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Universal Records
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Date Posted: 07:50:21 06/09/04 Wed
Author Host/IP: adsl-65-42-51-85.dsl.akrnoh.ameritech.net/65.42.51.85
In reply to:
cornerstone digital
's message, "scissor sisters tour" on 07:48:04 06/09/04 Wed
Pop music has exploded, in an edgy, sexy, supremely tuneful commotion
thanks to the uncommonly brilliant sounds of the Scissor Sisters.
Creative sparks first ignited five years ago, when a then 19-year-old
explosion of energy called Jake Shears was introduced to a
multi-instrumentalist who goes by the title of Babydaddy. Both fired up by a
passion for solid songwriting and off-the-wall humour, they joined forces to
write hook-studded tunes, adopted NYC as their home and agreed on a cheeky
name that¹s caused confusion and provoked many blushes in turn. None of us
are lesbians, though,¹ say Scissor Sisters, helpfully.
Scissor Sisters bring together rollicking guitar riffs, throbbing synths and
a whole bunch of wicked lyrics. Their influences skitter through glimmers of
vintage Bowie, Roxy Music and Elton John to Giorgio Moroder, burlesque
theatre and rock opera. At college, Jake had majored in Fiction Writing, and
numbers like the catchy glam rockin¹ groove of their debut major single
Laura¹ (I gotta give myself one more chance/To be the man that I know I
am¹) weave feature-length stories through song. Sometimes, it sounds like
they¹re partying hard on cheap champagne; at other points, the moods are
downtempo and beautifully, surprisingly wistful: radio-friendly soundtracks
for the morning after.
Music this sparky calls for a suckerpunch live presence to match, and before
they were honing their studio skills, Scissor Sisters were whipping up a
storm with their shows, on home turf at first, and more recently extending
to Europe (in Barcelona not long ago, one impressed spectator described them
as a life-changing experience¹).
It was on the New York live circuit that the original duo teamed up with a
third full-time Scissor Sister: performance artist Ana Matronic; She¹s
tough, amazing, glamorous¹ the boys enthuse. The hostess of a decadent
cabaret show in the Lower East Side who¹d learned her magic on the San
Francisco scene (At 20, I realised I¹m a drag queen stuck in a woman¹s
body!¹ she laughs), she first met Jake at a Halloween party, where she¹d
dressed as a Warhol Factory reject, and he was in the guise of, erm, a
back-alley abortion¹. She recalls: We both took one look at each other and
thought: ³hey, you¹re cool!²¹
Scissor Sisters actually made their debut live appearance at Ana¹s club in
late 2001, and now the stately lady is a fixture at their dates (where the
trio are joined by charismatic friends Del Marquis on guitar and Patrick
Seacor on drums), and lends her own crisp tones to record. Ana neatly sums
up the outfit¹s stance: What we do is about people displaying their
fantasies on the outside, trying to break out of the everyday, and look like
their dreams.¹
There¹s no denying that they¹ve encouraged a great deal of audience
interaction too, which has already included an enthusiastic 75-year-old fan
at one show. When it¹s 4.30am and you¹ve got grandma on stage partying with
you, you know something works,¹ laughs Jake.
It¹s little wonder that The Village Voice lauded Scissor Sisters as a rock
unit who aren¹t afraid to play disco¹; another surefire highlight of their
repertoire has them reworking Pink Floyd¹s prog rock rehab classic
Comfortably Numb¹ into a full-blown bootylicious disco anthem, with Jake
skilfully providing Bee Gees-styled vocals (I¹ve always loved singing in
falsetto!¹) and a Frankie Says Relax¹ retro twist. Perhaps the fusion
shouldn¹t work, but they genuinely make the song their own, with massive
glitterball panache.
I don¹t think we¹re afraid to play anything,¹ adds Jake. Pop should be
meaningful again it shouldn¹t be a dirty word. We¹re not making fun of
anything we do, and there¹s no way we¹re going to sound manufactured. Our
songs are accessible enough to break through barriers. Actually, I¹ve been
meaning to write some country music¹ Before they go down that particular
road for real (anything¹s possible, as Jake regards songwriting as divine
intervention¹), Babydaddy points out: Of course we love the dancefloor, but
a nice melange of influences is always going to take you someplace new. From
the very beginning, we were saying: ³Let¹s make this larger-than-life².¹
And so it is. With three unmistakably individual and attitude-packed New
Yorkers at the core (Jake: I would have never got together with this group
of people in any other place¹; Babydaddy: We do what we want without
compromising¹), Scissor Sisters¹ mission to inject fun and frisson back into
pop culture has just gotta be big. Cutting edge has never sounded more
irresistibly decadent.
Take Your Mama AUDIO
http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/universalmotown/universal/scissor_sisters/au
dio/take_your_mama/full/take_your_mama.asx
http://boss.streamos.com/real/universalmotown/universal/scissor_sisters/audi
o/take_your_mama/full/take_your_mama.ram
Take Your Mama VIDEO
http://boss.streamos.com/wmedia/universalmotown/universal/scissor_sisters/vi
deo/00_takeyourmama.asx
http://boss.streamos.com/real/universalmotown/universal/scissor_sisters/vide
o/00_takeyourmama.ram
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