GAYLETTER

CHRISTEENE is the genderqueer “drag terrorist” persona of Texas-based artist Paul Soileau. Equal parts performance art, drag, rap, dance, and everything anarchic and fucked up in between, CHRISTEENE revels in shameless subversion. Infamous for her chaotic musical mélange of electro, punk, and rap (alongside batshit live shows to boot), CHRISTEENE’s self-described M.O. is “to make you fuckin think about the state of things… the state of our interwoven communities in the LGBTQIA world and beyond.” A regular fixture at SXSW for her gloriously deranged music videos, the legendary queen recently premiered a new one for latest single “FUK V29″ and like the rest of CHRISTEENE’s oeuvre, it’s off the rails in the absolute best way.

“FUK V29” is the first taste of new music and videos from CHRISTEENE, and encompasses an even gnarlier, punk-driven sound than before. The video, directed by frequent collaborator PJ Raval, is sort of like if you were to drop acid at a fucked up warehouse art show. CHRISTEENE freaks out, writhing in her characteristic smeared makeup and scant, deconstructed clothing, while blasts of strobe lights illuminate a cast of onlookers (my personal favorite: the disapproving old guy in the fez). “I want to both disorient the viewer, yet allow them to take pleasure in the destruction of CHRISTEENE,” Raval said of the blistering video, “much like the experience of seeing a CHRISTEENE show live. Raw, unfiltered, and reactive, like a newborn baby, you don’t know what you’re going to get.” …

With just a few wee hours left to go until 2015, I think it’s safe to say this past year was a complete fucking mess. Socially, environmentally, and politically, the world in 2014 was awful in pretty much too many ways to count. But, because I’m a masochist, let’s list a handful: Sochi banned gays from the Winter Olympics, riots in Ferguson and across the country finally made insane police brutality a nationwide concern, there was an actual Ebola breakout, Texas shut down a whopping 13 abortion clinics, and the wealth gap is now the worst in recorded history (seriously). And that’s just skimming the goddamn surface.

So, while you’re out ringing in the new year tonight, drinking away the fact that a shitty James Franco/Seth Rogen movie almost caused a very real international conflict, we’ve got you covered with a super-sized mixtape to party along with, complete with a download link so you can keep the kiki going well into 2015. We’re serving up queer artists and classics alike, with a touch of apocalyptic realness to match our increasingly dystopian times. Whether you’re prancing across the city or keeping it intimate and avoiding the crowds, do keep in mind that we’ve still got a ways to go. Remember kids, 2015 is only going to be better if we all help make it that way.

DOWNLOAD.

Listen if you like: champagne, warehouse parties, tuxedos, social change, free music.

Follow us on 8tracks for further mixtapes. …

Jay Boogie’s name may sound familiar but it’s time you got to know him better. Maybe you’ve seen his name on a party flyer or in the video for trabajo. Maybe his name rings a bell as it brings together two iconic but unlikely divas — Lauryn Hill, otherwise known as L Boogie and Liberace who gave us the song Boogie Woogie Nights. Getting to know Jay Boogie means getting to know an artist confident in who he is — someone who smoks blunts in Jordans while  carrying multiple Louis Vuitton pieces.

It’s in his Louis V duffle bag that Jay Boogie brings the looks for the shoot. He’s working with some pieces from Luar Zepol’s new line and 5 or so pairs of sneakers. Jay takes his makeup and we begin talking about his sound, where it comes from and where it’s going: “My first two eps were laying the groundwork, giving gay kids growing up in the hood the tools they need to survive. For this project, it was more like this is my idea of what living in the now looks like. As a result I got futuristic, Afro, detailed and just a feisty nasty mouth.”

Confidence is what propels Jay through multiple contexts, switching codes while maintaining a sense of self built on never sitting still. Moving between East New York and the Dominican Republic, with a history in New York’s vogue scene and an ear for DR’s ‘dem bow’ sound, Jay Boogie carries it all with him. …

Jay Boogie has been giving shows for a minute now, popping out at the parties WestGay and Papi Juice in NYC and always adding an unadulterated energy to the places. With a conversational flow and laid back vibe, Boogie  knows how to sweet talk a crowd while taunting us with lines like “Papi Chulo, who the fuck is you though.” It’s his equal parts softness and hard edges that keep you wondering where his music will take you next.

Tonight the Dominican born, Brooklyn raised rapper will be at Le Bain at The Standard Highline for the listening party of his new album Allure from Doom Dab records. The venue offers some great views but none better than what you’ll see inside: hosts Kay Rizz, Lilly Body and Oscar 1992 hype the room for the boisterous Boogie. Jay Boogie demands your undivided attention — and believe me if his past looks are any indication of what he’ll wear tonight then you won’t be able to take your eyes off him.

FREE with RSVP, Jay Boogie performs tonight at 10:00PM at Le Bain, 444 W. 13th St. NY, NY.
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There’s a benevolent sense of passion on Canadian musician Dan Snaith’s latest LP under the Caribou moniker, Our Love. This isn’t just because of the record’s self-evident title, either—it’s a record filled with the the kind of warm, effervescent, and excellently crafted electronic music that seems all too vacant in most big-stage IDM fantasias happening lately. Released last month, Our Love weaves together disparate voices both sampled and recorded into a synth-laden fabric that is just as comfortable in a live, dance-oriented environment as it is serving as relaxed (albeit infectious) background music. Snaith, who also records under his more dance-oriented Daphni alias, brings all of the ebullient parts of a relationship—be it romantic, platonic, familial—to the forefront and compresses them into perfect, dazzling dance gems.

