Style: dance, electronica, pop
Label: Dilettante Recordings
Year: 2009
Home: Minnesota
Members: Har Mar Superstar ~ vocals
Michael Bland, Dorian Crozier ~ drums
Asa Taccone, Loribeth Capella, Erica Daking ~ b. vocals
Brian Gallagher ~ sax
Paloma Udovic ~ strings
Har Mar Superstar has become famous for prancing his balding & overweight body around the stage with convoluted breakdancing wearing nothing but his underwear - & not necessarily sexy underwear - & thus finding himself with a bit of a cult following. It doesn't help those that might be grinning in shock that he's known for performing live pre-recorded music coming from his boombox. HMS is a true eccentric attraction in an age of music when that's truly hard to do. His eccentricity also extends to his music which many might find an odd inclusion in a blog dedicated to rock/metal music as it relies heavily on very non-rock dance/electronica. But, every so often HMS pulls something out the history books & crafts a song that could be straight from the catalog of early Stevie Wonder, the Jackson Five or maybe Isaac Hayes if the late Mr. Hayes was a tenor. If one doesn't appreciate the ties between rock & Motown/Stax 60's R&B/soul then you'll still be scratching your heads why HMS might be included here, but for those that know the impact soul music has on rock then HMS deserves mention. If, for nothing else, than the fact that his unique fusion of styles is the theme that floats through the music chosen for this blog. HMS crafts a style of underground dance pop that mixes R&B with electronica to which he adds a campy tenor singing about all the things that one expects in modern dance pop ... even songs about getting it on with boys. HMS has written songs for Jennifer Lopez, Eve & Kelly Osbourne. "Tall Boy" & "Girls Only" on this fourth release
Dark Touches were offered to Britney Spears & the Cheetah Girls, respectively, both of whom declined the offer & the loss is greatly theirs. HMS decided to record the songs himself giving them the HMS pop make-over but not changing the lyrics. "Tall Boys" is a highlight of the album & a perfect fit for Britney Spears with all her much loved vocal overdubs. As for a middle aged un-sexy straight guy singing about sexing up boys at a club ... it only adds to the eccentricity of the man ... music ... album. If it sounds odd, it is. But, its definitely funky. The strongest parts of
Dark Touches are the more R&B oriented songs that rock the house down in a James Brown way, as some of the more dance oriented cuts sound weak & unfinished & walk the line of generic commercial pop filler.
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