The editors of Modern Tonic present a weekly music update here on Towleroad. The rest of the week, they scan the pop culture landscape for movie, TV, book and Web recommendations in their daily email. TODAY’S FEATURED NEW RELEASES:
We’ve been riding Lady Gaga’s disco shtick since the release of The Fame last year. The woman born Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta has shot to the forefront of gay consciousness with a combo of cheeky post-Madonna dance grooves and a sartorial sense that makes Björk’s Oscar night Swan dress look like a gingham hand-me-down. Gaga’s follow up, The Fame Monster, features 8 new tunes sold as a single disc or packaged with The Fame. (A super deluxe Fame Monsterbox set — to include a lock of her hair (!) — will be available December 15.) Highlights include the single "Bad Romance" (does Gaga have any other kind?), the Spanish-flecked "Alejandro" that’s like half Abba’s "Fernando" and half Madonna’s "La Isla Bonita," and the hi-NRG club jam "Telephone" featuring none other than Gaga’s latest BFF Beyoncé.
For once, the press was right. Christened 'Glambert' for his theatrical preening on last season's American Idol,
Adam Lambert brought a sexually ambiguous charisma to a set of stellar
pipes that knew how to sell chestnuts from not only Queen and Zeppelin,
but Foghat and Tears for Fears. No longer ambiguous — he came out
publicly following the end of the season — Lambert juices up his debut For Your Entertainmentwith
a powerful sexual allure. He gets help from Pink with "Whataya Want
from Me," one of her trademarked tracks that's tough on the outside and
tender on the inside. And from the multi-tracked falsetto of opener "Music Again" to
the flamboyant "Soaked," a ballad that sounds like an Arabic showtune
by Muse (written by Muse’s Matt Bellamy), it's one blue-rinsed
highlight after another. And we mean blue as in profane – this is one
proud gay boy who’s not afraid to tell you what he wants, as we saw on the AMAs last night. "Open your
mouth, open it wide," he teases on the stealthy "Strut." On the
pounding title track he’s a decisive topman with one thing on his mind: "Can you handle what I'm 'bout to do? / 'cause it's about to get rough
in you." Well, bring it on, baby. To quote Nirvana — here we are now,
entertain us.
Is it possible to listen to Rihanna's fourth release Rated Rand not think about the domestic violence incident that transpired earlier this year between her and then-boyfriend Chris Brown? Not really, though you’d be looking for that proverbial needle in the haystack to find a song that point blank addresses the issue. (The closest she comes is “Stupid in Love.”) But, boy, is she angry, which translates to lots of hard rock moves, from Slash’s guest guitar on "Rockstar" to the punk-metal opening riff of "Fire Bomb." Elsewhere, she gets breezy with Jeezy on the island-hip-hopping of “Hard” and stretches out on the mid-tempo Justin Timberlake co-written "Cold Case Love."
MUSIC NEWS:
Seventy-seven-year-old music mogul Clive Davis on the re-launching of Whitney Houston's career, American Idol artist album sales and the music business's rough transition from CD to digital.
Sony has announced plans to launch the creatively-titled Sony Online Service to compete with iTunes. It's expected to sell music, films, games and books. No date is set yet.
Angie Stone, a sistah from the old skool of R&B, releases Unexpected — 12 sexy slow-ish jams that’ll rock your rump vertically or, oh yes, horizontally.
Beyoncé gets cozy on the 2-CD/DVD I Am Yours…An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas. Her voice is deeper and stronger live, especially on some inspired medleys, including an extended set of songs from a little band named Destiny’s Child. Also released today: a deluxe edition of I Am…Sasha Fierce, which includes the remix of "Video Phone" with Lady Gaga.
The frumpy Scottish church lady Susan Boyle releases her debut in the aftermath of her Britain’s Got Talent buzz. I Dreamed a Dream
includes that star-making song, her pristine version of The Rolling
Stones' "Wild Horses," and more easy listening tracks.
Shakira, Colombia's biggest export after coffee, gets the heart racing faster than caffeine on her latest English-language release, She Wolf, with help from The Neptunes and Wyclef Jean.
Patrick Wolf: "Damaris" From his superb The Bachelor, this sensual, pagan clip teases the sacrilegious undertones from Wolf’s dramatic telling of Saint Paul’s conversion of Dionysius’s wife.
