Last Friday, I was invited down to New York for an official listening session for Cyndi Lauper‘s upcoming album, Memphis Blues.

The showcase was held at Downtown Records in Manhattan, Cyndi’s new label (and home to such acts as the Scissor Sisters, Amanda Blank, and Miike Snow). “The people here reminded me of the old days…it wasn’t just business as usual,” she’d explain to us later during the listening session of her choice to do this album under this label.

About ten minutes prior to the event, I met up with my friend Matt (The Music Slut himself) who was also invited to the showcase. By ‘met up,’ I mean he found me on the street as I was quick-changing into a new pair of shoes that I bought from TopShop and hurriedly stuffing my old pair into my bag. Got to look sharp for Cyndi, right?

So we got to the label, hurried into the building, and took the elevator. When we got out, we began to walk down a long hallway that led to a lounge which was filled with fliers announcing Lauper’s new record. There were also several gorgeous, moody promo shots from the album campaign, all shot by the incredible Ellen von Unwerth (See Rihanna’s Rated R campaign.) There, we made a beeline for the chardonnay we helped ourselves to the beverages at hand, as well as copious amounts of chips and guacamole.

The real reason I was there.

At around eight, we were invited into the label’s recording studio, where Matt and I took front and center on the comfy couch inside. The room was completely gorgeous–a massive piano, candles everywhere, and an old-timey microphone in the center.

Without any announcement, Lauper came striding in shortly thereafter–or at least her hair did first: a wild, fiery plume of red hair not unlike a more fabulous Carrot Top. She herself was decked out in black leather leggings, an off-the-shoulder black-lace top, and loads of chunky bangles and necklaces. The crowd of about twenty people began to applaud. “Oh don’t, don’t applaud,” she said in her signature New York accent, crinkling her nose and motioning us to cut it out. About five feet in front of me, she perched on the stool in the center of the room and began to tell us about the album we were about to hear.

She told us that Memphis Blues is the album she’d wanted to record since 2004, but that her ability to do so did not come until now. She lost her voice for a time for one thing. She also originally wanted to record with Jeff Beck, but due to business issues, it just didn’t work out. Lamenting the fact that today’s music is more often used “to sell advertising time” than for the love of music-making, Lauper wanted to create a genuine album in Memphis Blues.

After being introduced to someone in Memphis, she went down to record. “I was hungry for real music,” she told us, “and it was an extraordinary moment for me as a singer.” There, she became interested in the sounds that inspired all other forms of music–even her own.

The recording studio. Nice, right?

As she went on, she explained the purpose of Memphis Blues. “Blues is the basis of everything. They started it. It goes back to Ma Rainy…she didn’t create blues, but she created a whole new genre.” Lauper said that she wore the chunky necklaces today in honor of Rainy, who was known as “the woman with chains” and sported a grill well before the term grill was even coined.

For the most part, Lauper solely discussed the album–though she did divert off course a few times. She told jokes about staying at the hotel in Memphis (there were ducks in the lobby!), her experiences in the city (“they love their food, and they love their music”), and struggling to eat said delicious food with her dietitian in tow.

As for Celebrity Apprentice (which she is still currently on), she could only offer us this: “High school is still right there…you grow older, but it’s the same bullshit.”

I want it in my room.

Returning to the album, Cyndi explained that Memphis Blues was recorded on an 8-track to preserve the authentic, older sound, and was recorded with some “wonderful players” including B.B. King, Ann Peebles, Allen Toussaint (“as soon as he played the intro to ‘Shattered Dreams,’ I was in another place”) and some familiar faces to Lauper including Bill Whitman, her engineer ever since the She’s So Unusual sessions. The record will also be released on vinyl to remain true to that authentic sound.

She insisted that everything be left in the recording–wrong lyrics, bum notes–because she wanted to include the spirit of the live session.
“I feel like I was born to sing this stuff,” she concluded after about ten minutes. “This is what I wanted to do as a singer. I hope you enjoy it.”

As she walked out, the music began to play from the speakers in the center of the room. You could immediately hear the slightly crisp crackling of the recording, complete with all of the notes–good or bad–from the singers and musicians. Swaggering guitar solos, flourishes of harmonicas, and jaunty piano riffs colored all five of the tracks we heard, as Cyndi yelped and cooed over the heartbreak-heavy sounds.

Everything, from the swaggering “Just Your Fool,” to the slow, slinkier sound of “Shattered Dreams” and the whining, aching sound of “How Blue Can You Get?” felt rich, alive ,and authentic. She sounds reawakened and full of spirit on each one of these recordings, hollering at the top of her lungs and giggling with glee along with the musicians. Her enthusiasm was infectious, as many of us began tapping our toes to the rhythm and smiling at her vocal antics. From what we heard, it was obvious that Lauper was truly passionate about making this album.

