For this post, I gotta credit my dear friend Kristen, whose ability to think critically and mine great news items and articles is invaluable. She may wanna remain behind the scenes, but that’s not fair.
So, Hercules and Love Affair made 2008 their year, as did the music press, who gave them tons of love. And this is great to me, as I was a big fan of their debut album. Who doesn’t love a multi-gender, multi-racial, queer disco band? Isn’t it time for one, America?
The song that got the most praise, it seems, is “Blind,” a stirring anthem about growing up queer and the heartbreak, struggle, determination, and — hopefully — defiant joy that comes with it. No disrespect for the song. I’m happy about it and was pleasantly surprised when Pitchfork named it Single of the Year.
However, one of favorite songs on the album is “Athene,” a song Kristen and I giddily talked about when we had both had a chance to process the band’s debut. While the band has been aligned with the gay community (a diverse, heterogenous group that nonetheless is presumed by many to be male, perhaps even white and male), there may exist the assumption that songs like “Blind” are speaking particularly to a gay male experience — though doing so ignores that singer Antony Hegarty doesn’t identify as male. However, I think most of this can be attributed to Hercules leader Andy Butler, who is a gay man.
We love “Athene” because, apart from being a groovy little dance gem, that’s totally queer but also from a female perspective. Dyke disco! Plus, it boasts the vocals of one Kim Ann Foxman.
Now, she’s a dyke to watch out for. I love the gender tension at work in her on the butch side of androgynous look. And did you know that she’s a jewelry maker? Fierceness.
Also, I love her voice — kind of mumbly, but no less powerful. And I love her interplay with singer Nomi Ruiz (who, like Antony, is also transgendered) in this clip. You really get a sense that they make room for themselves in the collective. And of course, it goes without saying that I love that the performance on the roof, the New York skyline at sunset serving as a backdrop for their set.
So, yeah. Big ups to Kim Ann and big ups to Hercules and Love Affair for creating a visible space in dance culture for multiple identities within the LGBT community.
i have a funny story about this group. about a year ago i noticed in the notepad section of my phone i had typed “hercules and love affair” without any further explication. it seemed like such gibberish to me, i thought it was some of my legendary drunk ramblings (or some unfinished thought about a swarzenegger movie). but after i googled it, i realized it was music and i surmised that i probably had heard it somewhere (maybe one of yall’s parties?) and liked it so much i wanted to remember it. i downloaded “blind” and do indeed love that song. it has powered jenny through a couple long school days, too. i recently got ahold of the rest of the record and it is remarkable all the way through.
i think the best thing about this group is that it is the next level of disco, and by that i mean truly, loudly gay disco. and disco was always gay in the 70s, but it was slightly disguised. this record is the modern realization of disco. and its so great.
So crazy, “Athene” i one of my favorite tracks on the album too! I’m also a huge fan of “Iris,” the other Kim Ann Foxman-led track. Very mellow but danceable tunes that stand-out on an already terrific album!