[rating=5]
US: 13.50 min • Independent • 1947

The first film from Kenneth Anger, Fireworks remains essential viewing, and a key document in queer cinema.

“A group of sailors gang up on him, wielding chains. In glee, they strip him, brutalize him, and then begin ripping out his organs, finally dousing him with a white, milky substance.”

[rating=4]
Released September 6, 2013
The thirteenth and final studio album from giants Ministry returns to a distortion and sample soaked hard industrial metal.

“With its buried melodic undertones, ‘Lesson Unlearned’ should have been the lead single from the album; a track like this would have given people a strong and strange taste of the final Ministry record.”

[rating=5]
Released April 5, 2013
As Is, from The Sulkies, is truly a treat, mixing incendiary queer politics with a raw, primitive industrial sound.

“The Sulkies’ debut album is a masterpiece; a noisy, punk-influenced manifesto raising the middle finger to homophobes, sexists, and anybody who stands in the way of the individual. “

[rating=4]
Released August 30, 2013
Hesitation Marks, the ninth studio album from the resurrected Nine Inch Nails, is a bold step forward for Trent Reznor.

“Trent Reznor is no longer the angry young man who created the violent masterpieces of Broken and The Downward Spiral, he’s a middle-aged musician who has lived through hell and back and is trying to find his voice again. “

[rating=4]
Released April 28, 1980
With Flush the Fashion, Alice Cooper reinvented himself and his music, embracing a punk and electronic edge.

“The use of electronic sounds is being used to explore the themes of duplicating people, the dangers of emerging technology for society. This hidden dark edge is pure Alice and while the public may have been thrown off by the slick sound of this single, the blackness was still there.”

[rating=4]
Cert: 18 • US: 94 min • TLA Releasing • April 28, 2006

Another Gay Movie, because sometimes queer audiences need a break to have a good laugh.

“What’s the moral of the story? Andy puts it bluntly, “Real men take it up the ass” as they toast to the coming sequel, breaking the fourth wall.”

[rating=5]
Released November 15, 1988
The Trinity Session, the Cowboy Junkies’ second album, launched the band into the mainstream and ushered in the alternative country movement.

“The sound was raw, according to the band, no mixing, no editing, no overdubbing was used, what you hear is what you get. In single takes and in a few short days, they created one of the iconic albums of a new alt sound.”

There’s More To Politics Than Looks.

Is life easier if you can “pass” for straight. And if you do, does that mean you don’t know really know what discrimination feels like? Emphatically not, argues Walter Beck.

“We started to shun and shame our brothers and sisters who didn’t fit that mold. Our Pride Colors, instead of showing the bright diversity of our community, began to turn into merely shades of gray.”

[rating=5]
Released November 27, 1957
A classic from the first wave of rock ‘n’ roll, The “Chirping” Crickets by Buddy Holly & The Crickets defines an era.

“Outside a couple of weaker ballads, this album stands strong on every track. Rock ‘n’ roll was in its infancy when the band cut this record and even by 1957, Holly and the band had abandoned their country roots completely and fully embraced this new sound.”

[rating=4]
US: 20:10 min • Bootleg • 1993

A transgressive, violent accompaniment to NIN’s Broken EP, The Broken Film is perhaps the most intense twenty minutes ever laid to film.

“An accompaniment to NIN’s Broken EP, the film became notorious for its rumored extreme and violent content; supposedly Trent Reznor’s label wouldn’t release it due to its transgressive nature.”