MUSIC: CATHARSIS FROM THE CHOIR

JODECI AND XSCAPE, TWO GOSPEL-INFLUENCED R.-AND-B. QUARTETS, BRING THE PASSION OF CHURCH MUSIC TO SONGS OF LOVE AND LUST

Music is the safest sex. Nobody has ever been impregnated, or infected, by listening to Marvin Gaye's sex-saturated ballads (though what couples do while listening to such songs is another matter). This summer the performers who are creating the most erotically cathartic music are the male vocal group Jodeci, whose new CD is called The Show, the After-Party, the Hotel, and the female quartet Xscape, with a new album called Off the Hook. Love songs aren't enough for these groups; they sing lust songs, exploring sweaty emotions rather than sweet ones. Their songs aren't designed to shock listeners, like Madonna's; instead,...

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