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🎧 : albums, podcasts & songs
2020 is the year of disco/dance bops. The clubs may be closed, but dancing around the house is at an all-time high. Kylie Minogue's Disco continues the Studio 54 vibes of 2020, not to mention reminding me to take a deep dive into Minogue's extensive music catalogue. The 'Can't Get You Out of My Head' mix from the Kiss Me Once Tour is on repeat, your welcome. My fave girl band Little Mix released their sixth album Confetti which rivals their hit album Glory Days. With Sweet Melody, Holiday and Gloves Up, it's one of those albums where you never need to skip. To wind down Love Goes by Sam Smith gives you classic moody Smith peppered with dance bops to remind you that not all is doom and gloom. I'm late to the party but Rina Sawayama... where have I been? XS and LUCID.
I got on the Podcast bandwagon a little over a year ago. It's gotten to the stage where I can have a full day's worth of shows to listen to I had to cull a few. My current favourites are podcasts that make me laugh, because what else should you be doing in COVID? My top three podcasts are Sibling Rivalry by Bob the Drag Queen and Monet Xchange, Rice to Meet You by Nigel Ng & Evelyn Mok and Shagged Married Annoyed by Chris & Rosie Ramsey.
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: audiobooks & booksI have read a lot of books this year. I thought I read a lot last year... it does not compare to the over 100 books I have read in 2020. As the year is winding down I am becoming pickier with my choices, author choices and reviews come into play. I've got a Goodreads account to track everything just in case. Mama's Boy by Dustin Lance Black chronicles Black's early life and career. If you're a fan of the film Milk, Gay Civil Rights and a real Rags to Success story, this is for you. When you look up lists on must-read Gay interest books The Velvet Rage by Alan Downs is right up there. I didn't think too much about what would be in it, so when I broke in my copy I was surprised to realise it was more of an exploration of the psychology of coming to terms of being Gay and how we deal with it. (This was before I used my Goodreads account properly) An interesting read, rather insightful. A Boy's Own Story by Edmund White is another one of those books which hit those must-read lists. I think the perspective of having Gay literature published at the time helps to earmark that we as Gay people have existed longer than people like to believe. An easy read, nothing amazing in my eyes but I see it as a pilgrimage book of sorts.
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: movies & televisionI would consider myself a Fashion Film buff. I may have slacked off in the recent years but I made up in style. Unzipped follows designer Issac Mizrahi's Fall 1994 collection with supermodels, runway and the behind the scenes of it all. Halston looks at the designer Roy Halston's rise in American Fashion. I've never really known much about Halston, but this movie covers it all. Diana Vreeland: The Eye has to Travel is a homage to iconic Fashion Editor and Museum Curator Diana Vreeland. Full of anecdotes and photos this film is for those fashion historians who love the stories behind the images and careers.
One can't just survive on just Fashion Films, so peppered throughout were random movies that took my fancy. From the Moon Goddess in Over the Moon, love lost in Papi Chulo, Wartime in South Africa with Moffie, a bit of Whoopi because we all need a bit of Whoopi Goldberg in Corina Corina and the cinematic gem that is In the Mood for Love. Variety at it's best.
TV has hit a bit of a back seat. Having consumed way too many shows in the first part of the lockdown, I am enjoying short miniseries' to keep my occupied. Life of teens in a Military Base in Italy in We are Who We Are, A recovering addict comedian navigating life with her new girlfriend in Feel Good and it wouldn't be TV without some kind of Drag Race programming, this time it's Holland's Drag Race.