Music News: Chris Martin Answers The Gay Questions, Plus Sub Pop, Yaz, Beck

Robbie Daw presents a weekly pop music update here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own site called Chart Rigger.

No, it didn't come during an interview with a gay magazine. Rather, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin was posed with the question, "Do you know how I know you're gay?" while answering reader questions submitted to Blender's "Dear Superstar" column. The answers are posted at the magazine's website in audio form.

So came Martin's reply: "We have a lot of gay fans. It's something I'm very proud of. In fact—well, I'm proud of anybody after us—a lot of gay guys like us 'cause of the music. Guy [Berryman, guitarist] does have a big gay following as well, because he's...you know. One of our best concerts ever, this gentleman came up to us after the concert, and he went straight up to Guy and said, 'More light on you. They need to put more light on you.' We were like, Yep, you tell him, man."

What Chris Martin, who admittedly has only had one other relationship before Gwyneth Paltrow, stopped short of saying was that Guy Berryman (pictured right) is pretty darn hot...something he actually goes into full-on when answering another question. But first, the Blender moderator jumped into the gay questioning.

BLENDER: "When I was doing some research for this interview, I read—this is probably a pretty fairly common experience among, I will say, boys or dudes of our demographic—where at boarding school for awhile, you weren't quite sure. You felt that you might be gay up until a certain age."

CM: "Every kid does, man. When you're 14 or 15, you're like, 'Hey, what am I? What's the deal here? What am I gonna turn out like?'"

BLENDER: "Was there any kind of boarding school experimentation?"

CM: "Sadly not. I wish I could report... I was very lucky because we lived right next to a girl's school. So there was never that sort of 'Which one on the island would you eat first?' kind of period."

Interesting choice of analogy. Anyway, here's what he went on to say about Guy Berryman: "My entire life is spent trying to push him forward at photo shoots. This is a serious answer—he is our packaging. He's a good-looking guy. The rest of us look OK—we work hard to stay thin and all that stuff—but he's a handsome bastard, and none of us pretend that if he wasn't in the band we'd be as popular... He's reponsible for all of our calendar sales."

Sub Pop—the seminal Seattle indie label that unleashed Nirvana, Soundgarden, emo, The Shins and Postal Service into the mainstream—has turned 20. It's latest slogan? "Sub Pop...going out of business for 20 years." Billboard runs through the label's top 20 moments, albums and videos, as well as interviews co-founder Jonathan Poneman. iTunes also has a special selection of discounted top picks from Sub Pop's back catalog to celebrate the anniversary.

The Los Angeles Times interviews Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet of Yaz ahead off the duo's three L.A. shows this week: "I'm aware that I have a lot of gay fans, and I love it. In the 1970s when I grew up as a punk rocker, we were all on the outside and I think that we found common ground with one another." The four-disc Yaz box set, In Your Room, was released yesterday.

Pinned by Prince Charles: Kylie Minogue received an Order of the British Empire (OBE) last week at Buckingham Palace.

And here you were thinking Kanye West is just plain annoying...

Annie Lennox just another name being floated around—along with Duffy, Duran Duran and Leona Lewis— for singing the next James Bond theme, for the fall's Quantum Of Solace.

Here is a video, something completely new and exciting from Mariah Carey that you've surely never seen before—her writhing around in a bikini.

THIS WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

Modern Guilt, Beck's eighth studio album, produced by himself and Danger Mouse.

Patches From The Quilt, an EP from Gym Class Heroes released ahead of the group's September release of the full Quilt album.

Alison Moyet's The Turn, a solo album that initially was releaded in the U.K. last fall, but no doubt has been put out here to coincide with the Yaz reunion, box set and tour.

Estonian pop singer Kerli's Love Is Dead.

Moby's EP for single "I Love To Move In Here," featuring 12 remixes of the track.

Sphere: Related Content

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #199

ALBERTO GONZALEZ: Demonstrator dressed as detainee interrupts Alberto Gonzalez appearance at University of Florida, and then another...