As the fifth song ended, the session was complete and we filed out of the recording booth. Matt and I stayed in the label’s cocktail area, schmoozing with our friend Martha, as well as a few of the other guests. While the 7 p.m. listeners began to slowly dwindle down, the 9 p.m. session started to fill the room. At some point, St. Vincent and Lissy Trullie walked in for the session. Not five minutes after Matt giddily pointed them out to me, St. Vincent was squeezing by to help us open a bottle of bubbly (we struggled with this all night) and chat with us for a bit. Girl knows how to open a bottle, and quick!

Cyndi posing with a rabid fan. He was later carted off by security while screaming “I WANT TO HAVE FUN TOO, CYNDI!” Embarrassing.

Finally, Cyndi resurfaced into the main lounge at around 9 for some chips and dip. At that point, the room was basically empty aside from Matt and I, so took up the opportunity to tell her we enjoyed the record. “No really, did you guys like it?” she asked us sincerely. We said we did, and she looked a bit relieved. You could tell that this was the album she truly did want to make, for no reason other than for the artistry of the affair. “Well, we’ll see,” she said, turning for a quick dip of the guacamole again.

I nervously told her that I really appreciated her making this album because it was important for her fans to hear the influential music from the past that we don’t know from a voice we already recognize and love. “It’s important to know your music history,” she agreed, nodding. Then we discussed her last record for a bit (“Guess radio doesn’t want to hear a fifty year old singing dance,” she shrugged) and the delicious guacamole we were eating.

It was around that time that the second listening session participants were just beginning to file out of the recording booth and invade the lounge. Taking it as our cue, Matt and I thanked Cyndi again and quickly left as the room began to swell with people.

It’s still surreal to me to think that I was chatting with Cyndi Lauper. She is absolutely one of the most down-to-earth, ‘real’ musicians I’ve spoken to thus far.

While I may have been too young to appreciate when Cyndi was first breaking out on the scene (forgive me for aging myself), it’s incredible to believe I was standing with someone so influential–not only within the music scene, but for the gay rights movement as well.

As she said to me, it’s important to know your music history: Cyndi Lauper is a legend. If I wasn’t already in awe of the singer prior to meeting her, I am now.

Memphis Blues will be released on June 22.

Over five years ago, David Byrne met with Fatboy Slim to discuss a musical endeavor. His goal, initially inspired by the book The Emperor by Ryszard Kapuściński, was to tell the tale of the theatrics of royal life through music.

After stumbling on a newspaper clipping written about his soon-to-be protagonist and enlisting some of the industry’s greatest vocalists (22 in all!) to help guide her voice, the project would evolve into what became known as Here Lies Love: A concept album, DVD, book, and proposed theater experience based on the life of former first lady of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986, Imelda Marcos.

I pre-ordered the complete package a few months ago having found the concept quite ‘neat.’ Two weeks ago, it arrived in my mailbox–and now, the review.

First of all, the actual Here Lies Love book is gorgeous–a 114-page narration of not only the evolution of Byrne’s original idea for the album, but the story of Imelda Marcos that he shaped with his songwriting. In the front of the book is the double-disc of the album; on the back the DVD. Each song is given its own chapter inside, including full lyrics and key connections between the songs and Marcos’ personal life. It’s quite a treat!

So what about the music? Completely apart from the narrative, the album is rife with hits as well as a fair share of misses: Highlights include Florence Welch‘s soaring, bossa nova-tinged title track, “Here Lies Love,” Sia‘s twangy, swinging “Never So Big,” Natalie Merchant‘s gorgeously sung “Order 1081,” Kate Pierson‘s “The Whole Man,” and Róisín Murphy‘s disco-licious “Don’t You Agree?”

Yet while Murphy’s song sounds like it could fit in snugly with her last effort, Overpowered, most of the other songs on the record sound nothing like that of their artist’s back catalog (not too surprising given all the tracks were penned solely by Byrne, and a few with Fatboy Slim). This reality can occasionally provide somewhat disappointing results, as with Santigold‘s pacified contribution, “Please Don’t.”

Even more problematic for me however was the nagging country influence that continued to rear its head between some of the better disco gems here, including Allison Moorer‘s “When She Passed By” and Steve Earle‘s “A Perfect Hand.” Even if they’re necessary for moving the narrative along lyrically, there’s no way I’ll be returning to those tracks.

