisor who is far too interested in Corbin's love life and makes Corbin's job all the more difficult on the home front.

"Corbin Milk" makes use of its characters and fleshes them out well. Corbin himself is a complex man, a superior spy who winds his way through difficult missions in realistic fashion, and the other folk play important roles without succumbing to cliché. Corbin works hard and plays harder, and all the other members of the story keep up with the book's pace. A thriller with romance at its core, "Corbin Milk" is a book I savored, one episode at a time.

My Amazon Reviews: Rufus Wainwright "Out Of The Game"

Rufus Rediscovers Pop
4 Out Of 5 Stars

This is near as perfect a match between artist and producer as 2012 has seen. Mark Ronson nudges Rufus Wainwright into Ronson's retro-world just as Rufus writes his most melodic material since his wonderful "Want One." The end result, "Out Of The Game," is just as it's title states; Rufus has reined in his last couple CD's worth of extravagance into a listenable and highly enjoyable album.

He's also as unconventional as ever. "Look at you, suckers," he snorts at the newly out character on the title track, with soul-backing singers. It sounds like conventional pop-soul, but that dark streak subverts the meaning. Same with songs that are self referential ("Rashida," "Barbara"), yet the swirling ABBA synths of "Montauk" change the game completely. Rufus sings to his new daughter about her two dads, in a sly and somber hopeful song about her future, along with a bittersweet, heartfelt verse about his late mother and growing older without her. It's easily the best and most reflective song he's written since "Poses," and made me a fan of Rufus once again.

I have to admit, his last few albums had left me cold; the redo of Judy Garland, the overt arty "All Nights are Days" and I was feeling "Release The Stars" was the artist reaching past his grasp. "Out Of The Game" proves me wrong. Despite all the diversions - and the way he now draws upon them for this album - Wainwright has kept his touch as a masterful singer-songwriter. That's something I wasn't expecting to say, but I'm more than happy to eat my words this time around.

   

It Gets Better: The SFPD

Take That, Bigots!

U.S. appeals court rules Prop. 8 unconstitutional

The ban on same sex marriage remains in place while the case is appealed to the US Supreme court.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46294255/ns/us_news-life/#.TzGGFsiO0sI

I oughta be in Movies (Trailers)

Abrupt Decision: A Film by Paul Bright
(Featuring me as "Dr Pyramid"

My Amazon Reviews: Brett Every "Menu"

Sample all the Entrees
4 Out Of 5 Stars

Brett Every is a roughhewn, last call at the bar singer songwriter, and I've been a fan since I first heard "Camping Out" a few years ago. Possessed of a moaning, hopeless voice, he seems crossed with Mark Weitzel and a gay Tom Waits. Every's deep, shaky voice drips pathos and emotionalism, with frequent guest Estelle Noonan adding a similar female foil to add to the bluesy burn of his writing. "Menu," his third album, continues this course in a solid fashion, offering few changes from his first two distinctive albums.


On his previous album, Brett pulled Bette Midler's "Come Back Jimmy Dean" and wrapped his smokey longing around it to perfection. On "Menu," he takes an even bigger risk by hauling out Concrete Blonde's new wave one-hit "Joey" out and turning it on its head. On the original, singer Johnette Napolitano was confronting a junkie boyfriend, trying to pull him out of a destructive relationship. Here, Every is locked into a tense battle with Joey, trying to convince him that his desperate love is worth kicking the habit over, even if you know that Joey has no intentions of being the better man. Brett's version tugs harder at the heart that CB's ever did.

There are also some stunning original compositions, including "Man Walks Into a Bar," where the 40 year old Brett discovers his 20 year old self, and tries to convince him that being careful will avert future heartaches. You know full well that the 20 year old Brett is blowing the old geezer off, and the elder Brett aches to know that his youthful self needs to make his own coming out path, pains and all. Just as delightful is when he tackles this in first person fashion during "Rough Road," hoping his life is restaurants and country clubs, where 'all they have are chili dogs." There's a romantic streak here just struggling to get out from the back of the bar, and Brett's "Menu" is another fine album from this out Aussie performer.

