Posts Tagged ‘dj’
Jai Ho! – Queer Bollywood Night at Big Chicks
January 22, 2010
Not yet having a stable home, Trikone is set to deliver its latest installment of Jai Ho!, Chicago’s only queer Bollywood dance party, on Friday January 29th. From the Facebook Event:
Trikone is committed to creating community among LGBTQ South Asians and their allies in the Chicago metro area. We welcome people of all sexual orientations, and gender identities, and of all national, racial, religious, and ethnic backgrounds to Jai Ho!
I accidentally found myself at the first one last year in July, and I gotta say it was one of the most fun nights out I have ever had in the city. The crowd was as diverse as it gets, there was a nice spread of club/fancy/traditional/sports wear, and the music went from Bollywood show stoppers to tolerable mainstream. Organizer Kareem Khubchandani curates a drag show at midnight (and performs as LaWhore Vagistan), and if you care to chat with him, he’s a complete sweetheart. This party’s proceeds go to Haiti relief, DJ Sachin spins and there is a $5 suggested donation.
CHIRP Radio
January 19, 2010
Last week was highly exciting, for personal and professional reasons. The highlight came on Sunday at 12 noon with the official launch of CHIRP Radio, the radio station that I have been working on for two and a half years. Under the leadership of Shawn Campbell, The Chicago Independent Radio Project has been creating a brand and literally building a radio station in Chicago, and on Sunday www.chirpradio.org went live without a hitch. It might amaze you to know that our volunteer organization has a board of directors, many departments with department heads, and a volunteer pool of over 200 people. CHIRP has become a national leader in the fight to reform Low Power FM legislation, and when the FCC finally changes the rules and allows us to apply for a license, we’ll be ready. We are now broadcasting 21 hours a day with a real, live host from 6am to 3am, with a mission to play an eclectic selection of music from all eras with a spotlight on Chicago’s local scene. My show is every Sunday, 12 noon – 3pm, and I’m keeping it gay and brunchy for you and yours! The super robust website updates the current playlist and you can click through to buy the songs at two local independent record shops, Reckless Records and Permanent Records. Additionally, you can get us on the iPhone’s ”Radio” app and Android’s “A Online Radio” app, and we actually have our own official smart phone applications in the pipeline!
If you are a music fan, be sure to stream CHIRPRadio.org! I’ll be fleshing out my shift in the months to come…I’d like to have guests, interviews, queer news and event announcements and all kinds of fun stuff, however I don’t even have a name for the show yet! Any suggestions? It has to be gay and brunchy. So far “Hotcakes” is the front runner, but I’m open to others. Email them at thinkpinkradio(((@)))gmail.com if you got ‘em! Don’t forget to tune in every Sunday from 12-3pm, Central Standard Time for my show!
Stinky’s Best Music of 2009
December 31, 2009
Hmph. 2009. The highs and lows experienced this year are incomparable. If this were a personal blog, I might let you in on a couple of little secrets but NO. Some of the things I made peace with: torrents, need for smart phone, twitter, clutter, my gringo accent while speaking Spanish, and even though I can’t listen to all the music in the world, I can still be a snob about it. Here is my list of the best music I heard in 2009, all of this stuff took me through it and back.
Best Full Length Albums
Kid Sister – Ultraviolet
Finally, a superstar takes being from Chicago and fabulizes it for the masses. The references to my City’s many contributions to dance music are too many to list, Kid Sister does it anchored with a natural talent for accessible and fierce one-liners. If you don’t get it, that’s because you are looking forward to buying your future home in the suburbs for the peace and quiet.
Fagget Fairys–Feed the Horse
This duo of Danish lesbians come out swinging in favor of vag-on-vag sex and marijuana, spitting in various languages over even more varied electronic musical styles. Bollywood to dubstep, house to baile funk, Palms Out Sounds made one hell of a discovery here.
Phoenix – Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
I can’t really expound on this more than anyone else has, except to say that there is not one bad song on the record. Not one.
