Music News: Nas Protests Fox News, Plus Fleetwood Mac, Miley Cyrus, Lady GaGa, Pink

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

Calling Fox News a "propaganda machine," rapper Nas stood outside the Manhattan offices of the network yesterday and held a protest that was organized by ColorOfChange.org against what is believed to be a racist smear campaign against the Barack Obama campaign.

You can watch an MTV News report in the video below, but here is the gist of Nas' speech: "We already knew that Fox is not a news network; they are a propaganda machine. But their racist attacks have gone way too far. Calling Michelle Obama 'Barack's baby mama'—tell me, is that acceptable? Is that racist? Bill O'Reilly saying a 'lynching party' for Michelle Obama might be legit if she has the wrong political opinions. Is that acceptable? Is that flat-out racist?

"Is this hate-mongering and fear-mongering at its worst? ... Fox's pattern of race-baiting and fear-mongering regularly focuses on black leaders, black institutions and ordinary black people. Like when they used the solemn occasion of Coretta Scott King's funeral to call black leaders racist — that's not acceptable. It's offensive to black Americans, and it's offensive to all Americans."

Following the protest, Fox issued the following, somehwhat defiant, statement: "Fox News believes in all protesters exercising their right to free speech, including Nas, who has an album to promote."

Looks like there are still "7 things" people love about Miley Cyrus, despite all the recent scandals the 15-year-old has endured. Billboard notes that while Nas has the #1 album this week, Cyrus has a slight lead with Breakout over Sugarland's latest to grab the top position on next week's chart after first day sales of 110,000.

Jive announced yesterday that Pink's fifth album (not yet titled) will be released October 28, and will be preceded by the single "So What," which will be available digitally mid-August. "So What" was written by Pink and produced by Max Martin," who also twiddled the knobs on her hits "U + Ur Hand" and "Who Knew."

Does Amy Winehouse's dad prefer the troubled singer's waxwork to the real thing? "We're going to take this Amy home with us and send the real one back," he said, possibly joking. "This one does what she's told—and she doesn't move." He then added: "She's put on a lot of weight. She's eating and concentrating on her new album, so she's doing pretty well."

Fleetwood Mac to tour in 2009, sans Christine McVie (and Sheryl Crow).

New laws in Russia are set to ban emo.

Saint Etienne will release a new version of "Burnt Out Car" as a single in September, as well as three different versions of London Conversations: The Best Of Saint Etienne—one of which will be "a 3 disc set in a beautiful book cover with a dvd of all our promo vids."

You may recall Lady GaGa's performance of "Just Dance" at the Miss Universe competition from two weeks back. She also wrote the New Edition duet that will appear on the upcoming New Kids On The Block album: “I wrote a song on the album and I’m a featured singer on a song called 'Big Boy, Big Girl.' The album will surprise people. It’s completely futuristic – new, now and contemporary. There is nothing jaded or old about it. It’s them doing 2008.”

THE WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

The Deluxe Fan Edition of country duo Sugarland's third album, Love On The Inside, featuring a cover of Dream Academy's '80s hit, "Life In A Northern Town." Billboard reports that after first-day sales of over 100,000 copies, Love On The Inside is neck-and-neck with Miley Cyrus' Breakout to debut at #1 next week.

Futurism, a DJ set from Danny Tenaglia.

Donkey, the second album from Brazilian act Cansei De Ser Sexy (also known as CSS).

Partie Traumatic, the debut from Black Kids, one of Rolling Stone's "one's to watch in 2008."

"So Much Better," a single from MTV's Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search For Elle Woods winner Bailey Hanks.

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Music News: Frankmusik, Rihanna, NKOTB, Beatles iPod

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

Frankmusik is the electro-music project of 22-year-old London remixer Vincent Frank, an upcoming artist in his own right who recently finished a U.K. tour with Sam Sparro and Alphabeat.

In an interview last month with Click Music, Vincent spoke about working with Stuart Price (who is currently working on the Killers' third set) on his debut Frankmusik album: "Because the album's not coming out until March 2009, I've got Stuart Price working on the record. I could namedrop the fact that, you know, he did Madonna's last album... but I don't need to... sorry. [laughs]. He's very, very, very talented, and very successful, and I think he sees a bit of me in him, when he was younger. He's very inspiring to work with, and there's no ego, and there's no bullshit, like a lot of big producers can have, when you go into their studio, and take up their time - this is very much an us project. He's gone to America to do The Killers' album, when he comes back in July, we'll be working on mine for about three weeks.

