MUSIC NEWS: Fritz Helder & The Phantoms, Jay Brannan, En Vogue, Alison Moyet, Florence + The Machine

MODERN TONIC

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.

NEW ARTIST TO WATCH AND FREE DOWNLOAD

Toronto electro quartet Fritz Helder & The Phantoms are obsessed with fashion on their cheekily-titled debut Greatest Hits. These sartorial synth-masters wax eloquent on electronic odes to Karl Lagerfeld (“Lagerfeld Lady”) and the pleasures of the runway (“You Ain’t Vogue”). They’re not above a shady put down or two (our favorite’s the deadpan bitch-slap on “Making A Scene”: “That Prada clutch, girl, that’s so last season”). And evidently they like their sex like they like their music: mechanical (“Sex Robot”).

In other words, Nelly Furtado’s first signing to her boutique label is a deeply shallow gang of dance-happy goofballs. They go by the names Fritz Helder (vocals and keytar!), Pastel Supernova (vocals), Diego Superstar (beats/keyboards) and Silk Helder (guitar), and they dress in couture duds that make Scissor Sisters look like grunge-era rockers. 

Check out the Dragonette remix of “Lagerfeld Lady” here.

NEW RELEASES

Gay pin-up folkie/Shortbus star Jay Brannan's In Living Cover — a cover-laden follow-up to last year’s confessional debut goddamned — features gorgeous takes on Joni Mitchell’s seminal love song “All I Want,” The Cranberries’ war-torn “Zombie,” and a handful of striking originals.

Florence + The Machine live up to the overseas hype and then some with the release of their debut Lungs (available digitally only in the U.S.). Backed by a rotating collection of collaborators, Florence shows she’s the new Björk, the new Kate Bush, the new Siouxsie Sioux. In other words, a true original.

Modern soul’s pre-eminent “baby maker” — the seductive neo-soul man Maxwell — disappeared for eight years. But he’s back with a hot new coif and a handful of slinky come-ons with BLACKsummers’night, the first release in a planned trilogy.

Chris Garneau’s a sexy out singer-songwriter in the Sufjan Stevens/Jeff Buckley mold — his breathtaking high, clear voice is beauty incarnate, his songs delicate and tough, and his second release, El Radio, as majestic and steeped in Americana as Bon Iver or Fleet Foxes.

Also released:  The Donnas — Greatest Hits, Volume 16; Stellastarr* — Civilized; LMFAO — Party Rock; Against Me! — The Original Cowboy; Berlin — All the Way In; Cass McCombs — Catacombs; Bowerbirds — Upper Air.

MUSIC NEWS

En Vogue, one of the biggest-selling female groups of all time, marked their 20th anniversary with a live reunion performance this past weekend with the original members. A new album is planned for later this year and a reality TV show is under consideration.

Alison Moyet, whose solo tour was unfortunately cut short last year in the U.S. (presumably due to poor ticket sales), has announced a tour, "25 Years Revisited," in the U.K. this fall. A comprehensive "Best of Alison Moyet" collection will be released there in October, with a deluxe edition to include live versions of her classic songs.

  Record labels have finally reached an agreement with online radio sites, such as Pandora, on the licensing fee for the use of their music. For two years each side battled the other, as the online radio sites charged that the high royalty fees being assessed would put them out of business.

And we thought $1.29 per song was a lot: A Minnesota woman, ordered to pay $1.92 million for illegally sharing copyright-protected music, is seeking a reduction in damages she owes. In a retrial of a 2007 case, she has been charged $80,000 each for 24 songs she shared, which her lawyer argues is "grossly excessive." The Recording Industry Association of America no longer files such lawsuits.

MUSIC VIDEOS

LeToya: "She Ain't Got"
It’s been a good year for the former members of Destiny’s Child — Beyoncé continued her world domination; Kelly Rowland filled dance floors with “When Love Takes Over;” and now LeToya Luckett roars back into the spotlight with this club-thumping face-off with an unfaithful lover. From forthcoming album Lady Love, out August 25.

