Michael Stipe Targets Artsy Preppies

In collaboration with Lacoste and Visionaire, Michael Stipe has designed a limited-edition polo featuring the singer's photography. It's Visionaire's latest "wearable" publication, and the shirts also come in editions by Nick Knight, Peter Lindbergh, Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin with M/M (Paris), Phil Poynter; artists Thomas Demand, Thomas Ruff, T.J. Wilcox; designer Karl Lagerfeld; filmmaker Pedro Almodóvar; musician David Byrne, and painter Richard Phillips.

Lagerfeld's top AFTER THE JUMP...

Check them all out HERE.
(via idolator)

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Music News: Keane Go "Spiralling," Plus The Killers, Chris Brown, James Murphy, Morrissey, Annie Lennox

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

Perhaps taking a cue from Coldplay, Brit trio Keane are offering "Spiralling," the lead single of their upcoming third album Perfect Symmetry, as a free download for one week only on their official website. To these ears, the glammy, uptempo track is reminiscent of Roxy Music's "Let's Stick Together" and David Bowie's "Young Americans."

Stuart Price, Jon Brion and Andy Green are doing production chores on Perfect Symmetry, along with Keane themselves. The album is due out mid-October.

In the meantime, Price—one of the main hands in Madonna's 2005 Confessions On A Dancefloor—is also twiddling knobs on The Killers' forthcoming third studio set, rumored to be titled Day And Age.

Meanwhile, last week The Killers played "Spaceman" and "Neon Tiger" (below), two new tracks likely to be on the new record at a fanclub-only show at New York City's Highline Ballroom.

 

I'll admit that Chris Brown's (pictured right) overly-poppy "Forever" is my not-so-guilty pleasure this summer, and I was hoping for more of the same from him down the line. So it was with a bit of dismay that I first read about the Wrigley's gum jingle deal and saw this. Well, only a slight bit.

   LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy (who signed queer act Hercules And Love Affair to his DFA Records label) is joining drummer Pat Mahoney on the road for the Special Disco Version DJ tour. It kicks off tonight at Mighty in San Francisco: "People hear that word disco, and they see bellbottoms and That '70s Show. No, no, no. This is real liberation music for people who know where to go. This is the real deal. With SDV, I can keep experimenting with remixes that we're working on, I can keep playing new stuff, and I can keep finding old records."

   The release date of Morrissey's new album Years Of Refusal has been pushed back from September to early next year, following producer Jerry Finn's severe brain hemorrhage last month. Finn was the mixer for Green Day's Dookie and Insomniac, and producer of Blink 182's Enema Of The State and Morrissey's You Are The Quarry.

   Does The Annie Lennox Collection get it right?

   Acts such as R.E.M., Pearl Jam, My Morning Jacket, OK Go and Trent Reznor are petitioning to have Barack Obama and John McCain debate in New Orleans about Louisiana coastal wetlands restoration and hurricane recovery. Google and YouTube are organizing the Presidential forum, of which neither candidate has committed to.

   There's at least one girl who won't kiss Katy Perry. Actually, make that two.

   THE WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

Fasciination, the self-released fifth album from The Faint. The band had previously released their albums on fellow Nebraskan Conor Oberst's Saddle Creek label.

Conor Oberst's self-titled solo album.

Brazilian Girls' New York City.

Santogold's "L.E.S. Artistes" remix EP.

New singles from Cassie ("Official Girl"), the Jonas Brothers ("A Little Bit Longer"), Hayden Panettiere ("Wake Up Call"),  The Game & Lil Wayne ("My Life"), Bob Dylan ("Dreamin' Of You") and Raphael Saadiq ("Love That Girl").

 

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Michael Stipe's Bronze Gods are Technological Objects of Change

Fashion designer Rogan is opening a new boutique in New York, and New York magazine reports that R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe will be having something of an art show there, exhibiting some bronze sculptures he did of cameras and music devices. Said Stipe:

"The radio alarm clock … changed forever the fragile state between sleeping and waking, allowing you to wake to your favorite radio station … The polaroid [one shot and sx70] revolutionized photography by providing instant images available to anyone … Cassettes provided portable, compact music, altering forever the influence of radio as the individual became their own disc jockey."

The objects are not for sale but if you go on the 27th you can pick up a Rogan Stipe T-shirt.

