Last Friday KEXP launched our Music That Matters podcast #205, which I was lucky enough to program. June is Gay Pride month, and I’m kind of in queer overdrive. My enthusiasm for all the incredibly cool LGBT (that’s shorthand for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender, not some kind of sandwich abbreviation) acts in the KEXP library inspired me to pull together a 2-CD compilation of everyone from Jobriath to Grizzly Bear for my fellow DJs to play as they see fit. And then there’s MTM #205, which is our annual Big Gay Podcast.
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I kept the editorializing during the podcast itself to a minimum, but if you’re curious to learn a little more about some of the artists and songs featured, here’s the playlist with links to items I’ve written about many of them in the past. Most of the links will lead you to America Online’s pop culture blog QueerSighted, where I’m a regular contributor. (If your browser warns that you’re headed into murky waters, take that with a grain of salt; anything NSFW -- and there’s very, very little content that is -- is clearly marked on QS, and none of my items fall into that category... unless you work for Focus on the Family.)
| Tracklist | |
| 1. Goldfrapp | Alive |
| 2. Shunda K feat. Cindy Wonderful | Here I Am To Save the World |
| 3. The Redwood Plan | How the Game Is Played |
| 4. The Soft Pack | Down on Loving |
| 5. Owen Pallett | Lewis Takes Action |
| 6. The Shondes | My Dear One |
| 7. Parenthetical Girls | Evelyn McHale |
| 8. Ozomatli | Gay Vatos in Love (Live on KEXP) |
| 9. Ships | Up and Down |
| 10. Logan Lynn | Feed Me to the Wolves |
| 11. The Hidden Cameras | Underage (Holy Fuck remix) |
| 12. Mary Gauthier | Sideshow |
| 13. The Endtables | Process of Elimination (unedited version) |
| 14. John Grant with Midlake | Sigourney Weaver |
| 15. Baby Dee | Lilacs |
| 16. Stephenhero | I Will Sleep |
| 17. Matmos and So Percussion | Treasure |
| 18. Andy Bell feat. Perry Farrell | Honey If You Love Him |
| 19. Morel | Shoegazer Disco (Linus Loves mix) |
While we’re on the Big Gay subject, if you’re planning on partaking of assorted Pride festivities in Seattle over the coming weekend, please drop by the Wild Rose on Saturday, June 26. KEXP DJs Tim and Sharlese will be playing music and serving as MCs for part of the day, and the band line-up (always amazing at Wild Rose during Pride) includes Glass Candy, Portland’s rising stars Reporter, and Seattle’s own Fresh Espresso.
Lastly, a movie suggestion. I stumbled across Daniel G. Karslake’s 2007 documentary For the Bible Tells Me So last week, and was completely transfixed. (Not transfigured. Geez, I’m not that blasphemous.) I already recommended it to my mom, which in turn prompted a lively discussion at her Bible study group. It is easily available on Netflix, and will give your brain and soul something to chew on, regardless of whether or not Gay Pride is circled in big pink Sharpie ink on your calendar.
DJ El Toro hosts the variety mix show on Wednesday nights from 9 PM to 1 AM on KEXP 90.3 FM Seattle and kexp.org. His column, Weird At My School, returns every Monday on the KEXP Blog. You can now follow DJ El Toro on Twitter!
One Comment
I think that times have changed so greatly in the last 20 some odd years for our community. I have watched your recommended movie before and it was disturbing then and when I tried to watch the clip you feature it brought up a whole lot of feelings again. I really don’t know if the younger people today can appreciate fully what those who were before them had to endure. I know that there is still a ton of work to be done and that it will probably never be done but things are changing....don’t lose the momentum! Keep up the great work.