In the meantime, a track called "In Step" is available from U.K. iTunes. (Here on the U.S. store, you can download the tracks "Perfect Symmetry" and "Time Keeps Movin'" by Baby Origami and Frankmusik.)

This is the recently released video for "In Step":

Emo poster children Fall Out Boy record a duet with rapper T.I., which bassist Pete Wentz describes as sounding like "something from The Nightmare Before Christmas."

Rihanna to be the face of Gucci's new UNICEF charity campaign. In the meantime, the pop diva appears on the cover of In Style's August issue, where she talks about her own look, and being inspired by Grace Jones: "It has evolved without my even noticing it. Lately I’m obsessed with Thierry Mugler…Grace Jones inspires me…she has extraordinary style and she’s fearless. I love designer Martin Margiela: Kanye West told me about him. I also like Dsquared, Chloé, Zac Posen—he makes flattering lines."

First New Edition and now Michael Jackson: If reports are to be believed—and at this point, nothing's shocking—the onetime King Of Pop is recording a duet with New Kids On The Block. "It's very exciting, says 38-year-old Kid, Donnie Wahlberg. "It's one big party and everyone wants to join us."

Bloomingdales will offer a limited-edition Beatles iPod during the holiday season, stocked with every song from the band's back catalog. Of course, by limited, I mean there will only be 100 available. The Fab Four's songs are still unavailable on iTunes, but Bloomingdales recently acquired the rights to Beatles images from Apple Records.

Any bedroom DJ can become Mariah Carey's top MySpace friend.

After not appearing on television since 1975, legendary rock act Rush to do The Colbert Report. Says Stereogum, "The best part of all this, of course, is that thanks to Stephen's tendency to interview bands post-performance, we'll finally get to stop wondering if Geddy Lee speaks like an ordinary guy."

It's not out stateside till Friday, but Mamma Mia! has already topped the U.K. box office in its opening weekend.

THE WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

The ninth studio album from Nas, Untitled. Somewhat controversially, the set was originally to be called Ni**er.

Madonna's "Give It 2 Me" remix EP.

John Mellencamp's folk rock album, Life, Death, Love And Freedom, available on iTunes and at a Starbucks near you (as it's on the Hear Music label).

Australian diva Delta Goodrem's U.S. debut, Delta.

Former American Idol contestant Ace Young's self-titled set.

Rockin'! It's Foreigner's No End In Sight: The Very Best Of...

New singles from the Jonas Brothers ("Pushin' Me Away"), The Cure ("Down Under"), Pat Green ("Let Me") and Lil Mama ("What It Is").

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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.

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Music News: Jay-Z Burns Oasis At Glastonbury, George Michael, Annie, Kurt Cobain, Sam Sparro, Labelle

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

Jay-Z headlined England's famed Glastonbury festival on Saturday, a controversial move given the rock-heavy bill the event usually touts. Perhaps no one was more vocal about their disdain for Hova as headliner than Noel Gallagher of Oasis: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If you start to break it then people aren't going to go. I'm sorry, but Jay-Z? No chance."

In turn, the rapper and music mogul clearly wowed the crowd with his opening song choice: a cover of "Wonderwall."

On a bit more tame note -- well, lately, at least -- George Michael brought his 25 Live tour to The Forum in Los Angeles on Wednesday. It was the first time he's played L.A. since 1988.

Just before the final encore, in which he performed "Freedom '90," Michael was surprised by Bo Derek, who walked on stage to give him a birthday cake as his band played "Happy Birthday." The London-born singer is 45.

Enough about Jay-Z...what were the reviews like for Sam Sparro's appearance at Glastonbury?

Word on the street has it that Norwegian pop blondie Annie, of "Chewing Gum" fame, has got a new EP out. Towleroad vehemently looks down upon illegal filesharing, but something tells me that if you typed in "Annie" and "EP" into a search engine, you might be taking the first step to finding out more information on this bit of noise.

This Delicate Film We've Made, a live concert DVD containing the last night of Darren Hayes' 2007 tour, will be released from his own Powdered Sugar Productions on July 22.

Creole Lady Marmalade! All three original members of seminal '70s funk-glam trio LaBelle are set to reunite for their first album together since 1976. The group will also perform this Saturday during the Essence Festival -- where else -- down in ol' New Orleans.

London's Madame Tussauds Wax Museum will unveil a statue of Amy Winehouse later this year: "We are really pleased to be creating Amy; she is a real icon in mondern British music, a continual award winner and an internationally recognized star widely requested by our guests.

So imagine if a bunch of Alanis Morissette fans got together online and did karaoke to try to win free concert tickets...