Micachu & The Shapes – Jewelery
Looking like the poster child for future butches of America, front woman Mica Levi’s first record can’t be messed with. Completely customized instruments and a love for no-wave and folk, Jewelery’s strength forces you to find beauty in chaos–a fine lesson in both life and music.
Yeah Yeah Yeahs – It’s Blitz
The serious snooze that was Show Your Bones didn’t give me high hopes for this. Instead, YYY’s found real heart in their mild side, and created a fantastic new sound for themselves. New wave synths over a charismatic female lead might easily fall into run of the mill pop diva, but the sparkle here has really sharp, serrated edges.
Girls – Album
Wow an earnest white man plays guitar music. Oh man the uniqueness. This record’s saving grace is the plain-spoken mope over triumphant, sunshine-y hooks. The contrast is delicious.
La Roux – S/T
Eleanor Jackson and Ben Langmaid say this project is 50/50 collaboration, and it’s no wonder. The push and pull between the chunky electronics and Jackson’s vocal leads elevate this band head and shoulders above the other Human League biters. Haven’t done this much dance-and-sing-along to a record in a while.
Antony & The Johnsons – The Crying Light
Nothing like a genderless voice cutting your chest up with an angel’s knife to get you up in the morning. A new sophistication in song structure and a confidence in expression allows The Crying Light its many, many heart-string tugs…tugs which happen to come from a giant, pansexual, lightning wielder with freshly moisturized skin.
Metric – Fantasies
Emily Haines could save the planet.
Gossip – Music for Men
I heard rumors about a “backlash” to Gossip’s new stylishness, but I ain’t seen it. Haven’t met a fan who abandoned them after the new glam phase, and why would they? Beth Ditto NEEDS to be a celeb. We’ve all wanted her to be from the beginning, and Music for Men is a hard disco record done right.
Top Ten Songs from Non-Top Ten Albums:
(all these download links hosted by other blogs, can’t say how long they’ll be up)
Telepathe – So Fine
Kiss In Cities – UR My Girl
Memory Tapes – Bicycle
N.A.S.A. – Gifted Feat. Kanye West, Santigold & Lykke Li
Yacht – Summer Song
The xx – Heart Skipped a Beat
Atlas Sound – Criminals
Love Is All – Movie Romance
Yeah Big + Kid Static – The Nameless
Scotland Yard Gospel Choir – Sixteen is Too Young
Top Remixes I Downloaded in 2009:
Private – My Secret Lover (Lifelike Remix)
Little Boots – Earthquake (Treasure Fingers Epic Wave Remix)
Marina and the Diamonds – I am Not Robot (Starsmiths 24 Carat Remix)
Major Lazer ft. Vybz Kartel – Pon de Floor (Slink Refix)
Fever Ray – Seven (Real Daniel)
Dizzee Rascal – Stand Up (Radioclit Remix)
Metric – Help I’m Alive (Twelves Remix)
The Hood Internet – My Gold Mask vs Roxy Music Bitches
Shakira – She Wolf (Villains Remix)
Stevie Knicks – Stand Back (Eli Escobar Remix)
Amanda Blank – Shame On Me (Jackknife Lee Extended Remix)
Adrian Lux – Can’t Sleep (Marcus Rumbo Pop Remix)
Best Mix Tapes
Hercules & Love Affair – Sidetracked
The Twelves – The Twelfth Hour
JD Samson – Take Back the Night
Serious Let Downs:
Grizzly Bear – Veckatemist
If this band’s musical onanism gets any more flagrant, someone should call the authorities. It wasn’t always this way.
Kid Cudi – Man on the Moon (The End of Days)
Really? Take all the hype anyone could ever shit their pants for and sneeze out a whiny, self-important record of new-age rap ballads? All your collaborators sound bored out of their check-cashing brains! Every single one of my bootleg non-album Cudi tracks are better than this crap, never thought a Lady Gaga hook could be a highlight of ANYTHING.
..which brings me to
Lady Gaga
Ugh. I can’t believe we just started this. It feels like it’s been forEVER and a coffee-less day with this woman.
