More Mixed Bag Goodness

Dorian titled his disc simple enough: (postmodernbarney.com). But, it's not a simple disc in the slightest.

Tom claims to have not been gay enough to fully enjoy the CD, so I'm suppose I'm ten times gayer that Tom because I loved it. I'm gonna start an online petition for Dorian to ditch comics and open his own club, Club Gay with DJ Dorian.

Dorian opens with a great mix of Shirley Bassey singing Hey Big Spender, which I'm unashamed to admit I knew the words too. It definitely gets the blood pumping.

Then, instead of holding that tone he hits you with the Polyphonic Spree's bittersweet Wig in a Box. It's a sad/happy catchy little song about, well, a man reminiscing about dressing up as a woman. I love how the sound of police sirens morph into the sound of a tea kettle whistling (at least, that's what I took it to be, and what it sounds like in my stereo). Like Papa was Rodeo before it, this song will have even the most avid anti-gays singing along by the songs end. ("I put some make-up, turn up the 8-track, pull the wig down off the shelf!)

Then he gives you uncomfortable comedy! Admittedly I don't know what Avenue Q (EDIT: I get it now, Avenue Q...heh, that makes it even funnier) is, but from what I've read everywhere else, it's some sort of play? (Help me out here Dorian.) If so, I must see it. The song, If You Were Gay, is hilarious, and uncomfortable because the first time I heard it I immediately though of Sesame Street, because the two singers do in fact sound like voices from that kids show, maybe it's Bert and Ernie and they've finally come out of the closet?

Magnetic Fields' I Thought You Were My Boyfriend is an okay, but ultimately forgettable song, I've listened to it several times and cannot remember the beat to save my life (in comparison, I already know most of the words to the songs before this, as well as being unable to get their melodies out of my head).

But, Emily Simon's Flowers brings the disc right back to it's glory. It's an observational tune, kind of funny, but very,very catchy. I love it.

You can never go wrong with Robbie Williams, and Supreme is a great example of the Brit pop star's ability to do, well, good pop music. I'm not a huge fan by any means, but after seeing him interview once on the Daily Show I rushed right out and bought his CD. He's funny as hell and a damn good singer ta boot. And this is a good pop song, in fact, maybe his best.

Next is Dolly Parton singing Jolene. I really don't have anything to add to that, other than maybe: It's a classic.

More uncomfortable comedy with Phil Ochs singing Pretty Smart on My Part. Like the Avenue Q song, it's catchy as hell, but far more disturbing. Remind me to never cross Dorian. I'm now amazed he hasn't killed some of those idiotic customers of his.

The next few songs fall in the forgettable realm as well for me. Hidden Cameras' Doot Doot Plot, Peter & Gordon's You've Had Better Times, and Jeffrey Altergott's Runt. I will say that Runt is the better of the three, but I could take or leave all of them.

Eartha Kitt singing I Want to Be Evil is fantastic though. She has one of the sexiest voices ever, and I can't even mention her name without bringing up images of her in the Catwoman oufit. Damn she was hot. Good song too.

The rest of the disc falls back into the "good but forgettable" pile until the final three songs. Nina Simone on Pirate Jenny is just disturbing though, I have to skip it now, it just creeps me out. The rest are as follows: Franz Ferdinand-Michael, Paul Williams- Phantom's Theme, Scissor Sister's Backwoods Discotheque, and Johnny McGovern- Soccer Practice.

Finally we have Harvey Fierstein singing Love For Sale. It's disturbing, catchy, and hilarious. Again, I knew the words, not ashamed to admit it. After that is the uber-catchy, mind-numbingly enjoyable cover of Cabaret by Me First and the Gimme Gimme's (Best Name EVER!). I've listened to this too many times to count, and yes I already knew most of the words. If the rest of their stuff is this good, I'm buying something by these guys very soon.

Then there's a hidden track of Rubber Ducky, German Disco-style (I think it's German anyway...). Took me a few minutes to recognize it, and it made me laugh, so, yeah, it's enjoyable.

It may not seem like I liked most of Dorian's disc, but that's not really true. Overall I loved it and have listened to the songs I really like more times than any other disc. Even the songs I don't love were good and worked well enough as holding places for the disc. Definitely my favorite disc so far, and if that makes me ten times gayer than Tom, well, consider me out of the closet...but I'm not Gay!, as one of the Avenue Q boys might interject. Heh.

-L