With his new podcast, Queerly Beloved, Northern Irish DJ Cormac explores what it means to be a queer artist in dance music today. Interviewing contemporary figures about their histories of queer discovery, the Panorama Bar and fabric regular continues an intergenerational conversation surrounding the life-affirming moments, communal experiences and enduring challenges of LGBTQ+ expression. Alongside [...]
Released on 25th May 1984, ‘Smalltown Boy’ launched the gay synth-pop band Bronski Beat into the charts and onto dancefloors with its glorious synths, hi-NRG production and Jimmy Somerville’s soaring falsetto, which sang a story of rejection, pain and escape. Here, with the help of musicians, its iconic video's director and others, Bailey Slater [...]
A new print magazine is documenting queer dance music scenes around the world. Based in Amsterdam, No One Magazine aims to spotlight communities and collectives who promote connection and identity building through electronic music. The first edition focuses on the Amsterdam scene, covering topics such as the city's oldest queer-run club, squat parties and [...]
Kevin Aviance's life story unfolds as a vibrant symphony of resilience and artistry, deeply resonating within the black queer community and leaving an indelible mark on society's cultural tapestry. By Kevin Aviance Growing up in a bustling household set the stage for my life's symphony—a blend of chaos, harmony, and relentless drive. My [...]
Soaring ascents, the kind that can take an artist from obscurity to stardom in what seems to be the blink of an eye, don’t occur often, in dance music or elsewhere – those who are lucky enough to have that experience often disappear just as quickly. But there’s little chance of a quick fade for [...]
Horse Meat Disco held their first party at what would become known as The Eagle pub in Vauxhall, London on New Year’s Day 2004. As their weekly Sunday night queer party grew, so did their international reputation, and they haven't stopped since. Here, Andy Thomas charts the soaraway success of the disco house collective over [...]
Beatport announced today the launch of BPXX, a year-long celebration commemorating the company’s 20th anniversary. BPXX will feature a slate of special programming and events, as well as retrospectives from the last 20 years of dance music, all centred around the theme “Music Is Unstoppable.” The BPXX Capsule digital web experience charts the course of [...]
Idealistic, passionate … Larry Levan (left) and David Depino at Trax - Photograph: Tina Paul/BBC Studios This wonderful series documents the passion and idealism of the 70s music scene. It’s an immaculately soundtracked history lesson – and so much more besides After the tumult of the last few years, UK nightlife is in a perilous [...]
In South Africa's burgeoning ballroom scene, pioneering figures and DJs are finding their own ‘Ha’ in the country's past, and in the contemporary sounds of gqom, amapiano, and Afrobeats. Tazmé Pillay learns more “DJ, cut the beat.” The room falls silent — an unforgivable sin anywhere else, but this is no nightclub. This is a [...]
Uganda passed a draconian anti-LGBTQ law in March, sending the county’s queer community into turmoil and marking another brutal step in the homophobic and transphobic backlash sweeping the globe. Marke Bieschke speaks to some of the musicians affected about the new realities they face, how their art has changed, and what we [...]