Previously
Michael Stipe Has Had Enough of the Fear and the Arrogance [tr]
Michael Stipe Has an Announcement to Make [tr]

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Music News: Matt Lauer Interviews Kylie Minogue, Plus Jesse McCartney, Fall Out Boy, George Michael

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

Between R.E.M., George Michael and Kylie Minogue, it's a gay ol' week as far as new music releases. Kylie's X finally officially drops in the U.S. today, after making a brief three-week appearance on iTunes back in February.

Australia's "singing budgie" is doing stateside promotion all week for X -- including performances of new single "All I See" tonight on Dancing With The Stars, tomorrow on the Late Late Show With Craig Ferguson and then Thursday on Ellen -- and yesterday she sat down for an interview with the Today Show's Matt Lauer.

During their chat, Kylie responded to rumors that she'll soon marry French actor Olivier Martinez, tried to explain her elusive chart success in America and instructed Lauer on how he'll have to greet her once she's awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) this summer by the Queen of England.

The U.S. version of X contains an extra mix of "All I See," featuring rapper Mims.

SEEING DOUBLE: The pixelated cover of Jesse McCartney's new album Departure, due out May 20, might evoke some "rude" thoughts from Robbie Williams.

Amy Winehouse to appear alongside David Tennant on Dr. Who? April Fool's!

Following suit with Madonna, U2 have signed a 12-year deal with concert promoting firm Live Nation, though Universal will continue to distribute the Irish band's actual music. Says Bono of Live Nation, who has managed U2's tours for three decades: "We've been dating for over 20 years now. It's about time we tied the knot."

U.K. gossip site Digital Spy finds Beyoncé, Limp Bizkit, Sugababes, Steps, Fiona Apple, Blink 182 and Michael Jackson all have one thing in common: they've got the worst album titles of our times.

Think you've got what it takes to remix Radiohead? Five separate tracks from their new single "Nude" are up for purchase on iTunes, and buyers are encouraged to create and upload their own GarageBand creation to Radioheadremix.com. Net surfers have to May 1 to vote for their favorite mix on the site.

Fall Out Boy's plan to gig on every continent within two weeks falls apart. FOB frontman Pete Wentz: “It’s an utter disappointment… I read [on the MTV Newsroom blog] someone compared it to Geraldo opening Capone's vault, but it's worse than that, because, like, Capone's stuff is in there, you just can't get the light on. There's no spin for it; we got two hours away from Antarctica and we can't go.”

POP BLOG WATCH: Miss feeling like a clove-smoking, coffee-drinking teenage girl running rampant in the record store? Hit up Eurovision- and Swede-obsessed Poster Girl.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

George Michael's Twenty Five, a two-disc collection of various hits -- including four from Wham! -- and six songs previously unreleased in the U.S. The deluxe edition contains Michael's music videos.

R.E.M.'s 14th album Accelerate, produced by Jacknife Lee.

Moby's Last Night, which finds him returning to his dance roots.

A Town And Two Cities, the debut from British alt rockers Your Vegas. They also have a line of fashion accessories coming to U.S. Bloomingdale's.

Van Morrison's Keep It Simple, his 33rd studio album, and first since 1999.

Attack & Release, from Akron, Ohio blues-rock duo The Black Keys.

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Michael Stipe Has Had Enough of the Fear and the Arrogance

Michael Stipe talks to The Huffington Post's Scott Thill, and though back in January he told Sirius' Jane Pratt that for some unknown reason Mike Huckabee's charms were luring him in, this time Stipe makes it clear to Thill that he's a Democrat.

Says Stipe: "I'm for Barack Obama all the way. The Clinton campaign has took a desperate turn and has, I think, shown its true colors. How dare they use fear against Americans after these past seven years? I'm really tired of politicians telling me what to be afraid of. On the other hand, Obama is hopeful, grounded and clearly intelligent. He is, relatively, an outsider to the beholden D.C. club, and I think that is what America is calling out for; not a career politician but a true outsider candidate. He represents I think the true spirit of the beginning of the 21st century. Looking back, I feel like we've all had enough of the fear and the arrogance, and losing our place in the world. Our very big idea of a country and democracy has been brought to a near end by very small people."

Stipe and R.E.M. performed this morning in New York's Rockefeller Center for the Today show. That performance, and interview, is AFTER THE JUMP...

You may have missed...
Michael Stipe Has an Announcement to Make [tr]
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Michael Stipe Has an Announcement to Make

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News: Michael Stipe, Tel Aviv, Anthony Minghella, China and Tibet

China closes off media access, shuts down YouTube, CNN, and Google amid violent crackdown in Tibet. China has also begun parading Tibetan prisoners on military trucks in Lhasa. Dalai Lama threatens to step down...