Rye Rye ftrg. M.I.A.: "Bang" (AUDIO NSFW)
The young Baltimorean rapper Ryeisha "Rye Rye" Berrain is the first signing to M.I.A.’s N.E.E.T. label; the mentor brings her playful exoticism to her protégé’s crunk-infused homage to ghetto-licious street dancing. Her debut drops later this year.

Franz Ferdinand: “Can't Stop Feeling”
These louche Scots make like the Four Stooges in this playful cause-and-effect clip for a dubby, synthy highlight from this year’s change-of-pace Tonight.

Madonna: "Sticky & Sweet Tour" DVD trailer
Captured on tour in Buenos Aires, this DVD trailer reminds us that there’s nothing Ms. Ciccone cannot do, from double-dutch jump-roping to an Evita sing-a-long, it’s a kaleidoscopic trip through the history of our greatest living pop star. DVD due this fall; date TBA.

MUSIC NEWS: Cazwell, Moby, La Roux, Michael Jackson

MODERN TONIC

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 AND FREE DOWNLOADS

“Homo-hop” artist Cazwell – born Luke Caswell in Worcester, MA — loves to use his mouth. On the title track of his second album, Watch My Mouth, the openly gay rapper talks about how that mouth can “lick it, slurp it, slide it, shake it, bake it, stir it, fry it,” and that’s just for starters. A mix of spanking new grooves and previously released tracks from his debut Get Into It, Cazwell creates a homo-centric hip-hop fusion with some old school samples and icy electro-clash synths, from the love-rap “Tonight” – featuring Shannon’s “Give Me Tonight” — to the celebrity bitch-slap “I Seen Beyoncé at Burger King.”

Most of the time, though, Cazwell raps about bizness as usual — “All Over Your Face” is about, oh, just guess. He’s such a sex-positive fiend he’s like Peaches with a penis (although that might be redundant).

For a user-friendly taste of Cazwell, check out the FREE DOWNLOAD “Money Back.”

Techno-head Moby — inspired by a speech from his friend David Lynch regarding creativity for its own sake — follows his chill, ambient muse to the evocative Wait for Me. Featuring vocals from  Amelia Zirin Brown, first single “Pale Horses” gets a Gui Boratto Last Window Mix on this FREE DOWNLOAD. 

“Wanderlust” isn’t just a song from Björk’s Volta — it’s her way of life, documented on the live performances/videos of her latest release, Voltaïc (available in 2CD/2DVD, CD/DVD and single CD formats).

The musical once known as Bounce — Stephen Sondheim’s Road Show —  gets its belated original cast recording, featuring Michael Cerveris and Alexander Gemignani.

On Wilco (The Album), the Telly Savalas/Wilco connection’s finally revealed in “Wilco (The Song)”: “Wilco will love you, baby.” Kojak couldn’t have said it better.

Two-step on over and spend an American Saturday Night with country superstar Brad Paisley (though, to be honest, any old night would do).

Across the pond, hotly tipped electropop duo La Roux finally drop their self-titled debut. We know you’ve heard a lot about them already (both here and nearly everywhere else), but get used to it. Elly Jackson and Ben Langmaid’s Yazoo/Eurythmics homage deserves mention, especially Jackson’s shape-shifting vocals — one second she’s an Alison Moyet soul sister (“Colourless Colour”) and the next she’s Joni Mitchell in a sea of synths (“Cover My Eyes”).  A U.S. release is due September 29.

Also released:  Rob Thomas — Cradlesong; Tanya Tucker — My Turn; The Woodstock Experience (box set); Nouvelle Vague — 3 (import).