Luckily for us, Caribou is bringing his live show to New York’s Webster Hall tonight with support from Canadian musician Jessy Lanza. Lanza, who also features on Our Love on standout “Second Chance,” is the perfect accompaniment for Caribou, with a buoyant, gorgeous voice set to lush backdrops of dance-ready synths. With her excellent debut Pull My Hair Back from last year still sounding fresher than ever as 2014 winds down to a close, we can’t wait to hear what she’s planning next. Webster Hall can sometimes be a complete shit show, but there’s no question that tonight’s going to be one of their better nights.

Caribou and Jessy Lanza perform tonight at 8:00PM at Webster Hall.

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As luck would have it, Halloween falls on a Friday this year. In other words, all of New York is about to turn into a crazed, liquor-drenched nightmare in the best and worst ways possible. There’s the grandiose annual Village Halloween Parade that starts at 7 P.M., alongside a laundry list of other events happening all across the city tonight and tomorrow, all of which is to say you have absolutely no excuse not to get the most mileage out of your trendy and/or slutty costume and put everyone else’s to shame. Even if this day used to mean nothing more than a pillowcase full of candy and reruns of Halloweentown on Disney Channel, we all know once you get older it usually just winds up being an opportunity to get too drunk and hook up with that one hottie in the UPS guy costume (no? just me?).

Anyway, since there’s a lot to get to this weekend (don’t forget to check this week’s GAYLETTER for our top picks), we put together a new, spooky playlist of 10 songs to get you in a proper mood for the macabre. We’ve merged dark electronic and dance music with low-key sinister vibes for our mix this time around, which includes the likes of Cakes Da Killa, Future Brown, XXYYXX, Mr Twin Sister, and many more. So go ahead and hit play, climb into that costume, and start getting scary. We’ll be expecting photos.

Listen if you like: séances, slasher movies, Patrón, the devil, having sex in costumes. …

The CMJ music festival has a pretty horrible reputation here in New York. With its vow that anyone with even a semblance of a band gets a spot in the lineup, this type of festival tends to attract the dregs of the music world, not to mention the fest’s extremely chaotic schedule. Hell, this year even suffered a fucking Ebola setback. Nevertheless, last week’s CMJ did manage to see its fair share of interesting events; namely, Homoground’s official showcase, which took place last Thursday night at Brooklyn venue Friends and Lovers.

Homoground is a project dedicated to promoting visibility for queer people through music and art, providing quality podcasts of new music, weekly mix tapes, a video channel, and events like last week’s eclectic CMJ showcase. Billed as CMJ’s only all-queer lineup, Homoground’s showcase included an array of different music styles, from the piano and acoustic-guitar driven music of Brett Gleason to the grunge rock of Brooklyn duo Clinical Trials, who had their very own blow-up doll on stage with them. Despite a small turn-out, the show’s buffet of different styles and Homoground’s overall support still proved a breath of fresh air amidst CMJ’s usually ridiculous hustle. Tucked away in Friends and Lovers’ dark, smoky back room, the event had an intimate appeal that ended with the spotlight on electro groups Glitterlust and Bottoms, who took that intimacy to another level once the former’s lead singer made his way through the audience grabbing guys during their synthy songs. …

For awhile, Venezuelan producer Alejandro Ghersi, aka Arca, was something of an enigma. Crafting pitch-shifted, fractured beats for the likes of Kanye West and FKA twigs, Ghersi shielded himself behind a convenient veil of mystery that left much to the imagination — until now. In an inspiring new interview with the Fader, Ghersi has opened up about everything from co-producing Björk‘s new record to his own coming out story, the latter of which he describes as igniting an “artistic breakthrough” that led to the Arca moniker. “It was about different voices that came from completely different parts of my mind or my heart, shouting at each other in this crowded room. Kind of settling into your body sexually,” Ghersi told the Fader. “It was a lot about flexibility and elasticity, things wrapping around themselves in a very charged way.” That description is an apt one for Ghersi’s upcoming debut album, Xen, which takes its name from a “sassy, confident” fictional alter ego of himself.

For the first single from Xen, “Thievery,” Ghersi enlisted his partner in crime, visual artist Jesse Kanda, to direct a totally bizarre, creepy, and indelible new music video. Focusing solely on a nude digital dancer (which, let’s be real, looks like an alien who invaded earth, saw the video for “Anaconda”, and stole Nicki Minaj‘s ass), the video serves as the perfect accompaniment to Ghersi’s hypnagogic, mind-bending production. November can’t come soon enough. …

It’s become something of an obligation for the stars of RuPaul’s Drag Race to make a name for themselves in the music world once the cameras stop rolling. Fan favorites like Manila Luzon and Bianca Del Rio both appeared in recent vids, while Adore Delano, Jinkx Monsoon, and Alaska Thunderfuck have each released their own respective singles and albums — hell, even the patron saint of Drag Race Latrice Royale put on a performance with Jennifer Hudson at the Fashion Rocks event just last week. So it comes as no surprise to see Season 3 winner Raja turning it all the way out in “Shock and Awe“, the latest single from married electronic duo Purple Crush featuring both Raja and Josh Peace on vocals.

Set to a grinding guitar and stomping beat, the video for the Iconoclassic single is styled by Raja herself, who lends a typically fashion-forward look to the monochromatic clip. Filled with checkers, chunky platform sneakers, and some excellent, Leigh Bowery-esque face makeup, the video is worth watching for the gorgeous Drag Race alum alone (although there is a pretty great air guitar sequence, too).

Watch the clip for “Shock and Awe” below:

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