Reading the book alongside the album helped to elevate the project to another level (which I absolutely admire and adore), but to be honest, I don’t know how much I would have enjoyed it had I opted for the “MP3 only” package. On the other hand, I suppose that’s the point. The music of Here Lies Love lends itself to a larger experience with the accompanying book and DVD.

In the introduction, Byrne acknowledges that Here Lies Love is in some ways a response to the music industry’s floundering state and an attempt to create something more for listeners: “As it is now incredibly easy to download just a single song off a new album release–or to rip just a couple of the most accessible songs–I, like many others, have wondered: How do we incentivize listeners to check out more of what we have recorded? Is it possible to have an experience of some added depth, as one sometimes does when listening to a series of songs?”

While Here Lies Love doesn’t completely have the legs to stand on its own as an album (though there are quite a few strong numbers), the charm and magic is in its complete visual, aural, and intellectual appeal.

For music fans with some cash to spare, I recommend diving into the complete Here Lies Love package–there’s a lot of rich substance for the reaping here.

Here Lies Love was released on April 6.

Click above to see Cyndi Lauper and Lady Gaga‘s interview on Good Morning America, where they spoke about their collaborative effort for MAC. The two are the latest celebrity sponsors for the Viva Glam line, a limited edition run of lipsticks that will have 100% of its proceeds donated to the MAC AIDS Fund.

I have to say, I’m quite proud of Gaga for this one. Watch as the interviewer shamelessly goes in for the Gaga interview we’ve heard time and time again (“You’ve come so far so quickly…what’s that like?!”), only to have her cycle back to the original point of their appearance: AIDS awareness.

It’s a wonder the two superstars had enough patience to sit through this kiss-ass fest. This was about AIDS prevention for women, not drooling over how outrageous Gaga’s outfits are. WE GET IT–she’s super zany, but that’s not why they’re on the program right now.

Click here to check out the Viva Glam collection.

Photo courtesy of Consequence of Sound.

Oh. My. Word.

Norman Cook, otherwise known as Fatboy Slim, is about to unleash a monster of EPIC, lady-like proportions.

Here Lies Love, Cook’s collaborative effort with Talking Heads member David Byrne, is a concept album based on the life of Imelda Marcos, the First Lady of the Philippines from the 1960′s to the 1980′s.

But before you say to yourself, “God, not another concept album about Imelda Marcos,” take a quick peek at the collaborators being featured on this album:

Disc One:
01. Here Lies Love (feat. Florence Welch)
02. Every Drop of Rain (feat. Candie Payne & St. Vincent)
03. You’ll Be Taken Care Of (feat. Tori Amos)
04. The Rose of Tacloban (feat. Martha Wainwright)
05. How Are You? (feat. Nellie McKay)
06. A Perfect Hand (feat. Steve Earle)
07. Eleven Days (feat. Cyndi Lauper)
08. When She Passed By (feat. Allison Moorer)
09. Walk Like a Woman (feat. Charmaine Clamor)
10. Don’t You Agree? (feat. Róisín Murphy)
11. Pretty Face (feat. Camille)
12. Ladies in Blue (feat. Theresa Andersson)

Disc Two:
01. Dancing Together (feat. Sharon Jones)
02. Men Will Do Anything (feat. Alice Russell)
03. The Whole Man (feat. Kate Pierson)
04. Never So Big (feat. Sia)
05. Please Don’t (feat. Santigold)
06. American Troglodyte
07. Solano Avenue (feat. Nicole Atkins)
08. Order 1081 (feat. Natalie Merchant)
09. Seven Years (feat. Shara Worden)
10. Why Don’t You Love Me? (feat. Cyndi Lauper & Tori Amos)

Tracklisting courtesy of Consequence of Sound.

Can you handle it? Because I actually, quite literally, cannot.

Natalie Merchant! Florence! Róisín! Santi! Sia! Cyndi! SO GOOOOOD! Shaking and crying…shaking and crying.

What’s more is this quote from NME from Cook about the project: “Because the story is more about what was going on in [New York club] Studio 54 rather than what went on in the Philippines, we wanted to reflect that, so it’s kind of dance music based,” Cook told BBC 6 Music.

This is literally a dream come true…a very, very gay dream come true.

Last week, I had the pleasure of speaking on the phone with Swedish producer Kleerup while on the set of his new film. Instead of the traditional Q&A route, I’ve opted to put together something a bit…classier: A full-length article. Please read on, and I hope you enjoy!
Read the article…

Much as with Robyn–one of many featured collaborators on his debut–Kleerup has spent the past year or two toting his record around international waters.