Looking forward to full lengths from:
Duck Sauce
Beach House
RYE RYE
MEN
Delorean
Bastardgeist
Murderbot’s Got the Hard Gay
October 19, 2009
* Man2Man – Male Stripper
What a coINcidence! Chicago’s Chrissy Murderbot’s “Year of Mixtapes” project has inevitably found its way to a gay-themed mix, and I was seriously working on my own all day today! No SHIT! Murderbot owns Sleazetone Records (home of Ssion) and just put out a new record filled with dubstep, hip hop, disco and electro. The mixtape project has promised (and so far delivered) one mixtape a week for a whole year, this “Hard Gay” mix is at week 20. Deep slices of ¢99 vinyls take us to The Boystown Gang (I have their record framed in my hallway), Man2Man, Bronski Beat, Modern Rocketry (I just posted that this week!) and many others–the 80′s disco slant of this spread has thankfully avoided hetero-tourism (I love Sylvester but You Make Me Feel is PLAYED OUT) and really, the obscure finds here show a supreme collecting passion and I’d fucking know. Murderbot’s mission and disclaimer get the cute points, tracklist below. Head over and get hard with Murderbot!
- Gloria Gaynor; I Am What I Am (Silver Blue Records)
- Green Velvet feat. Jamie Principle; LaLaLaLaLa (Nside My Mind) (Cajual)
- Carl Bean; I Was Born This Way (Chrissy Murderbot Re-Edit) (Motown)
- Ssion; Warm Glove (Sleazetone)
- The Boys Town Gang; Cruisin’ The Streets (Moby Dick)
- Man2Man; Sex Symbol (Recca)
- Paul Lekakis; Boom Boom (ZYX Records)
- Glam feat. Pete Burns; Sex Drive (Radikal Records)
- Pet Shop Boys; Can You Forgive Her? (EMI)
- Erasure; Hideaway (Little Louie Vega Remix) (Mute)
- Jamie Principle; Cold World (Steve “Silk” Hurley 12″ Mix) (Atlantic)
- Pet Shop Boys; It’s A Sin (Ian Levine Mix) (EMI)
- Boytronic; Man In A Uniform (Mercury)
- Bronski Beat; Small Town Boy (Metronome)
- Frankie Knuckles presents Jamie Principle; Bad Boy (Trax)
- Man2Man feat. Man Parrish; Male Stripper (Chrissy Murderbot Re-Edit) (Recca)
- The Village People; Sex Over The Phone (Metronome)
- Le Jeté; La Cage Aux Folles (Megatone)
- Modern Rocketry; Homosexuality (Megatone)
- Chris & Cody; Touch Me I’m Sick (unreleased)
Hercules Mixtape Smooth and 90′s
August 4, 2009
Deep house has been bubbling in dance music circles again, and while I don’t really play it, I do appreciate the unashamed 90′sness. And FOR SURE I’ll take it over dubstep ANY day. Renaissance released their first in their “Sidetracked” mixtape series, and wisely chose Hercules & Love Affair to kick it off. On point, on trend and on step with Andy Butler’s side of smooth, this is a party mix for sure. Buy it over at Renaissance’s page and have a listen to a sample track, Sunshine by Fax Yourself.
Adrian Lux – Can’t Sleep
April 20, 2009I was already enjoying this song and playing it in my DJ sets, then the label sent me a link to the video. In it, two pretty boys brood alone at home before meeting at a park, then they make out. What could be some plain-jane depictions of idealized body types turns out a little sexier–they could be boyfriends, or they could be on a first meet up after chatting online. And it could be racially mixed. In any case, the making out is hot. And the song is nice – the production doesn’t get rave-y, the vocals have a punky vibe and the subtleties in the synths keep my attention. Adrian Lux‘s 2nd single, “Can’t Sleep” is available from La Vida Locash, and he also has a free downloadable 1 hour mixtape called “Vanity Fair #2,” available if you click here. Tracklist and streaming video of it after the jump.
