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!
Our friends at Modern Tonic -- the guys who compile and write our weekly music column -- have been good enough to secure copies of both the new Lady Gaga and Adam Lambert CDs. We're giving away three pair in each of two contests. That's six sets total. And all you need to do to be eligible is join our Facebook page and leave us a nice wall message for the first, and follow both Towleroad (@tlrd) and Modern Tonic (@modern_tonic) on Twitter and tweet us. Sign up and directions below.
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. FEATURED NEW RELEASES AND FREE DOWNLOADS:
After her successful 2004 debut Anniemal, with its elastic hit "Chewing Gum," Norwegian pop star Annie signed to Island Records in 2007. In 2008, she released the single "I Know Ur Girlfriend Hates Me" as a precursor to her follow-up Don’t Stop. But when the song failed on the charts, she left the label and took the finished record with her. A year later, Don’t Stop finally sees the light of day (in a revised version that includes three new tracks replacing three that were dropped), and it’s such a pop high that it makes the suits at Island seem like fools for letting her go. From the cheery marching band drums of opener "Hey Annie" to the Caribbean flavored New Wave of the title track, it’s a one-way trip to pop nirvana. The punchy future single "My Love Is Better" — available as a free download here in a bottom-heavy dub version — may get more chart action than "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me" (available on the import-only Deluxe Edition), but even if it doesn’t it’s good to have our favorite Anniemal back on the prowl. (Bonus free download: album track "I Don’t Like Your Band," a velvet-gloved bitch-slap to shallow divas).
With Simon Cowell and Clive Davis’ combined muscle behind her, it was a foregone conclusion that 2006 X Factor winner Leona Lewis would be big. But who knew she’d be the first U.K. vocalist to chart a U.S. number one ("Bleeding Love") since 1987? Chart glory is once again in her future with her second releaseEcho. Opener and first single "Happy" rides its low-key "Nothing Compares 2 U" groove into a soaring chorus built for Lewis’ diva-grade pipes. And after that it’s one potential number one after the next, with highlights including "I Got You" (written by Max Martin, who penned Kelly Clarkson’s "Since U Been Gone"), the Justin Timberlake-produced "Don’t Let Me Down," and "Lost Then Found," an encore-worthy mid-tempo ballad written by Ryan Tedder and featuring his band OneRepublic, a cell-phone waving audience pleaser. Echo’s full of such moments, so if you see Lewis in concert, bring an extra cell-phone battery or two.
When Norah Jones swept the pop landscape withCome Away With Mein 2002, her jazzy simplicity was an alternative to over-the-top divas who’d never met a musical scale they didn’t like. But her popularity brought out the grumblers. Some called her ‘Snore-ah Jones’; Nellie McKay even bitch-slapped her when she titled her own debut Get Away From Me. Yet Jones persevered, and 36 million album sales later she’s releasing her fourth album, The Fall. Jones opened up her sound here, playing with new musicians and enlisting the help of some well-respected collaborators like Ryan Adams and Okkervil River’s Will Sheff. She’s still a girl with her head clearly on her shoulders, but The Fall expands her sonic palette with the alt-country Adams co-write "Light As a Feather," the rumbling juke-joint-jive of "It’s Gonna Be," and the back-porch blues of "Man of the Hour." It’s adult and it’s contemporary, but we doubt you’ll be hearing it on Lite-FM.
She's not the commercial titan she once was, but Janet Jackson’s two-disc Number Ones will remind you what Ms. Jackson’s done for us not only lately but steadily since the ‘80s. The two-disc collection’s new track, "Make Me," is a glorious, and welcome, return to old-school Janet.
He’s been a Grammy-winning pop star, a bluesman, a writer for Esquire, and a celebrity boy toy. With Battle Studies, John Mayer is ready to become the new Sting — a middle-of-the-road artist with chops, hooks and good taste. You think he does yoga?
Much as we love Morrissey’s comeback work since You Are the Quarry, his B-sides are an Anglophile’s wet dream. The latest collection Swords (Deluxe Edition) includes the classic gay-love lament “Christian Dior” and a live take on Bowie’s "Drive-In Saturday."
Down-home American Idol Season 8 victor Kris Allen releases his self-titled debut — a super-catchy mainstream winner — a week before runner-up (and likely chart champ) Adam Lambert rules the world.
Kid Sister: "Right Hand Hi" This Chi-town rapper — with a long bob of black and blonde hair — surfs a bouncy, grimy groove in this L.A.-based clip. Her debut Ultraviolet, out today, is crammed with hi-NRG smackdowns.
Lights: "Ice" Canadian synth-popper Valerie Poxleitner’s jaunty lost-love tune — a highlight of her debut The Listening — features a boxing match between the sprightly singer and her darker doppleganger. Who wins? In matters of the heart, it’s always a draw.
