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.
Graham Candy, “Glowing in the Dark”, Acoustic Version
A New Zealand-born, German-based singer/songwriter and actor with a distinctive voice, the aptly named Graham Candy is a quirky and unpredictable musician. A student of music, dance, and theater from a very young age, Candy spent the majority of his career in Auckland before relocating to Berlin in 2013.
In Berlin Candy lent his voice to popular German DJ and producer Alle Farber’s international hit single “She Moves.” Collaborations with German indie pop outfit Abbey and electro-swing enthusiast Parov Stelar followed in 2014, as did the release of his Crazy Planet Records-issued solo EP, “13 Lords”.
Peter Diamond is a Canadian illustrator based in Vienna, Austria. born in Oxford, England, He received his BFA in Fine Arts at NSCAD University located in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In addition to his freelance work, Diamond teaches drawing at Illuskills and works with the international illustration community through the European Illustrators Forum. He is represented internationally by The Loud Cloud.
Peter Diamond’s work owes much of its character to the album covers and self-published comics that were his special focus in art school and the early years after graduation, as well as the punk gig posters of his teenage years.
Simply Three, “Unsafe Haven”, 2017, From the Album “Undefined”
The classically trained trio of Glen McDaniel, Nick Villalobos, and Zack Clark, together known as Simply Three, has been captivating audiences since 2010. By reshaping convention through genre hopping, the trio continues to seek the true essence of classical crossover with original works as well as innovative arrangements that showcase their technical virtuosity and heartfelt musicality.
Kalki, “Varanasi”, 2016, Cinematography by Basile Pierrat
Kalki is the tenth avatar of Vishnu to end the Kali Yuga, the last of the four periods in the endless cycle of existence in the Vaishnavism cosmology. He is described in the Puranas as the avatar who rejuvenates existence by ending the darkest and destructive period to remove adhama and ushers in the Satya Yuga, the first yuga in the new cycle.
Kalki is a progressive psytrance project by Thibault Fontaine, an experience music producer from Lyon, France, who has been crafting electronic music for a decade. He emerged on the trance scene earlier in 2016, wiht the release of his first EP “Varnasi”, illustrated by a captivating music video shot in India by Basile Pierrat. Kalki unfolds a narrative and spiritual universe combining sci-fi culture, primitive rites, and psychic esperiences that resonate with the psytrance movement.
Club des Belugas, “Let’s Go” from the Album “Fishing for Zebras”
Club des Belugas is one of the leading lounge & nujazz projects in Germany, perhaps in Europe. They combine Contemporary European Lounge & Nujazz Styles with Brazilian Beats and American Black Soul of the fifties, sixties and seventies, using their unique creativity and intensity.
Main members are Maxim Illion & Kitty the Bill, with such exquisite guests as the Californian jazz lady Brenda Boykin, trumpeter Reiner Winterschladen (Nighthawks), Swedish singer Anna Luca, London based jazz singer Iain Mackenzie, Anne Schnell from Jojo Effect, Dean Bowman from New York and trumpet player Thomas Siffling.
Hang Massive, “The Secret Kissing of the Sun and the Moon”, 2018, The first single from the Album “Luminous Emptiness”
The founding members of Hang Massive are Danny Cudd from the UK and Markus Offbeat from Sweden. Both seasoned global travellers they met on the shores of Goa, India where for many years they had passed the winter months. From India they travelled back to Europe and this is where they began to play music together, initially in the streets and then increasingly performing live at venues and festivals world wide.
Their first official collaboration release was in 2013 with Bristol based producer Bleeker and saw the resonant tones of the hang fused with high quality UK style house production resulting in an awesome four track EP. This was followed in 2014 by the release of their second live album “As It Is” which demonstrated a much evolved playing style, more developed compositions and a significant increase in production quality. 2015 saw the release of two more collaborative projects of very differing styles.
The EP “Many Rivers Ensemble” featured a small group of musicians with a range of acoustical instruments, who in one improvised recording session sculpted a beautiful and other worldly listening experience. The following EP “Marine Migration” was the first release from the new collaboration with Glastonbury based producer J Rokka and featured a breaks style single which was subsequently remixed by a range of well known artists such as Gaudi and Atomic drop.
Alsarah and the Nubatones, “Wad Alnuba”, from the Album “Captain Planet Presents: Through the Wire”, 2015
Producer Captain Planet has become well known in the house & tropical bass scene for his original productions and equally his wide and prolific remixing skills and Bastard Jazz Recordings has compiled up a double LP and digital release of the Captain’s finest remixes of the last three years in one place for maximum dancefloor potential.
As is the Captain Planet style, the remixes touch on all corners of the globe – hitting Middle Eastern/Nubian vibes (Alsarah & The Nubatones’ “Wad Alnuba”), Sub Saharn Africa (Saran’s “Tounkan”), Cumbia (Buyepongo’s “Maestros”), Dub Reggae (La Yegros “Viene Di Mi”), Centeral American Folklore (Los Folkloristas “El Coco”), Afrobeat (London Afrobeat Collective’s “Prime Minister”) and many more.
MEUTE is a techno marching band – a dozen drummers and horn players from Hamburg, Germany, who fulfil the job of a dj with their acoustic instruments. The archaic conglomerate of brass and drums creates a new genre by combining hypnotic driving techno and expressive brass band music. MEUTE detaches electronic music from the dj desk and evolves the thrust of energy on stage or directly in the crowd, be it on the streets or in the club, with or without electricity.
In this video, MEUTE plays a street version of the all time deep house classic “REJ”, originally performed by Berlin based Duo ÂME.
Armeen Musa, “Bhromor Koiyo Giya”, Featuring Fuad Al Muqtadir from the Album “Re-Evolution”, 2003
Armeen Musa is a singer-songwriter from Bangladesh, with rising fame in the Bangladesh Music Community. Her remake of Radha Raman’s “Bhromor Koio” in collaboration with Fuad Al-muqtadir brought the spotlight on this artist in 2005. Armeen Musa is the daughter of famed Nazrul singer Dr Nashid Kamal, and the great-granddaughter of folk legend Abbasuddin Ahmed.
Born in Dhaka, Bangladesh, Armeen Musa has trained formally under Sujit Mustafa. Armeen’s musical journey as a performer started with her cover band “Enshrined” in 2000, which slowly led to performing originals at various venues in Dhaka. She formed the band “Armeen Musa and The Grasshoppers” with fellow musicians Adil, Bart and Amit with whom she recorded her debut album. After moving to Nottingham, UK in 2004 she has collaborated with various artists in the United Kingdom including Kishon Khan’s “Lokkhi Terra” project.
Cab Calloway, “Jumpin Jive”, with the Nicholas Brothers
This clip is from the 1943 American movie “Stormy Weather” produced and released by 20th Century Fox. The film is considered one of the best Hollywood musicals with an African-American cast. It stars Lena Horne, Bill “Bojangles” Robinson, Cab Calloway, Fats Waller, the Nicholas Brothers, among other great performers. If you haven’t seen it, you are missing something great.
