Aural Fixation

There's only one cosmic shift in the stratos-fierce that could bring Aural Fixation back for one episode only: The return of Madonna at her very best. Drew and Andy were determined to Get Together on the mic to discuss the triumphant Confessions II, a comeback twenty years in the making. Email us your thoughts at auralfixationpodcast@gmail.com, and follow the boys at @with.all.drew.respect and...

Hi friends, Andy here – née Aural Fixation, currently wittering away on Tracks of Our Queers. In case you're still not subscribed to the Tracks of Our Queers feed, I'm sharing one of my favourite recent episodes right here. Margaret Cho requires zero introduction. She is nothing less than a living, breathing queero, and it was an honour to chat to her about the music that has soundtracke...

Andy here – as I'm putting the finishing touches on Tracks of Our Queers ' second season, I thought I'd share some previews from my favourite episodes so far. Here's the first 10 minutes of my conversation with Bonzai Bonner, a DJ, nightlife promoter and activist based in Glasgow. You can find and subscribe to Tracks of Our Queers wherever you get your podcasts.

Andy here – as I'm putting the finishing touches on Tracks of Our Queers ' second season, I thought I'd share some previews from my favourite episodes so far. Here's the first 15 minutes of my conversation with Jonny Seymour, a producer, activist, and community elder based in Sydney. You can find and subscribe to Tracks of Our Queers wherever you getyour podcasts.

Andy here – as I'm putting the finishing touches on Tracks of Our Queers ' second season, I thought I'd share some previews from my favourite episodes so far. Here's the first 15 minutes of my debut episode, with Abdi Nazemian , an Iranian-American author, screenwriter and producer based in Los Angeles.  You can find and subscribe to Tracks of Our Queers wherever you get your p...

A note from Andy... Hello!  Tracks of Our Queers is my new podcast, in which I interview a fascinating person on the music that has soundtracked their queer journey through one song, one album, and one artist. Tracks of Our Queers is available to listen to right now, wherever you find your podcasts. Head on over to subscribe – I cannot wait for you to hear the tales my guests have lived to tell.

The boys are back from their UK adventures and ready for Mardi Gras weekend in Sydney, shooting the shit on Shrove Tuesday, corporate queers and biodegradable glitter. We also aboard a round-the-world Pride tour from Cardiff and Manchester to Quito and Orlando, soundtracked by Andy and Drew’s favourite Mardi Gras musical classics. Visit our online home at auralfixationpodcast.com, follow us on Ins...

We're coming up so you better get this party started! Aural Fixation's eighth cycle wraps up with a good old fashioned Drew and Andy romp, and this time, it's Missundaztood by the one and only P!nk.   Some of the queer topics we cover around and amongst Alecia Moore's iconic sophomore outing include Shirley Bassey's Marks & Spencer adverts, "Get the Party Started&...

It's New Queer's Eve and we're wrapping up an oddity of a year by delving into the magic and mayhem of Pete Burns, frontman of Dead or Alive and bonafide pio-queer. No one knows Pete better than our old friend and host of various incredible podcasts ( The Record Doctor, This Is Disco and the brand new You Can't Mistake Their Anthology to name three), Adem Eve. Adem takes us thr...

On May 31 1998, Geri Halliwell shook the globe by announcing that she was leaving the Spice Girls, effective immediately. Caught in the tumult of one of the biggest scandals in pop history, Geri she did what any gay icon would – she packed a bag and headed straight for George Michael's gaff. It was there that she decided what the hell she was going to do next. The result was Schizophonic. Lau...

How are you? What's your take on Cassavettes? Who took the bomp from the bomp-a-lomp-a-lomp? And who the HELL took the ram from the rama-lama-ding-dong? All these questions and more are answered in this ep dedicated to dancepunk trio Le Tigre. We tackle the band's debut self-titled album, the brainchild of Kathleen Hanna, Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning, which sits at the precipice of...

Judy Garland's concert appearance at New York's Carnegie Hall is often described as the greatest night in show business history. After ongoing battles with a variety of substances for most of the 1950s, many had come to judge Judy. Her 1961 return to the stage, however, was a roaring success devoured by a crowd made up almost entirely of screaming queens. Discussion on the original gay i...

What do the forces of Nicki Minaj, Ronan Keating, and those who imprint queerness on successful figures in pop culture all have in common? They all want a piece of Tracy Chapman, ladies, and count us in.  One of the best-selling albums of all time by anyone, anywhere, 1988's Tracy Chapman took the singer-songwriter traditions of the 70s and brought them into a new musical landscape and sparki...