TASER ABUSE: More taser abuse courtesy of the Utah Highway Patrol, this time for a speeding ticket.

DR. JAN ADAMS: The doctor responsible for the cosmetic surgery operation that preceded the death of Kanye West's mother Donda, creates some drama on Larry King Live as he walks off the set.

WINDOWS AMBUSH: A new ad from Apple which utilizes both right-hand box and top leaderboard ad space to ambush Vista. It's been seen on many tech sites and on some pages on which Vista is reviewed.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here

Sphere: Related Content

Music News: Timbaland Massacres Duran Duran, Plus Little House: The Musical, OneRepublic, Spice Girls, Ladytron, Kanye West

Please welcome Robbie Daw, who will be penning weekly music posts for us here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own pop music site called Chart Rigger.

Mediabase, the firm that monitors 129 major Top 40 radio stations in the country, noted that Timbaland's mix of OneRepublic's "Apologize" received a total of 10,331 plays last week, making it the biggest Top 40 hit, airplay-wise, since the company began its charts in 1987. Those not yet completely sick of the seemingly tireless producer will thrill at the fact that the single previously holding the title of "biggest Top 40 hit" according to Mediabase was Nelly Furtado's "Promiscuous," which was also crafted by Timbaland.

Meanwhile, today sees the release of Duran Duran's new studio album, Red Carpet Massacre, on which the band worked with both Timbaland and Justin Timberlake. Simon Le Bon and Co. are currently in New York for what was orignally to be a 10-night residency at Broadway's Ethel Barrymore Theatre, but the stagehand strike has caused the group to relocate to the Roseland Ballroom.

In a statement, bassist John Taylor said, ""We know that some people have travelled miles (if not continents) to see us on Broadway... although there is no physical way to replicate some of the production elements in Roseland that we had in the other theatre - the key for us is the music and we are intending to make it as special as every other night."

In case you've missed it, Duran Duran's 7-minute video for "Falling Down" is a send-up of starlets-in-rehab culture.

It was probably only a matter of time... Based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, a musical version of Little House On The Prairie will hit the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis next summer. Says director Francesca Zambello, "Our musical focuses on the independent spirit of the teenager Laura Ingalls Wilder and her struggles to become an adult, alongside the story of the land as it becomes the American West." Tony winner Rachel Sheinkin (25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee) is penning the book, while Oscar Winner Rachel Portman (Emma) is composing the music.

Ladytron have signed a new deal with the Nettwerk label, with a new album due in May.

Kanye West has issued a statement about the death of his mother over the weekend.

Today the Spice Girls Greatest Hits goes on sale exclusively at U.S. Victoria's Secret outlets and on iTunes. Each member will reportedly nab about $2 million a piece (or £1 million) for appearing as the faces of U.K. supermarket chain Tesco this holiday season.

Here's the commercial which began airing this past week:

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

The Killers' B-sides and rarities collection, Sawdust.

Alicia Keys' As I Am, which also features John Mayer and Linda Perry.

Taking Chances, the new studio set from Celine Dion.

The Black And White Album, by Swedish rockers The Hives.

Seal's System, on which the singer worked with Madonna collaborator Stuart Price.

Trisha Yearwood's 12th album, Heaven, Heartache And The Power Of Love.

Sphere: Related Content

Music News: The Selling Of Kylie Minogue, Plus Kanye West, LCD Soundsystem, Radiohead

Please welcome Robbie Daw, who will be penning occasional music posts for us here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own pop music site called Chart Rigger.

If you've got about $15.2 million stuffed under the sofa cushions, you could set yourself up to be the proud owner of Kylie Minogue's early back catalogue of songs. The Times reports that British producer Pete Waterman is selling the rights to his label PWL's biggest hits from the 1980s, including those off Minogue's albums with the company. (And, yes, "The Locomotion" and "I Should Be So Lucky" are on the table.) Heck, even though the sale includes recordings by other artists, it's strange to think Kylie herself hasn't plunked down the cash for the songs at this point.

