Har Mar IS a Superstar

I'm so happy Har Mar Superstar (aka Sean Tillmann) exists. Can I just stay that? I just love that this white guy from Owatonna is creating music like this, and this, and especially this. I heard about him a few years back, but up until earlier this year I had no idea what he was all about. And let me tell you, he is all about the awesome. Seriously, for a devout Prince fan like me, Har Mar Superstar is a revelation. His music feels like the stuff I grew up on, like the best stuff on Controversy and 1999, only more fun.

(I am not giving lip service to my devotion: One year on my birthday I made my friends squeeze into the backseat of my mom's Honda Civic and drive around Chanhassen and Shakopee until we found his purple ranch house. The Purple Rain Christmas Eve show was my first concert, and when my Mom and I had to live in a hotel for a few months, she made the reality of our situation more bearable by booking us a room at the hotel where Apollonia and other actors stayed while filming the movie, Purple Rain. I suffered through years of jibbing by more puritanical friends because the music moved me like no other. And still does.)

The first time I saw the video for his song, "DUI" I actually shouted, "Yes, damnit!" at my computer screen. His new album, Dark Touches came out last week and I'm so friggin' happy about it, I can hardly contain myself. (You can listen to samples of all of the songs here.)

Here's the video for "Tall Boy," a song he wrote for Britney Spears. I love that he recorded it "as-is" -- and totally killed it. It's very Britney but it's still fantastic.



So far my faves are "Creative Juices," "Gangster's Want to Cuddle Me" and "Dope, Man." The song "Girls Only" is a turn-it-up song I would have put on every mix tape back in junior high. I also love the song, "Sunshine." Ok, I'm digging the whole album. It feels nostalgic but modern at the same time. (Maybe only fellow Prince fans will get me on this one.) Har Mar's music is my best discovery of the year.

According to his tour schedule, he's coming my way next week. I tried to figure out how I could make it down to the East Village (or Brooklyn) next week, but it's just not happening. I may shake my ass like I'm fourteen, I may blast my music like I'm single, but I also have a four-year-old to tuck in at night. I wish my girl and I could get a babysitter and make a night of it, but it ain't happening. I know a few of you, my loyal readers, live in NYC. Go see Har Mar for me, would ya?