The boys are joined by artist, photographer, DJ, and Andy's mate from uni, Matthew Arthur Williams, to discuss the legendary Joni Mitchell and her 1975 album, The Hissing of Summer Lawns . An unrivalled figure in pop culture, Joni loves the queers and the queers love Joni but her icon status isn't as obvious or surface level as most of our usual Aural Fixation subjects. Matthew takes us...

Christina Aguilera's masterpiece Stripped has been cited as inspiration by countless pop sensations including Rihanna, Demi Lovato, Miley Cyrus and Ariana Grande. From self love, to feminism, to sex positivity, the music gave gals, gays and theys permission to roar when it hit the shelves in 2002. Nearly two decades later, Stripped still gets our temperatures up. What better way to kick off o...

After over seventy episodes and several many bottles of chilled Semillon (send me home), we've reached our Cycle 7 finale! As is tradition (of which there are many!) this ep sees us tackling a subject that's a little... left of the usual format. Second only to Madonna (welcome to her fempire), RuPaul's Drag Race is the cultural touchstone of Aural Fixation. We're hard-pressed t...

We're in for a treat this fortnight with our first of two very special Drag Race episodes. First up, superstar of RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under, Maxi Shield, regales us with her long and very personal history with... Madonna.   Yes, we know, every Aural Fixation episode is essentially about Madonna, but this topic was Maxi's choice and for good reason. Our album of focus is the inco...

April 2020 was a rough time to release new music, but that didn't stop Rina Sawayama from having one of the strongest pop albums of last year. The eponymous Sawayama was an eclectic mash-up of Y2K nostalgia, paying homage to early 2000's manufactured pop, nu-metal and R&B. The album went on to feature on several best of lists, and Sawayama herself made history after criticising major...

A mere 18 years old and mother of a three week old baby when her debut album, The Lion and the Cobra , was released, Sinéad O’Connor shot to stratospheric success off of her haunting vocals, powerful songwriting and give-no-fucks visuals. In this episode, we use Sinéad's blistering debut as a starting point for an exploration of her distilled queerness, her massive appeal to queer listeners,...

When it comes to sweeping romance, earnest lyrics and – let's face it, songs that last six minutes MINIMUM – there really is no topping Ms. Céline Marie Claudette Dion. From humble beginnings in Charlemagne, Quebec (which is queer) to becoming the best-selling Canadian recording artist in history, Queen Céline has dominated the music industry for over three decades. In 1996, her star was in f...

This fortnight, we're joined by Jared Richards,  a cultural critic living on Gadigal land, and writer for NME , The Guardian , The Big Issue , Sissy Screens and more. Last year, Jared wrote a beautiful article on the evolution of Sufjan Stevens that caught our queer eye, so we welcomed him into the studio (pre-second Sydney lockdown) to unpack the mystery and intrigue surrounding a long-await...

It's a Bad Queers double dip as we welcome on Kris Chesson, the podcasting partner of Shana Sumers from our Beyonce episode , to explore why her queer icon is... Drake. Just hold on, we're going homo. In this episode we use Drake's 2011 album Take Care to centre a discussion on the dos and don'ts of 'dirty macking', what it means to be a stud, and why his disdain for...

Start spreading the news because this is one for the ages, Mein Herr. In an ep that might as well be titled "Legends on Legends" we welcome Australian stage actor and drag superstar Trevor Ashley to tackle Liza Minnelli's groundbreaking Live from Radio City Music Hall album. The show was directed for television in 1992, around the time of Liza's third divorce, and features a co...

No matter what hemisphere you’re in, a solstice is upon us. And what better way to ring it in than with a heart-to-rabbit heart on British pop music’s sacred moon child, Florence Welch (and, of course, her Machine). In Cycle 7’s premiere episode, Andy and Drew are accompanied by Sydney drag monarch Peach Fuzz (aka Anthony Severino) to tackle the band’s debut offering Lungs . From the celestial rap...

Icons are a dime a dozen here at Aural Fixation (that's what we do... it's what we live for) but heroes are a different kettle of sea-witch – and they don't get more queer-oic than Howard Ashman. For better and for worse, the animated motion pictures produced by the Walt Disney Animation Studios have profoundly shaped the media consumed by children since 1928. Like any entertainment...