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TRACK RECORD

Forget The Grammys, Here’s Seven Queer Musicians You Should Be Listening To

By John Russell February 8, 2013 at 11:56am · Updated on January 2, 2024
grammys Sunday is Grammys time, people. You’ve seen the nominations and, if you’re anything like me, you’re probably bemused, possibly dismayed, and maybe even a little bit baffled. Like, can “Call Me Maybe” and “We Are Young” really be the best songs of 2012? Does Taylor Swift really deserve another Grammy? And who the hell are Mumford & Sons? I’m thrilled that Fiona Apple, M83, Gotye and Björk are all up for Best Alternative Music Album—and that Frank Ocean seems poised to take home a shitload of trophies—but I can’t help but feel, that once again, that there are many artists who deserve recognition that they’ll probably never get from the Academy. Click through for my line-up of queer acts that the Grammy judges probably never heard of.  
Patrick Wolf Despite all my best efforts, Patrick Wolf is still criminally underappreciated in the U.S. It’s hard to imagine how Katy Perry has been nominated for seven Grammys when this innovative British artist goes unsung. Wolf’s latest double album, Sundark and Riverlight, finds the out singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist revisiting his back catalog in celebration of a decade recording music.(Not bad for a 29-year-old.) The acoustic reinterpretations of songs like “Overture” do more than rehash the past, they reinvent it—allowing the songs to grow, like Wolf himself, into newer, more mature versions of themselves.  
Gay rappers are certainly having their moment, and while it may be too early to throw trophies their way, these pioneering artists definitely deserve recognition for busting through hip hop’s glass closet. Zebra Katz  (above) leads the pack—in my book at least—with his simmering, insidiously infectious “Ima Read,” featuring Njena Redd Foxx. The track heralds a new brand of dark, lo-fi hip hop. Meanwhile, you couldn’t read a music blog this year without encountering Le1f or Mykki Blanco (below). Le1f, “Wut”   Mykki Blanco, “Wavvy”  
Trust Another should-be Best Album contender, TRST, is the debut release from Toronto’s Trust. Vocalist Robert Alfons and dyke drummer Maya Postepski are giving dance music a dark twist with murky tracks like “Shoom” and “Bulbform,” and glossier productions like “Sulk” and the frenetic “Dressed for Space.” It’s an album of hypnotic soundscapes, with Alfons’ voice like a needle that just barely pierces the glitter and gloom.  
Justin Vivian Bond On Bond’s crowd-funded album, Silver Wells, the world-class cabaret singer sets aside the blistering wit for a more intimate and sincere set of songs. Bond tackles Kate Bush, Leonard Cohen, Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman—plus the original track “Stars”—on this inspired release.

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis

Okay, technically Macklemore and Ryan Lewis aren’t gay, but “Same Love,” their single-with-a-message, has become a marriage-equality anthem and they’ve embraced—and been embraced by—the queer community like few acts before. “Thrift Shop” might be the track that’s burning up the charts, but these two straight guys deserve major props for going out on a limb with a sweet, socially conscious song.

 

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9 Comments*

  • burning ship

    Kele Kele Kele Kele

    Bloc Party has a new album out this is a criminal omission

  • rdysetdisco

    Second Bloc Party…and Dane Terry is pretty amazing. unsigned neo-vaudevillian, queer cabaret performer with spooky, science fiction waltzes from Columbus, OH. (http://daneterry.bandcamp.com/)

  • Fidelio

    Wolf just seems to be missing better production quality. Katz seems the most promising of the group, but too vulgar for my taste. Macklemore and Ray Lewis is the best of the bunch here, but they’re a bit more seasoned and another level, so apples and oranges. Always great to hear budding artists. Thanks for the recommendations, Queerty!

  • JH

    Wolf’s instrumentation is gorgeous, but I do not enjoy the sound of his voice at all. I could barely listen to a minute of his vocals. I can’t imagine how torturous a double album would be.

  • mattsy

    my 9 year old niece turned me on to SAME LOVE-the best song & video in a long time. i cried!!

  • Rockery

    Macklemore is not queer, he is a straight ally (as you mentioned) so why put him under this category?

    I love Thrift Shop

    I have never heard of the rest, I have to check them out

  • matthampshire

    Patrick Wolf would have to go a long way to catch up with another queer UK artist – DAVID SIMNEL (and his Pimpernels). Simnel is a multi-instrumentalist, who plays piano, guitar, mandolin, accordion, vibes, marimbas, dulcimer, bass, drums, cello, trombone and lord knows what else. The difference is he really can sing too, and writes the most brilliant songs. Vocally, he’s like Scott Walker and Billy MacKenzie, with a warmth of Boy George and the power of Shirley Bassey! He releases all his own stuff these days after being, dropped by two labels, due to his openly gay stance and support of gay rights, they just didn’t see it as a commercial prospect!! He covers everything from electro to pop, but his jazz/torch numbers are outstanding. It’s criminal that he is such an overlooked/undiscovered artist. Just see for yourselves.

    http://davidsimnelandthepimpernels.bandcamp.com/track/im-losing-you

  • boring

    Sorry, gonna stick to my Residents/Butthole Surfers for gay musician awesomeness.

  • tosher

    BIG DIPPER. How in the world did you not add Big Dipper to this list?

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