In the meantime, the Aussie singer is gearing up to release "2 Hearts," her first single in almost four years. Due in early November, it's an overhauled version of a track initially performed by London outfit Kish Mauve. Kylie's tenth studio album is set for a November 22 European release.

Below is a clip of Kish Mauve's "Two Hearts" (the original). It's probably safe to assume Kylie ordered some extra drum machine on the side:

Sales figures indicate that Kanye West was simply harder, better, faster and stronger than 50 Cent (real name: Curtis Jackson). West's final tally for Graduation is expected to be around 800,000 copies sold in its first week, while 50 Cent's Curtis is estimated at 600,000. Billboard will publish the final results tomorrow. In the meantime, after being beat to the top of the U.K. album chart on Sunday, Jackson has now accused West's label Island Def Jam of chart-rigging.

James Murphy (left) and his New York-based act LCD Soundsystem are known for their lengthy songs, but the "disco symphony" 45:33 sets a new record for them. The longform track, commisioned from the dance/punk group by Nike for a promo campaign, was initially released exclusively as a download. Now a physical CD is being issued on Murphy's label DFA on November 13, along with three bonus tracks.

After declining to renew its contract with iTunes, Universal Music Group has hopped into bed with newly-launched free download site SpiralFrog Inc. With over 2 million songs being made available in the next few months, Spiralfrog.com is aiming to be a legit alternative to illegal file-sharing networks.

Radiohead have finally made their songs available for digital download, exclusively at U.K.-based online store 7Digital.com (which, unlike iTunes stores from other countries, is accessible to U.S. buyers). The band's songs are only being sold as bundles with their full albums, however, and not individually.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Sophomore albums from James Blunt (All The Lost Souls) and KT Tunstall (Drastic Fantastic).

Céline Dion's new single, "Taking Chances."

The soundtrack to the Sean Penn film Into The Wild, featuring original songs by Eddie Vedder.

Reba McEntire's Reba Duets, on which the flame-haired country diva gets some vocal help by Kelly Clarkson, Justin Timberlake, Carole King and Trisha Yearwood.

The Across The Universe soundtrack, which contains the actors' renditions of Beatles' songs.

Sphere: Related Content

Towleroad Guide to the Tube #169

GENERAL PETRAEUS: "I don't know" if my strategy in Iraq makes America safer.

HIP-HOP for AIDS PREVENTION: A hetero-oriented anti-viral viral campaign on YouTube.

VMAS - KID ROCK and TOMMY LEE: Catfight at the MTV Video Music Awards.

VMAS - KANYE WEST: His backstage tantrum upon not receiving a Moonman award.

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here!

Sphere: Related Content

Music News: Exclusive Darren Hayes Podcast Interview

Please welcome Robbie Daw, who will be penning occasional music posts for us here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own pop music site called Chart Rigger.

This week we've got something a bit different for you, in that I had the opportunity to interview Darren Hayes over the weekend exclusively for Towleroad readers. But rather than type the whole thing out, Andy and I decided it might be a bit more fun to stream the conversation as a podcast.

Darren Hayes, who between his years as both the singer for successful Australian duo Savage Garden and then as a solo artist, has sold over 30 million records. A year ago he married his partner, Richard Cullen, in London, and last month he put out the two-disc This Delicate Thing We've Made worldwide on his own label, Powdered Sugar.

Ironically, the same day of his album's release, news of allegations against him -- revolving around a racial slur he allegedly made in a London restaurant -- broke out. In the interview, Hayes talks about all these things, as well as the artists who have influenced him like Annie Lennox and Prince, and how growing up with an alcoholic father made him the artist he is today.

He also tells some great anecdotes about working with Janice Dickinson on his latest video ("We loved having her on set. I did have to run around making her cups of tea.") and getting to sing with Luciano Pavarotti.

