Saturday Morning Music: Jer Ber Jones

Tired of sequin-clad, high-haired drag queens who stumble in their high heels and leave a trail of glitter wherever they go? Well, we've got an alternative for you, and her name is Jer Ber Jones. The drag alter-ego of underground performance artist Robbie Daniels (aka Robbie D.)—an instrumental force in the creation of electroclash with his song "Lotion"—Jer Ber is a star-fucking wannabe-celebrity Mormon from Utah who escaped the compound for an exciting life of fame, fortune and frizz in the big city. She's already taken Los Angeles by storm, performing in sold-out monthly cabaret shows at the Cavern Club Theater in Silver Lake, and is now beginning to infiltrate mainstream consciousness with her decidedly unique take on female impersonation.

Check out the hilarious video for Jer Ber's original underground hit "Model for Me" above, then watch the clips for her cover of Yaz's "Only You" and a live performance of This Mortal Coil's "Song to the Siren" from her live Telekinesis show after the jump. We guarantee you'll never look at drag—or think of these songs—in quite the same way ever again.

Saturday Morning Music: Kate Miller-Heidke

If you haven't heard of Kate Miller-Heidke, you're not alone. In fact, neither had we until just this week, when somebody posted a clip of a hilarious little ditty of Kate's called "R U Fucking Kidding Me?" on Facebook. Ironically, the song is a kiss-off to an ex who dissed her and then tried to buddy up to her on a few social networking sites (including—uh huh—Facebook), and it's the perfect anthem for today's Internet addict.

A native of Brisbane, the cutesy Aussie is already a sensation in her homeland, garnering four ARIA nominations (the Aussie equivalent of a Grammy) and cracking the top 50 with her frenetic hit "Words" from her debut album Little Eve. A tour through Australia as the opening act for Cyndi Lauper brought her to the attention of L.A.-based producer Mickey Petralia (Beck, Dandy Warhols, Peaches), who helmed her second album, Curiouser, and now she's set to take the States by storm as the buzz around her continues to grow.

Check out the clip for "R U Fucking Kidding Me" above, then check out the video for the totally dance-tastic "I Just Can't Shake It" (from Curiouser) and a live performance of "Words" after the jump to discover for yourself what makes this playful ingenue such a delightful earful.

Saturday Morning Music: Ari Gold

While openly gay women like Melissa Etheridge and kd lang have enjoyed a level of success that has traditionally been denied to gay artists, gay men still have a tough time "breaking through" to the mainstream. But if anyone can change that, it's Ari Gold. A sexy street kid with edgy fashion sense and crazy good looks on his side, the New Yawk stud has become somewhat of a superstar on the Pride circuit with his smooth R&B-tinged pop tunes.

Take a look at his trippy, Shakespearian clip--a sort of Midsummer Night's Wet Dream--for his cover of Human League's '80s staple "Human" above, then click below to check out the animated video for "Where the Music Takes You" and his black-and-white clip for Space Under Sun's "Wave of You" (an homage to the Herb Ritts-directed videos for Janet Jackson's "Love Will Never Do Without You" and Madonna's "Cherish").

Saturday Morning Music: Jason Antone

Jason Antone is a fighter, and he wants you to know it. The chrome-domed Chicago native is heating up Logo's New Now Next show with his new dancer-iffic single, "To the Limit," the video for which addresses many of the challenges the gay community is facing as we fight for change.

The song is taken from Jason's first full-length album, Start to Move, which was released earlier this week and represents the culmination of years of work. Born into a musical family, Jason started playing piano at the age of 3, and also took up the violin and saxaphone. He attended DePaul University for Vocal Studies and was featured on the celebrated Turn It Up America collection before he charted with his own singles, "Be Free" and "Love's Gonna Lead You Back," both of which cracked the top 25 on the Billboard Club Charts. Not bad for an independent artist with no major label support behind him.

We think Jason's got a great message to promote right now—and besides that, he's pretty darned nice to look at with his shirt off. Check out the video for "To the Limit" above, then follow up with clips for "Love's Gonna Lead You Back" and "Be Free" after the jump to see the goods. Enjoy!

Saturday Morning Music: Daniel Cartier

Daniel Cartier isn't a household name, but he should be. He's certainly got a backstory worthy of some of pop music's living--and, um, not-so-living--legends. Discovered by A&R reps while serenading civilians on the platforms of the New York City subway, the sexy tattoo-headed squatter was quickly courted by major labels, who entered into a mini bidding war before Cartier settled for Elton John's vanity label, Rocket Records. Unfortunately, a shift in distributors for Rocket caused a ruckus, and Cartier was lost in the shuffle. Just months after his major label debut, the brilliant Avenue A, was released, he was dropped from the label.

Cartier then entered into an extended period of depression, hustling and drug use, intermittently putting out self-made albums on his own label, Endurance Music, and appearing in indie filmmaker Christan Calson's sexually graphic Flirting with Anthony (Whoa! Daniel Cartier come shot!). After his umpteenth visit to rehab and a stint in a mental institution, Cartier cleaned up his act and put out one of his most personal, revealing albums yet, 2006's You and Me Are We, which contained the haunting "Just Wanted to Fall," a song detailing his spiral into drugs and depression, as well as several other tracks perfectly suited to his emotionally expressive and gospel-tinged acoustic-pop style.