David Guetta feat. Estelle: "One Love" French passion meets Brit cool on Guetta’s thumping dance jam featuring U.K. R&B star Estelle. The clubland compatriots cruise the night city searching for the downtrodden and lovelorn. When they find them, they flash them with a hand gesture — the sign of the heart — that infects them with the urge to hotfoot it like crazy.
Orianthi: "According to You" She calls herself a “mess in a dress” on this raucous shredder, but Australian guitarist Orianthi is girl power incarnate, fingering that fret-board faster than Eddie Van Halen in his wildest dreams.
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 AND FREE DOWNLOAD:
It’s hard to be Robbie Williams. A gigantic star all over the world, he's ignored in the U.S. (where he currently lives — in Los Angeles — with actress Ayda Field. Sorry, boys). So here comes Reality Killed the Video Star (out digitally today, on CD 11/17), his 8th studio album, and the speculation starts again: will this be Williams' rocketship to American stardom or another one-way trip to Planet Oblivion? Sure, he's got a stateside cult following, but boy band refugee Williams deserves a Justin Timberlake-size audience. The good news? Reality's the best thing Williams has done since his U.S. debut compilation, The Ego Has Landed. Produced by Trevor Horn — the former Buggles main man — Reality, a pun on Horn's "Video Killed the Radio Star," plays to Williams' strengths from start to finish. First single "Bodies" (FREE DOWNLOAD OF FRED FALKE EXTENDED REMIX HERE) layers monk-ish chanting over an Art of Noise robot groove. "Blasphemy" is a theatrical ballad that sounds like Williams' audition for the roadshow of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. And "Starstruck" confronts Robbie's lack of U.S. commercial respect head on. As longtime fans we're used to our fellow citizens' deaf spot, but the reality is we'd like it to change.
Tori Amos used to be a "Cornflake Girl" (to quote a hit title), and sometimes she’s been just a flake —From the Choirgirl Hotel anyone? But as an interpreter of others' songs she’s been damn near peerless. Her take on Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit"? Inspired. Covering Eminem on Strange Little Girls? Ballsy. And now the woman who suckled a piglet at her breast in the booklet for Boys for Pele brings us a juicy Christmas morsel called Midwinter Graces. This being Amos, a straight-up holiday album won't do. She mixes obscure traditional tunes like the Victorian "Candle: Coventry Carol" with seasonally-inspired originals such as "A Silent Night with You." It’s a gift from a "Snow Angel," to quote an Amos original, that’ll sound just as delightful long after the holidays have passed.
On her debut The Bridge Melanie Fiona, the Toronto-based child of Guyanese parents, layers Motown-flavored R&B over sharp-edged lyrics that mix the bitter with the sweet in finger-snapping harmony. The results? 12 potential singles as catchy as a Raphael Saadiq retro jam with extra-added hip-hop attitude. First single "Give It to Me Right" anchors the hook from The Zombies' "Time of the Season" to a non-stop plea for slamming sex. "Bang Bang" is even more lascivious, wherein Fiona wants to "introduce ya to my Lucy" to a beat that can only be called shagalicious. And when you treat her bad, you better "Walk On By," a tune that channels Mavis Staples' earthy soul squeals in a tale of hell-hath-no-fury-like-a-woman-scorned. Perhaps that’s Fiona's way of warning you that The Bridge is one that you won’t want to burn.
MUSIC NEWS:
Susan Boyle will perform the song that changed her life ("I Dreamed a Dream") on tonight's "Dancing With the Stars." She is also scheduled to perform live on NBC's "Today" show on November 23, the day her debut album, also titled I Dreamed a Dream, is released.
Britney Spears made her Australian concert debut last Friday, and (surprise!), a whirlwind media frenzy surrounded it.
Aussie media has made a big deal about her partial lip-synching and how
fans have stormed out of the concert because of it. Apparently, Britney
is "extremely upset" over the controversy.
Hot Chip have announced a release date of February 10, 2010 for their next album, One Life Stand.
Swedish Electro-pop trio Miike Snow will be touring the U.S. next spring. Two of the band's members, Christian Karlsson and Pontus Winnberg, have written and produced songs for Britney Spears (winning a Grammy for "Toxic"), Madonna and Kylie Minogue, among others, under the name Bloodshy & Avant.
Green Day's well-reviewed musical, American Idiot, based on their 2004 album, now winding down a successful run at California's Berkeley Repertory Theater, is confirmed to open on Broadway. No date or theater has been announced yet.
A threesome of compilations in ten years is a bit much, but since Britney Spears is high on "3" these days we’ll give her a pass, especially when The Singles Collection includes that hot track and 16 more of Spears’ single releases. (The single CD version is released today; a deluxe box set — pictured — will be released November 23).
If it’s change you want out of Washington, D.C., Obama’s not the only brother who’ll make you say 'Yes We Can.' Rapper Wale's (pr. wah-LAY) debut joint Attention Deficit — on Mark Ronson’s label — finally drops after years of well-regarded "mixtapes."