Did you know you can now purchase Converse sneakers from Nordstrom with writing from Kurt Cobain's journals on them? This seems like something to get up in arms over, but if Courtney Love says it's ok, then... Oh, well. Whatever. Nevermind.

Aerosmith's Steven Tyler finally admits he checked into rehab to recover from more than just foot surgery: "I don't know about (guitarist) Joe (Perry) but I was off and running and I didn't like the me that was me. This was a month ago, so I just put the brakes on and checked into detox and just pulled the plug on all of it."

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Where The Light Is, a live CD/DVD from John Mayer recorded at Los Angeles' Nokia Theater.

High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens' second solo effort, Identified.

R.E.M.'s iTunes-only set, Live: From London.

Love To Make Music To, from L.A.-based electronica producer Daedelus.

New singles from The Faint ("The Geeks Were Right"), LL Cool J ("Baby") and Lee Ann Womack ("Last Call").

Guilt, a new EP from Sheffield indie band The Long Blondes.

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Music News: Rihanna To Star In Gay-Themed Mama Black Widow, Plus Yaz, Robyn, Lollapalooza 2008

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

"One early evening during the first week of February in 1969 I visited Otis Tilson. He was an incredibly comely and tragic homosexual queen with whom I had been acquainted for most of the twenty-five years that I had been a black pimp in Chicago, Illinois."

Thus begins Robert "Iceberg Slim" Beck's classic and long-out-of-print 1969 novel, Mama Black Widow, a fictional memoir of a "black queen adrift with his brothers and sisters in the dark ghetto world of pimpdom and violent crime." In addition to Mos Def and Macy Gray, Rihanna has been cast in the film adaptation, due out in 2009. Mama Black Widow will be her acting debut.

Darren Grant, director of music videos by Destiny's Child ("Bills, Bills, Bills", "Survivor") and Jewel ("Standing Still") is directing the film. As for "comely and tragic" Otis, Brian J. White is cast in that role. White previously played gay in the 2005 Sarah Jessica Parker flick, The Family Stone, and the leader of a step-dancing fraternity in last year's Stomp The Yard.

   Want a second chance at tickets to Yaz's sold-out Reconnected Tour?

   Robyn will be Madonna's opening act for eight of the Material Girl's August and September European dates.

   Coldplay's new album, Viva La Vida Or Death And All His Friends, gets its U.S. release today. The set was made available in England last Thursday, and over its three-day sales weekend moved 302,000 copies and easily topped the U.K. chart on Sunday. Meanwhile, minor controversy arised recently when Brooklyn band the Creaky Boards claimed Chris Martin and Co. knicked the melody of one of their songs, claiming the Coldplay frontman was seen grooving in the audience last year at one of their New York shows.

   Duffy apparently left in tears after a run-in with Johnny Rotten. On a more positive note for the Welsh singer, she's rumored to be recording the new James Bond theme.

   Five years after Hotel Paper, Michelle Branch's third solo album to be released by year's end.

   The Lollapalooza 2008 lineup and schedule has been posted.

   TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Katy Perry's One Of The Boys. Her single "I Kissed A Girl" is currently the top download at iTunes.

Rise And Fall, Rage And Grace, the eighth studio album from The Offspring.

Remixes for Alanis Morissette's single, "Underneath," featuring turns by Josh Harris, Morgan Page and John Dahlback.

Nostradamus, a concept album revolving around said prophet, by Judas Priest.

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Music News: Alanis Morissette, Jennifer Hudson, Mint Royale, Lily Allen, U2

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

Alanis Morissette's first studio album in four years, Flavors Of Entanglement -- on which she worked with British producer Guy Sigsworth -- hits retail and online stores today. Most reviews are echoing each other in saying, quite simply, it's the best thing she's done since Jagged Little Pill. Perhaps it's because Alanis (seen above performing at the "Rock in Rio" music festival in Lisbon last month) creates her best when she's been scorned?

The new album, for the most part, covers Morissette's breakup with actor Ryan Reynolds (pictured right), whom she was with for two years and eventually engaged to, and the aftermath. Reynolds is now engaged to Scarlett Johansson.

The 34-year-old singer talked to the Los Angeles Times about the emotions that fueled the making of the album: "I think it's the straw that breaks the camel's back. It's having had too many of them. And I was a full-blown love addict, so it was like, 'I can't keep doing this, my body can't take it.' Breakups are a horrible thing for almost everybody I know. For someone who is a love addict, it's debilitating.

"I've been on a constant journey toward finally surrendering and hitting the rock bottom that I've been avoiding my whole life. . . . So this was a huge, critical juncture for me. Everything broke, and it was an amazing and horrifying time."