Play the podcasts below as you would a video.

PART ONE: "Madonna is about to leave Warners and perhaps forge a relationship with a promoter. I've found myself at the forefront of this movement away from the major label system."

PART TWO: "I couldn't even think, let alone utter, a racist remark. But there's an investigation and I totally support that."

NEWS BITES: Madonna buys a sex toy.

Kanye West promises to boycott MTV.

Kid Rock could face jail time after his VMAs brawl with Tommy Lee.

Pet Shop Boys cancel their September 27 gig at the Hollywood Bowl.

Kaiser Chiefs ditch their American tour to "concentrate on recording new material."

It's down to the wire for Phil Spector.

YESTERDAY'S NEW RELEASES:

After weeks of the rappers' hype and posturing, 50 Cent's Curtis and Kanye West's Graduation officially began their chart showdown yesterday. However, if country music by a singer who is most certainly not gay is your thing, Kenny Chesney's Just Who I Am: Poets & Pirates is also out.

Other albums dropping yesterday included alt rock act Hot Hot Heat's Happiness LTD., Scottish DJ Calvin Harris' I Created Disco and Rogue Wave's Asleep At Heaven's Gate.

iTunes also has up new singles by Alicia Keys' ("No One") and Backstreet Boys ("Inconsolable"), and a remix EP for Gwen Stefani's "Now That You Got It."

Sphere: Related Content

Music News: Annie Lennox Takes The Dark Road, Plus Kanye West, Jordin Sparks, Rick Astley, Ari Gold

Please welcome Robbie Daw, who will be penning occasional music posts for us here on Towleroad! Robbie runs his own pop music site called Chart Rigger.

Though she's one of popular music's most iconic figures, Annie Lennox is gearing up to release only the fourth album of her 15-year solo career. Songs Of Mass Destruction is out October 1 throughout most of the world, and a day later in the U.S.

The video for the first single, "Dark Road," just found its way online yesterday.

Also, the album track "Sing" has leaked. "Sing" features a bevy of female guest vocalists, including Madonna, Céline Dion, Pink, Melissa Etheridge, Fergie, Beth Gibbons, Faith Hill, Angelique Kidjo, Beverley Knight, Gladys Knight, k.d. lang, Sarah McLachlan, Beth Orton, Bonnie Raitt, Shakira, Shingai Shoniwa, Joss Stone, Sugababes, KT Tunstall, and Martha Wainwright. Lennox was inspired to record the song after being involved with Nelson Mandela's Treatment Action Campaign, which fights to protect human rights and promote education for those affected by the HIV virus.

Songs Of Mass Destruction features production by Glen Ballard, who is perhaps most famous for twiddling the knobs on Alanis Morissette's Jagged Little Pill and, more importantly, Wilson Phillips' self-titled debut.

As we read last week, Kanye West is still waxing philosophical about homophobia within the hip-hop community. Meanwhile, some other folks seem a bit preoccupied with the sunglasses he's been sporting lately -- particularly in the video for "Stronger," his latest single that's built around a sample of Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger." In fact, there's even an entire thread devoted to the topic in the forum at AllHipHop.com, where one member incitefully wrote, "GAYEST THREAD EVER!!!!!!!!"

As it turns out West's shades were designed by Jeremy Scott, whose pop star clientele also includes Fischerspooner, Kylie Minogue, Björk and Madonna.

Elsewhere, "Stronger" unseated Robyn's "With Every Heartbeat" to become the #1 U.K. single this week.

Recent American Idol winner Jordin Sparks has a new single, "Tattoo," hitting radio on Monday, though traditionally Top 40 stations have been lukewarm about embracing the winners of the FOX reality show. The New York Post reports that Sparks' album will be out in November, after having inked a deal with 19 Recordings/Jive. The previous five Idol winners had all been signed to RCA.

