The Apple!

Thanks to the folks at New York's premiere party collective, CHERYL, for screening this at the Islington Mill. We've been waiting a couple of years now to see this ridiculous confection of glam and disco, and it does not disappoint! Yeah, the plot, characters, set design, "future world" and all the rest are totally ludicrous, but the music is AMAZING:

R.I.P. MCA

MCA is a hugely influential figure for me, in music, video, design, business, the lot. His passing is a very sad loos. I wrote about it on Dangerous Minds:

It’s still sinking in here that MCA-aka Adam Yauch- has died, and that, in effect, the Beastie Boys are no more. What a fucking bummer.

It’s an inescapable fact that the Beastie Boys are one of the bands that define my generation. If you were a child at any point from the mid 80s up until the late 90s you cannot have escaped their influence. And I’m not just talking about their music; their aesthetic reached everywhere, from film and music videos to magazine publishing and clothes lines.

I feel like my generation (and I use that term loosely) don’t have a singular iconic figure they can point too, like a Prince or a Bowie; you know, that one person that unites an entire age group through sheer talent and poise. Well, the Beasties may not have had the incredible album-a-year productivity rate of Prince or Bowie at their prime (in fact they were legendarily slow at making music,) but their extra-musicular activites more than made up for that, and meant that when their albums did drop it was a major event.

More than just the music on its own, more than the Grande Royale magazine and record label, more than fantastic the art work or the trend-setting X-Large clothing range, it was the Beastie Boys incredible videos that set them apart, and brought their diverse fan base together. They really knew how to work in different media while retaining their core identity, making them some of the first and most successful rap music entrepreneurs, and this placed them right at the centre of the 90s golden age of both hip-hop and music videos. And there steering the helm of most of those awesome Beastie Boys promo clips was Yauch himself, often in the guise of Swiss director Nathanial Hornblower. 

Dangerous Minds April 30th - May 6th

Smoke this: 15 years of the excellent Tummy Touch label in dub and for free
'Boots Sex Dread': Hardcore gay reggae from 1980 (NSFW)
Russian protestor first to be convicted of 'gay propaganda'
Before Goldfrapp, before Kate Bush, there was Noosha Fox
No Sell Out: bizarre 'Punk' CD commercial
A Day In The Life: MCA is Nathaniel Hornblower

Kurt Dirt 'Beat Me Up Buttercup"

House of Tranarchy's own KURT DIRT drops his very first solo video! You can hear more of his filthy sex-pop at the Kurt Dirt Soundcloud page.

SHARON NEEDLES WINS!

And this is why we love her so much - what other queen would have gathered AND acknowledged such an incredible cast of legends for her crowning? Here she is being carried onstage in a coffin, flanked by Amanda LePore, Susanne Bartsch, Astrogirl, Raja, Jordan Foxx and more, rightfully and humbly taking her place in that lineage.

 Proclamation Number One - the Ideal Of Beauty has just changed!

 

RPDR Season 4 Finale - NO, REALLY THIS TIME

THE SHADE OF IT ALL!

In a cunning twist, RuPaul has broken with Drag Race conventions and decided NOT to announce the winner of season 4 till the re-union show next week! Hunty pulled the wool over everyone's eyes, which means that this "finale" was not really a finale at all, even though we saw the last three queens fiercing it out in a 3 way lip sync for their lives. OOOH GURRRL!

It also means we'll be back in the Outpost next Tuesday evening to find out who will be crowned America's next Drag Superstar, getting our booze on and whooping up a storm. Will it be the spooky and charming Sharon Needles? The flawless and elegant Chad Michaels? Or *cough* that damned Phi Phi O'Hara? And this time we WILL find out why Willam got the boot…

So see you next Tuesday, same drag time, same drag channel. And don't forget to tweet for your favourite queen with #DragRace!

Facebook event page. 