Snow Patrol's the band mainstream alternative didn't know it was waiting for. Their super-catchy arena anthems ("Hands Open," "Chasing Cars," etc.) are collected on the two-disc best-of Up to Now, as well as lesser known tunes from 1998 up through their 2003 breakthrough "Run."
Mini Viva: "I Wish" From the Xenomania production powerhouse comes the frothy duo of Frankee Connolly and Britt Love. “I Wish” is Euro-pop and proud, with an L.A.-set video that adds extra digital color to the land of Hollywood dreams.
Massive Attack: "United Snakes" A sinister tune from 2006 gets a high-tech new video from Massive Attack. Black-and-white geometric shapes morph into menacing configurations on this creepy, provocative clip with vocals from 3D.
Jamie Cullum: "Don’t Stop the Music" The jazzy Brit makes a sexy swing of this Rihanna track, while his baby grand piano, over-stimulated by Cullum’s “jazz hands,” experiences an explosive climax of its own. From new album The Pursuit, due in February.
Pixie Lott: "Cry Me Out" The latest U.K. thrush advises her ex to cry her out of his system in this gorgeous black-and-white homage to ‘30s Hollywood glamour, complete with an Esther Williams synchronized-swimming segment.
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 NEW RELEASES:
Last week, Glee graduated from sleeper hit to full-blown phenomenon, thanks to a ringing endorsement from Rolling Stone (“it’s Liza with a ‘Z’ meets Carrie.”) and the show’s cover of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” earning gold status in digital sales. Surely platinum glory awaits with Glee: The Music, Volume 1, the soundtrack we’ve been impatiently awaiting. Do the numbers hold their own sans choreography? If we said ‘No,’ would that keep you from buying it? Didn’t think so… Just brace yourself for Kristin Chenoweth’s monolithic rendition of Heart’s “Alone," and have tissues ready for "Take a Bow," which grinds Rihanna’s original into dust.
Smarting from the industry redtape that prevented her third album, Because I Love It, from getting a proper U.S. release, Amerie returns with In Love & War, her hotly anticipated Def Jam debut, which delivers on the hype and then some. It blasts off with not one but four rockin’ club bangers — “Tell Me You Love Me,” “Heard ‘Em All,” “Dangerous” and “Higher” — that suggest this former Army brat’s been playing that Santigold album on permanent repeat. Even when the tempo slows down for radio readymades like “More Than Love” (featuring Fabolous), In Love & War still sounds as sweet and tasty as a box of Good & Plenty.
Last June, Broadway heartthrob Cheyenne Jackson and cabaret icon Michael Feinstein performed a series of shows together at Feinstein's at Loews Regency, in celebration of the renowned venue's 10th anniversary season. Now comes The Power of Two, a new album based on that intimate engagement. Sure, you’ve heard these show tunes and standards (“So in Love,” “A Foggy Day,” “Old Devil Moon”) a million times, but they're as classy and timeless as an Armani suit, and what knocks it out of the park is Jackson’s flipped rendition of “Someone to Watch Over Me,” complete with same-sex pronouns. Our favorite Gershwin tune just got better!
It wouldn’t be fall without new sounds from American Idol alumni, would
it? While you await Adam Lambert’s debut (out Nov. 23), appease your
ears with Carrie Underwood’s third album, Play On, which finds the Okie
from Muskogee maintaining that note-perfect balance between pop and
country.
Serena Ryder is back on the scene with her third album, Is It O.K. If the Canadian singer-songwriter’s first two efforts garnered mucho Alanis Morissette comparisons, her gruff pipes now bear a striking resemblance to Melissa Etheridge.
In a clear bid to dominate holiday gift lists, Beyoncé will release I Am...Yours: An Intimate Performance at Wynn Las Vegas in a double CD/DVD package on November 23, the same day a deluxe edition of I Am...Sasha Fierce, which will include "Video Phone (Extended Remix)" with Lady Gaga, streets. The music video for "Video Phone," which will also feature Lady Gaga, debuts Thursday on MTV. The Las Vegas concert will air as a one-hour special on ABC on Thanksgiving.
Ellie Goulding: “Under the Sheets” This très
Brit pop newbie makes like Agent Smith stuck in a Baz Luhrmann production in the first clip from her forthcoming debut, which touts production from Mark Ronson and U.K. dubstep guru Burial.
Basement Jaxx feat. Lightspeed Champion: “My Turn” As if we couldn’t get more worked up about the new Basement Jaxx album, here comes a pastel-crazy fantasia, featuring a chorus of adorably destructive bears who swipe the spotlight from… uh… the dude who’s singing.