TREND ALERT: AOL reported on it, Urban Dictionary has multiple entries for it, but if you haven't yet been "Rick rolled," hold on to your coiffed locks, because the wait is finally over. Rick rolling is essentially the process by which you email a pal, tell them they simply have to check out a crazy new video file of Lindsay Lohan yacking up her lunch in the checkout line at Fred Segal, then actually send them a link to '80s blue-eyed soul crooner Rick Astley's #1 hit from 1987, "Never Gonna Give You Up." Yeah, I don't get it, either, but in the midst of all this, one thought came to mind: just how many times did Stock Aitken Waterman cart their artists through that chintzy set for a video shoot?

Did Jason Donovan complain when he got Rick rolled under the same arches for "When You Come Back To Me"? Did Big Fun wave chiding fingers after shooting "Handful Of Promises"? (Actually, it may have been a different set for the latter, but it's easy to get distracted while watching, arguably, the gayest video ever.)

NEWS BITES: Madonna to leave Warner Music after 25 years?

One Céline Dion fan reports from the "freaking amazing" album preview focus group.

Morrissey shacks up in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco for six weeks.

Dr. Dre sues former label Death Row over The Chronic.

Donald Trump calls Britney Spears "a f***ing mess." Then he offers her a job.

Sheryl Crow, Avril Lavigne and Fiona Apple work themselves into a Girlfrenzy.

After the jump, The Feeling's Dan Gillespie-Sells, Ari Gold and the today's new releases.

In England, Dan Gillespie-Sells, The Feeling's openly-gay frontman, made a dapper appearance at Virgin's V Festival over the weekend...

...while across the pond, Ari Gold performed at here lounge in West Hollywood.

During his set, Ari performed his new single, "Where The Music Takes You." His new album Transport Systems will be released October 2.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES: Former Savage Garden singer Darren Hayes' third solo album, the two-disc This Delicate Thing We've Made, featuring production by Justin Shave.

Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli's Eardrum, featuring guests Norah Jones and UKG, with production by Kanye West and will.i.am.

Rilo Kiley's fourth album, Under The Blacklight. It's also the indie band's debut on Warner Bros.

Kala, the sophomore album from London-based Sri Lankan artist M.I.A.

Country singer Travis Tritt's The Storm, featuring tracks co-written by Rob Thomas, Richard Marx and Diane Warren.

Sphere: Related Content

Kanye West: Still Not Gay

Kanye West continues to address his heterosexuality, in an interview with the UK's Manchester Evening News:

"Speaking out against hip-hop homophobia, some people were like 'Oh, Kanye must be gay! Look at the way he's dressing! And why would he speak about it? He's a gay rapper'," he notes. "And my whole point is, I wouldn't have spoke on that if I was gay or if I was in the closet. I would have stayed so far away from it. And I'm still homophobic myself to certain extent. You know, I wouldn't go to a gay parade and feel comfortable. I wouldn't ever to a gay club or something and just be chillin' and grab a drink. It's being in the entertainment world, I meet so many different gay people who are actually nice people. Where I came from, Chicago, being black and being a hip-hop artist, we used to really disrespect gay people. And the thing is, we can't get close to them with a 10-foot pole. And I realised, 'wow, how ignorant has this been?'"

Kanye West: The Big Interview [manchester evening news]

You may have missed...
Kanye West and Ne-Yo: We're Not Gay! [tr]

Sphere: Related Content

News: Brooke Astor, Flexible Battery, Jake Gyllenhaal, iPhone

New York's "Aristocrat of the People" Brooke Astor dies at 105: "...it was a changing social order that Brooke Astor oversaw. Hers was a society defined more by balance sheets than bloodline. It opened its doors to entrepreneurs and Wall Street movers and shakers who had bought entree with so many millions that in the 1980s Mrs. Astor declared herself 'nouveau pauvre.' Although aristocratic in upbringing, style and social milieu, she never sought to be the arbiter of society that the Astor name might have entitled her to be. She never wanted to rule over a world that she was among the first to recognize was no more."