MUSIC NEWS

As far as the music world is concerned, there's little else going on this week in the long shadow of Michael Jackson's tragic death. As much as we would love to wax nostalgic on the brilliance of his music, everyone else has been doing that for days....so we've opted to present a few business items related to his passing:

The New York Times ran a comprehensive, and fascinating, story over the weekend about the tangled mess of Jackson's personal finances. Sadly, the article points out that the estate may soon be in better shape than ever, with a significant influx of cash to put towards its debts (thanks to the explosion of sales of his music), while money will no longer be going out to pay for Jackson's famously excessive lifestyle.

The 750,000 ticket buyers for what were to be Jackson's "This Is It!" shows at London's O2 Arena will be offered the option to keep the actual ticket as a (very pricey) souvenir instead of obtaining a refund.

In addition to having filmed an entire run-through last week during "This Is It!" rehearsals (expected to be released as a concert CD/DVD), Jackson also spent nine days earlier this month shooting a top-secret 3D video that was to be shown behind him while he performed at the London shows. Technology was provided by the company working on James Cameron's forthcoming Avatar. Plans for what was Jackson's final video shoot have not yet been announced.

With Jackson memorabilia auctions proliferating on eBay and sales of his albums topping charts worldwide, this is only the beginning of a long and lucrative business of merchandise sales in the time-honored tradition of the likes of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe.

U.S. radio airplay for Jackson's hits jumped 1,735% after last Thursday. "Billie Jean" was played the most.

MUSIC VIDEOS

Martin Solveig ftrg. Dragonette: “Boys & Girls”
The French DJ-producer joins the Canadian electropop kids for an Astaire/Rogers romp through The House of Gaultier. C’est magnifique!

God Help The Girl: “Come Monday Night”
The song doesn’t start until 1:30 into the video, but it’s worth the wait for Stuart Murdoch’s (Belle & Sebastian) tribute to swinging 60’s U.K. girl-pop featuring the smooth-as-glass vocals of Catherine Ireton.

Marina And The Diamonds: “I Am Not A Robot”
Welsh-born Marina Diamond looks like Catherine Zeta-Jones, sounds like Regina Spektor and acts like a body-painted Björk in this colorfully quirky video.

Rockwell: “Somebody’s Watching Me”
Our homage to Michael Jackson is from 1984. This video for the paranoia anthem, by Motown chief Berry Gordy's son, Rockwell, features Jackson's unmistakably sweet and catchy chorus. The King of Pop is dead; long live the King.

Music News: The Cliks, Heavy Rotation, Katy Perry, Courtney Love, ABBA, R.E.M.

MODERN TONIC

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.

NEW AND WORTH CHECKING OUT:

Toronto trio The Cliks — that’s a combo of ‘clit’ and ‘cock’ — have everything it takes to be rock’s next  great band. Pounding tunes, sing-a-long choruses and transman Lucas Silveira — that’s the band’s female-to-male transgender front-person. On their third release, Dirty King, produced by Sylvia Massey (Red Hot Chili Peppers, Tool), The Cliks wrench thrilling Guitar Hero-worthy songs from gender rebellion (“Not Your Boy”) and bad relationships (“Haunted”). Silveira stutters through the slutty surf-rock title track (and first single) “Dirty King.” And the crunchy gender-f**k “Love Gun” would melt the face-paint off of all four members of Kiss.

Check out their sultry brand of rock fireworks with our FREE DOWNLOAD of album-highlight “Red and Blue.”

In the affecting new collection of essays Heavy Rotation: Twenty Writers on the Albums That Changed Their Lives (out today), various writers delve into the albums that rocked their worlds. Among them are a few LGBT authors who share their personal experiences: Clifford Chase on The B-52s’ self-titled debut, Stacey D’Erasmo on Kate Bush’s The Sensual World, Colm Toibin on Joni Mitchell’s Blue, and Peter Terzian (also the book’s editor) on Miaow’s unreleased album Priceless Innuendo.

Other writers revisit Eurythmics’ Savage (written by Daniel Handler, Lemony Snicket’s alter ego), Talking Heads’ Remain in Light, and the Hedwig and the Angry Inch soundtrack.

