Charm School Dropouts
Lined in Mink
www.CharmSchoolDropouts.com
Fronted by the vivacious Angel Xstacy, Charm School Dropouts, is a quartet of seasoned and world-wise rock pros each incarnating from other bands and projects into this mega-slut superforce able to rant at anything and slither in a single chord to new lows while keeping the sass, sensual angst and sly wink at a fevered pitch. Balls-to-the-walls, take-no-prisoners rock ‘n roll as was intended and yea shall it be. Under influences they write “Irony. Love, bitterness, revenge. Teen angst. Ummm … did we say sex yet? Dudesleeves and other male masturbation devices and a good dose of porn. Disco. People dressed as animals. All things fuzzy. Restraining orders. Black Velvet paintings. Harlow at Kimo’s. Small dogs in shirts. Mary Jane, Al Coholic, chocolate. My old band, his old band, her old band, their old band, your old band.” My picks: “Pity Party,” “Dude Sleeve,” “Make Me,” “Shove It,” “Ego Food” and “Neurotica.” Gig alerts! Charm school dropouts fail ettiquete tests miserably June 1@ San Francisco’s Annie’s Social club, June 16 @ Oakland’s Starry Plough and June 29 @ San Francisco’s Thee Parkside.

Rihanna
Umbrella
www.ThisIsRihanna.com
It must be summer because here comes Barbados, Jamaican beauty and shameless spokes-model Rihanna with another catchy pop song with undercurrents of funk and soul. She’s exactly what the pop landscape needs - a hip and talented singer who transcends musical genres while being comfortable with a post-feminist stance of embracing sexuality, big time. Serving up a bumper crop of dancefloor gigglers she launches her latest project with a fantastic set of remixes for the saucy single “Umbrella” featuring Jay-Z. My picks: “Umbrella (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit),” “Umbrella (The Lindbergh Palace Radio Edit),” “Umbrella (Jody Den Broeder Lush Club Remix),” “Umbrella (Jody Den Broeder Destruction Club Remix),” “Umbrella (The Lindbergh Palace Remix)” and “Umbrella (The Lindbergh Palace Dub).” Gig alert! Rihanna is making numerous TV appearances including June 8 on the Today Show from NYC.

Ultra Naté
Grime, Silk & Thunder
www.UltraNate.com
Impossibly hopeful, upbeat and joyous is the inspiring and uplifting Putumayo World Party presenting another stellar world music compilation to jump-start any celebration with a feel-good collection of “zouk, salsa, ska, compass, reggae, zydeco and more.” Putumayo and their related groove and children’s labels are amongst my favorites with lush colorful liner notes in English, Espanol and Francais with bios about each artist they really are bringing the world a little bit closer one song at a time. Most of the CDs also benefit related charities – in this case Action Against Hunger (www.aah-usa.org) known internationally as Action Contre la Faim, or ACF is recognized as a world leader in the fight against hunger and malnutrition specializing in responding to emergency situations of war, conflict, and natural disaster with international relief and development expertise committed to saving the lives of malnourished children and families while seeking long-term, sustainable solutions to hunger. Pretty cool! The music pumps and bumps around the world bouncing happy thoughts down to happy feet. My picks: Roy Paci & Aretuska’s “Ciuri Ciuri,” Jean-Philippe Marthely, Jean-Paul Pognon & Jean-Luc Guanel’s “Woté Monté,” Laid Back’s “Groovin’ On A Feeling,” Beau Jacque And The Zydeco Hi-Rollers’ “Just One Kiss,” Orechestre Tropicana D’Haiti’s “Gason Total” and Sarazino’s “Cochabamba (French Mix).”

Peder
And He Just Pointed To The Sky...
www.UbiquityRecords.com
Like the film-score to a dark comic animation or an online game, producer, remixer, actor, comic and new father Peder might have been trapped at the computer or escaped through it. In either case he closed his eyes to the visuals and let his ears do the walking creating a new opus of eerie disturbing whimsy harkening back to his roots as a pioneer trip-hopper. My picks: “The Sour” featuring Dean Bowman, “Void,” “Timetakesthetimetimetakes,” “White Lillies” featuring Ane Trolle, “With A Great Feeling Of Love,” “Klart” and “Nothing” featuring Joy Morgan.

Moon Trent
Quilt – The Moon Trent collection 1991-2007
www.MySpace.ocm/MoonTrent
Modesto music pioneer and activist Moon Trent is Mexican-American singer and songwriter who lives with his partner and creative associate David Cole. He also manages timmi-kat ReCoRDS, an indie micro-label dedicated to releasing music from mostly obscure and mostly queer artists. On Quilt – The Moon Trent collection 1991-2007 he serves up an anthology of some of his past solo and band work with eclectic disco bumpers and whimsical tunes guaranteed to tickle the most jaded. My picks: “Easy Disco,” “They Don’t Know,” “Rocky Mountain High,” “All The Way,” “What Shall I Do?,” “Crossfire Hero,” “Behind The Wall” and “Special Sound.” Gig alert! Moon Trent soothes your savage beasts June 2 @ Fresno Pride, June 23rd @ San Francisco’s Café Flore with a CD release party and June 30th @ Modesto’s Pride.

Finding Stella
Famous
www.FindingStella.com
I used to work for a band – a great band - that just couldn’t make magic in the studio. I think Finding Stella is on another spot on the live vs. studio spectrum – they sound great on CD, and it sounds as if they know how to entertain an audience live as well. I think they really shine when they slip effortlessly out of tradition rock patterns (which by default, are a bit played out) and get into some interesting vein like a psychedelic interlude or a near 60’s bubbly moment. Regardless they rock and their musicianship as a unit is just starting to bud. My picks: “Dirty,” “Famous,” “Good Girl,” “In The Hall,” “In My Bed” and “Everytime.” Gig alerts! You’ll be Finding Stella June 3 @ Livermore White Crane Winery, June 10 @ San Jose Pride, June 24 @ Pleasant Hill’s Concerts by the Lake Summer Concert Series, July @ Gilroy’s Garlic Festival and Aug 10 @ Pleasanton’s Concert in the Park.