Monday Morning Dance Party: Grimes "Kill v Maim"

This video is so bat-sh*t crazy, it's awesome! "Kill v Maim" is off Grimes new release Art Angels out now! Enjoy!

Monday Morning Dance Party: David Bowie "Modern Love"

Thank you for everything, David Bowie. You will be missed by the entire world.

Monday Morning Dance Party: INXS "Don't Change"

This week's Monday Morning Dance Party is taking us all the way back to 1982! Try not to dance around to INXS' rousing track "Don't Change." And look how cute Michael Hutchence was! Enjoy!

Monday Morning Dance Party: Diplo + Sleepy Tom "Be Right There"

Producers Diplo and Sleepy Tom have teamed up to make the ultimate summer dance track with "Be Right There" out now via Mad Decent. The song samples Jade's classic 90's R&B "Don't Walk Away" with totally revamped vocals from Priscilla and a fresh new house treatment. If this doesn't get your blood flowing, nothing will. If you wanna download the track, click here for options!

Preview the Terrific "Bleed Pop" EP by LGBT Band WASI

Check out the terrific "Bleed Pop" EP recently released by Cali punk pop band WASI. It's insanely peppy and the music just crackles with energy. Plus the recording quality is shockingly great. If there is this much happiness coming through my speakers, I can't even imagine how much fun their live shows must be.

Here's some background from their press materials:

The band started becoming more involved with the LGBT scene after singer Merilou (Cosmo) threw a few No On Prop 8 rallies in Buena Park (about a mile away from Anaheim, one of the most conservative cities in the US). They expected just a couple dozen of our friends to show up and rally, but ended up catching the attention of a few hundred people who came out to be part of the cause - from attendees, to Knott's Berry Farm, to kids in the Inland Empire who heard about the rally through home-made Youtube videos the band created to promote the rally. 

Today, the band constantly finds themselves invited to schools and other feminist/lgbtq groups to perform or just speak about our struggles as women and lesbian musicians. They hope through each of these conversations to inspire others to find their safe space to create positive energy through music, art and other passions. Jessie, the bassist and other vocalist for the band, who has been bullied her whole life for her masculinity, makes a point to showcase what she was bullied is now a gift. Aside from performing at Pride festivals, LGBTQ art galleries and other lesbian/feminist events in Hollywood such as Her/LA & Single de Mayo, they throw on our own events such as Women Fuck Shit Up Fest - an annual feminist/queer event that seeks to empower those community to share their art and voice and to create an energy of confidence to own who they are with pride.

Since their formation, they have performed at select dates on the Vans Warped Tour and have shared the stage with artists such as Shiny Toy Guns and K. Flay. College friends Garret Harney (drums) and Dylan Robin (guitar, vocals) joined the duo in 2015, thus completing the dance-fueled, anthemic-pop lineup.

If you'd like to help support the band, you can download their EP here. Also, check out their Website and be their pal on Facebook!

Monday Morning Dance Party: Our Man in Berlin "Moliére"

Awesome Australian electronica act Our Man in Berlin channels a little bit of Jimmy Sommerville in their fantastic track "Moliére." Not a bad start to a new week! Enjoy!

Monday Morning Dance Party: Kate Pierson "Mister Sister"

We are so glad The B-52s' Kate Pierson is putting out a solo album! Guitars and Microphones is out February 17th! Make sure to pick a copy up. In the meantime, here's the video for Mister Sister. At one point Portlandia's Fred Armisen makes an appearance!

Monday Morning Dance Party: Yelle "Complètement Fou"

Yelle's new album titled Complètement Fou comes out tomorrow! If it is as charming as the title track, it's gonna be great!

Monday Morning Dance Party: Duck Sauce "Quack" Full Album Stream!

So...Duck Sauce is back with a new album called Quack! 12 tunes that are sure to annoy Barbara Streisand all over again! Take a listen!

Underground Gay Music Series Exclusive: A Short Q&A w/ T.W.i.N.S.

When it comes to witty, quirky, charming dance pop, you will find no bigger fan than me. Comprised of two dashingly handsome gents, Laurence and Hugo, T.W.i.N.S. is perhaps one of the smartest, most lyrically clever bands to come around in a good long while. They take frustrating everyday situations and turn them into genius songs that will have you uncontrollably dancing in no time flat. There is no pretension. The goal of the music is to have fun. When asked about the formation of T.W.i.N.S. Laurence recalls, "We just wanted to get back to why we wanted to make music in the first place, to do something outrageous."

When not playing in T.W.i.N.S, Laurence moonlights as a club DJ, and something of this spirit feeds into the band: a mission to entertain whatever the cost. "If you're a band and you come onstage at a club at 1am, you don't want to interrupt everyone from having a good time. So we want to do something visual, raucous and unpredictable". The pair have been selective about gigs so far, but a show supporting the Scissor Sisters at London club institution The Cock's 10th birthday celebration at XOYO was a highlight.

