Meet Cherie Lily, the fantabulous faux-queen-meets-dance-instructor wife of modern rock icon Andrew WK. Oh yes, we love this gurl here at Menergy! Her latest single "WERK" is quickly becoming anthem and it's not hard to hear why - it's a modern call to arms for dancers and drag queens to VOGUE THE FUCK OUT!
"Icon" "Give Me Face" "It's Ovah" "Tens Across The Board" OH YES.
Cherie has put together a video featuring lots of voguing routines and some future legend and nightworld faces from New York City. Check it out and GET YR WERK ON QUEENS:
We've got an exclusive interview with Ms Lily in the pipeline, but for more info check out her website, and you can buy "Werk" and its remixes here.
Critical reaction to Sam Sparro's recent single has been mixed, but I like it. In fact, fuck it, I think he's a great artist. "Black and Gold" is awesome modern synth-pop, and his new direction positively SCREAMS bitch house! He even has some voguing in the Pink Cloud video:
Sam is offering up the Pink Cloud EP for free to his fans if you subscribe to the mailing list (icon thingy below - just click on it). It's worth it, cos not only do you get the gorgeous retro 90's house track above, but you get three remixes AND THIS BELTER:
This is very near the top of my DJ charts right now - an excellent mix of retro house and modern dubby beats. Sweet! Get clickin...
SILVERCLUB Fine Print LCD SOUNDSYSTEM I Can Change TIGA Shoes ARMAND VAN HELDEN Witchdoktor SHITROBOT I Found Love (Edit) DIRTY DISCO YOUTH Minds Off (Tommii Sunshine & Figure Mix) STEVE POINDEXTER Work That Motherfucker (Chuck Hampton Edit) RÓISÍN MURPHY Momma's Place EURHYTHMICS Love Is A Stranger (Coldcut Mix) HARD TON Losers THE COUNTACH Melvin Made Me Do It (Clouded Vision RMX) CE CE PENISTON Finally (Jemex Remix) SAUVAGE Release The Fashion THE NIALLIST ft PRINCESS and BEN BUTLER & MOUSEPAD I'm Avoiding You MGMT Congratulations
Just to get y'all in the mood for the upcoming Manchester VOGUE BRAWL, here's a sneaky free download of House Machine's "Vogue Dramatics" remix of Willow Smith's "Whip My Hair". This is BITCH HOUSE and you dramatic queens out there BETTER WURK IT!!
IT'S ON! This January we're bringing VOGUE to Manchester, as a co-pro between Menergy and the House of Growler. There will be a bunch of people heading down from Glasgow to paint the village red, and some superstars of the Manchester drag scene shall be in attendance! Music comes from Menergy and Pumping Iron and there will be a burlesque bar out the front. So make a date for Saturday January 29th at the legendary venue Legends and BRING IT!
Cos there's this kerrazy new dance style coming out of NY, see?
Seriously though, this was one of the first records I ever bought, I got the 7" when I was about 9 years old. Sadly it got left out in the sun and melted, but it's still an awesome track! This extended mix is by William Orbit and Mark Moore of S'Express, fact fans.
The final reportage on the Fierce Ruling Divas Ball is in, and this time it is more fashion focused than the previous coverage, coming as it does from Glasgow's two top style blogs, Les Garcons De Glasgow and Style Scanner. Both happen to be in black and white, giving them that extra classy touch. Thanks guys!
And now for some more voguing classics - consider this stuff "Vogue Music - New Way".
MASTERS AT WORK The Ha Dance
KENLOU The Bounce
STEVE POINDEXTER Work That Motherfucker
ROBIN S Show Me Love
yes, it's cheesy but it has to be done: MADONNA Vogue
And even though he'll hate us for saying this, this is TOTALLY going on the list. This is a produtcion by none other than Daniel Wang, and it's fucking fierce:
CHROMA OSCURA Glow Worms
Oh, and I left "Deep In Vogue" by Malcolm McLaren & The Bootzilla Orchestra (William Orbit & Mark Moore Banjee Realness Mix) off this list because I posted about it below, but THAT is the ultimate vogue house track.
Probably the most famous voguing house in the world is the House of Ninja, formed by the legendary Willi Ninja back (I'm guessing here) in the early 80's or late 70s. Even though drag balls already existed, as did the dance, Willi Ninja is regarded as the godfather of voguing, and is featured heavily in both the Paris Is Burning film and the "Deep In Vogue" video by Malcolm McLaren. In anticipation of our own Fierce Ruling Divas Ball on Saturday, here's a selection of some of the best moves by the house, that can also serve as a kind of introduction to how voguing (and "houses") work.
First here's "Overall Mother" Willi Ninja in Paris Is Burning. This is the perfect introduction to this dance style:
And here is the "Deep In Vogue" video, though I have to say, the quality of this upload sucks, and the extended 9 minute mix is much better (with more dancing in the video). Still, it's worth a watch as it's some of the best voguing on film, IMO:
Here's another clip of Willi doing his thing in a club, and the catwalk/fashion connections are more clear here (as are the clubby origins of the dance):
Unfortunately Willi died in 2006. Thankfully, the house is still going strong - here they are in a group performance, and this clip also gives some insight into the voguing scene and its participants.
There are three main types of voguing, "new way", "old way" and "femme". Here is Aus Ninja demonstrating old way vogue, the classic style as seen in the late 80's videos:
In a nutshell, new way is more athletic and faster, and came to prominence after 1990. Here is rising star Javier Ninja showing some new way moves:
The third type of voguing is "femme" and has to do with extreme posing (in a very feminine style), coupled with some more acrobatic moves. Here is a clip of Danielle Ninja at the House of Mizrahi's 2006 Willi Ninja-tribute Latex Ball. (Note the signature vogue "dip" move where the dancer falls on to her back but with her leg tucked up under her bum):
Voguing is also closely related to "waacking", in which hand and arm movements are the focus. Here is Javier Ninja again with an amazing performance from the same House of Mizrahi's Latex Ball. Note how the MC Selvin Mizrahi is left speechless - THAT is how you dig status:
Perhaps the most famous current memnber of the House of Ninja is Benny Ninja, after his appearnace on America's Next Top Model teaching the contestants how to pose. This clip makes explicit the links between voguing and modelling, and the dance and fashion scenes. Benny appears around three and a half minutes in (so skip to that if you're not interested in some serious mega-bitchery).
Benny was given the title of Father of the House of Ninja by Willi himself before he died. And as the saying goes, "boys learn, men teach". Here's Benny giving a demo at a workshop in Paris:
And here's one of my favourite clips of all - House of Ninja performing at a party thrown by the SoBe drinks company, with Benny Ninja dressed in a giant lizard outfit (after the company's logo). With him are Javier and (I think) Aus, and they work to Madonna's "Vogue". What starts off looking like just some people messing around soon turns into an incredible routine:
So, hopefully this will teach all you budding children what you need to know for Saturday - doors open at 9pm (fashion show at 10pm) and the voguing/drag ball takes place at midnight. So come down, look fierce, throw shade and BRING IT!
I know nothing about Timaya except that she is FIERCE! I discovered these vids last night randomly on Youtube and now I'm hooked. The music is like a more way-out-the-closet version of Cajmere or something. With a minimalist, Afro-centric feel. You can buy the music on iTunes, the artist name is Qaadir Howard.
This is the first video I found, after searching the term "throwing shade".