MUSIC NEWS:

EMI has served Australian clothing designer Katie Perry with a cease-and-desist order to stop her from using her own name; apparently they believe its too similar to that of their superstar artist Katy Perry, born Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson.

Courtney Love is reviving the name of former band Hole for her forthcoming album, due late '09/early '10, though she will be the only person on the album who was in the band. 

  Moby's New York vegan cafe, Teany, has been destroyed in a fire. No one was hurt, and they hope to reopen in the next two months.

ABBA-esque: Benny Andersson Band's new single, "Story of a Heart," co-written by Andersson with Björn Ulvaeus and featuring Anni-Frid/Agnetha-style vocals from Helen Sjöholm, will be released in the U.K. July 6.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

The South may never rise again, but it sure can be remastered and re-released. Athens, GA’s finest, R.E.M., get a Deluxe Edition release for their classic, Reckoning, including the entire CD and a bonus live set from 1984.

Big girls don’t cry, but they stomp, shriek, holler and tear up the dance floor on Gossip’s new Music For Men (available digitally only).

Having won over both the Strokes and Grey’s Anatomy, quirky Russian songstress Regina Spektror drops Far, her third major-label release.

Fresh from their U.K. debut at #1, Escala — Simon Cowell’s mini-skirted pseudo-classical quartet — release their self-titled album.

Michael Johns — the 2008 American Idol contestant unjustly voted off at #8 — is hoping for some Jennifer Hudson-like love with his new release, Hold Back My Heart.

Pick Up the Mic: The Evolution of Homohop‚ a one-of-a-kind documentary (out on DVD) recounts how a small circle of LGBT rappers carved their own niche within a market that continues to insult‚ if not ignore, them altogether.

Also released: Paulina Rubio — Gran City Pop; Shawn Colvin — Live;  Tift Merritt — Buckingham Solo (Live); Patterson Hood — Murdering Oscar (And Other Love Songs).

MUSIC VIDEOS AND CLIPS:

Simian Mobile Disco: "Audacity of Huge"
A cornucopia of literal images matches a litany of lyrical items — “Damian Hirst telephone,” “gold thong studded alligator leather” — in this goofy, electro-clash jam from the U.K. dance-master’s forthcoming Temporary Pleasure.

Misstress Barbara ftrg. Sam Roberts: "I'm Running"
Italian-born Canadian dance diva meets sexy, weathered Canuck rocker for abstract urban rendezvous in the mean streets of Montreal. From Misstress Barbara’s artist debut, I’m No Human (out now in Canada).

Pixie Lott: "Mama Do"
Before you yawn and say “Duffy clone,” check out this hand-clapping, choreography-heavy #1 U.K. single and swear you weren’t singing along from the first chorus.

The Temper Trap: "Sweet Disposition"
Bronski Beat are reborn as a space-age Aussie alt-rock quartet on this falsetto-dripping love rave — also prominently featured in (500) Days of Summer — from the band’s forthcoming debut, Conditions.

Music News: Chess, Grace Jones, Gossip, New Order, Mika, Moby

MODERN TONIC

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.

MUSIC NEWS:

Created by Tim Rice and the BBoys from ABBA (Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson), Chess is one strange shape-shifter of a theatrical production. Since its 1984 concept album debut — featuring Murray Head’s worldwide smash “One Night in Bangkok” and "I Know Him So Well," later covered by Whitney Houston and her mom — the show’s gotten more facelifts than Joan Rivers. Opening to mixed reviews, the original 1986 London production ran for three years. The 1988 New York production — entirely reconceived — closed after two months. Subsequent stagings have mixed-and-matched the plotlines.