David Gray and Annie Lennox: "Full Steam" Old Wobbly Head and Ms. Eurythmics are lovers on the lam in this gansta-land clip set in an industrial wasteland. Best effect? Lennox’s industrial-strength pipes — still a thing of wonder after all these years.
Charlotte Gainsbourg featuring Beck: "Heaven Can Wait" Filled with incongruous images — a skateboard with burgers for wheels, a man with a stack of pancakes for a head — Gainsbourg and L.A. freak Beck take us on a jaunty stroll through a surreal day in suburbia.
Valley Lodge: "All of My Loving" (video NSFW) And the award for best use of human beings as furniture goes to Valley Lodge, who, as far as we are concerned, one-upped Brüno. We especially like the bed!
Marriage equality in Connecticut one year later: "Fully half of the gay and lesbian couples who wed in Connecticut were from other states or other countries. They came from South Dakota, Mississippi, Russia, Hawaii, Costa Rica and Israel, among other far-flung locales.
But above all, they came from New York: 455 Empire State couples traveled to Connecticut to marry."
Human Rights Campaign throws support behind Kirsten Gillibrand: "From her personal lobbying of the New York legislature in support of marriage rights to helping garner support for a Senate hearing on repealing 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,' Gillibrand has time and again stood for fairness for all."
Reverend Donnie McClurkin goes off on gays: ""God did not call
young people to such perversion. Society has failed him, his church has
failed him ... I would be homosexual to this day if Jesus hadn't
delivered."
Title and summary for Prop 8 repeal ballot language to be released next week: "As soon as the approval is given, the Restore Equality 2010 campaign will have 150 days to collect approximately 700,000 valid pen and ink signatures by voters registered in California. To account for the invalid signatures that are bound to show up on the forms, the Restore Equality 2010 campaign is aiming to collect 1 million signatures within the 150 day timeframe."
Vermont lawmaker relieved of masturbation charges: "Perkett said his review of the evidence found that Flanagan did engage
in the conduct alleged — masturbation in open view inside a men’s
fitness room at the YMCA — in late July but did not do so
intentionally. 'I don’t believe beyond a reasonable doubt
that he intentionally engaged in the conduct,' Perkett said. 'More
importantly, I don’t believe I could prove it beyond a reasonable
doubt.'”
Pastors planning to "incite hate crimes" to test Matthew Shepard Act?: "We're going to declare the whole counsel of God, including those parts that some may consider 'inciting a hate crime' to see if the attorney general is going to come down and arrest a group of peaceful clergy exercising their First Amendment rights."
NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg speaks out about cabbie who ejected gays for hugging: "I thought the taxi driver's behavior -- if it is as reported -- was a disgrace. Somebody's orientation has absolutely nothing to do with whether they can ride a taxi. That kind of attitude doesn't fit with what this city's become."
GYM sportsbar a hit in West Hollywood. "...a dedicated sports bar, where the audio and video are played
simultaneously, is something most people haven't seen before, says Gym
co-owner Rich Schmutzler: "When we first started, I got a lot of Scooby
Doo faces, like, 'huh?' "
The National Organization for Marriage is short on cash.
Chelsea erotica shop putting massage on display tonight: "Manworks.com, the leading erotic male masseur listings company in New York
City, will host a live erotic massage demonstration in the window of The Blue Chelsea, an erotica shop on 8th Avenue NYC on Friday, Nov 6th from
6pm-10pm. Every hour, a new male masseur will demonstrate the rubbing
techniques he uses to calm and relax his clients."
Boyzone honored by UK gay rights group Stonewall: "The late singer and his Boyzone bandmates were hailed as entertainers of the year at the high-profile gay event.
Mr Cowles fought back tears as he collected the award on behalf of the band – and received a standing ovation from the crowd. He said: 'Hi everyone, I'm Stephen's man, husband, whatever. You know what I mean. Thank you everyone for voting.'
He said that the Irish group had always 'loved and supported' his husband in everything he did."
Scholastic bans gay-themed book from book fairs: "Luv Ya Bunches, about four elementary school girls who have little in common, but bond over the fact that they’re all named after flowers, is the first installment of a four-book series. But Scholastic says the book, released on October 1, failed to meet its vetting process because it contains offensive language and same-sex parents of one of the main characters, Milla."
Silhouette and initials of Democratic U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz shot at by Southeast Republican Club at gun range event: "Among the approximately 40 people at the event was Robert Lowry, a Republican seeking his party’s nomination to run against Wasserman Schultz next year.