Tegan & Sara: “Hell” The first video from their new album, Sainthood, starts out bright and cheeky. Until that turquoise-wrapped thing appears in the mirror. Is that the Gimp from Pulp Fiction, or the typewriter from Naked Lunch? Disturbing stuff…
Madonna & Lady Gaga on SNL (dress rehearsal version) One could (easily) argue that this skit was unsalvageable, but at least the twin divas hit their marks and don’t flub their lines in this pre-show run-through. The definitive take, perhaps, though the joke’s still pretty lame.
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. FEATURED ARTISTS AND FREE DOWNLOADS:
Canadian quartet Dragonette are snotty emo electro-punks. And by that we mean that on their second release Fixin to Thrill they wield their synths and scratchy funk guitar and bippity-boppity bass for crunchy musical nuggets of New Wave-inspired rudeness. The cooing Karen O-esque siren Martina Sobrara does have a nasty way with words. "When you wake up I'm gonna punch you out" from "Stupid Grin" is nearly a love lyric from her wicked tongue, with "Get on the floor, don't make a fuss, just do it" her idea of foreplay. And we’d much rather hear her defend a family member's Las Vegas wedding in "Pick Up the Phone" (FREE DOWNLOAD OF RICHARD X RADIO MIX HERE) or slap a brother down in "Liar" than listen to another guy-whiner in guyliner.
Here’s a group to add to your short list of cold-climate European bohemians: The Asteroids Galaxy Tour from Denmark. Fruit, their debut, is a languorous stroll through what XTC once called "funk pop-a-roll." Producer and multi-instrumentalist Lars Iversen keeps the bright tunes fresh and sparkling. And singer Mette Lindberg's like a drunk, precocious 5-year-old, slurring through up-tempo R&B ("The Sun Ain’t Shining No More") (FREE DOWNLOAD HERE) and happy '60s pop ("Sunshine Coolin'") with the same wide-eyed enthusiasm.
So, you star in an indie Irish film about falling in love, you write songs in character for the film, and then, while the cameras are rolling, you actually fall in love. And for your efforts you get what? If you’re The Swell Season — Glen Hansard and Markéta Irglová — you win an Academy Award® for Best Song from Once ("Falling Slowly") and an appreciative new audience. Then, while touring the world, you break up under the strain of your newfound success and re-emerge on the other side of fame with Strict Joy, the best work of your career. The Swell Season's soft-spoken drama thrives on contradiction. And a fresh split is the mother lode of inspiration — from the mystical Van Morrison soul flourishes of opener "Low Rising" to the spiritual Grateful Dead folk of "Love That Conquers" these are honest, scathing, beautiful songs that would bring Oscar® gold to any film.
MUSIC NEWS:
Tweetie bird: Elizabeth Taylor took to her Twitter page and unleashed
an avalanche of tweets (we're having so much fun picturing her doing
this) raving about Michael Jackson's This Is It, which opens worldwide tonight.
She calls it "the single most brilliant piece of filmmaking I have ever
seen" and that it should be "nominated in every category conceivable."
Dolly Parton finally has the record to complement her big hair, big boobs and big talent — Dolly, a four disc box set retrospective of the self-proclaimed Backwoods Barbie from her early country hits ("Jolene") to her pop crossovers ("Here You Come Again").
R.E.M.'s Live at the Olympia — recorded in 2007 from five nights in Dublin in prep for Accelerate — is a welcome addition to their catalogue, with old favorites from the dawn of alt-rock ("Wolves, Lower") to songs still-in-progress ("Houston").
All of 29 now, indie-rock twins Tegan and Sara have thrilled audiences since '99. Their latest, Sainthood, is harder-edged than their last release, The Con, with bigger hooks and much heavier guitar.
She’s a megastar now, but Lady Gaga didn’t do it by herself. Her collaborator Space Cowboy is sure to follow in his employer's footsteps with the club crazy Digital Rock Star, featuring "I Came 2 Party."
Marina & the Diamonds: "Mowgli's Road" Welsh-born Marina Diamandis is part woman, part construction paper creature with super-flexibility on this jaunty single from her forthcoming debut Family Jewels.
Groove Armada: "I Won’t Kneel" From their forthcoming 2010 release Black Light, the English electro duo offer a mid-tempo I-want-you-back-but-I-ain’t-begging crowd-pleaser, featuring the 80s-licious vocals of a Groove Armada discovery, Saint Savior.
Cinema Bizarre & Space Cowboy: "I Came 2 Party" Lady Gaga collaborator Space Cowboy teams with German New Wave revivalists Cinema Bizarre for a freaky costume party that gets stranger by the second. Just in time to inspire your Halloween get-ups!
N’dambi: "Can’t Hardly Wait" Erykah Badu, watch your 'fro, 'cause Dallas-born N’dambi’s here to re-fire the neo-soul revival. In this clip, N’dambi strings along two gorgeous men at a photo shoot before leaving with the photographer.
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