Alex from AfterElton.com sits on the Homophonic couch with lesbian singer/songwriter Kristi Martel. Together they talk about her career and her emotional album, Ravengirl.

Kristi also plays her hit song, "Photophobia."

This week on Girl Rock, Corday talks with two musicians that are both making waves with their music internationally. The first is Katya, who may just be channeling Jimi Hendrix.

The other is the Dyke Diva herself, Lori Michaels who makes a stop while on her national "Live Out Loud" Pride tour.

Girl Rock is now bi-weekly, so check back for another episode in two weeks!

Revolutions, the first CD to be released by Music With a Twist, Columbia Records' LGBT label, will be available in stores next Tuesday (it's been available via iTunes since April 24), and I got a review copy the other day in the mail. Compilation CDs aren't usually all that exciting, and this one isn't the hottest thing I've ever heard, but it's not bad.

It includes tracks from The Gossip ("Standing in the Way of Control"), Sarah Bettens ("Come Over Here"), God-des and She ("Love You Better"), Kirsten Price ("Magic Tree," a song that was also on the L Word Season 4 soundtrack) and newcomer Tangela Bell.

These are all fine songs (although I wish Price would hurry up and release her debut album already!), but I was pretty much blown away by Tangela Bell's song "Addiction." Bell's voice is incredible; it just demands that you sit there and listen. She's like a soul singer who's gone on some kind of rampage! The song is about, obviously, addiction, and it's like the devil went to a 12-step program and put together an awesome single. … continue reading

Prince's halftime show notwithstanding, I don't think guitars are necessarily phallic. Men have dominated the guitar world (especially when it comes to smashing things and jumping off amp towers), but who says it has to stay that way?

Here are some axe-wielding women who sound as good as they look.

1. Pioneers: Without them, this blog post wouldn't exist.

Wanda Jackson [pictured]
Bonnie Raitt
Nancy Wilson (Heart)

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Amy Winehouse's second album, Back to Black, a follow-up to her debut smash Frank (2003), is finally available today in the United States, and if you haven't heard her before, you're in for a treat. Back to Black is a soulful, bluesy album of breakup and makeup songs, all filtered through Winehouse's unique take on 1960s-era girl groups. There are infectious choruses that hearken back to the Supremes, but instead of warbling "Baby I need your love," Winehouse is declaring in her sultry, almost nonchalant voice, "They tried to make me go to rehab I said no no no/Yes I've been black but when I come back no no no."

And the second single, "You Know I'm No Good," is a brutal acknowledgement that yeah, she can cheat and she can lie, but when she sings "I told you I was trouble/You know that I'm no good," somehow you just want to forgive her.

My favorite track on the album (so far, anyway) is definitely the title track, "Back to Black," an account of spiraling into depression after a breakup. Sounds miserable, true, but for some reason Winehouse's lyrics and her Nina Simone-esque, smoky vocal tones make the misery feel a little bit like intoxication. Go to amywinehouse.com to get a sneak preview of the video for this song. … continue reading