—————————————————— Sandra Collins | Music | Houston | Houston Press | The Leading Independent News Source in Houston, Texas

Sandra Collins

For men, women who play their own musical instruments have always been sexy and fascinating to behold, haven't they? Watching ladies work and manipulate an instrumental tool with grace, precision, skill and, most of all, control is something that never fails to make male music lovers across this great land feel all warm and tingly inside.

But while there are plenty of great female guitarists, keyboardists and drummers, the question here is are there any great female DJs? Of course there are, you sexist fool! And fortunately one of them is coming to town in all her crate-digging glory.

Sandra Collins may look like another in a long line of rosy-cheeked British actresses you've never heard of, but she's an all-American practitioner of all things progressive house and trance. A Vegas girl who first hopped from Phoenix to Brooklyn to L.A., she won respect by holding her own alongside cats like Moby and the Crystal Method. While Collins is a gal who is quite aware of her physical attributes, she also knows what to do with a pair of turntable decks in front of her.

So often is her spinmanship described as "emotional," we're tempted to call her the first emo DJ. Does her music bring out feelings of deep introspection and thought, as well as joy and excitement? Does she create the kind of dance music you can also listen to while curled up on your futon, throw rug over your legs, sipping Celestial Seasonings tea and having a good cry? Okay, it's a bit far out -- but aren't you curious now if that's the kind of reaction you'll get from yourself once she's in the booth?

Needless to say, Collins's inviting, enigmatic beauty and stylish turntable skills have certainly spawned a nice-sized cult of male groupies, and even the title of her last collection makes you wonder if she's giving men a vivid description of her smooth, flowing style -- or a direct order. What's the name, you ask? Why, it's Cream.

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