I can see how you'd be pretty bummed if Ryan Reynolds was the one that got away.

It's worth noting that Alanis also seems to have gotten a bit more electronic on this album, though the results are a bit more Björk than Kylie.

Ne-Yo "radio-izes" Jennifer Hudson.

Lily Allen says Big Brother is watching her in the U.S.: "She was terrified to be photographed anywhere that people may have been taking drugs in case she got linked to them. She even started staying in instead of going out clubbing in case certain people got the wrong idea." Gosh, these really are tough times for everyone.

Janet Jackson claims Island Def Jam have jumped ship on her latest album after single "Rock With U" failed to chart, and that she's now unable to visit Europe on her upcoming tour. The label's response: "Unfortunately we haven't experienced the results we would have liked with this new album. But we respect and support Janet."

Here's 14-year-old Mancunian street dancer George Sampson and his winning performance on Britain's Got Talent, which sent Mint Royale's remix of "Singin' In The Rain" to the top of the U.K. chart this week:

Download the new CSS single, "Rat Is Dead (Rage)" for free.

U2's manager Paul McGuinness says Radiohead's decision to offer the band's In Rainbows album on a pay-what-you-want basis online backfired, and that Bono and Co. will not be following suit with their new set, due out this fall. "Sixty to 70% of the people who downloaded the record stole it anyway, even though it was available for free," McGuinness tells the BBC. "We will obviously work with whatever technology is available to make the release of the new record as interesting as possible. [But] for U2, physical sales are still an enormous part of our business and we still sell a lot of actual CDs."

His name is Prince. And he is 50.

THIS WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

New singles from The Cure ("All Kinds Of Stuff"), Jennifer Hudson ("Spotlight"), Peter Gabriel ("Down To Earth") and Robin Thicke ("Magic").

Martha Wainwright's second album, I Know You're Married But I've Got Feelings Too, which features a cover of the Eurythmics' "Love Is A Stranger."

Wallflowers' frontman Jakob Dylan's solo album, Seeing Things, produced by Rick Rubin.

Keeping with the "seeing" theme, N.E.R.D.'s third set, Seeing Sounds, is also out.

Evil Urges, the fifth album from My Morning Jacket.

The U.S. release of Supergrass' Diamond Hoo Ha, which has been out in Europe for several months.

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Music News: Aimee Mann, Prince, Radiohead, Gavin Rossdale, Daft Punk, Austin City Limits

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

Low alto vocals delivering bar-raising lyrics in a semi-monotone manner? Must be time for a new Aimee Mann album! Coinciding with the release of her latest LP @#%&! Smilers yesterday, Mann did an in-store performance at L.A.'s Amoeba record store. You can stream the show at the Amoeba website.

As well, Cafe Largo, long the somewhat resident Los Angeles venue of performers like Mann and Jon Brion, recently relocated from Fairfax Avenue to the 280-seat Coronet Theater on La Cienega Boulevard. Aimee performed at the new location Monday night with Brion accompanying her.

You can also check out Blackbook's feature on indie artists (including Mann) who are changing the sound of movies: " As Mann can attest, it is far more common for songwriters, especially ones with cult followings, to find themselves in the baffling quicksand of 'work-for-hire'.”

The cover of Radiohead's "Creep" that Prince rocked out at Coachella last month has now been removed from YouTube at the command of the purple, copyright-crazy one. Instead it's been replaced with this.

Radiohead's two-disc Best Of, covering all the band's output on Capitol/EMI, was released yesterday along with an accompanying DVD. In addition, the British rock group's back catalog finally sees the light of day on iTunes this week. Now if only the Beatles' music would follow suit. And, er, Garth Brooks...

Also out this week is WANDERLUST, the solo album from Gavin Rossdale (pictured right). And how is it, you might ask? Why, let's take a look at iTunes to see what the user Bob Dylan Rocks has to say in his one-star review titled "Crap": "Maybe someday Gwen will give him his balls back!!!!!!"

The True Colors Tour kicks off with a bang...and a striped pantsuit.

Pack your favorite T-shirt that you'll end up taking off at some point in the sweltering 95 degree weather -- the 2008 Austin City Limits festival lineup has been announced.

Daft Punk are in no hurry while they work on their new album.

And because you were probably worried about him, you should know that Kid Rock has sworn off celebrity relationships after Pam Anderson: "I got burnt too hard. I got completely thrown under the bus, no question about that. I don't want anything to do with the whole world she is in. It's a very dark place. I'm not going to get caught up in any of that [bleep] anymore ... those Hollywood relationships."