TRANARCHY pres the ZOOLANDER DERELICTE BALL

It's that damn Tranarchy - they're so hot right now! Have you ever wondered if there's more to life than being really, really, really, ridiculously good looking? Well Earth to Meekus - TRANARCHY will be taking crazy pills on Friday May 25th when we screen cult fashion-parody ZOOLANDER and then host Manchester's first ever DERELICTE BALL! What is DERELICTE? To quote the legendary designer Jacobim Mugatu: "Derelicte is a way of life inspired by the very homeless, the vagrants, the crack whores that make this wonderful city so unique!" Think shoes with holes, slept-in clothes, unwashed hair, empty booze bottles, ripped open rubbish bags… it's high fashion taken to low extremes, and we will have prizes for the best Derelicte outfits! There will of course be a walk-off judged by David Bowie and a "Blue Steel" competition (with bonus points for "Magnum" and prizes for the winners) while The House of Tranarchy will do some live eugoogelizing and evil DJs will be breakdance fighting! So come join us at the Night And Day Café For Kids Who Can't Read Good, where we'll guzzle down some orange mocha frappucinos and do the jitterbug, before we blow the roof off the sucker! Fun kicks off at 8pm with the film screening at 9, and the ball activities kick off at midnight. Entry is £5 all night, with special reduced rate of £3 for those dressed Derelicte - but remember, our evil Katinkas will be judging you on the door…

Facebook event page. 

Dangerous Minds April 23rd - 29th

'Dance Craze! The best of British Ska live!" ft Madness, The Specials, The Beat & more
Bang The Box: 44 808 & 909 tracks in 52 minutes
'All Hail The Beat': a short history of the Roland Tr-808
Happy Birthday Giorgio Moroder
Synth-Wave Disco: Todd Terje remixes The Units' 'High Pressure Days'
Dangerous Minds fully endorses Sharon Needles
UK government to place missile base on roof of residential flats

Trouble At T'Mill PICS

Had a great time djing at Trouble At T'Mill with the boys form Drunk At Vogue and Mr Andy Gott!

Farewell Scott!

Had a wee dinner to say goodbye to Scotty Gillepsie before she moves to Exeter to be with the man she luvvz. Awww, bye babes, we'll miss ya! xxx

On why Drag Race & Sharon Needles rule...

Cross-post from Dangerous Minds...

I’ve said it before and I will say it again, RuPaul’s Drag Race is THE best reality show on TV right now. No, wait, let me rephrase that: RuPaul’s Drag Race is THE best reality show in the history of TV. Yes, I’m fucking serious.

It feels a bit like coming out all over again, to admit an obsession with a show so frivolous and outrageously camp as RDR. But I’m not ashamed, no siree. I couldn’t give two hoots what any of the detractors say, Drag Race is fun, funny, glamorous, touching and educational. It delivers on so many levels that it puts the bigger, mainstream reality shows to shame, a fact acknowledged by Pamela Anderson, who has stated that the talent on Drag Race easily outclasses that on American Idol.

And I’m not even a reality TV fan. I hate it! You know how these competition shows seem like such a fucking lie cos all the contestants are MOR dweebs hand-picked for their inanity, and the judges spew out bullshit platitudes when the truth is they have no clue how to control the market forces of the entertainment industry? That has always bugged me, as has the premise that somehow a mystical team of background operatives can bestow superstar status on an individual of their choosing. Well, Drag Race is different. Very different. First off, it’s a show about competing drag queens. Case closed. But in case you’d like me to explain further, don’t worry, I fully intend to…

Tranarchy pres RPDR Season 4 Finale

RuPaul's Drag Race is THE BEST reality show on television - 13 drag queens competing for the title of America's next drag superstar, and only one can win! We're obsessed with this show at Tranarchy, so what better way to enjoy the season finale than with all our friends in front of a big screen with lots of booze?!

Drag Race has been a break out hit for the American channel Logo TV, and the current season has been the best yet, with some of the fiercest (and funniest) drag queens ever seen on television making it a cult smash. The competition has been intense this time, with plenty of tears, laughter, tantrums, throwdowns, revelations, controversy and some incredible (and not so incredible) runway looks. All lorded over by the legendary RuPaul and her panel of guest judges.

But now we are down to the final three, and who's going to win? Will it be Party City's own spooky princess Sharon Needles? The world's top Cher impersonator and Botox fan, Chad Michaels? Could it even go to that broke-down showgirl, the bitch you love to hate, Phi Phi O'Hara? Who knows… we might even find out why that flawless fish Willam was kicked off, and maybe see a final appearance by everyone's favourite soul-mama Latrice Royale…

The evening kicks off at 8pm in the back room of the Outpost, Whitworth Street (aka the "Interior Illusions Lounge") where we will warm you up with the season's penultimate "re-cap" episode. Catch up with all the drama before we the intense and exciting final episode, which will air at 9pm!

So make a date in your diaries for Tuesday April 24th, and if you are lucky enough to see the show as it airs the night before in the States, please, please, please… NO SPOILERS!!!!


Facebook event page. 

Joyce in London

Joyce had her first ever London gig, at Milk Records' Power Queers, Power Lunches café, Hackney. Here's a couple of snaps by our good friend Camille:

Waving to a passing bus

 

I can see you...

