Interviewing Junkie XL

Holland's Junkie XL (Tom Holkenborg) returns to his own beginnings with the moody, acoustic guitar-based production on Today. In this exclusive interview he divulges some of the little known secrets behind his boundless musical resume, then confesses how his return to the guitar was a conscious attempt to recapture his pubertal days in bands like Weekend at Waikiki. He also chats about working with vocalist Nathan Mader, his recent move to LA and how working with the Cure's Robert Smith fulfilled one of his teenage dreams.
--Jeremy Stanifer

Interviewing Ani DiFranco

With Reprieve, activist songwriter Ani DiFranco framed a musical portrait of American politics in 2006. In our exclusive interview, she rants about how she nearly lost the album's master recordings to Hurricane Katrina, reveals her thoughts on the present state of gay rights, feminism and speaks about the women singers that keep her inspired. She also talks about her return to the stage, and the joy of working with bassist Todd Sickafoose.
--Jeremy Stanifer

Interviewing Strange Fruit Project

Just after the release of The Healing, we catch up with Waco, Texas, hip-hop trio Strange Fruit Project to discuss their third album, working with Erykah Badu, and how the three emcees' desperation for a hometown hip-hop scene inspired them to jump-start a movement of their own. The chuckle-filled conversation turns a little harrowing when they recount the story of of Mortimer, a mostly-blind cab driver from Virginia who nearly ends their young careers for a basic nature call.
--Jeremy Stanifer

Interviewing Kaskade

Kaskade's Ryan Raddon isn't as excited as you'd expect about being one of the world's most famous house producers-cum-DJs. Or so he says. But when we began talking about the fans and the dance clubs everything changed -- the conversation turned to rhinestones, hair color and painted fingernails. The San Francisco native speaks out about his frustration with the dance music industry, his messy history, and his many collaborators who help keep his bottomless grooves fresh and innovative.
- Jeremy Stanifer

Interview with DJ Shadow

Forget Entroducing. DJ Shadow isn't interested in nostalgia, or his many ex-personalities. Catching up with the Bay Area hip-hop producer, we discuss the concepts behind The Outsider, with the conversation leading to the streets of Oakland, Calif., where hyphy gets a bad rap from the evening news while the boulevards ooze with the music's urban backbeat. We talk a little about his past, touching briefly on U.N.K.L.E. and working with Thom Yorke. He even gets political.
- Jeremy Stanifer

Interviewing Migs

DJ/producer Miguel Migs has been at the forefront of San Francisco's soulful electronic music scene since the late '90s. He has mastered the art of artist albums, mix CDs and shuffled remixes for the likes of Macy Gray, Lionel Richie and Britney Spears and his music has been featured on Sex in the City, Six Feet Under and The Real World. Migs chats about how his days as a surfing, Santa Cruz-born Rasta shaped his artistic vision, to his time in the reggae band Zion Sounds to the elaborate makeup of his present-day studio. We even get the low down on his '67 Chrysler Newport convertible.

Interviewing Dennis Dragon from the Ledgendary Group The Dragons

The Dragon brothers--Dennis, Daryl and Doug--took off from touring with the Beach Boys in 1969 and pulled drug-free all-nighters recording their premier album BFI--only to have it rejected by record labels and scrapped when Daryl stepped into the limelight as the Captain in the Captain and Tennille. Now, 37 years later, the album has been rediscovered by psychedelic aficionados and at last released to an outpouring of inquiries about the group's history and a possible future. In this exclusive first-ever interview as part of the Dragons, we grilled Dennis Dragon about his siblings, the Beach Boys and what it was like to catch a wave in the '60s.
- Jeremy Stanifer

Interview with Thievery Corporation's Rob Garza

Following our interview in 2006 with Thievery Corporation's Eric Hilton, I recently sat down for an exclusive one-on-one with the other half of Thievery, Rob Garza, to talk about the duo's separate roles in songwriting, instrumentation and DJ sets. You'll be surprised to find out who does what! Garza also unloads about politics, Noam Chomsky and conspiracy theory before the conversation leads to the future of TC, and what this iconic artist's plans are with his newborn cyber-punk side-show, Dust Galaxy.
--Jeremy Stanifer

Interviewing Blockhead

Blockhead isn't that brooding, dark entity that fans find in his music, as we find out in this exclusive, at-times hilarious conversation with the indie hip-hop producer. In fact, he confesses that Uncle Tony's Coloring Book is a deliberate step back from the melancholy of his first two solo releases and more of what we find on his collaborations with MC Aesop Rock. He does get serious for a moment when the conversation turns to the crime of sampling debate in hip-hop, but only until he gets back to talking about his dream of working with the Ghetto Boys' Willy D and our mutual love for classic soul.
--Jeremy Stanifer

50 Gayest Songs of All Time

At just under four hours in length, this playlist pays homage to 50 of the gayest pop songs of all time. Some of the more obvious (or glamorous) queer anthems--like "Dancing Queen," "I Will Survive," "It's Raining Men," and Grace Jones' "I Need a Man"--are thoughtfully butted against some of the less obvious, like Kenny Loggins' "Playing With the Boys," from the Top Gun soundtrack, or the Pet Shop Boys' queer makeover of the Willie Nelson classic "Always On My Mind." It even includes a Rolling Stones tune from Mick Jagger/The Stones' bi-sexual/disco era, Judas Priest's creapy "Turbo Lover," and Pete Townshend's coming out confessional, "Rough Boys." I'd be self-employed if I were given a dollar for every time I've seen "Total Eclipse of the Sun" re-interpreted in drag.

The list, in the order of the playlist (no by-rank order, just a goovy one):

Knowing Me, Knowing You - ABBA
I Want To Break Free - Queen
You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real) - Sylvester
I Need A Man - Grace Jones
In The Navy - Village People
Bite Your Lip (Get Up And Dance) - Elton John
I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor
So Many Men, So Little Time - Miquel Brown
Tainted Love - Soft Cell
I'm Coming Out - Diana Ross
Xanadu - Olivia Newton-John
I Am What I Am (ReMastered) - Gloria Gaynor
Dancing Queen - ABBA
It's Raining Men - The Weather Girls
We Are Family - Sister Sledge
Do You Really Want To Hurt Me - Culture Club
Searching (I Got To Find A Man) - Hazel Dean
Macho Man - Village People
Filthy/Gorgeous - Scissor Sisters
Heart of Glass - Blondie
Love Shack - The B-52's
A Little Respect - Erasure
Shiny Happy People - R.E.M.
When He Comes Home - Pansy Division
Rough Boys - Pete Townshend
Where The Boys Go - The Rolling Stones
Michael - Franz Ferdinand
Good Old Fashioned Lover Boy - Queen
Express Yourself - Madonna
Take A Chance On Me - ABBA
Always On My Mind - Pet Shop Boys
Y.M.C.A. - Village People
Last Dance - Donna Summer
Don't Go - Yaz
Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go - Wham!
Turbo Lover - Judas Priest
Cowboys And Angels - George Michael
Leather And Lace - Stevie Nicks
Supermodel (You Better Work) - RuPaul
True Colors - Cyndi Lauper
Gay Bar - Electric Six
If I Could Turn Back Time - Cher
I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me) - Whitney Houston
Playing With the Boys - Kenny Loggins
Live To Tell - Madonna
Total Eclipse Of The Heart - Bonnie Tyler
Between My Legs - Rufus Wainwright
Rainbow Connection - Kenny Loggins
Bosom Buddies - Lucille Ball
Over The Rainbow - Judy Garland