Michael Stipe comes out? "It was super complicated for me in the ’80s. I was totally open with the band and my family and my friends and certainly the people I was sleeping with. I thought it was pretty obvious. Now I recognize that to have public figures be very open about their sexuality helps some kid somewhere out there."

GLAAD hands out media awards in New York; Barbara Walters, Judy Shepard, Brian Graden and films The Bubble and For the Bible Tells Me So all honored. Who was there?

Oscar-winning director Anthony Minghella dies at 54: "Minghella's publicist, Jonathan Rutter, said the filmmaker died at London's Charing Cross Hospital. He said Minghella was operated on last week for a growth in his neck, 'and the operation seemed to have gone well. At 5 a.m. today he had a fatal hemorrhage.'"

Pennsylvania senate proposes amendment banning gay marriage: "Constitutional amendment legislation failed in the last legislative session but is being considered anew in the current session. During a Senate committee hearing, Maggie Gallagher, President of the National Organization for Marriage, said an amendment to the state constitution would protect against a judge’s ruling that could strike down state law defining marriage as between a man and woman…'It’s not a fantasy that this could happen. It is happening – it’s happened in New Jersey, it’s happened in Connecticut' Gallagher was speaking to Republican Senator Jane Earll of Erie, skeptical of the need for a constitutional amendment: 'We are going to hold our constitution hostage to the wackiest judge in some other state. I just think that amending the constitution is a very drastic measure.'"

Janet Jackson opens wide for Black Book.

Tel Aviv hoping to attract more gay tourists.

Richard I slept in the same bed with French King Phillip II but it wasn't a gay thing: "It was an accepted political act, nothing sexual about it; just two politicians literally getting into bed together, a bit like a modern-day photo opportunity."

Chad Allen, Janeane Garofalo, Rebecca Gayheart, Soleil Moon Frye, Patrick Muldoon and Brad Rowe team up for gay indie screwball comedy For Better or For Worse: "Frye will play the lesbian minister presiding over the ceremony at the home of one groom's mother (Ruta Lee). The guests include the jilted ex of one of the grooms and his new beau (Muldoon and Allen), a closeted neighbor (Stanley Kamel), a wallflower sister (Gayheart), a family-man brother (Rowe) and his nanny (Garofalo), who has a bombshell to drop."

Ch-ch-ch-changes. Spot the differences in Ryan Seacrest 2.0.

Brazil gets another new gay magazine.

Hugh Jackman spends more time naked than dressed.

Anti-gay graffiti causes stir in Northern California town of Fortuna: "A Fortuna resident noticed anti-homosexual words painted on several mailboxes on her street and filed a police report Thursday. The derogatory words, 'fag' and 'gay,' made her so irate, it took her more than an hour to stop shaking, she said. The Fortuna Police Department is treating the vandalism as a hate crime because the intent was likely to express hate, FPD Sgt. Jack Bernstein said. 'It’s concerning for us to have something like this.'"

Police officers punished in Austin, Texas after remarks: "Cmdr. Calvin Smith, who has worked for the department for 34 years and supervises the Austin police training academy, told the fellow commander that he was worried about the 'kind of message' the potential transfer of a gay female officer would send at the academy, which already had two lesbians working there, according to a disciplinary memo. Cmdr. Larry Oliver was fired for failing to report the comments, even though he later confirmed to investigators that he thought Smith was referring to 'their being lesbians,' a disciplinary memo said. He was fired after refusing Acevedo's offer of a 30-day suspension."

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Music News: Madonna Inducted Into The Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame, Plus Duffy, David Archuleta, Ferras

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

Along with John Mellencamp, Leonard Cohen and the Dave Clarke Five, Madonna was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame last night. When all was said and done, Justin Timberlake threw out a barrage of sexual innuendos and even a few jabs at Britney Spears ("The world is full of Madonna wannabes -- I might have dated a couple.") in his intro, Iggy Pop performed "Burning Up" and "Ray Of Light" and Madge herself laced a recounting of 25 years in the biz with several F bombs.

Justin's story about Madonna making him drop his pants and giving him a shot in the rear when he got sick while working on her new album Hard Candy (due out April 29) is one of the highlights making the rounds in the news reports of the event.

