Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Diamanda Galas



Graham Childs at
St Valentine's Day Masacre at the Knitting Factory in NYC


Welcome to coolness. Diamanda while talented vocally and musically has a limiting effect. While this was not what I had expected from a tranny show, which was goth, I was disappointed that someone with Diamanda’s abilities was not utilizing them further and elevating herself above the newest flavor for the “cool kids” in New York City to chew on.
Overall it was a good experience and I’m glad I went. It’s just sad to see that possibilities of redefining images and stereotypes of beauty are put aside, and we are left with spectacle and oddity. This all brings up questions of sameness and individual identity but to be blunt what is individuality when you play into a genre of music and performance that is known for its stereotypes even when you are a seven foot tall transvestite lounge singer.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

she's not a transvestite, you dumbass

Anonymous said...

Uhm, as noted above. She's not a transvestite. Atta' way to blow your credibility as a reviewer in the first sentance.

I'd also argue while she does appeal to goths, the political and humanistic aspects of her work extend far beyond the usual territory for goth music.

As for being the "newest flavor," Ms. Galas has a discography extending back to at least 1982. I'd wager that that's a recording career that's extended longer than some of the audience members have been pounding the earth. So she might be new to them, but she's been producing provactive and stunning music for over twenty years.

Anonymous said...

This is one of the weakest reviews I have ever read anywhere. Actually it ceases to be a review after the second sentence where you reveal not only your lack of preperation for reviewing anyone or anything by skipping out on the research of your subject which would have told you that Diamanda was a woman and given you a sense of the illustrious musical career and the contributions and innovations she has brought to contemporaery music for two decades .That simple research would have given you a real foundation for EXPERIENCING Diamand's music, which is a prerequiste to reviewing her music.

You reveal your own 'cool kid' mentality by thinking that you are so smart , so 'cool' and knowing that you can attend a concert and set yourself up to write a review of someone you are completely unpreprared to comment on . The 'eye' and 'ear' that you deem yourself blessed with are weak and autustic; they cannot even make contact with their object, so in fact you clearly did not experience Diamanda's music at all since what you were obsessed throughout the show was with what your 'opinion ' would be, clinging to words like Goth and tranny instead of LISTENING.

It is frighetening to me that people like you set yourself up to be the link between the artist and the general public. Critiqueing artists for the public is a service and should be entered into only by the most highly principaled. Face your inadequecies, write an apology, find some humility and get on with the difficult art of growing up and becoming who you would like to be.