News: Nevada, Sarah Palin, Donuts, National Parks, Tammy Baldwin

Nevada issues first domestic partnership certificates.

Jeffrey S. Crowley, the Director of the Office of National AIDS Policy: Website to accept public input through November 13 on National HIV/AIDS Strategy

Harper Collins out gay marketer Jonathan Burnham hired virulent homophobe Lynn Vincent to ghost write Sarah Palin's new book: "The Palin book, moreover, is clearly being styled as a work of polemic, appealing to the Christianist base, thereby fanning homophobia, and empowering those who would like nothing more than to push gay people back into the closet, out of marriage, out of the military, and out of the workplace. Burnham is now directly party to this effort."

Tom Cruise will do his own stunts.

Chair of the Iowa chapter of Marriage Equality USA arrested for embezzlement; Phyllis Stevens and partner donated money to progressive and LGBT causes.

Man arrested at Apple store after threatening to shoot his iPhone with a gun.

McCain strategist Steve Schmidt on Palin 2012: "I think that she has talents, but my honest view is that she would not be a winning candidate for the Republican Party in 2012, and in fact, were she to be the nominee, we would have a catastrophic election result."

First look: George Takei and Brad Altman on The Newlywed Game.

Bet you never thought you could play Ohio like a piano. Instrument.

Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS launches new website.

AfterElton interviews Sam and Dan McMillen from The Amazing Race.

Revisiting Mark Salling's shirtlessness on Glee.

Homophobic donut shop owner in Pittsburgh airs his views: "This crowd will not rest until Homosexuality is mainstream; until the Second Amendment is done away with; until abortion on demand is as common and accepted as going to the dentist; until sexual images and strip clubs line our streets and suburbs; until government education is started in the womb; until disagreement with their political party is “hate speech” and becomes a crime..".

Mariah Carey hits Rockefeller Center for the Today show.

This land is your land: The National Parks go interactive.

Dear Abby: Out gay man runs into his closeted straight past on Facebook.

Helen Thomas digs in.

Record crowd expected for Fort Worth Pride this weekend in wake of Rainbow Lounge raid.

Catholic Bishop on the lam over child porn charges is arrested by Canadian border guards.

Are anti-gay forces in Washington state waiting until the last minute for a well-funded media barrage on Referendum 71?

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) introduces new AIDS legislation: "Baldwin's new legislation, 'The Ryan White Grantee Payment Equity Act' (H.R. 3665), would authorize increased Medicaid funding to health care providers. The HIV/AIDS population would benefit from a higher Medicaid reimbursement rate. A higher rate would enable clinics to expand operations and care for the growing number of people living with the disease."

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #545

LOVE SONG: Made at the Apple Store, Fifth Ave, NYC.

GREATEST HITS: The 100 greatest hits of YouTube in 4 minutes.

I'VE GOTTA FEELING: 172 students, 1 shot.

THE OBAMA SMILE: 130 photographs, 1 smile. Larger version and explanation here.

For recent Guides to the Tube, click HERE.

News: DOMA, Jesus Christ, Scott Evans, Le Mystique, Steve Jobs

DOMA repeal effort heating up: Nadler to introduce bill, HRC delivers surveys.

Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Community Churches rile bigots with billboards that say Jesus loved gays. Church website.

And this is what they mean when they say 'Jesus freak'.

Newport-Mesa Unified School District in California to provide harassment and discrimination prevention training as part of the settlement of a lawsuit involving football players who harassed the lead actress in a production of Rent and used anti-gay slurs in a Facebook video.

Minneapolis promoters First Avenue dump 'murder music' singer Buju Banton: "While seven shows have been cut, Banton’s tour still includes 20 other scheduled stops."

Ohio anti-discrimination ordinance to get floor vote.

Check out Saturday Night Live's upcoming line-up.

One Life to Live's Scott Evans talks about acting with his mom, coming out.

