Sonic Comic - Blame Sally

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Sonic Comic. Other Licks By Margaret Coble. Night of 1000 Stars. Blame Sally. ( Opus Music Ventures). Trio B.C.. Girl in a Coma. (Blackheart). The Future Will ...
tackles Whitney Houston’s “You Give Good Love.” The autobiographical “Grateful” and a sweet ode to her daughter, “Beautiful Girl,” stand out to me as speaking straight from her heart. This is simple, well-produced contemporary urban fare. (elitemusicllc.com)

Teena Marie

RANDEE ST NICHOLAS (MARIE), CHERYL MAZAK (KOCH), IRENE YOUNG (SALLY), MICHAEL RUBENSTEIN (COMA), R J SHAUGHNESSY (SIA)

Congo Square, Teena Marie (Stax): It takes a lot of guts for a white singer-songwriter to name her album Congo Square—after the historic New Orleans site where African slaves were allowed to gather to worship, often cited as

Other Licks

the birthplace of jazz— but if anyone can get away with it, the saucy R&B-soul singer known as “Lady Tee” can. A mainstay in the African American music scene since her 1979 debut on Motown Records, and a renowned protégé of Rick James, Marie just released the 13th album of her 30year career, a jazzier but still solidly R&B set that features collaborations with rapper MC Lyte (the funky “The Pressure”) and Faith Evans (“Can’t Last a Day”), among others. At 53, the self-proclaimed “Ivory Queen of Soul” can still kick it old-school, and quite well; “Baby I Love You” and “Ear Candy 101” are sexy slow grooves, while “Harlem Blue” and “The Rose ’n Thorn” add horns and an extrajazzy flair. Turns out, Marie just discovered her family tree has roots in New Orleans, so the album’s title and jazzy excursions are even more fitting. (concordmusicgroup.com) ■

By Margaret Coble

Night of 1000 Stars Blame Sally (Opus Music Ventures)

Trio B.C. Girl in a Coma (Blackheart)

The Future Will Come The Juan MacLean (DFA)

Falling somewhere between the Dixie Chicks and the Indigo Girls, San Francisco’s favorite female folkpop quartet releases a sparkling new 12-track set featuring the swirling, Middle Eastern-flavored “Vera Chiesa” and the slide guitar and finger-pickin’ fest “Hurricane,” among many other melodic winners. (opusmusicventures.com)

The San Antonio, Texas, indie rock trio whose 2007 debut, Both Before I’m Gone, caused such a sensation, are back with an even better follow-up. Working again with Joan Jett, they are sounding much tighter and more mature. The new album features their first song in Spanish, plus 13 other hard-driving rockers. Lead singer Nina Diaz has a Morrisseymeets-Siouxsie voice that really makes this band. (blackheart.com)

If you loved the Human League, Giorgio Moroder or any other ’80s synth-pop, The Juan MacLean (aka John MacLean and Nancy Whang) will work you out. From the tribal-sounding bangs and feedback interludes of the title track, to the Chicago house synth chords on “One Day,” the history of dance music is encapsulated in their boy-girl vocal play and Euro-trash keyboard programming. (dfarecords.com)

TV Is My Parent Sia (Monkey Puzzle/Concord)

This out, quirky pop singer’s DVD offers plenty of bang for your buck. Not only does it feature a live concert in the Hiro Ballroom from 2008 (dig the glow-in-the-dark costumes on the opening number), but also several music videos, including the viral hit “Buttons,” plus lots of footage from her 2007 North American tour. And, for the diehard fans, hidden clips throughout. (concordmusicgroup.com)

Sonic Comic “Everything in the song is absolutely true, unfortunately,” comments this singer-songwriter-comedian and selfdescribed Britney Spears body double about her tune “I’m a Middle Aged Woman.” And, given the number of online spin-off fan videos, Lisa Koch’s brand of absurd confessional comedy is clearly resonating with millions of fans. Known for her warped humor in songs like “The Carpenters: Uncomfortably Close to You” and “Ham for the Holidays: Swine, Women and Song,” Koch is well-loved in her home city of Seattle, and a favorite on Olivia cruises as well as at theaters and festivals all over the United States. “I’m a Middle Aged Woman” was written in 2005 for a one-woman show called Return to Planet Lisa. “I noticed that my comedian friends of a certain age were working their own hormonal experiences into their acts. We all would compare stories. After laughing my ass off with [lesbian] comic Michele Balan—the most bizarre hot-flash stories I’ve ever heard—I wrote the song,” Koch recalls. It wasn’t long before it was being passed around cyberspace as a song file, then as a video. “A couple of those videos went viral, and it was nutzo. One video had 3 millionplus views,” says Koch. “[There are] drag queens and housewives lip syncing to it, lesbian line dancers dancing to it—it was even used as music for a horse reining competition. My family is so proud.” She finally put up her own video (heylisa.com), a performance at out comic Vicki Shaw’s birthday party that has garnered a mere 16,000 hits. It shows a glimpse of her other work, too, including shots of her in a nun’s habit, as Xena, as a hippie and decked out in male drag. Is it mostly “women of a certain age” who love the song? “It really strikes a chord with women, but it definitely crosses boundaries. The song absolutely makes men laugh…perhaps simply out of fear,” she jokes. Once you’ve seen her, you won’t forget her. Don’t miss a chance to see Koch in action. But if she’s dressed as a nun, don’t get too close. I hear she carries a big ruler. [Jamie Anderson]

September 2009 | 57