YouTuber MadonaGlamxxx posted the above clips along with the second part of Madonna's speech and Iggy Pop's performance, which ends with him meeting up with her in the kitchen of the venue to walk to the press room.

Madonna also paid tribute to Liz Rosenberg, who has been her publicist for her entire career: "Does anybody understand the insanity of being my publicist for the last 25 years? I think Liz was smoking a joint when I first met her. Yeah. I walked into her office and she very politely stubbed it out in the ashtray. I don't think she knew I thought she was smoking a joint, but it was a little bit obvious. Anyway, we hit it off right away. She was my kind of girl -- tough, irreverent and funny -- and we've had a long and amazing chunk of time together. After dealing with all the nutcases she's had to deal with and putting out all the fires she's had to put out, it's kind of amazing that she's not shooting up heroin."

Interestingly, one person not mentioned at all by the 49-year-old singer in her speech was her husband, Guy Ritchie, who was not present at the induction ceremony.

In other news, the apparent single cover artwork for "4 Minutes To Save The World" (or maybe just "4 Minutes") has been revealed.

British blue-eyed soul singer Duffy, whose single "Mercy" has held the #1 position on the U.K. pop chart for the past month, finally makes it to these shores. Sure, she's coming in on the heels of Amy Winehouse, but the song's slinky "Yeah, yeah, yeah..." refrain is practically the antithesis of the boozy "No, no, no!" in Amy's "Rehab." At the very least, check out "Mercy" since it's the free download of the week on iTunes. Her full album Rockferry, also currently #1 in England, gets a stateside release in April.

While reporting on a burgeoning backlash against him, the Los Angeles Times writes a valentine to 17-year-old American Idol contestant David Archuleta (pictured right): "His enormous, obvious-even-to-the-tone-deaf vocal gifts have at times made him look like nothing so much as that beloved of show-biz trope, the competition-crushing prodigy: Think Tom Hulce as Mozart in Amadeus."

Despite rumors, Apple not quite ready to take a bite out of The Beatles.

R.E.M.'s Accelerate to hit Facebook a week ahead of its release date.

THE WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

Last month I posted a clip of 25-year-old singer/songwriter Ferras performing his song "Hollywood's Not America" on The Today Show. Truth be told, his album Aliens & Rainbows, out today, contains far better material. If you don't want to take chance on the whole thing (though it's only $7.99 on iTunes), check out the early-Elton John and Bowie-esque title track, along with the power pop numbers "My Beautiful Lie" and "Something About You."

Randy Jackson's Music Club, Volume One also surfaces today. It contains Paula Abdul's current single, "Dance Like There's No Tomorrow."

Snoop Dogg's ninth studio album, the 21-track Ego Trippin', was reported to originally contain collaborations with Bono, Mick Jagger and Madonna. None of those made it on the set.

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Towleroad Guide to the Tube #249

HE'S BACK: Ralph Nader announced his candidacy for president in 2008 on Sunday's Meet the Press.

BILL KRISTOL: NYT columnist recommends Hillary use "the politics of fear" to puncture the euphoria surrounding the Obama campaign.

NATHAN LANE: His appearance on Friday's Late Night with Conan O'Brien.

R.E.M.: Their new single "Supernatural Superserious".

Check out our previous guides to the Tube here.

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Michael Stipe Hearts Huckabee, But He's Not Sure Why

REM frontman and gay vegetarian Michael Stipe recently confessed to being seduced by Mike Huckabee. He told Jane Pratt on her Sirius radio show:

"I've never seen the guy [Huckabee] talk, not even online. I have never seen him talk for 30 seconds...[and] he's really charming. I instantly wanted to call [Generation X author] Doug Coupland and say 'OK, project one year into the future for me: what the hell does this mean?' Because he's a creationist, he's a Baptist minister. I can't think of probably a single issue in which I am even remotely in the same universe as that guy.and yet, he was kind of charming and self-deprecating. He was actually kind of a good sport, and funny, and I don't know what that means. Maybe it's a good thing that's he's being lauded right now by the right. He's an evangelical. May God bless all living creatures but my god, how weird."

Do your homework.

