Wed. September 24, 2008
By DJ Plez
Duo 1
The pop music duo and real life lovers Jason & deMarco, who graced the cover of The Advocate in 2004, proclaim that they want their music to be uplifting without being preachy and they sure have succeeded with their new album Safe (RJN Music!), a 12-track presentation that brought a continuous smile to my face. Featuring new music and recordings that appear in the controversial SHOWTIME documentary We're All Angels, this album with its beautiful harmonies and empowering message propels the duo past its core gay audience and into mainstream musical consciousness. Amidst impressive original compositions such as "You Changed My Life," Jason & deMarco really hit the ball out of the park with their absolutely fantastic takes on "Bridge Over Troubled Water" and "Ave Maria."
While Safe is a fairly subdued and low key album, the same can not be said about the dance remixes of "It's Okay," the first single from the album. The R. Maharaj remixes have a deep proggy vibe that simmers with an after-hours flavor. Meanwhile, the Scotty K remixes have a big room big production sound that marries well with Jason & deMarco's voices. Both remixers deserve praise for their efforts.
Where's Archie?
The much praised The Veronicas are back with their second album, Hook Me Up (Sire Records), and boy do they have a winner on their hands. The Veronicas are actually twin sisters from Australia - neither of whom is named Veronica, but Lisa and Jessica Origliasso – and they've produced a 12-track collection of dance-friendly electro-rock that starts out really strong with "Untouched," the first single that debuted at #10 on MTV's TRL Top 10 Countdown. The rest of the album has some great material on it, including the title track, "Popular," and "I Can't Stay Away," and it's already been certified double-platinum in The Veronicas native land of Australia. I expect their Down Under success to carry over stateside and lead to lots of radio air time and downloads here.
Dancing with SJP
The movie may not have been as big a critical success as hoped for, but the music from the Sex & The City movie was quite good. So good in fact that a second soundtrack with 15 other songs has just been released to coincide with the DVD release. Sex and the City Volume 2 (New Line Records) includes tracks by Ciara, Amy Winehouse, Craig David, Janet Jackson, Goldfrapp and Estelle featuring Cee-Lo.
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