Lowry shot at a target bearing the letters 'DWS' next to the silhouette head.
Lowry said he didn't know who wrote Wasserman Schultz' initials on his target, but said he knew they were there before he started shooting. He initially described it as a 'joke,' but after answering several questions he said it 'was a mistake' to use a target labeled 'DWS.'"
President of Malta condemns anti-gay discrimination: "He said he had LGBT people specifically in mind when referring to minorities and various families during his inaugural speech.
President Abela stressed the important of anti-discrimination legislation in employment and agreed that Malta EU membership is a positive factor contributing towards greater debate on diversity and acceptance."
Ang Lee has fond memories of the Brokeback kiss: "I was directing Heath kissing [Jake Gyllenhaal] and I told him that
you would never kiss a woman that hard. He needed to do it in a heroic
Western way, more passionately. I remember seeing Michelle watching
while we filmed - at that point
they were already 'friends' - and she had a look of concentration on
her face because she also thought he should be stronger with Jake."
More than 1,000 couples have registered as domestic partners in Nevada: "he law took effect Oct. 1, and more than 700 couples pre-registered and picked up their certificates that day.
Nevada's constitution bans gay marriage, but the partnership law extends certain rights previously enjoyed by only married couples to couples who live together.
That includes community property and the right to seek financial support after a breakup."
Scientists image first close-up view of a single molecule: "To
give some perspective, the space between the carbon rings is only 0.14
nanometers across, which is roughly one million times smaller than the
diameter of a grain of sand."
"Gravity tractor" to save the Earth from killer asteroids? "The spacecraft would intercept the asteroid and position itself to fly
alongside it, just 160ft from its surface. From this position, the 10 tonne craft is able to exert a small gravitational
force on the rock, pulling the asteroid towards it. By gradually modifying its course, over several years, the gravity tractor is
able to slowly shift the asteroid's trajectory enough to ensure it misses
the Earth."
Lesbian couples having a child through fertility treatments can now place names of both parents on child's birth certificate: "It's brilliant that women in our situation will have full legal rights for the co-parent from the beginning. It's fantastically good news. We didn't conceive our children together, but we did conceive of them. Hopefully it will have a positive effect on society's view of lesbian and gay people, because the government are basically saying that we're OK, and perhaps people who are not gay will begin to think the same."
Lansing, Michigan gay man Shawn Bennett lied about gay bashing: "But investigators say Benett admits he tortured himself. Over and over he burned his own body with a lit cigarette."
One month later, hundreds mourn Tel Aviv gay center shooting victims: "Last week, the manager of the youth center, Shaul
Asa-el Gannon, opened a temporary center in an alternate location. He
noted that there were more teenagers in attendance at the center's
events than there were before the shooting.
This week, the gay and lesbian youth center will return to its
original location on Nachmani Street - the site of the attack - where
it will remain under police and security surveillance."
Calvin College professors demand campus discussion following memo from Board of Trustees telling them it is "unacceptable" for them to advocate for LGBT issues and marriage equality: "About 130 of the campus' 300 faculty attended a meeting this week to
discuss the memo. Karin Maag, vice chairwoman of the Faculty Senate,
said there are concerns about both the content of the letter and the
process by which the policy was determined."
Momentum building on ENDA, says Barney Frank's transgender policy adviser Diego Sanchez: [Barney]'s called on the entire community since [2007] to lobby, work — and the
community has said, 'OK, we've got one game plan, and it's Barney. There's broader support this time."
Victory Fund endorses eight new candidates: Simone Bell – Georgia House of Representatives,
Fred Chang – Port Orchard, Wash. City Council,
David Cicilline — Mayor, Providence, Rhode Island,
Daniel Dromm – New York City Council,
Rosie Mendez — New York City Council,
Eric Morrow – East Point, Ga. City Council,
Ken Reeves – Cambridge, Mass. City Council,
Amaad Rivera — Springfield, Mass. City Council.
Englewood, Colorado Episcopal Church dissolves over gay controversy: "Even though these traditional, loyal and older
Episcopalians did not object to the church's growing acceptance of
openly gay clergy, they say, their former priest did."
Zimbabwe's Mugabe government in alleged cover-up after minister of state John Nkomo sexually assaults young man and forces him to flee the country.
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