But there has long been a rabid following of fans, many of whom declare Rice’s bastard stepchild to be one of the greatest pop-rock musicals of all time. Maybe it’s the Machiavellian Cold War plotline. Or maybe it’s the sweeping, non-stop ABBA-esque melodies. Whatever it is, you can see and hear it as it was meant to be in the new Chess in Concert, (out today on DVD and as a single- or double-CD; also airing tomorrow on PBS) which Rice calls the “official version” of the show, recorded live over two nights at London's Royal Albert Hall last May, and featuring an ace cast of Josh Groban (pictured above), Adam Pascal (Rent) and Idina Menzel (Wicked). Do we smell a Broadway revival? A boy can dream.

Hurricane warning: Grace Jones — in no danger of becoming the hardest working woman in show-biz  — is planning two U.S. shows in support of her latest album. July 27 at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles, and July 30 at New York’s more intimate Hammerstein Ballroom.

Stream Gossip's new album Music For Men (out digitally June 23, on CD October 6) in its entirety.

Members of New Order (Bernard Sumner, Stephen Morris and Phil Cunningham), joined by Blur's Alex James, have formed a new band, Bad Lieutenant. They have already completed work on their first album.

"It's a big, huge-sounding pop record that sonically references big records from the 80s or 90s": An extensive interview with Mika, whose debut album sold 6 million copies worldwide, touches on his forthcoming follow-up album as well as his childhood and adolescence, fame and, vaguely, his sexuality and past relationships. 

Moby, whose new album Wait For Me is out June 30, talks about his distaste for his seminal album, Play. 

Listen like thieves: An international scam involving a group of criminals who created music, sold it on Amazon and iTunes, and then bought $750,000 worth of it themselves using 1,500 stolen credit cards has ended with nine arrests. The "sales" of the music online resulted in the group pocketing $300,000 in royalties paid out by the music services.

TODAY'S NEW RELEASES:

Twenty-one-year-old Dubliner Laura Izibor is here to change the landscape of Irish soul for good with her  modern mesh of '70s soul and '00s hip-hop on Let the Truth Be Told, her expressive debut.

Miss Kittin — the French electro-clash artist — sees her debut collaboration with turntablist The Hacker, First Album, re-released today with one additional 2001 track, "The Beach." "Party in My Head" — from Two, their recent follow-up joint effort  — gets a remix workout from the Paris-based Thieves Like Us. DOWNLOAD IT HERE FOR FREE.

Our favorite Canadian crooner filmed his December ’08 MSG gig last year for release on the CD/DVD combo-pack Michael Bublé Meets Madison Square Garden.

New releases also from: Spinal Tap — Back from the Dead; Trevor Horn and Friends — Slaves to the Rhythm (concert DVD); The Legends — Over and Over; Jonas Brothers — Lines, Vines and Trying Times.

MUSIC VIDEOS AND CLIPS:

PALOMA FAITH — “Stone Cold Sober”
This lively Spanish-English burlesque dancer/singer/actress (who appears in Heath Ledger’s final film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus) is a red-hot harlot in a hoop skirt on her debut video. Single out today in the U.K., album there in the fall.

AQUA — “Back to the 80s”
The Barbie-loving Danes offer up a cheese-fest of awful 80’s-ness that’s so pungent it could just turn them into a two-hit wonder. From their "Greatest Hits" out this week in Europe (no U.S./U.K. release date announced yet).

LE KID — “Mercy Mercy”
The second sing-along single from these pop-crazy Swedes features the whitest people ever at a lakeside party in 50’s swimwear.

KID BRITISH — “Our House Is Dadless”
More than just sampling, these multi-ethnic Manchester rappers re-boot Madness’ jubilant hit with industrial grit for the new millennium.

MUSIC NEWS: Little Boots, Pet Shop Boys, Britney Spears, Beth Ditto

MODERN TONIC

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.