Ending on a fun note, here's the Bimbo Jones remix video for Danish pop act Alphabeat's "10,000 Nights" single, out now in the U.K. (Catch the un-remixed version here.)

OTHER NEW RELEASES THIS WEEK:

What is technically Weezer's third self-titled album (and their second record produced by Rick Rubin), also unofficially known as The Red Album.

The Declaration, Ashanti's first full-length set in four years.

Jewel's foray into country music, Perfectly Clear.

Indestructible, the fourth album from hard-rocking alt band Disturbed.

R&B/jazz singer Lalah Hathaway's new set, Self Portrait.

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Music News: Cyndi Lauper, Hercules And Love Affair, Smashing Pumpkins, Ne-Yo, CSS, Gorillaz

Photo taken at Splash NYC, courtesy "Workit" at the Cyndi Lauper Forum.

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

Cyndi Lauper shot the video for her next single, "Into The Nightlife," at New York's Splash nightclub on Tuesday last week, and there was an open call for extras. Did anyone make it?

"Into The Nightlife" is one of the tracks on Cyndi's new album Bring Ya To The Brink which she flew to Sweden to work on, this one being with the Murlyn production team's Peer Åström (who also co-wrote and co-produced Brink's "Echo"). While in Sweden, Lauper also worked with Andreas Kleerup (on "Lay Me Down"), who crafted Robyn's international hit "With Every Heartbeat," and Axwell ("Rain On Me").

The singer talked to Newsday about travelling abroad last year to work with the various co-writers and producers: "I wanted to go and experience life there. It really helped me as a writer. It's the first time I've taken a sabbatical to write, taking a sabbatical from being a mom and a wife, from this and that. It was just me, living a different life, having a moment for myself. It was extraordinary to me."

Other collaborators on the record include Basement Jaxx, The Scumfrog, Dragonette and U.S. songwriter, DJ and remixer, Richard Morel. Given the amount of cooks in the kitchen, if you ask me, Brink Ya To The Brink is a very mixed bag that actually works, give or take maybe two tracks. Personally, I keep hitting repeat on "Rain On Me"; you'd half expect to hear it chirping atop some high drama scene with Carrie in Sex And The City were it sill on. Oh well. There's always Grey's Anatomy.

In the meantime, Cyndi Lauper and Co. kick off the True Colors Tour this week. Here's a special message she taped for Towleroad readers about the concerts:

This week's free iTunes single of the week is "Blind" by Hercules And Love Affair, featuring Antony Hegarty of Antony And The Johnsons on vocals. Hercules And Love Affair is basically New York-based DJ Andy Butler's project, which features a rotating line-up of singers. "Blind" cracked the Top 40 in the U.K. earlier this year, and, curiously, Wikipedia notes that Butler "began his musical career at 15, DJing in a Denver leather bar run by a hostess called Chocolate Thunder Pussy." The act is signed to LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy's DFA Records.

Billy Corgan to celebrate the Smashing Pumpkins' (pictured left) 20th anniversary this fall with a handful of U.S. gigs and a collection of the band's early, unreleased recordings: "We're hoping to put out some early demos at the end of this year to start a rolling boxed set. There's an audience out there that wants to hear the fourth show we ever did with the song we only did that one time. Maybe it's only 500 people, but maybe you find a way."

Ne-Yo on writing for Lindsay Lohan's upcoming album: "We gave her a quality record and she did a ridiculously fabulous job."

Cansei de Ser Sexy, aka CSS, have added several U.S. dates to their summer tour. The Brazilian five-piece grew in popularity stateside last year after their song "Music Is My Hot, Hot Sex" was used in ads for Apple's iPod Touch.

The Sun claims that Sam Sparro says the following about Madonna in an interview for the June issue of U.K. gay mag, Attitude: "Madonna is wretched at the moment -- absolutely vulgar. Put it away! You're not young and sexy anymore. She went thoughtful and mature for a while, and now she's chucked it away in some desperate attempt at being hot again. It's just a bit vile." Then again, this is The Sun we're talking about...

American Idol winner David Cook dating former contestant Kimberly Caldwell?

Blogger Brad at MuuMuse waxes on why M83 stand out in the sea of New Wave revivalists.

Despite previously stating that their act won't be doing any new music, singer Damn Albarn and artist Jamie Hewlett, better known as cartoon band Gorillaz, have written theme music for the BBC's coverage of the Summer Olympics: "The idea is you tell the story of Journey to the West in a two-minute sequence. Their treatment will kick-start our coverage in a different, energetic way."

THIS WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

Usher's fifth album, Here I Stand, featuring guest vocals from Beyonce and Jay-Z.