Randi Reitan: This mom is heading to the National Equality March.

Lesbian couple married in Iowa wants name-change in Nebraska. State says no.

A majority of Minnesota State Fairgoers approve of equality for gays and lesbians: "In the adult survey, participants were asked 15 questions; teens were asked 11. A total of 6,702 adults answered poll questions, and 476 teenagers. ... The adult poll asked: 'Would you support legislation that would provide same-sex couples with the same legal and economic rights and responsibilities as married couples, such as providing health care insurance coverage for one another, inheritance and pension benefits, hospital visitations and medical decision making?' More than 61 percent said yes and almost 34 percent said no."

Whitney Houston hits #1, looks to Oprah season opener.

Drag queen to sing at Giants game.

Part two of Outsports' interview with Johnny Weir: "I think everyone has the right to ask people anything. But the way I see things like coming out parties and being very theatrical and making such a big spectacle of things, I just don’t agree with making it a big spectacle. I was born Johnny Weir, whatever that entails. People can make their own assumptions and people can talk and people can chat, but it doesn’t change who I am and all of these things that contribute to my life."

Le Mystique: Montreal's oldest gay bar closing its doors.

Steve Jobs talks to the NYT David Pogue following Apple's iPod event yesterday.

Ashton Kutcher thinks pink.

Maine marriage equality opponents to rally in Augusta on Sunday: "More than 1,000 gay-marriage opponents are expected to rally in Augusta for an evening event Sunday featuring religious and conservative leaders from across Maine and the country. It's the second such rally held in the state capital this year and it's designed to inspire and motivate same-sex marriage opponents, said the Rev. Bob Emrich, of Plymouth, one of the organizers."

Music News: A Fine Frenzy, Datarock, Whitney Houston, Apple, David Gray, The xx

MODERN TONIC

The editors of Modern Tonic present a weekly music update here on Towleroad. The rest of the week, they scan the pop-culture landscape for movie, TV, book and Web recommendations in their daily email.

ARTISTS TO WATCH:

Seattle-born, L.A.-based Alison Sudol — who performs as A Fine Frenzy — can rock an audience with just her voice, a piano and her sparkly, eccentric personality. Pegged as an ethereal singer-songwriter with her debut One Cell In the Sea, she’ll surprise and delight fans by getting a little wilder on her follow-up, Bomb in a Birdcage. “New Heights” grafts a languid Coldplay-esque piano run to atmospheric dream pop. The hand-clapping groove of “Electric Twist” is a pep rally in a pop song. And the first single, “Blow Away” — with strange electro keyboards brushing against countrified strumming — rushes to a trilling chorus as goofy as its video (check out Sudol in giant angel wings traipsing around a farmyard). Bomb in a Birdcage will be available September 8.

Datarock’s sophomore release Red (out today) is a non-stop New Wave reverie that cribs from the past while keeping a sharp eye on the future. From the mash note that makes future disco of Talking Heads lyrics in “True Stories” (FREE DOWNLOAD HERE) to the jumpiest love song ever written for John Hughes’ muse Molly Ringwald called — what else? — “Molly,” the Norwegian duo of Fredrik Saroea and Ketil Mosnes rarely let you catch your breath. Maybe that’s why they wear the red tracksuits that gave this manic album its title — they’re too busy rushing from one hyped-up highlight to the next. Big beats, jagged guitars, gushing synths, robotic Human League-like vocals that give way to melodic choruses: This is Datarock music.

The greatest vocalist of the ‘80s finally gets to scream more than “Bobby! Bobby!” Whitney Houston’s just-out comeback bid, I Look to You, is a contemporary R&B apotheosis. She gets a hot s**t opening track from Alicia Keys and Swizz Beats, “Million Dollar Bill”; a club-banging triumph produced by Danja called “Nothin’ But Love”; and a Diane Warren-penned ballad that’s as close as she gets to straight-on detailing her lost decade, “I Didn’t Know My Own Strength.” She’s lost some of her upper range, but it’s not Whitney’s voice that’s more mature. The showboating ballads are kept in check, she invests the feel-good dance numbers we’ve always loved best with true emotional grit, and reaffirms her status as a contemporary pop phenomenon.

MUSIC NEWS:

Apple has officially announced a music-related press event for Wednesday September 9 in San Francisco. This is typically the time of year when the company announces iPod, iPod Touch and nano refreshes. Additionally, Internet speculation abounds about the possible unveiling of iTunes 9 and the addition of the Beatles catalog to the iTunes store, as well as iPod cameras. Another wild card: Will this year's event mark the public reappearance of Steve Jobs?

Destiny's Child still owe their record label one more album. According to Michelle Williams, the three members will return to the studio following the end of Beyoncé's current tour.

David Gray talks about his forthcoming studio album and its closing track, "Full Steam Ahead," a duet with Annie Lennox.

VH1's Behind The Music returns this month with new episodes, Pink (September 17) and Bobby Brown (September 24) among them.

Big in Japan: The conundrum of artists who are famous abroad but little-known in their home countries.

The xx Factor: Hotly-tipped band The xx has announced fall U.S. tour dates, in support of their moody and intimate debut xx, playing with Friendly Fires.

TODAY’S NEW RELEASES:

Alt-rockers in a rut should do like Brooklyn’s nerd duo They Might Be Giants and pop out a kids’ album every once in a while. Here Comes Science — the follow-up to their wildly successful Here Come the ABCs and Here Come the 123s — makes learning as fun as when “Conjunction Junction” was stuck in our still-growing cranium.

Though we’re excited about her upcoming turn in the roller derby epic Whip It, there’s no denying Juliette Lewis’s rock star cred on Terra Incognita, where she finally merges her love of PJ Harvey and Courtney Love into her own crunchy vision.

San Francisco’s Brandi Shearer has our best-titled new release. Love Don’t Make You Juliet is a deep trip through a dark labyrinth of wicked love. With her jazz-heavy inflections, she’s your expert guide to the other side of paradise.

Also released:  Drive-by Truckers — The Fine Print: A Collection of Oddities and Rarities 2003-2008; Susanna & the Magical Orchestra — 3; and imports from Noah and the Whale — The First Days of Spring, Just Jack — All Night Cinema, and Kate Walsh — Light & Dark.

MUSIC VIDEOS:

The Juan MacLean: “Happy House”
NY electro duo gets its giddy groove on in “Happy House,” with a clip that starts like an abstract performance before it takes off into space with a white-clad dance troupe.

Marié Digby: “Feel”
From her forthcoming Breathing Underwater, the petite Digby is swallowed up by Tokyo’s soulless rush of humanity while she rails against the isolation of modern life on the first single.

Amanda Blank: “Might Like You Better” (Audio NSFW)
Dancing amongst silver balloons, the Philadelphia MC updates the lyrical hook from Romeo Void’s “Never Say Never” for the age of the hip-hop hook-up. From her debut, I Love You.

Alex Roots: “Don’t Stop Looking”
Perky blonde coos baby-talk before hiccupping like Lene Lovich into this jumpy tune and posing in front of tableaux made from giant balloons: orange mouth, cheeseburger-and-fries, her own name in silver mylar.

MUSIC NEWS: Kleerup, thecocknbullkid, iTunes, Spotify, Queen Latifah, Madonna

 

 
MODERN TONIC

The editors of Modern Tonic present a weekly music update here on Towleroad. The rest of the week, they scan the pop-culture landscape for movie, TV, book and Web recommendations in their daily email.

NEW ARTISTS TO WATCH AND FREE DOWNLOADS:
Considering how fast dance music moves, it sure has taken Swedish producer Andreas Kleerup’s debut a long time to make it to the U.S. Over a year since its overseas release, Kleerup arrives on a cresting wave of clubland hype and expectation.

So, was it worth the wait? Hell to the yes! He’s surrounded himself with vocals from the brightest lights in the Swedish skies, including Robyn (the ecstatic “With Every Heartbeat”) and Lykke Li (the sinister “Until We Bleed”), as well as voices lesser known to American ears such as Marit Bergman (“3AM”) and  Neneh Cherry’s half-sister Titiyo (“Longing for Lullabies” — FREE DOWNLOAD HERE in its Joakim remix). He’s produced tracks for Cyndi Lauper, remixed everyone from Mika to Roxette, and we imagine he should be expecting a call from Madonna any day now.

Anita Blay, who records under the name thecocknbullkid, is a striking original. Born in East London to   Ghanian parents, Blay’s a fierce individualist who rejects labels as easily as she embraces the dark side of pop. Her 15-minute 4-track debut EP Querelle, available August 4, is a compact sampler of her big hooks and bigger ambitions.  “Clean Apart” — FREE DOWNLOAD HERE — picks over the corpse of a dead relationship with an undeniably bouncy melody. And the first words of the lead song, “Kiss Kiss Kill” go “You can’t kiss until you learn to kill / If you don’t know now, you never will” — fighting words in the war of the sexes that she backs up with muscular dance tracks echoing Santigold, M.I.A., Morrissey and the punk swagger of The Slits and The Stooges. She’s gunning for the big time, and that’s no cock’n’bull story.

MUSIC NEWS:

iTunes: Apple is working on a project, codenamed "Cocktail," with four of the five major record labels to create a more compelling package meant to entice consumers to download full albums (as opposed to less profitable single tracks). An interactive liner-notes booklet will include music videos, lyrics, pictures and the ability to play music outside of iTunes. A September launch is planned.

iTunes Killer: Spotify, the very popular European service that allows subscribers streaming access to  over six million songs, plus the ability to create playlists and offline access to the music, is hoping to be available in the U.S, by year's end. Spotify has also just submitted an app to Apple (watch a video of the app here and read an exclusive review here), though the fact that it may offer stiff competition to iTunes could make Apple's consent tricky.

Queen Latifah's first album of original music since 1997, "Persona," will be released August 25. The album is a mix of styles, including a return to rap. 

Madonna's faxed love letters and tapes of naughty answering machine messages (remember faxes and voice messages on micro-cassette? How quaint!), from the early '90s are up for auction. Bidding on the two cassettes starts at $25,000. Check out the auction here.

TODAY’S NEW RELEASES

That coat of many colors Dolly Parton sang about in 1971 now includes her turns as an actress, theme park owner and — looky here, y’all — Broadway composer. 9 to 5: The Musical (Original Broadway Cast Recording) drops today. 

Sisters — of the ecumenical sort — are doing it for themselves again! Alan Menken’s Sister Act (Original London Cast Recording) is available now by import.

Daughter of James DeBarge and Top 20 finalist on American Idol spinoff American Juniors, Kristinia DeBarge ships her R&B-tinged debut Exposed on the heels of the hit single “Goodbye.”

High School Musical’s Ashley Tisdale is hoping to graduate from 'tween queen to adult rocker with her sophomore release Guilty Pleasure.

Also Released:  Owl City — Ocean Eyes; Matt Hires — Take Us To The Start, Funny People — Original Soundtrack; Melinda Watts — People Get Ready; Elvis Presley — From Elvis in Memphis; Blur — Midlife: A Beginner’s Guide to Blur; Trashcan Sinatras — In the Music; The Radio Dept. — David (EP), plus new singles from David Guetta featuring Akon ("Sexy Bitch") and Zero 7 ("Medicine Man").

MUSIC VIDEOS:

Datarock: “True Stories”
From their sophomore release Red, this Norwegian electro-quartet pounds out an homage to the Talking Heads (the lyrics are made up of their song titles) with an angular dance beat while black and red silhouettes do the herky-jerky.

Mini Viva: “Left My Heart in Tokyo”
The latest dance duo to be launched by the Xenomania production team (Sugababes, Girls Aloud), Frankee Connolly and Britt Love ride a popping bass to Funkytown on this love letter to The Land of the Rising Sun.

Juvelen: “Watch Your Step (Remix)”
This 2007 track from the Swedish electro-funkateer gets a grime update and a sensual video with the shirtless loveman stroking his short-haired kitty as naked bodies roll around in the shadows.

thecocknbullkid: “I’m Not Sorry”
In a pair of bright gold wedges and surrounded by strewn flowers, thecocknbullkid tells her ex fifty or so ways that love means never having to say you’re sorry, even if she knows she’s done him wrong.

News: Rupert Everett, Soldier, Chimp AIDS, Michael Jackson

Michael Jackson's prosthetic nose missing at morgue...

Scientists find monster black hole at center of galaxy: "The picture shows a fiery ring around the black hole which is packed with brightly-burning newborn stars."

Rupert Everett loses job over his nasty mouth.

Straw poll of gay leaders wants Prop 8 overturn on ballot in 2010. Donors, political consultants caution...

17 percent of gay men in Chicago are HIV-positive, half don't know it: "Health officials also say although black men who have sex with other men have double the HIV infection rates of white and Hispanic men. Public Health Department assistant commissioner Christopher Brown says it isn't known why black men are disproportionately affected by HIV. He said the health department is working with social service groups to expand testing and increase contact with the city's gay and bisexual population."

Circumstantial homosexuality in Guy Ritchie's Sherlock Holmes?

British Army magazine Soldier puts openly gay servicemember on cover for the first time: "British servicemen and women now march at Gay Pride in uniform, all three services have become Stonewall diversity champions and a few months ago the head of the British Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt made history when he became the first army chief to address a Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender conference. 'Respect for others is not an optional extra,' he said."

Broadway performer Nick Adams denied entrance to Turtle Bay bar on the east side of Manhattan because he's gay.

Petition asking Mormon Church to reconsider its anti-gay positions grows...

Project Runway designer Jack Mackenroth medals at the 2009 Outgames in Copenhagen.

Drag queen bingo wars in Seattle.

Rep. Jared Polis appointment to the U.S. Air Force Academy's supervisory board raises eyebrows: "Polis opposes the military's ban on gay and lesbian servicemembers and has twice proposed, then withdrawn, amendments to undo 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policies. Polis' appointment, made by Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has veterans on both sides of the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' debate wondering if it's a signal change is coming. 'We're all reading the tea leaves here,' said Tricia Heller, a Class of '87 Air Force Academy graduate who flew C-9 jets for the Air Force before the leaving the service four years ago and coming out."

Jake Gyllenhaal: New Prince of Persia stills.

Scientists: Chimpanzees with AIDS-like disease inspire hope for vaccine .

Inner Light: Gay pastor offers Black gays and lesbians a spiritual sanctuary in Washington D.C.

Michael Keaton to be the voice of Ken doll.

El Paso City Council passes anti-discrimination resolution as a result of Chico's Tacos kiss incident.

Male model fix: Ambrose Olsen.

True Blood cast visits Comic-Con.

iPhone App developer claims Apple double standard for approving gay iPhone apps: "Terry Ray claims that his iGaydar title was rejected from the App Store on the same day as Bruno -- an app based on the Sacha Baron Cohen movie -- was approved. iGaydar was rejected for "objectionable content," despite being considerably less graphic than the Bruno app, according to Ray. iGaydar pretends to detect a person's sexuality, first displaying a random percentage and then announcing a tongue-in-cheek statement, such as "Honey, not even your priorities are straight." By contrast the Bruno app lets users undress Cohen's character, and touch various body parts which can elicit potentially offensive responses."