Matt Damon in with the bear crowd: "Matt Damon got turned into an animated bear for a September 3rd episode of the PBS cartoon, Arthur. Matt is on to promote a feature on the site where kids can submit videos of themselves to be aired on the show."

Jake Gyllenhaal and friend enter 5K race in Massachusetts.

It keeps bending, and bending...: Scientists create flexible, biodegradable battery.

Little Britain creators become gay icons in Poland: "Apparently gays there are packing their manbags for Britain, inspired by their new hero from Little Britain. The comedy was finally screened for the first time in Poland in April on state broadcaster TVP. It is the campest show to make it on to the nation’s TV and has now become an “inspiration” to homosexuals there. Characters including Matt Lucas’s Dafydd Thomas and, in particular, David’s Prime Minister-adoring Sebastian Love, have been a hit with Polish gays. Mirka Makuchowska, of the Polish Campaign Against Homophobia, said David had become an 'important' figure to Polish homosexuals. She said: 'Little Britain has made a huge impact here. Especially David Walliams when he is playing Sebastian. It has even made many think of moving to Britain.'"

Developers win award for devising videoconference system for the iPhone.

Six-year-old boy drowns after bullies strip him and force him into lake.

Rapper Beanie Sigel on Kanye West's reported feud with Sigel for suggesting he's gay: "I don't really dwell on that sh--, man. He called me for songs, so I guess [there are no problems]. I been trying to get beats from that n---a since before I went to jail."

Concerned Roman Catholics of America pickets Knights of Columbus convention in Nashville, demanding that the organization expel 16 "pro-Sodomite" Massachusetts lawmakers: "One of the pols on the group’s hit list, state Rep. Robert DeLeo (D-Winthrop), said: 'I certainly respect the right of those who disagree with my vote on same-sex marriage to do so and to advocate for their point of view. It is my hope that they would also respect my right and responsibility as an elected official to, after listening to all the facts and arguments, decide what I think is the best course of action on issues before the Legislature.' Another on the list, Rep. Garrett Bradley (D-Hingham), said of the Knights: 'We don’t agree on every issue, and this one of them. I’m going to vote the way I think is right, regardless of what this group or another group might want me to do.' The CRCOA Web site has posted the names of those it describes as “pro-Sodomite, pro-abortion Knights of Columbus” on its site, including several Bay State pols."

Sphere: Related Content

Kanye West and Ne-Yo: We're Not Gay!

In a recent issue of Straight magazine (not kidding, though it's a Vancouver-based magazine playing off the Strait of Georgia between Vancouver island and the Pacific coast), R&B singer-songwriter Ne-Yo decided to tell the world he's straight again:

"In not ever having to deal with anything like this before (gay rumors), I got mad. But then Jay-Z broke it down for me, like, 'This is the music business. You gotta take the bad with the good. If you're doing something right, haters are going to come around, and they're not going to go anywhere. You gotta learn how to let that roll off your back.' Anybody that knows me, knows I'm not gay. If you wanna know, I've been an open book since day one. All you've got to do is ask, and I'll tell you: I love women."

Ne-Yo wrote Beyoncé's hit "Irreplaceable" as well as several Rihanna singles including "Good Girl Gone Bad" and "Unfaithful".

Meanwhile, on SMACK DVD, Kanye West responds to Beanie Sigel's accusations that he's gay (video below):

"I'm just saying...@#$%*%, I'm not gay. @#$%*%, don't come at me on none of that @#$%. Don't @#$ing disrespect me. I respect where he coming from. I respect Beans' gangsta, I'm not gangsta, but I'm not gay either. Don't disrespect me as a @#$%ing man. That's all I'm saying. That's it."

Ne-Yo: Ready for Love [straight]

You may have missed...
Kanye West Revisits Homophobia [tr]
Thank You, Kanye West [tr]

Sphere: Related Content