Lay It Down, a new studio album from Al Green, on which he worked with The Roots' Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson.

Singles from the Pussycat Dolls ("When I Grow Up") and Timbaland protege Keri Hilson ("Energy").

The Sex And The City motion picture soundtrack, featuring Fergie, Jennifer Hudson, Nina Simone, Kaskade and Morningwood.

Songs In A&E, from English rockers Spiritualized. It's the band's first album since 2003, as frontman Jason Pierce fell seriously ill with a respiratory disease in 2005.

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Music News: How Gay Is Katy Perry? Plus, Nas, Pet Shop Boys, Jennifer Hudson, The Ting Tings

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

Beginning last year, I'd been getting pitches from a publicist dealing with online press for an artist called Katy Perry and her song "Ur So Gay." To be completely honest, I just didn't dig the song. But as the title might imply, I also started wondering whether or not I was right to feel a bit offended by the lyrical premise -- a female telling off her H&M scarf-wearing boyfriend with the insult, "You're so gay and you don't even like boys," implying that he'd rather spend time with his friends and "MySpace-ing," etc. I basically chalked it up to me being a bit uptight, the song not being my thing, and moved on.

But the pitches kept coming. Soon Katy was signed to Capitol Records, a major label, and the press releases started mentioning Perez Hilton was touting her as a next big thing for summer 2008. In an interview with Blender, Perry, who turns out to be a pastor's daughter, exclaims, "I'm completely outrageous and I'll do anything for attention!"

Now the singer's got a heavily-promoted single called "I Kissed A Girl" (not a Jill Sobule cover), though it doesn't have a video. But rather than expound upon what I think of a seemingly heterosexual 23-year-old woman singing about her drunken female conquest, "I don't even know your name, it doesn't matter/You're my experimental game," I thought I'd turn it over to see what you, the Towleroad reader, think.

Are Katy Perry's lyrics offensive, or are they just silly, gimmicky pop songs by a self-proclaimed attention seeker to be taken with a grain of salt? Clips of "Ur So Gay" and "I Kissed A Girl" are below.

Two things to think about: 1.) A bit of digging finds that Katy Perry released an album of Christian music a few years back under the name Katy Hudson. 2.) Would your thoughts on the level of offense, if any, be different if it were a straight male artist singing either song (particularly if the latter were "I Kissed A Boy")?

Incidentally, Katy Perry's album, One Of The Boys, is out in June.

Hip hop star Nas drops the original controversial title for his new album.

The Pet Shop Boys are working on new material with frequent Sugababes' collaborators Xenomania. Meanwhile, clips from a 2006 episode of U.K. program The South Bank Show on Dusty Springfield have popped up on YouTube, wherein the Boys discuss what it was like working with the singer on her 1991 album, Reputation.

Recording artist Ferras (pictured left) -- whose track "Hollywood's Not America" you likely recognize as this season's American Idol good-bye song -- took to his MySpace blog Friday to dedicate the new single "Liberation Day" to the overturning of California's ban on same-sex marriage: "YAY!!!!!!!!!! ITS LIBERATION DAY EVERYONE!!!! WAKE UP!!!!!! It's 'LIBERATION DAY' for GAY PEOPLE everywhere!!!! The road to liberation day has been a long one, filled with tears and a great fight, but one that thankfully does not include giving up hope. Today, the end of the road is a little bit closer. Today, two people in love can finally be recognized just like everyone else. Its about love, acceptance and life. This is not only about a piece of paper, its about human rights. Its about rejoicing in the beauty of each and every person living on this planet! Its about individuality and the right to exist! Gay people are citizens just like everyone else and should be afforded the same rights. Without recognizing gay marriage as a legitimate expression of love, partnership and equality, we are still living in the dark ages-communicating a message of intolerance and hate. It's 2008. Its a new time. A new era. A time to wake up and 'throw your illusions away.' May all beings rejoice and be happy, as we get one shot- one life- to be all we can be, be the best humans we can be and to love and be loved equally, as we all bleed the same blood. To all my gay and lesbian peeps- this ones for you. All my love and respect, FERRAS"

Darren Hayes will appear as a guest judge on the upcoming season of Austalian Idol, along with fellow Aussie Tina Arena. The London-based singer will help suss out talent in the U.K. for the program: "As an Australian entertainer living in London I definitely have a soft spot for Aussies trying to make it overseas. Rather than judging people, I'm going to be looking for that little bit of magic that someone once saw in me."

Janet Jackson's going on tour: "It will definitely be a big production but it will definitely also be something that I've never done before, that people have never seen from me before." Don't they all say that?

