Angel Eyedealism

By Catherine MacGregor

The main performance of the evening featured a trilogy of multi-media performance interpretations of the work of New York underground artist and musician Angel Eyedealism. Angel writes and performs her own work in a style which she describes as exemplifying “Bizarre Elegance.” Her look is Drag Queen meets Marie Antoinette with a five octave vocal range. At this year’s ball Angel collaborated with performance artist Leda Resurreccion of Arena productions to create a truly multi-media piece, combining live music, vocals, performance art, dance and video projection. Angel’s piece featured a trilogy of songs: Got Bush written as a response to the first bombings on Iraq, a year ago. Angel spoke of her frustration with the situation and plays on the dual meanings of “bush”; making the song, a female expression of rage at this war: “I’ve got a bush to grind with you – ass”. Angel’s dancers in this piece added their own ironic comment by tee-shirts which are available in the streets of New York at the moment which state: "The Only Bush I Trust is My Own”. The second piece was directed by Leda Resurreccion, inspired by Marlene Dietrich’s “Blonde Venus.” The performance featured myself and artist Violet Sweet as Body Art burlesque dancers, whose feathered costumes are attached to our bodies by needles which we slowly, sensually remove to the sound of Angel’s track: Naked Eye, while being menaced by gorillas. The third performance piece, Serial Killa Serious featured live cutting but (mercifully) fake dismemberment by video and performance artist Storm. The song and therefore the images, which accompanied it, were initially inspired by the art of Frida Kahlo with notions of dismemberment and suffering being linked to extremes of passion both for a lover and for one’s art. The piece also grew out of Angel Eyedealism’s fascination with schlocky, B-movies about serial killers, which she describes as “an escape from her positive lifestyle.” The notion of the serial killer also seemed to Angel to be a pertinent metaphor for the way in which one has to be to survive as an artist; that is that one has to be single minded and focused to the point of obsession. - Live Art Magazine

By HEIDI SIEGMUND CUDA

NEW YORK — I had 60 hours to check out the scene here …
… invited me to a night club-restaurant called Guernica the following night to a record release party for Angel Eyedealism & the Horny Spawn.
At Guernica, I fell head over heels into a scene so fun, I transformed into a dancing queen.
Singer Angel Eyedealism dresses like a full-on drag queen, with madcap headdresses and the coolest pink, glitter eye shadow. She’s like Nina Haagen-Dazs, two scoops of fun, voluptuous and campy. I danced like an insane fool … - Los Angeles Times

by Mike Perazzetti

Angel Eyedealism & the Horny Spawn's Aggressive Cheesecake almost defies description. It almost defies genre. Here, you will find jazz-infused electronica organized into a new order of aural insanity. Angel's vocal delivery is just as uncategorical, certainly borrowing from recognized influences but definitely from worlds unknown. On the whole Aggressive Cheesecake is strangely listenable. Just don't try and categorize this otherworldly diva. - The Independent Artist

Downtown cult diva and songstress Angel Eyedealism requests your presence as the folks at Barracuda roll out the red carpet as she makes her first-ever Chelsea appearance. With an extraordinary five-octave range (visions of the Diva from The Fifth Element) Miss Angel (who is a real woman) mixes pop, rock and new music from her new CD Aggressive Cheesecake for everyone's enjoyment. - Next Magazine

Spotlight hog Candis Cayne demurs for once, and gives her Monday night Barracuda stage over to downtown cult icon and songstress Angel Eyedealism. With a mindblowing five octave range - is she related to Yma Sumac? - Angel (not a drag queen, but with that makeup you'd never know it) mixes pop, rock and new music for a totally original sound. Tonight, she'll be making her Chelsea debut with songs from her new CD Aggressive Cheesecake. - HX Magazine

By Karyn Gladstone

If ever there were a diva who had her shit together, Angel Eyedealism is that goddess. A fully realized vision with such platinum blonde hair and fantastical hats that she's often mistaken for a drag queen, Angel is more than a mere singer. Angel has ventured into a cappella, spoken word performance, painting, singing, even standup comedy, and she's found her groove creating trip-hop electronica music. But she's an Eyedealist who manages to stay grounded in the real world, too: She has her own label in the works, an artists' collective for semi-unsignable, crazy right-brained, non-conformist musicians like Electrofetus and Honey Child.

Formally trained as an opera singer, Angel utilizes her full five-octave range to give a different syntax and vibe to the normally subdued tones of trip-hop. Her larger-than-life voice is matched by her flamboyant performance style, and she can tap into the energy of any kind of crowd to get them going. Her band, Angel Eyedealism and the Horny Spawn, is about to go into the studio to start recording their new album, and, in the meantime, you can catch them around the city. Their unique sound brings her Nina Hagen-esque voice to Portishead type music venues such as Brownies, the Knitting Factory, Starlight Lounge and Baby Jupiter for the past year. When Angel's "on," she's an immediate center of attention--she bills herself as the "Tom Jones of trip-hop." But for Angel, it's not just about her: Her performances are supposed to provide not only entertainment, but "theatrical cathartic relief." "I suffer for you," she laughs, "songs come out like pissing ... stream of consciousness filled with life experiences."

Angel is an avid believer in astrology. Though her pragmatic, no-nonsense attitude doesn't allow for the really "airy-fairy" stuff, she's seen "too many quirky, strange or unknowable things" answered by astrology to be a non-believer. Her current name, Angel Eyedealism, chosen as an emblem and a tribute to "the struggle against cynicism in the face of adversity" is meant to evoke her softer, more idealistic side--as divined by the sun's current alignment with Neptune. - Citysearch

Run to your nearest alternative record shop and snap up this four-song cd. Angel Eyedealism has a five-octave range, is classically trained and has a yen for wearing bunny ears. She is writer, songstress, musician, poetry in motion. Trip-hop is the genre she is labeled, but as she reaches octave to octave with astounding power and clarity it becomes impossible to separate electronic from human instrument.
- METROSOURCE