In May of 2008, Kleerup was released in Sweden. One month ago, it made its way to the UK. Now, on July 28, Kleerup’s arrived in America. Since I never got around to (read: was too lazy to) review the album when it launched in the UK earlier this year, the US release has provided a key opportunity (read: kick in the ass to get going.)

Kleerup is one massive collaborative effort; tied together with warm bass pulsations, hollow Kleerup-ian synth lines, a handful of guest spots, and loads and loads of my favorite style of sound–a sub-genre some fans have lovingly dubbed as “sad disco.”

After the pace-setting drive of opening instrumental “Hero,” Lykke Li‘s “Until We Bleed” floods the speakers with a kind of tender, drippy ghostliness that begs to be repeatedly blasted on high.

Of course there’s also “With Every Heartbeat,” the massively successful collaboration with Robyn that hit #1 in the UK in 2007 and proved that dance music didn’t have to be simple to be appreciated by the masses. In fact, “Heartbeat” is complex; building up steadily across waves of synthesizers until finally reaching that long-awaited, breathless utterance three minutes in: “And it hurts with every heartbeat,” repeated eight more times until the slow fade away. If that isn’t the definition of an aural orgasm, I don’t know what is.

Another highlight (and subject of a recent post) is the Titiyo-led “Longing For Lullabies,” perhaps the album’s greatest embodiment of the term ‘sad disco.’ Lush, haunting, and mostly all other adjectives in between, “Lullabies” is a smashing musical and vocal accomplishment for both artists.

Nestled between each vocal track on the album is an instrumental. Yet far from the “action-interlude-action” structure one might expect an album of that nature to provide, the non-vocal work proves just as captivating as the meatier portions of the album–which is no minor feat.

Choice instrumentals include the eternally haunting closer “I Just Want To Make That Sad Boy Smile” and the dub-like “Thank You For Nothing,” though the latter’s excellence is due in large part to its nearly palpable bitterness: The song, which was initially used as the backing track for a stunning number called “Lay Me Down” Cyndi Lauper‘s 2008 album Bring Ya To The Brink, is rumored to be titled “Thank You For Nothing” after Lauper (or perhaps her management) refused to release her own version for inclusion on his album. Ouch!

Further on, the album trudges on both merrily and mournfully. I don’t know if anyone else adored Linda Sundblad‘s strange, quirk-tastic solo album back in 2006, but hearing her on the hypnotic “History” made me truly yearn for more. Linda, return to us!

Kleerup’s production style is distinct and unmistakable, which could be interpreted as a critique, but shouldn’t: It’s fresh, innovative, and lacks any obvious ‘modern’ production techniques that plague most major dance acts today. A year later, Kleerup remains as ethereal and exciting as it did in 2008; proof that excellence and sophistication can still be concocted for the dance floor.

Click below to preview and purchase Kleerup.

Durr…Nearly forgot. Just because I wrote it for my final Queerty round, doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist as a proper review in its own right!

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Australia is good for only two things: Kangaroos and Dannii Minogue. However, it seems the country can now add another element to the list: Glam-rock dance-pop.

After trailblazing efforts made by fellow Sydney artists The Presets and Sneaky Sound System in 2008, Empire of the Sun is now charting their way into a reg’lar Australian Invasion.

Luke Steele (The Sleepy Jackson) and Nick Littlemore (Pnau) comprise Empire of the Sun, a glam-dance-rock outfit on the brink of something brilliant. And judging by the eccentric garb the duo dons, the word “outfit” isn’t to be taken lightly–The band’s bringing the Bowie like no one’s business.

Single choices are obvious here, including “Walking On A Dream,” a soothing, synth-fused stroll between Arcade Fire and Cyndi Lauper‘s “Time After Time.”

“We Are The People” is another standout; a summery, ’90′s-esque rush of energy recalling Jennifer Paige‘s “Crush.” (Remember her?!)

Most of the album flourishes within a seductive landscape of vintage electro-swagger and guitar strums. It’s only on the final moment, “Without You,” that the band teeters too far into nostalgia, playing like the background song from every prom scene in every 1980′s teen comedy–ever.

Still, not everything’s so serious: “Delta Bay” lifts the robot from Daft Punk‘s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” and adds a few hand claps, while the plop-happy “Swordfish Hotkiss Night” and its hook-heavy contents promises to slosh ’round your mind long after the album fades.

So board up the windows and hide the vegemite–The Aussies are coming.

Click above to check out the “Walking On A Dream” EP NOW!

Let’s take a look at the Billboard Hot Dance Play charts for this week, okay?

No doubt bolstered by this epic remix coming from the Soul Seekerz. I’m so proud…Great job!

By the way, a big congratulations to Christian George, who’s still moving his way on up the charts at #9 with “Strangers” !