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ONE OF THE MOST enduring figures in underground music, Bob Mould first garnered attention as a member of Minneapolis '80s hardcore-punk trio Husker Du. The group, known at first for [...]

Growing up around openly gay relatives would certainly seem to improve the odds of a child becoming a tolerant and open-minded adult. Well, perhaps tolerant isn't the best adjective for [...]

*SEPTEMBER* Jill Sobule, Underdog Victorious (September 7): The 'I Kissed a Girl' girl returns. The lead single, 'Cinnamon Park,' borrows its hook from Chicago's 'Saturday in the Park.' (Artemis) Dolly [...]

No Comprendo * Khan * Matador The German dancemaster's latest is a naughty treasure Khan is a dirty boy. While his 1999 album, 1-900-GET-KHAN, fatured escort ads on the cover--including [...]

Composer Ricky Ian Gordon discusses how he thrives on the of music and poetry 'Since I was 8 years old, I have been going to Lincoln Center,' says Ricky Ian [...]

When cabaret singer Lee Lessack couldn't find a label to distribute his music, he started his own--and wound up taking on his own stable of gay and lesbian artists Name [...]

I Fell in Love With a Dead Boy EP * Antony and the Johnsons * Durtro/World Serpent Distribution Singularly named singer Antony is no ordinary mortal. The 20-something New Yorker [...]

Frat boys love the big sound of Mountain Consolidated, but the band's DJ and keyboardist aren't afraid to be out Categorizing the music of Mountain Consolidated, which mixes the beats [...]

DJ Junior Vasquez talks about his hot new CD, his single life, and his fabulous 51st birthday Junior Vasquez, mainstay of the New York club scene, the DJ responsible for [...]

New York favorite Toshi Reagon is happy her soulful sensibility trickled down to her new CD Soulful, funky, and folkie all in one, singer-songwriter Toshi Reagon is a huge favorite [...]

COUNTRY QUEEN Reba McEntire has recruited a slew of heavy hitters from Nashville and beyond for her first album containing new material in four years. Reba Duets (MCA, September 18) [...]

The new documentary Billy Strayhorn: Lush Life tells the story of a great love between two men. But it isn't a romance, and only the titular protagonist is gay. Billy [...]

Plague Songs * Various artists * 4AD The rad thing about the 10 biblical plagues is their nonstop element of surprise. Unending darkness, torrential hail, legions of frogs ... what [...]

Basement Jaxx * Crazy Itch Radio * XL Soulwax * Nite Versions * Modular Staying on the cutting edge of dance music is tough in the 21st century. The days [...]

September Beyonce, B'day (Columbia) Why settle for balloons and cake when you can celebrate turning 25 by dropping a new album instead? The Dreamgirls star wrote, arranged, and coproduced the [...]

A Lively Mind * Paul Oakenfold * Maverick Every good story requires a strong beginning, middle, and end. Alas, on his second artist album, U.K. superstar DJ-remixer Paul Oakenfoid nails [...]

The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast * Matmos * Matador For their fifth full-length, San Francisco experimental electronic duo Matmos pay homage to 10 outre queer [...]

A cancer survivor with multiple top 40 hits, a Grammy-winning classical guitarist, an androgynous exponent of 1990s downtown New York City club culture, the punk-rock solo outing from an Adult [...]

A Silence Broken * Various Artists * Public Record Twenty years after its rise as the rallying cry of ACT UP, the words 'Silence = Death' provide the platform to [...]

Fabriclive.24 * Diplo * Fabric Most DJ-mix CDs are just Saturday night souvenirs, all the latest spun-sugar club hits slapped together and rushed into stores before the sell-by date passes. [...]

One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds, Lost & Found * Various artists * Rhino The Shirelles, the Shangri-Las, the Chiffons... despite so many names featuring 'sh' sounds, [...]

Just Say Sire: The Sire Records Story * Various artists * Rhino Sire Records might not be the gayest record label ever, but thanks to distribution via media giant Warner [...]

September A Bigger Bang * The Rolling Stones (Virgin): Aging rockers' first studio disc in eight years bashes hypocrite patriots on new tune 'Sweet Neo Con.' (Sept. 6) Home To [...]

Moby is a tough guy to label. Culturally, says the heterosexual born-again Christian, 'I'm more of a gay Jew than I am a straight WASP from Connecticut. My formative years [...]