Jennnifer Hudson's album due out in September: "I think people will be pleasantly surprised, because it shows a side of my work that no one has heard before." Now, hold on a second...!

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

The Ting Tings' debut set, We Started Nothing. The dancey pop/rock duo have the current #1 single on the U.K. chart with "That's Not My Name," while they're also enjoying a sizeable stateside hit with "Shut Up And Let Me Go," thanks to its inclusion in an Apple commercial.

Donna Summer's Crayons, her first studio album of pop material since 1991's Mistaken Identity.

Stop Drop And Roll from Foxboro Hottubs. The big "secret" is that it's actually Green Day doing punk-infused, '60s-sounding bubblegum.

Liverpool electro quartet Ladytron's fourth LP, Velocifero.

Actress Scarlett Johansson's album of Tom Waits covers, Anywhere I Lay My Head.

Jesse McCartney's Departure. McCartney is currently enjoying the success of having co-written Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love" with OneRepublic's "Ryan Tedder."

New singles from Aimee Mann ("Freeway"), Solange ("I Decided, Pt. 2") and Judas Priest ("Visions").

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Music News: Cyndi Lauper Creates A Residence For Homeless LGBT Youth, Plus NIN, Jay-Z Vs. Oasis, Pete Burns, Ace Of Base

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

Many of you -- yes, that means you, buster --are probably reading this while at work. But while some of us are counting the minutes as the day wears on, as Cyndi Lauper points out in a Q&A with Newsweek, things could always be worse.

The singer discusses some of the odd jobs she had before she became a successful recording artist: "I tried to work in an office. Apparently, my clothes weren't right. I was a Gal Friday the 13th. I would answer phones and people would call up very upset. Then they'd call back screaming and yelling because I had to go to the file room and I would get sidetracked. I used to fall asleep reading the mail. I didn't want to. But it was so boring to me and I hated it."

One job Cyndi might be more happy to do is collaborating with Colleen Jackson and New York's West End Intergenerational Residence to create the True Colors Residence, "a permanent supportive housing program for homeless LGBT youth 18-24 years old."

Lauper notes in an open letter: "In New York City, a very disproportionate number (up to 40%), of homeless youth identify as LGBT. Even more disturbing are reports that these young people often face discrimination and at times physical assault in some of the very places they have to for help. This is shocking an inexcusable... We'll be building from the ground up so our residents will have a brand new, modern building with studio apartments for each resident and both indoor and outdoor community space to socialize or attend education and recreation programs. Each resident will be responsible for paying affordable rent based on their income and will receive ongoing assistance in obtaining employment best suited to their individual interests and skills."

As well, Cyndi Lauper's first studio album of original material in 11 years -- Bring Ya To The Brink -- will be released in two weeks, from Epic. The first single, "Same Ol' Story," was added to iTunes last week.

In 2001, Lauper was set to release an LP called Shine stateside, but plans with the label fell through, and the album eventually only saw the light of day in Japan, while she self-released an EP of some of the tracks domestically a year later.

Props to Towleroad reader Crispy, who in last week's music column commented that I forgot to mention Nine Inch Nails' digital release of new album The Slip, completely free of charge, on the band's website: "[lowercase sic] as a thank you to our fans for your continued support, we are giving away the new nine inch nails album one hundred percent free, exclusively via nin.com. the music is available in a variety of formats including high-quality MP3, FLAC or M4A lossless at CD quality and even higher-than-CD quality 24/96 WAVE. your link will include all options - all free. all downloads include a PDF with artwork and credits. for those of you interested in physical products, fear not. we plan to make a version of this release available on CD and vinyl in july. details coming soon."

As a fellow Western Pennsylvanian who grew up only a county away from him, I hope Trent Reznor can forgive me for not mentioning it sooner!

Can you name three reasons why Dannii is better than Kylie?

It's Jay-Z vs. Noel Gallagher over a "controversial" Glastonbury headlining gig: "We don't play guitars, Noel, but hip-hop has put in its work like any other form of music. This headline show is just a natural progression."

But if jetting off to England to see Oasis and Jay-Z's pissing contest isn't your thing, why not catch this summer's Regeneration Tour, headlined by the Human League and featuring Belinda Carlisle, ABC and Naked Eyes on the bill? Those heading to dates on the West Coast will be lucky enough to catch Pete Burns of Dead Or Alive, who's joining the tour from August 2 - 11.

Finally -- what we've all been waiting for! Gnarls Barkley's Cee Lo Green and Jack Black to cover disco classic "Kung Fu Fighting" for Dreamworks' Kung Fu Panda.