Recently
Flashback: Huckabee Congratulates Canadians on Their Igloo [tr]
Huckabee: Aberrant, Sinful Behavior of Gay People is a Choice [tr]
Huckabee on Having Gays in His White House: Absolutely, Why Not? [tr]
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News: Chris Richardson, Michael Stipe, Wyoming, Episcopalians

Lesbian couple denied communion in Wyoming because they publicly opposed a bill that would have barred the state from recognizing out-of-state same-sex marriages: "Leah Vader and Lynne Huskinson have attended Saint Matthew's Catholic Church since 1998, and were married two years ago in Canada. Earlier this year, when the Legislature considered a bill that would have barred Wyoming from recognizing such marriages, the two said the bill amounted to discrimination. Last week, they got a letter from the Reverend Cliff Jacobson of Saint Matthew's, telling them they can no longer receive communion, in part because of their public position."

Michael Stipe was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last night. EW celebrates Stipe's many looks over the years.

Andrew Sullivan demands answers from Human Rights Campaign over budget, membership numbers, and political affiliations of its board members.

Episcopal minister in gay marriage protest. Rev. Robert Hirschfeld, rector of Grace Episcopal Church in Amherst, Massachusetts, says he'll stop performing all marriage ceremonies to protest the denomination's stance against same-sex unions. Said Nina Scott, a congregant: "I'm so proud to be a part of this. It's a step that needs to be taken."

Leonardo DiCaprio's arrival in Israel inspires near riots.

Whitney Houston begins work on comeback album.

Amid criticism from "pro-family" and religious groups, the largest school district in Indiana is ready to adopt broad rights and protections for its gay and lesbian employees. Superintendent Eu gene White: "They're not living in reality. If we do know people are gay, we want to make sure we extend to them the same freedoms and liberties we give to everyone else. We wanted to be more inclusive."

Would you like fries with that Idol? QueerClick fawns over Chris Richardson and Blake Lewis. (Caution Site NSFW)

Ricky Schroder joins cast of 24.

Bill to ban gay adoption and foster parenting advances in Arkansas: "Testifying before the committee Monday, former foster child Barbara Miles of Little Rock said the bill puts political considerations ahead of the needs of children and further reduces the chances for a home, paternal love and stability for those children. 'I had 10 different foster parents (none of whom were gay) in three different states before I was adopted at age 10,' Miles said in an interview after the meeting. 'What got me through that was that I was able to find and establish relationships with a few people who showed me unconditional love and care. To deny a child a family because politics eliminates an entire category of people is inappropriate.'"

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News: Suri Cruise, DC Murder, Tennessee Williams

DC killing of attorney Robert Wone in home of gay rights lawyer is probed after evidence doesn't add up: "While processing the crime scene inside 1509 Swann St., NW, technicians were able to determine that the crime scene had been tampered with, including that the area where the victim’s body was located had been cleaned."

Warhol "Beautiful People" exhibition to open in East Hampton.

So far, JonBenet murder confession raises more questions than answers. Jeffrey Toobin: "Is he a guilty sicko or an innocent wacko?"

Vanity Nightmare? From the email newsletter popbitch: "A source from the Vanity Fair shoot of Suri Cruise says the baby looks enough like Cruise and Holmes for their parentage to be plausible, but that it is a bit of a runt, and required 21 days of photography, plus three days of digital touching-up, before the magazine and celebrity parents had a cover image they liked."

Stipe and Douglas shop together, stroll, nibble gelato on Italian date.

Poll: cracks appearing in Bush NASCAR support.

The Parade or Approaching the End of a Summer: Unproduced autobiographical Tennessee Williams play set in Provincetown is to have its world premiere there on October 1st.

Martina Navratilova has urged Lance Bass to become a role model in a letter to People magazine: "Coming out to your family and friends is hard enough; to do so to the world is a lot harder. I know, as I took this step more than 25 years ago...So as our fight for equality continues, I will not be surprised to one day see Lance Bass marching with the rest of us, right there in the front row." If anyone has a copy of People, feel free to post the full text of the letter in the comments.

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Tuned In

Blue, a lost album of Diana Ross singing standards, is set to be released on June 20, 35 years after it was recorded. The album was shelved to make way for Ross' album Touch Me in the Morning.

Morrissey sounds none too happy about the rumors he and REM frontman Michael Stipe had an affair: "That's absolute [bleep], absolute [bleep], and I don't know why people ever said that. Do you?"

Kylie Minogue made a return to the stage for a brief performance with her sister Dannii at London club G-A-Y. Her appearance reportedly caused a "thunderous ovation."

Fresh new pop from Puffy AmiYumi.

Strength in numbers? The Spice Girls are set to release a comeback track to mark the 10th anniversary of their first hit. The song, "Woman", has already been recorded and may mark a return for the group, whose members have had varying success since they went off on their own.

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