Dry your eyes, Erasure, Village People, and Pansy Division fans, and fork over that crown. It's official: The biggest, gayest band in the world is Scissor Sisters. The New York [...]

Godstar: Thee Director's Cut *Psychic TV * Voiceprint Early Years * Toilet Boys * Ozit Morpheus Androgyny in rock is nothing new, from Little Richard's powder and pomade to that [...]

Love Songs for Patriots * American Music Club * Merge Mississauga, Goddam * The Hidden Cameras * Rough Trade By the time Toronto indie rock ensemble the Hidden Cameras caught [...]

Prague-born Pixar animation director Jan Pinkava uses his training in sensory robotics to guide the moves of believable CGI characters. Balancing technological savvy with a fine-tuned sense of human nature, […]

The Underground's Markus Blunder taps into the shades of life for music videos and spots. USING PANORAMIC SWAthes of intense colors, exotic locations, and sensual slow motion shots, Austrian-born director […]

* Melissa Etheridge's A New Thought for Christmas radiates harmony and goodwill yet never tips over into treacle. The raspy-voiced icon composed several new tunes, including two ('Glorious' and 'O [...]

DIDO Safe Trip Home RCA LET'S BE HONEST: Plastic butter knives are edgier than Dido's music. Were it not for her affiliation with Eminem--the rapper sampled her song 'Thank You' [...]

IT'S A RECENT SATURDAY night in the Emerald City and Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard is doing what he does best. There's one twist: While grinding out the music, he's [...]

TRACY CHAPMAN Our Bright Future ATLANTIC DOING PR FOR TRACY CHAPMAN is either a cakewalk or the toughest gig in showbiz. On one hand, her publicists have to deal with [...]

BLOC PARTY Intimacy ATLANTIC IN AN ERA WHEN CELEBRITY gay weddings are respectfully splashed across the covers of supermarket tabloids, it may seem odd that an outspoken young rocker would [...]

LUCINDA WILLIAMS Little Honey LOST HIGHWAY LUCINDA WILLIAMS DOES THINGS her own damn way. And if she didn't, she might be as big as Sheryl Crow. While the latter launched [...]

YO! MAJESTY Futuristically Speaking ... Never Be Afraid DOMINO PICTURE THIS: an African-American lesbian Christian hip-hop duo that hails from Tampa, Fla. Sounds like something you might hear in a [...]

YO! MAJESTY Futuristically Speaking ... Never Be Afraid DOMINO Toss all your assumptions about modern hip-hop out the window. Tampa, Fla., duo Shunda K and Jwl B--better known as Yo! [...]

JENNIFER O'CONNOR Here With Me MATADOR 'WHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW / Is another folk singer / Like I need a hole in my head.' So sang David Lowery of [...]

AMY RAY Didn't It Feel Kinder DAEMON CRITICS OFTEN PIGEONHOLE Amy Ray and her sister-in-arms, Emily Saliers, as folkies. Fair enough. Like Billy Bragg and Joan Baez, the Indigo Girls [...]

YAZ In Your Room MUTE EARLY-'80s SYNTH-POP DUO Yaz wasn't just a study in contrasts but a master class. Diminutive instrumentalist Vince Clarke, who split from Depeche Mode in 1981, [...]

HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR Hercules and Love Affair MUTE/DFA INSPIRED BY A HUMPY, bronzed he-man and his string of young male lovers, Hercules and Love Affair's eponymous debut CD is [...]

DUFFY Rockferry MERCURY THEY SAY THERE IS NO SUCH THING as bad publicity. But in the case of much buzzed-about newcomer Dully, it may help to dispel a couple of [...]

PORTISHEAD Third MERCURY/ISLAND ON THEIR 1994 DEBUT, Dummy, Portishead took the blueprint drawn by fellow Bristol, England, natives Massive Attack--mixing samples, strings, hip-hop beats, and idiosyncratic vocals--and improved it. While [...]

THALIA ZEDEK Liars And Prayers THRILL JOCKEY CHANGE IS HEALTHY, for artists and others. Fans may have wailed when Dylan plugged in, but he broke new ground. Marianne Faithfull and [...]

R.E.M. Accelerate WARNER BROS. ONLY A HANDFUL Of iconic alt-rock acts--U2, Sonic Youth--have stuck together as long as R.E.M. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame [...]