OUTmusic
Ruby Lips pre-release CD review:

Landscape
by singer songwriter Danny Katz

Exotic Boy Next Door

Having excitedly reviewed a sampling of OUTmusic late last spring, I was handed a pre-release CD recently at Pegasus (nooo, bitch, I was not cruising Asian boys, I was there raising money for Queens Pride House; but I digress already). Landscape, written and sung by Danny Katz, is a compendium of five folk-like progressive-pop songs of queer passion and angst with satirical-political overtones. I was immediately enraptured by the teasing mystical sensuality of the lyrics because they were intellectually arousing as opposed to obscene. The repeated refrains, "Tripping on erotic apathy," and "My trench coat is falling down with my pants,’ in the song Seattle got my eyebrow arching. In Exit he sings of riding the subway standing so close he can "smell your body heat" but a moment later notes that "capitalism never atones." He titillatingly taunts that he’s in the parking lot "pissing on your wheels," in Amusement Park, but in the next breath mocks ‘Health Care’ lies and then also accusingly asks "Why are you here?" And that somehow segues into ‘death’ and ‘fear;’ all very much 21st century serious sexual concerns. This is brilliant clever composition delivered in deliciously pleasant lyrics and melodies.

So why should a middle aged classical reviewer of arcane organ recitals, who does not even like 20th century composition, be reviewing folk-rock-pop fusion produced in 2002? At the risk of infuriating him, Danny Katz is everything an old New York queer could dream of; he’s Asian, he’s Jewish, he’s clever, he’s the exotic boy next door, he’s cute beyond words; but most of all he’s a musician who sings songs in a soothing voice that calms the soul. The sound he creates sent me back to my youth in the sixties reminding me of moments, after long sex sessions or all night parties, when one relaxes with a last joint to mellow out before heading home in the chill mists of early dawn. Make no mistake, the music is vibrant, the lyrics are mocking, the genre is 21st century, but it has a mellowness that is just very pleasant to listen to. Its not dance music, its calm and tasty like a chocolate covered marshmallow cookie with a raspberry filling eaten at 4 am after getting your brains fucked out. Oh dear! Did I say that? Don’t ask me what it means; it’s a just a gestalt. And so is this music.

Technically speaking, this CD is squeaky clean which is just another sign of the professionalism of his musicianship. Everything is dead on, crisp and clear, but with emotion and all the other rare elements that make music stand out as memorable.

Landscape is very much OUTmusic but of a unique emergent pop-queer quality that should have appeal to the wider generic young adult straight crowd because its cool, non-violent, sung by a young man trained as an attorney, and sexually ambivalent about politically suspicious lust. He does not speak of the unspeakable but sings of the ‘love of being queer’ and of ‘people sticking their tongue in his ear,’ (pause for heart pill), as well as of 21st century youth’s emergent sexualitys’ desire, disgust, and fear. Whoa; yet its all done with clever lyrics sung softly in the breathy voice of a guitar strumming folk singer of an earlier era. When I asked him who had influenced his fusion he told me: "Simon and Garfunkle, Billy Joel, Ani DiFraco, Elvis Costello, and Pete Seeger." I was, I admit, mystified until I heard that last name and then the light lit in my head as I finally realized what it was that I had heard that sounded so familiar hinted at in the background of his voicing and themes.

It is clear that Danny intends to evolve and progress, and that the retro-folk lyrical sound I loved in Landscape, is likely to not be heard again from him. But like good wine, cheese, and our aging bodies, evocative music matures with age and we can only look forward to what comes next from this brilliant young man.