A fine art, film, history and literature site oriented to, but not exclusively for, the gay community. Please be aware that there is mature content on this blog. Information on images and links to sources will be provided if known. Enjoy your visit and please subscribe.
Hidden Cameras, “I Believe in the Good Life”
From the album: Mississauga Goddam (2004) Shot on location in Toronto, Canada on 16mm. Directed by Joel Gibb Featuring: Tawny Le Sabre, Keith Cole, Will Munro, GB Jones, Maggie MacDonald, Owen Pallett, Joel Gibb and many more beloved Toronto personalities…..
Hidden Cameras, “Carpe Jugular”
The Hidden Cameras are a Canadian indie pop band. Fronted by singer-songwriter Joel Gibb, the band consists of a varying roster of musicians who play what Gibb once described as “gay church folk music”. Their live performances have been elaborate, high-energy shows, featuring go-go dancers in balaclavas, a choir, and a string section.
The band’s new album Age was released in January 2014. The lead single “Gay Goth Scene” was released in July, 2013. The video for the single was directed by Kai Stänicke, who received the “Short Film Award for Human Rights” at San Marino International Film Festival awards, “Tadgell’s Bluebell Honor Award”, being named “Best Short Film About/For Youth” at the 16th Auburn International Film Festival for Children and Young Adults in Sydney, Australia, and best German short at the International Queer Film Festival Hamburg, Germany.
Mogwai, “Take me Somewhere Nice”, 2001, “Rock Action” Album, Chrysalis Music, Ltd.
Mogwai is a Scottish post-rock band which was formed in Glasgow in 1995. The band consists of Stuart Braithwaite on guitars and vocal; Barry Burns on guitar, piano, synthesizer, and vocals; Dominic Aitchison on bass; and Martin Bulloch on drums. The band is known for its lengthy guitar-based instrumental pieces which contain melodic bass lines, strong contrasts, and use of effects and distortion.
Mogwai’s work has appeared in several film soundtracks, including the 2006 French documentary film “Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait”, Michael Mann’s 2006 film “Miami Vice”, Darren Aronofsky’s 2006 film “The Fountain” as well as the soundtrack for the Canal+ French television series “Les Revenants”. In August of 2018, Mogwai released the soundtrack for the Jonathan and Josh Baker’s science-fiction action film “Kin” and, in May of 2020, the soundtrack for the Amazon Prime’s Italian crime-drama series “ZeroZeroZero”.
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, “O” Children”
This song was featured on the Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds album “Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus”, released in 2004. It made its appearance in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1”, an anachronism, since the dancing scene is set in 1997 according to the canonical timeline.
In an interview, Matt Biffa, the music supervisor for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1, explained that he chose the song because he identified with its lyrics on a personal level, as he was separating from his wife at the time and worried how it would effect their two young sons. According to Biffa, obtaining permission to use the song in the film was not difficult, and Nick Cave was happy that it was a lesser-known Bad Seeds song that had been selected.
Spoon, “Inside Out”
The band was formed in late 1993 by the lead singer and guitarist Britt Daniel and the drummer Jim Eno, after the two met as members of The Alien Beats. The name Spoon was chosen to honor the 1970s German avant-garde band Can, whose hit song “Spoon” was the theme song to the 1985 movie Das Messer aka Jagged Edge in the United States. Eno describes Spoon’s music as “psychedelic.”
Perfume Genius, “Fool”, Directed by Charlotte Rutherford
Perfume Genius is the stage name for Seattle-based solo artist Mike Hadreas. As of 2016, he has released three albums.
Growing up, Hadreas was the only openly gay student at his school, and he received death threats which were not addressed by the administration. He dropped out of high school during his senior year. Two years after dropping out, he was attacked by several young men in his neighborhood. He moved to Williamsburg, Brooklyn and worked as a doorman for a club in the East Village.
In 2005, Hadreas returned home to Seattle and began recording music. In 2008, Hadreas set up a MySpace page under the name Perfume Genius, and thus began his music career. Hadreas’ music explores topics including sexuality, his personal struggle with Crohn’s disease, domestic abuse, and the dangers faced by gay men in contemporary society.
Brunuhville, “WinterWolf”
BrunuhVille, pseudonym for Bruno Miguel Correia José, is a Portuguese music composer.
“Celtic music is amazing in so many ways. It brings you to another world, a fantasy world. Since The Lord of The Rings movies that I wanted to do some stuff like that, but in that time my composing skills were limited. My Celtic music is very “fantasy based” as you can hear, and I like how people say stuff like “your Celtic music inspired me to write about elves” or “I love to listen your Celtic music while drawing cause it gives me inspiration”. It’s great to read comments like that because it means that I could pass my imagination to people trough my music.
There are a few that are very personal. I made a series of compositions named “New Dawn” and “Tales from The Dead Poet” and those are probably the most personal ones because were composed when I had a bad time in my family and in a relationship. Most recently I composed a song called “Remember” which is one of my personal favourites as well and is also very personal with a lot of feelings in it.” – Brunuhville
Ed Sheehan, “I See Fire”, from The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Olafur Arnalds, “So Close”
Ólafur Arnalds is a BAFTA-winning multi-instrumentalist and producer from Mosfellsbær, Iceland. Ólafur Arnalds mixes strings and piano with loops and edgy beats crossing-over from ambient/electronic to pop. Ólafur was a drummer of hardcore / metal bands Fighting Shit and Celestine, as well as others.
In 2009, Ólafur also formed an experimental techno project, entitled Kiasmos, with Janus Rasmussen from the Icelandic electro-pop band Bloodgroup. In 2014 Ólafur announced his electronic debut album under the Kiasmos project.
Broadchurch is a British television crime drama broadcast on ITV. It was created and written by Chris Chibnall and produced by Kudos Film and Television, Shine America, and Imaginary Friends. Broadchurch series one focused on the search for a boy’s murderer by detectives Alec Hardy (played by David Tennant) and Ellie Miller (played by Olivia Colman). Chibnall was inspired by the Jurassic Coast of Britain to set his crime drama in a fictional, close-knit small town in Dorset. Much of the tone of the series was inspired by the music of Ólafur Arnalds, who also composed the soundtrack for the program me.
Highly recommend this series of detective stories; great acting; hot detective; and the sound of the show by Arnalds is superb.
Another great song by Olafur Arnalds. This one was used in the closing credits of Broadchurch, one of my favorite detective series. If you like this song, see the show, available on Netflix. You will not be disappointed.
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, “The Road “(Extended) from the Soundtrack of “The Road”
The Road is a 2009 American post-apocalyptic drama film directed by John Hillcoat from a screenplay written by Joe Penhall, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning 2006 novel of the same name by American author Cormac McCarthy. Principal photography took place in Pennsylvania, Louisiana, West Virginia, and Oregon. The film stars Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as a father and his son in a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
The Road received a limited release in North American cinemas from November 25, 2009, and was released in United Kingdom cinemas on January 4, 2010. The film received generally positive reviews from critics, with the performances of Mortensen and Smit-McPhee garnering praise. It also received numerous nominations, including a BAFTA nomination for Best Cinematography.
The music score was created by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. The movie “The Road” is a great powerful film without the “Disney-esque” happy ending. It is a very deep film showing no matter how desperate the situation or fatal the outcome, humans seek to prevail until the bitter end. A must see.