Not content to just give away their music for free, Coldplay now doing two gigs free of charge in New York and London next month.

Has it really been 14 years? Below is the video for the #1 single on Billboard's Hot 100 chart this week in 1994:

Jeez, and they thought life was demanding without understanding in the '90s...! Ace Of Base's "The Sign" initially spent four weeks at #1, beginning in March of '94, before being knocked off by R. Kelly's "Bump N' Grind." After a four-week stretch for the latter, "The Sign" returned to the top for two more weeks that May.

The Swedish quartet's same-titled album would go on to tie with Disney's Lion King soundtrack for the year's best-seller, at 7 million copies moved.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Death Cab For Cutie's Narrow Stairs. (And, hey, how about a new Postal Service album while you're at it, Ben?)

We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things., a collection of three EPs Jason Mraz had released in recent months.

New singles from the reunited New Kids On The Block ("Summertime") and Kaskade & Dedmau5 ("Move For Me").

Two new singles from The Cure (The Only One"" and "NY Trip"), who plan to release songs on the 13th of each month until the August release of their as-yet-untitled 13th album.

Brit blue-eyed soul singer Duffy's debut LP, Rockferry, which contains her current hit, "Mercy."

11, the appropriately-titled 11th studio album from Bryan Adams.

Hot Chip's four-song EP for single "One Pure Thought."

A remix EP for American Idol runner-up Blake Lewis' woefully overlooked "How Many Words."

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Music News: Coldplay Continue To Give Away Their Music, Plus Madonna, Donna Summer, Clay Aiken

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

Last week Coldplay offered up "Violet Hill," their first single off forthcoming album Viva La Vida, Or Death And All His Friends, as a free download for seven days on their official site. It was reportedly downloaded by two million people, where "It would have outsold the whole of last week's [UK] top 40 (singles) four times over." The band continue to give the track away this week -- at least in their home country -- as a 7" vinyl single packaged in with British rock journal New Musical Express.

NME usually washes up on these shores in bookstores and newsstands with an inflated import price. The Coldplay issue offers new photos of the band and a brand new look for the mag: "Not only have we launched a brand spanking new-look magazine this week that’s seen us strip everything back to let the words and photography shine through, we’ve also added a whole load of new features to give you even more news, bands and gigs than ever before. Plus, to top it all off, the pièce de résistance is a FREE, 7-inch vinyl copy of Coldplay’s new single, 'Violet Hill.'"

Back here in the States, "Violet Hill" and a "single edit" of new track, "Viva La Vida", were added to iTunes. The latter is being offered for free with pre-orders of the album.

Yee-owch! Here's an interview MTV's John Norris did with Madonna and Justin Timberlake. Madge doesn't seem too jazzed to be talking to Norris, as she gets a tad frosty with him toward the end. (Of course, that might expain why the awful, out-of-key singing moment was then used in the montage.)

Meanwhile, with first-week sales of 280,000, Billboard reports today that Madonna's Hard Candy has topped the album chart, giving her a seventh #1 on that tally. As far as female artists, only Barbra Streisand has had more chart-topping albums, with eight total.

Amongst others, Donna Summer worked with producer Greg Kurstin on Crayons, her first album of original material in 17 years (due out May 20). Kurstin recently produced tracks on Kylie Minogue's X. "Stamp Your Feet," the current single off Crayons, pretty much makes you wanna do just that, though they could have done without the video.

New Stephen King/John Mellencamp musical originally set for a 2009 debut has been delayed.

Last show ever by The Police to benefit New York arts, while the band also donates to Bloomberg's MillionTreesNYC.

In a one-star (out of five) review, the New York Daily News assesses Clay Aiken's new CD, On My Way Here: "From the new songs' lyrics, we discover that Aiken has 'seen the best and the worst' of life. He has walked 'through fire,' 'risen from the ashes' and felt 'the weight of the world' on his shoulders. Along the way, he also discovered that 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger,' which finally led him to realize, 'by the grace of God go I.'
If the universe holds any more survivor cliches, I've never heard them."

What are your iPod habits and desires?

THE WEEK'S NEW RELEASES:

"Take A Bow", a new single from Rihanna off the upcoming re-release of Good Girl Gone Bad. (Not a Madonna cover.)

Gavin DeGraw's self-titled third album.

Home Before Dark, Neil Diamond's latest set of original material, produced by Rick Rubin.

Sony's 20th anniversary enhanced CD/DVD version of Midnight Oil's Diesel And Dust.

The always-charming Toby Keith's 35 Biggest Hits.

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