 

Dangerous Minds 16th - 22nd April

'HARDTalk with Alan Moore' excellent interview with comics legend by BBC news
Contort Your Tie: Post-punk icon James Chance the new face of Vivienne Westwood? 
Download the new album by Detroit techno legend Moodymann for free
Holland's Roadburn - a very different kind of festival
Navel gazing: Stimpy takes a trip
Joyce D'Vision 'She's Lost Control' - what would Ian Curtis think?

The Beastie Bears @ Bollox

Joyce D'Vision "She's Lost Control"

Joyce D'Vision "Isolation"

Isolation by JoyceDVision

JOYCE D'VISION Soundcloud

Oh yes! We managed to wrangle her in to the studio to add her dulcet tones to some Joy Division songs.

Find us here.

Dangerous Minds April 9th to April 15th 2012

When Ari Up met Patti Smith
Spiritualized 'Hey Jane' - is this video art or exploitation?

Andrew WK Glasgow circle pit

Joe and I were lucky enough to catch Andrew WK's "I Get Wet" 10th anniversary tour in Glasgow, and what an awesome gig it was! We'd waited out the Manchester gig because we knew we'd be too busy setting up the after party to really enjoy it. Thanksfully, we got booked to do a Joyce gig for the wonderful Croc v Croc folks in Glasgow the night Andrew was there, and Cherie Lily managed to get 4 of us in on the guest list. HALLELUJAH!

There was so much unbridled energy in that room it was unreal, but it was all overwhelmingly positive. Usually at metal and rock shows there's an edge to that energy that can turn nasty, but not with WK. Also, it was a treat to see this show with a Glasgow audience, one of the wildest in the land!

You can see the back of Me and Joe's bleached / bald heads bobbing around in the foreground of this video, underneath Andrew and in front of the camera person:

During "the song "I Get Wet" Andrew got the crowd to do a circel pit, which was pretty incredible. It was huge and most of the crowd got involved - we're talking 200-300 people easily:

What an incredible show. If you ever get the chance to catch Andrew WK live, then don't miss out!

Tranarchy pres CHERIE LILY live PICS

Nuh-uh-uh!

OK so appareantly some douche was outside the Andrew WK gig at the Manchester Academy handing out flyers and telling people it was the official WK aftershow. Well thankfully some of Tranarchy were there, and although they restrained themselves from battering, got him to fuck right off. Soz dicckhead, but WE were the official Manchester Andrew WK afterparty:

Also corroborated by this post from the Cherie Lily FB wall:

Dangerous Minds April 1st to April 8th

The article below on the 20th anniversary of Arthur Russell's death got picked up by a few different blogs and shared widely, including re-tweets from DJs like Optimo's Twitch, Q Burns and Ewan Pearson. I couldn't let that anniversary pass without marking it somehow, and am glad that many other folk agreed.

The Minimoog sofa
Arthur Russell died 20 years ago today

Niallist interviewed on Manhattanchester

An interview with me on Greg Thorpe's ace blog Manhattanchester!

Tell us three singles/albums/videos/artists that inspire you to do what you do:

1) Daft Punk, Homework

This was the record that made me think I could make music myself without having to rely on a band, I just needed to get some boxes and pump them up! Homework also acted as an amazing crash course in Chicago house, Detroit techno and New York disco. I think this album changed an entire generation's musical lives, and you can still hear its influence fifteen years later.

2) ...anything at all by Missy Elliot

Missy is such an inspiration – she's always pushing the envelope in visual and musical terms, while remaining accessible and unpretentious. To me Missy is the artist who represents that golden age a few years back when chart-topping pop music was genuinely bizarre. She's also representing for all the big peeps who consider themselves to be ‘freaks’!

Read more here:

WIll the real Niallist please step forward...

Croc v Croc CROC-A-OKE ROLLER DISCO feat Joyce D'Vision LIVE!

We're back in Glasgow next Saturday to play at this, with the ever-awesome Croc v Croc dudes (Cherie Lily and Andrew WK might even be making an appearance...). It's a karaoke-themed cover versions special taking place in Kinning Park Industrial Complex and which will feature a roller disco and a barbeque - this is one party you won't wanna miss!

More info on the Facebook event page.

Tranarchy GETS FIT! pictures

TRANARCHY GETS FIT!

Let's Werk up a sweat for Cherie Lily, appearing live with Tranarchy at KRAAK Gallery, Manchester, Friday April 13th: