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 AND FREE DOWNLOADS:
The French DJ/producer David Guetta introduced himself to the world with an album called F**k Me I’m Famous, which — come to think of it — we’d like on our business card. That sentiment might have been wishful thinking in 2003, but it’s a fact now, as evidenced by the A-list guest vocalists on his hi-NRG One Love, out August 25 (SAMPLE IT IN A FREE DOWNLOADABLE MEDLEY HERE). From the worldwide summer club smash “When Love Takes Over” to the Akon-on-AutoTune “Sexy Bitch” and Estelle’s jubilant disco hustle on the title track, Guetta’s at the top of his — and every other DJ’s — game. In a year of great club-friendly records — including MSTRKFRT’s Fist of God and Simian Mobile Disco’s forthcoming Temporary Pleasures — One Love is the club-banging king. And let us be the first to say that Ms. Kelly Rowland, who appears on “When Love Takes Over” and two other tracks here, has found her true calling. Disco diva is your destiny, child.
The difference between Grammy-nominated R&B singer Ledisi’s last release, Lost & Found, and her latest,Turn Me Loose(out today), is evident before you play one note of the new album. The cover of L&F was a dark, muted, twilight image of the performer. Turn Me Loose features Ledisi throwing down at the mike, clad in black and popping against a bright red background. And when she counts down to leadoff track “Runnin’” with “Keep your faith, stay strong, move forward,” and the rock-ish dance groove kicks in, you’ll hear an artist unleashed. If L&F was a midnight storm of love and hope, Turn Me Loose is the carnal prequel — the girl’s on the prowl. Last time an R&B singer was this feral, Chaka Khan was still fronting Rufus. Old school meet new school. Now everybody go off and get laid. GRAB A FREE DOWNLOAD OF "GOIN' THRU CHANGES" HERE.
The folks over at Entertainment Weekly are on a quest to declare The Greatest Guilty Pleasure Act of All Time. But they’re not making the choices — everyone who participates online is, via a nifty series of match-ups. First up: Nickelback vs. Phish (we abstained from that one) and Britney vs. Pussycat Dolls. No contest there!
After an aborted debut for Mercury Nashville Records in 2002, mainstream country hunk David Nail finally releases his first album, I’m About to Come Alive, featuring a remake of Train’s title track.
Though overshadowed by their parent band Bauhaus, Love & Rockets finally get a tribute album with New Tales to Tell, featuring remakes by acolytes The Flaming Lips, Blaqk Audio and more.
Imagine The Cure’s Robert Smith turned New Wave soulman and you might approximate English singer Jack Peñate’s sophomore release Everything Is New.
The Sound of Arrows: “Into the Clouds” Filmed in Technicolor, this clip from the Stockholm techno duo NME calls "Enya-loving Disney characters" is fantastically twee and catchy-annoying in the best possible way.
Lights: “Saviour” The first single from the Canadian dream pop artist’s debut album, The Listening, features Lights aka Valerie Poxleitner as an animated heroine on an interstellar adventure.
Bananarama: “Love Comes” Robert DeNiro can stop waiting! Bananarama offer this Eurodisco single “Love Comes” from their forthcoming European release, Viva (due in September).
David Gray: “The Fugitive” The wobbly-headed troubadour from Greater Manchester gets literal on this first track from his forthcoming Draw the Line. As he plays alone in a stark room, artwork magically happens all around him. Just another day in the life of David Gray.
Cher and Christina Aguilera are set to star in Burlesque, Variety reports:
"In what will be her first movie star role in a decade, Cher is set
to join Christina Aguilera in 'Burlesque,' a contemporary musical for
Screen Gems. Steven Antin will direct from a script he wrote that was
revised by Susannah Grant. Aguilera will play an ambitious small-town Iowa girl with a big
voice who comes of age in a neo-burlesque club on Sunset Boulevard
that’s run by Tess (Cher), a former dancer who struggles to keep the
club open and gives the young girl a chance to shine. Cher will sing onscreen. While her voice has been heard in many
films, 'Burlesque' will mark the first time she’ll be seen singing in a
film she stars in. Cher last starred in 'Tea With Mussolini' in 1999.
"
Congressman Howard Berman, who said earlier this week that he expected action soon on LGBT issues within the State Department, suggests that more is to come from the White House in June: "I think
the White House is preparing to make an announcement on a
number of issues. I’m predicting here,
not informing, that by the Stonewall anniversary we will
have a very clear picture of what the administration
is doing.
Openly gay activist and lobbyist Pat Steadman wins Colorado state senate race: "The special election was open only to members of the Colorado Democratic Party. The vacancy
came after openly lesbian Senator Jennifer Veiga resigned the seat to
move to Australia with her partner and her partner's family. Veiga
was the first openly gay member elected to the Colorado General
Assembly, and Steadman is now the first openly gay man to serve in the
Colorado State Senate."
New Hampshire marriage equality all about compromise: "Rep. Jim Splaine, prime sponsor of
the main gay marriage bill, said Thursday that advocates will use the
next two weeks to educate lawmakers about the religious protections
Lynch wants. 'The
governor's made it clear he wants to stick to the core principles he's
offered,' said Splaine, D-Portsmouth. 'We can do this.'"
Retrospective: If paintings had voices Francis Bacon's would shriek. "Bacon specialized in blur and atmosphere; he captured the tumult of
homosexual sex in motion by borrowing from photographs, film stills or
images of other art, conveying a sense of athleticism and sweat,
violence and tenderness, furtiveness and shame. Homosexual sex was a
criminal act in Britain, where he lived most of his life, well into the
1960s."
YouTube hit by porn attack: "Video-sharing website YouTube has removed hundreds of pornographic videos which were uploaded in what is believed to be a planned attack.