Daniel's been relatively quiet since meeting a new man and relocating to Nashville to live a life of domestic bliss, but he still posts videos of himself singing new songs and performing covers on YouTube. We can only hope a new album is in the works (um, like, pretty frickin' PLEASE, Daniel!?), but for now, we'll have to subsist on the wealth of material from the Net and his first four albums.

Check out the awesome video for his dance-pop track, "Beautiful" (which has a message that all gay men could afford to hear), above, then venture after the jump for vids of "Just Wanted to Fall" and "Reviving" (like "Beautiful," from 2004's Revival) and a cover of The Eurythmics' "Here Comes the Rain Again" that should knock your socks off. Then go spread the word and help make Cartier the star he deserves to be!

Saturday Morning Music: Regina Spektor

If Tori Amos is the patron saint of straight women and lesbians, then Regina Spektor is the piano-playing songstress for gay men. Less serious than Amos and Natalie Merchant, the Russian siren's playful melodies and whimsical videos have delighted audiences around the world, but particularly among gay male listeners because... well, actually, we can't figure it out either, but just go with it.

Anyway, now that Spektor's most recognized track, the spritely "Fidelity" from 2006's brilliant Begin to Hope, has been adopted by the Courage Campaign as the theme song for their moving TV spot to restore marriage equality to California, Spektor is certain to gain an even larger gay following. This is great for her, particularly now that her fourth album, Far, is due out on June 23. We've got the video of that disc's gorgeous new single, "Laughing With," after the jump, along with the clip for "Dance Anthem of the '80s" and a wicked remix of "Us" (from Soviet Kitsch), but just as a reminder as to why the Courage Campaign chose it, we've got the awesome video for "Fidelity" above. All hail, Ms. Regina!

Saturday Morning Music: Just Jack

Most people hear the words "Just Jack" and they think of the wayyyy Off-Broadway cabaret show performed by Sean Hayes' deliriously clueless Jack MacFarland on TV's Will & Grace. But fans of British pop know Just Jack as the scrappy beat-boxer from North London who's taken over the airwaves with his infectious blend of pop, hip-hop and electronica. From groove-tastic singles like the funky "Writer's Block" and "Glory Days" to his jazzy signature hit "Starz In Their Eyes" (which reached No. 2 on the U.K. Singles Chart), Jack has paved his own unique path in a business often full of carbon copies, and has put out a string of videos that hark back to the early days of MTV. (Which is to say they're, like, actually good.) And, even though he's not gay, his lyrics reveal him to be more than hip to the cause of rooting for the underdog.

Jack's latest single, the pop-leaning "Embers," from his new album All Night Cinema, represents the next step in his evolution as a musician, and the very ambitious video—which takes viewers through the complete (abridged) history of mankind and ends with the message that "We are all embers from the same fire"—is proof that this hip whippersnapper, like Madonna before him, is looking to bring people together with his music.

Check out "Embers" above, then click on the link below to check out clips for "Writer's Block," "Glory Days" and his brand new single, "Doctor Doctor," after the jump.

Saturday Morning Music: "Kidney Now"

If there were still any doubts that Tina Fey is the funniest woman on television, they were obliterated with Thursday's season finale of 30 Rock. In the episode, Alec Baldwin's feisty Jack Donaghy organized an all-star music group to help his ailing father (the ever-brilliant Alan Alda) get a new kidney by performing a song called... wait for it.. "He Needs a Kidney."

Featuring the likes of Sheryl Crow, Elvis Costello, Maroon 5's Adam Levine, Mary J. Blige, Michael McDonald, Norah Jones, Moby, Cyndi Lauper and Clay Aiken, the group (dubbed Kidney Now) gamely plowed through the hilarious tune, which has already become an Internet sensation and inspired nostalgia for "We Are the World."   (Whether the latter is a good thing or not is entirely up to you.)

The best part of all of it? Proceeds from the song (which is available for purchase on iTunes) will go to the National Kidney Foundation. Leave it to Fey to put together a new benefit song that not only saves lives, but also makes us giggle with glee. Long live Queen Fey!

Saturday Morning Music: Eric Himan

(in a bathrooom, no less)

Saturday Morning Music: Chris Garneau

(Your Associate Editor Ken Knox is out sick this morning with Pig SARS, so this is your other editor "filling in.")

The above clip, "Relief," is from New York based singer-songwriter Chris Garneau. I've been listening to this song (and the album it appears on, Music For Tourists) for a couple of years now, and it just gets prettier every time. Even the video is a captivating, beautiful piece of art. Why don't people make music videos like this anymore?

Haunting, melodic, and pristine are just a few of the words that come to mind when I think of Chris' music, and I think you'll find that "Relief" in particular will stay with you for some time.

Chris' new album, El Radio, will be out in July, so be sure to go to his website and buy it, along with anything else he's selling there. You won't regret it.