  

One more reason I love my Phillies.

International Gay Rodeo Association: It Gets Better

"How many more gay people does God have to create before we ask ourselves whether or not God actually wants them around?" Steve Simon

Tomorrow: Join me In NYC: I'm doing a reading after 3PM.

 

 

David Stein and I will be sharing a book table at the event. Come on out!

 

My Amazon DVD Reviews: "Men For Sale"

The Lost Boys of Montreal
3 Out Of 5 Stars

"Men For Sale" is a harrowing look at about a dozen hustlers over a year's time in Montreal as they come into a clinic known as Sero-Zero. It's a place where they can get health checks and information about AIDS prevention. It's also where documentarian Rodrigue Jean set up his cameras for month-by-month interviews. The over two hour running time adds to the nightmarish aspect of the men's existences.

They live in a constant parade of drugs (Crack, mainly), sex, hustling, fights, and dreams that even they know won't come true. One by one, these young men talk about being in a life that seems like a death wish (some of them repeatedly say they want to commit suicide) or a never ending lurch from score to score. There's scenes of deep denial about their lives, like the one man who is the father to a baby that he thinks he could be a good father for, even as he talks about buying more crack. Some of these men think it's a major achievement in detoxing if they stay off the rock for more than 10 hours.

But then it's right back to the viscous cycle. After awhile, the film becomes almost numbing in it's predictability, repetitive nature, and a serious lack of editing. (Did there really need to be shots of the men getting microphones taped on their chests? Or the transitional shots of Montreal in the dark?) The film is also in French, so you're reading subtitles throughout. With the exception of "Willy," whose face is never fully shown, most of these men are inarticulate, which renders the subtitles into something resembling a news-channel's repetitious lower screen ticker bar.

The story never seems to change. It makes "Men For Sale" a depressing portrait of prostitution and drug use. To the movie's credit, there's no glamorization or teary fake redemption scenes, and plenty of close ups of men beaten both mentally and physically. "I'm 23 and I'm losing my teeth," one of the men grouses. They may be "Men For Sale," but ultimately, they give up whatever value they could have and the DVD refuses to flinch at that fact.  

     

My Amazon DVD Reviews: "Pornography: A Thriller"

Thriller, A Buzzkill  
3 Out Of 5 Stars

An interesting, well acted art film that trips over itself too often. "Pornography, A Thriller" is basically three short films that overlap each other in bizarre and David Lynch-ian fashion. You start with the mysterious demise of one Mark Anton, an 80's porn star who disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The rumor is that he got tricked into a snuff movie. That sets up the next two acts.

Journalist Michael (Matthew Montgomery) is researching a book about the cultural significance of Gay adult movies and soon discovers he is being sucked into the odd story of Mark Anton. His lover, William (Walter Delmar), is soon acting weird when the Anton story begins consuming Michael. And they discover their neat new apartment may have been a porn studio. Even THE porn studio where Anton met his fate. After all these years, those involved with Anton aren't happy to find out someone is digging into this old urban legend, and soon Michael finds he has a bigger story on his hands than he thought.

That story also jarringly transitions to Los Angeles, where aging pornstar Matt Stevens (Pete Scherer) decides he will document Anton's dissapearance in his directorial debut., Again, dark forces begin to swirl around. And HIS boyfriend, also played by Delmar, soon tries to warn him away. Since this is allegedly a thriller, nobody listens to any warnings. Bad things are supposed to happen. And they will...or are they?

That is "Pornography's" major flaw. After awhile, the juxtapositions just become to circumstantial and awkward, and the thrills just aren't there. Suspense, yes, but not much by way of shockers. What could have been a compelling story flops around into artiness without resolving anything, and if you're going to put the word "Thriller" in your title, you need more than what is in the screen here to make your bones.