The material was uploaded under names of famous teenage celebrities such as Hannah Montana and Jonas Brothers.
Many started with footage of children's videos before groups of adults performing graphic sex acts appeared on screen.
YouTube owner Google said it was aware and addressing the problem."
Former spokesman for Portland Mayor Sam Adams talks about why he left.
Zona Rosa: Gays find acceptance in Mexico City. "It's really hard to be gay in the smaller, more conservative states within Mexico. I moved to Zona Rosa not just for my career but also for a chance to finally try and be accepted within my community."
Atlanta mayoral candidates speak to LGBT voters: "The candidates gathered for a forum of about 150 people held at the
Amsterdam Cafe in Midtown. Mayor Shirley Franklin, a two-term
incumbent, is prohibited from running for a third consecutive term. Several candidates stressed their past achievements and support for the
city’s gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community. One out of
every seven Atlantans is gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender,
community advocates say. The community has become an influential force
in city politics, particularly in neighborhoods near downtown."
Moscow Pride organizers appeal to European Court of Human Rights, ask for 1.7 million Euros over 155 banned Pride marches: "They are asking for 11,000 Euros compensation for each march banned. In all, the organisers of Pride applied to City’s Mayor, Yuri Luzhkov, for 155 marches, five each day during May 2008. All were dismissed."
Gay couple describe terrifying home invasion to Welsh court: "Nathan Dally, 22, yelled: 'I’m going to kill you, you faggots', as
he kicked in married couple Daniel Smith and Gary Samuel’s door,
Cardiff Crown Court heard yesterday. The couple were so scared they called 999 and quickly moved their wardrobe to block their bedroom door. But
it was left slightly ajar and Dally, of Caer Gwerlas, Tonyrefail,
reached through, only leaving the house when Mr Samuel hit him with a
hockey stick. Helen Roddick, prosecuting, said: 'They were both in bed at night and then saw the front door was shaking. One male was at the door kicking it with force and another two or three males were standing back.'”
Artush and Zaur: Novel describing "a gay love affair between an Azeri and an Armenian amid war between their countrymen as the Soviet Union collapsed" causing controversy. "A book discussion between the author and readers was canceled amid reports of threats and intimidation. 'The police told them -- if you don't do it, we'll do it ourselves,'
[writer Alekper] Aliyev told Reuters. 'And they withdrew all the books from sale.' He said the owner of Ali and Nino had just called to say police had closed two of their stores. They reopened a day later. An Interior Ministry spokesman denied any knowledge of the case,
saying: 'The police do not interfere in trade and the selling of books.'"
Nathan Lane on gay actors coming out: "It’s such a personal thing, and I don’t
think it does anybody any good to out people or force
them out of the closet. I don’t see the point.
It can still be very difficult in this business, so
I’m sympathetic to that. You hear rumors and
gossip, but nobody really knows except that person,
and it’s ultimately up to them. Now, there are times
when the press goes easier on or is more forgiving of
someone, and I' say, How come he got a free
pass?' But ultimately, I don’t feel resentful"
London's gay former top cop Brian Paddick joins cast of I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here, reveals George Michael used to ask him for drugs: [Paddick] famously championed a lenient approach to drug possession during his tenure. He said today: 'Every time I met up with George Michael, the first thing he’d always ask was: 'Have you got a spliff?'...'The joke wears off after a while, but he said it again and again.'" Also on board the show, believe it or not, are George Takei and Martina Navratilova.
Pregnant man Thomas Beatie has another bun in the oven: "Thomas Beatie, who is in his first trimester, tells Walters he did not go back on the male hormone testosterone after Susan's birth so he could have another baby. 'I feel good,' he said. 'I had my checkups with my hormone level, as far as the HCG. And everything is right on track.' He says the baby is due June 12."
Oregon woman beaten with a rock after telling man that she's gay: "Washington County sheriff's deputies said the woman was walking along a street in Aloha on Tuesday when a young man asked for a cigarette. The woman said the man asked whether she was gay and became angry when she told him that she was. Deputies said the two struggled, she fell, he beat her with a rock and his fists, and then she escaped. The suspect was described as white, 16 to 22 years old, about 6 feet tall and slender with very large ears."
European Parliament asks Bulgaria to recognize same-sex couples in its domestic partner legislation: " The all-party ‘intergroup’ for gay and lesbian rights has written to the Bulgarian Prime Minister, Sergei Stanishev, and members of the National Assembly expressing concerns that same-sex couples are not included in the draft legislation. 'Unions between opposite-sex and same-sex couples are based on the same ground,' says the letter, signed by MEPs Michael Cashman, Lissy Gräner, Raúl Romeva and Sophie In´t Veld."
Following the 'witchhunt' it experienced last year, Senegal's gay community is now regrouping with the aid of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission: "IGLHRC had stepped in to respond to the arrests and condemn the violence already last year, but now hopes to be able to turn from emergency aid to the development of a forceful Senegalese movement fighting for less discrimination of sexual minorities and increased legal rights."
The story behind Commercial Closet founder Michael Wilke's departure from the organization in the wake of its GLAAD merger: " Negotiations for a January, 2009 merger had been all but finalized and, in June, Wilke and his editorial director had moved into GLAAD’s New York offices. On Monday, days after learning from his board of directors that the merger had gone through two months ahead of schedule, Wilke says he found out from an article on Ad Age’s Website that he would no longer be with the organization he’d founded seven years ago. 'There wasn’t supposed to be a shutdown,' Wilke told Advocate.com. 'That was never planned. I know the board was very concerned about being in the black at the end of the year, so their solution was to cancel our big fundraiser and to let me go.'"
Patrick Sammon 
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