T.W.i.N.S. has a brand new 5 track E.P. due out March 3rd. Despite being busy with all the craziness surrounding a new release, we were thankfully able to corner Laurence in a bathroom stall and force him to answer a handful of highly dubious questions!

Q: Rumor has it you gents started your musical collaboration composing music for a gay porn series called "Indie Boys." How much research did you have to put in to make sure you were properly capturing the essence of the subject matter? 
Laurence: We are both aggressive tops so it was actually a challenge to write slow jams for the Indie boy. Indie boys like to be whimsical, and they are in the bed too. One of us may know better than the other about this.

Q: I have watched the "What's the Time?" video like a dozen times now. Did you guys argue over who got to be the one to receive all the abuse? And, how long does it take to get red paint out of chest hair? 
Laurence: Watch it a dozen more times please. It seems to have been overshadowed in the hits stakes by our 'Republic of Banana' video. There was no way Hugo was going to take the abuse. I'm more versatile than him so I suffered for our art. Some of that slapping hurt. I was pissed off that I was going to have my chest waxed as I'm proud of my fur, the paint I wasn't worried about. How long did it take to wash out? Too long. I was ginger for a day.

Q: Your live show seems like a fantastical, wondrous party dependent on all your electronic gizmos functioning properly. Has your gear ever betrayed you on stage? 
Laurence: Plenty of times but I like the unpredictability of a live show. The worst thing you can see is a perfect live band. I once saw Linkin Park at Reading and it was like listening to a CD, not that I own any of their CDs. Yeah we've had stuff cut out on us but the bonus of being a new band is that nobody knows our music enough anyway to know it has gone wrong. I just dance harder.

Q: What's up with you Brits' tradition of crazy walks in music videos? It must take you guys forever to get down the street. 
Laurence: Hey where are you from? I didn't realise we were going international with this interview! Can we play in your country? The 'Found a Flat' walk was inspired by the Gondry video of 'Around the World' by Daft Punk. French, I'll have you know, but yeah I see the Madness thing going on, too. John Travolta knows the power of a good walk. We're tapping into that too. The best moment so far for me being in this band was having seen some kids at one of our shows doing that walk. It blew me away.

Q: Unicorns or Narwhals? Who would win in a fight? 
Laurence: Depends what territory. If the unicorn tried tackling a narwhal on its own turf it would probably drown. Likewise if the narwhal hit the land to tackle the unicorn it would resemble one of those slugs when people cruelly throw salt on them. I'm going for narwhal as unicorn is overdone. Especially on the T-shirts of East London homosexuals.

*Some quotes taken from their bio for the Found A Flat release on Split Records in 2013.

Our 5 Favorite Modern Pop Christmas Songs!

Decorating the Christmas tree, watching Charlie Brown on tv, and wrapping presents is great, but nothing infects us with the Christmas spirit quite like music. So, we took a poll around the office to see if we could come up with a list of great pop rock Christmas tunes from the last 50 years or so! Here's what we came up with. We would love to hear your favorites, too!

#5) The Kinks "Father Christmas"


#4) The Pogues w/ Kirsty MacColl "Fairytale Of New York"


#3) Sufjan Stevens "Put the Lights on the Tree"


#2) Best Coast and Wavves "Got Something For You"


#1) The Waitresses "Christmas Wrapping"

10 Favorite Indie Rock Tracks of 2013!

So, 2013 was a great year for music - really amazing major label stuff, great dance and EDM stuff, and lots and lots of great indie rock. For our purposes, we don't take major label fare like MGMT and Empire of the Sun into account when making this particular list. Also, we left off really huge stuff everyone has access to like Vampire Weekend and Grizzly Bear. For this list, we chose 10 tracks from smaller to mid-sized indie labels we just couldn't stop listening to over and over again. So, here we go:

#10) His Clancyness  "Machines"


#9) Tullycraft "Lost in Light Rotation"


#8) Los Campesinos "What Death Leaves Behind"


#7) The Woolen Men "Hold It Up"


#6) Frankie Rose "Street of Dreams"


#5) PVT "Love and Defeat"


#4) Adult "Idle (Second Thoughts)"


#3) Man Man "Head On"


#2) Au Revoir Simone "Crazy"


#1) Guards "I Know It's You"

Stream M.I.A.'s New Album "Matangi" in Full!

Listen to Matangi in advance of its release next Tuesday, Nov 5th! This preview is most likely only for 48 hours or so! Listen while you can! The tracks will play one after the other.

Underground Gay Music Series Exclusive: A Short Q & A w/ Hi Fashion!

I don't even know where to begin when talking about the high energy, dance music, haute couture powerhouse that is Hi Fashion. So, I guess I will just start at the beginning.  Once upon a time, in a land far, far away...

The eclectic musical duo HI FASHION first crossed paths on the dance floor of a gay bar. Rick Gradone thought Jen DM was a guy and approached her with the intention of picking her up. After chatting and discovering their love of music and that they were both queer, a friendship began. Jen invited him to perform with her for a Pixies tribute night she organized as a benefit for a LA charity organization. Once he heard her powerhouse voice, he was instantly obsessed with working with her. He asked her to make a project with him to which she promptly said, “NO.” Undaunted, he wrote 3 tracks and sent them to her asking if she would listen to them. They have been working together ever since and one of those songs became the basis of “AMAZING!”

The "Amazing" single came out in 2010. In 2011, they released the EP Sprechen Sie Hi Fashion? Their incredible videos have appeared  on Perez Hilton, Gangster Says Relax, New Now Next, Out Magazine, The Advocate, and pretty much everywhere else! They are back in 2013 with a terrific new EP called You Are Gorgeous! with tons of new remixes, music videos, and dance beats you can't help but to wiggle your tush to! (pssst...you can stream You Are Gorgeous HERE!) If Hi Fashion doesn't make you smile, you are probably dead inside. 

Luckily, we were able to corner Rick and Jen DM in a truck stop bathroom and force them to answer a few of our questions.

Q: You guys have a pretty amazing story of how you met. What do you think you would be doing if you hadn't had that chance encounter?

RICK: I would probably working as a janitor in the red light district in Amsterdam. Either that or a physicist. Quantum Mechanics is my SECOND favorite thing after Jen DM

JEN: I'd be doing a lot of unsuccessful decoupage.

Q: Based on your touring experience, how strong is the underground LGBT music scene? 

RICK: I think its growing and thank god its because of the computer. Now with social media there is are so many ways to find your people. We find our people everyday because of it and that's INCREDIBLE. And it has also made it possible for bands like us who are totally independent to thrive and find an audience.
JEN: I concur, it's growing, it's thriving, and we are so thrilled to be a part of this movement. Anything goes these days in this industry, and there's just the right amount of anarchy that inspires us and many others to say fuck it, I'm out, I'm an artist, I believe in what I'm doing, and I want people to hear what I have to say. 

Q: Ok...I have watched the You Tuk My Luk video like 10 times and I have questions. First...Who has a corded phone anymore? Second...Who has a 4 digit phone number?!!
RICK: I AM SO THRILLED BEYOND BY THIS!!!! One of my closest friends in Brooklyn still has a corded phone in fact and I find it incredibly sexy. The thought that when you are talking to him he has to sit on a chair in the kitchen boggles my mind and makes you KNOW that you are important. We laughed our asses off about the 4 digit number. I ADORE YOU FOR NOTICING.

Q: What's the funniest thing that has happened to you on tour?
RICK: We inexplicably became obsessed with DONUTS this year on tour. It turned into something that we MUST FIND when we go to a city. I think Voodoo Donuts in Portland may have won the prize for most extreme fantastic donut so far. But as far as an actual event, for me, maybe it was being proposed to after we got off stage in Sydney, Australia when we played at Mardi Gras. Naturally I accepted. 

JEN: What's funny is that I've NEVER been proposed to. What the fuck--isn't that why anyone does this? :) Kidding. The funniest thing that ever happens on tour is every single thing that happens on tour--because Rick is one of the funniest people I know, and between him and our dancers, the show kind of never stops. Without laughter I don't think we could do this!

Q: Your live show seems pretty intense and also dependent on all your electronic gizmos functioning properly. Has your gear ever betrayed you on stage?
RICK: So many times I shudder to even count. One time, we had all the dancers and Jen inside of giant parachute that was supposed to explode open after a video of Godzilla played. The video played, the parachute exploded open and jen started singing.... into a dead mic. We had to stop and start the whole show over and it took 10 MINUTES to work it out. My whole life passed before my eyes in that time and it wasnt pretty. Luckily when the mic got fixed after what seemed an EPOCH, she said to the crowd, "OK. Now we are going to get BACK into this parachute, and YOU are going to pretend you have NO IDEA WE ARE IN HERE or what's going to happen OK? HERE WE GO!" Everyone screamed and when it finally opened up again the crowd went wild. THAT'S why I love this woman.
JEN: We are built to roll with it and anticipate 23-45 glitches per show- and when only 18 happen, we're like, 'what a breeze!' Not so much about electronic hiccups, but an improv moment nonetheless: when we played Austin Pride the plan was we'd be driven through the parade in this 1963 black convertible Lincoln Continental to a spot mid parade where we'd get out and sing AMAZING for the crowd, then resume our ride. Cunt, no? Well there we are, fanning ourselves, flipping our extensions, owning the bliss of being in the parade, when the car breaks down many yards before our destination....so we got out, pushed it to the side of the road, peaced out to the driver, and then vogue marched our way to the performance spot-where we sang in the middle of the street and got the whole crowd to sing with us. Yum.

Visit Hi Fashion's Facebook Page! 
**Main photo by Shawn Smith.