Little Boots (aka Victoria Hesketh) is the best thing to happen to the thigh-high since Beyoncé’s Foxxy Cleopatra strutted her way through Austin Powers in Goldmember. Her import debut Hands — with production help from Hot Chip’s Joe Goddard, Greg Kurstin of The Bird and The Bee and Simian Mobile Disco’s Jas Shaw — is a dancing, leaping, jumping blend of 80’s synth-pop, big beat drums and hooks galore. “Stuck On Repeat”  and “New in Town,” her Kylie-licious singles, are available on both the full-length album and her U.S.-only EP Illuminations (out today), a sampler to keep U.S. listeners happy until a domestic release date is set for Hands. (Illuminations has three additional tracks — including a remake of Freddie Mercury’s “Love Kills" — not on the album.)

This Soho boho Gaga-esque goddess, who won the BBC’s “Sound of 2009” survey, revs her synths into overdrive for some hand-clapping, foot-stomping instant classics.

MUSIC NEWS:

Pet Shop Boys create Pandemonium: On the heels of Yes, their highest-charting album in the U.S. since Very, the Pet Shop Boys' Pandemonium tour kicks off North American dates August 29 in Montreal.

You saw Madonna how many times?: As if you weren't up to your neck in social networking sites, along comes Songkick, where you can share with the world all the concerts you've ever attended, and upload set lists, photos, ticket stubs, etc., and also keep up on who is going to which live gigs. Its database already has over a million past and future shows to get you started. 

Is she the ringleader? Does she call the shots?: The real story behind keeping Britney under control.

Beth Ditto of The Gossip on working with Rick Rubin ("That gave me chills"), snarky blog comments ("I don't Google myself"), being gay and out ("Samantha Ronson and Lindsay Lohan - that would have been kept a crazy secret five years ago. To be part of that visibility is really important"), and her band's forthcoming album Music For Men.

More bad news for the music biz: Album sales in May declined nearly 17% compared to May 2008; down 37% from May 2007.

TODAY’S NEW RELEASES:

Pass The Duchess on the left hand side! Fergie’s back in the fold for Black Eyed Peas’ latest, The E.N.D. (Energy Never Dies).
 
No longer young, Sonic Youth’s sound lives forever on the masterful The Eternal.

Cardigans’ front-woman Nina Persson does digital duty with the download-only Covers EP from her solo project, A Camp.

Helium-voiced Brian Molko breaks in new drummer Steve Forrest on Placebo’s hard-rocking sixth release, Battle for the Sun.

Will Wonder Woman fly on her album of standards?  Find out on Lynda Carter's At Last.

Club kids can feel the mix in their coccyx with Ultra Records’ Dance Anthems.
 
New releases also from: Paul Van Dyk — Volume; Mos Def — The Ecstatic; Morrissey — Maladjusted (Expanded Edition); Teena Marie — Congo Square; Rhett Miller — Rhett Miller; Kasabian — West Ryder Lunatic Asylum; The Dirty Projectors — Bitte Orca.

MUSIC VIDEOS AND CLIPS:

MPHO — “Box ‘n’ Locks”
This mixed-race Londoner makes like Santigold with a Smiths-esque stroll through this bouncy single (featuring a riff from Martha and the Muffins’ ‘80s classic “Echo Beach”) from her fall U.K. debut, Pop Art.

WALE ftrg. LADY GAGA — “Chillin’”
Mark Ronson-sponsored D.C.-based rapper cruises Washington’s mean streets with Lady Gaga fronting her best M.I.A. impersonation.

DAVID GUETTA ftrg. KELLY ROWLAND — “When Love Takes Over”
David Guetta’s summer club anthem gets a downtempo remake when vocalist Kelly Rowland takes the BBC Live Lounge stage.

FRANKMUSIK — “Confusion Girl”
Even with pink sneakers and a tragic haircut, Vincent Frank (aka Frankmusik) gets the girl in this clip for the current single from his forthcoming Complete Me (out July 27 in the U.K.).

Music News: Esser, Live Nation, Jay Brannan, Joss Stone, Elektra Records, Nelly Furtado

MODERN TONIC

Modern Tonic is a free daily email of eclectic pop-culture recommendations from a gay perspective. The editors of Modern Tonic present a weekly music update here on Towleroad.

NEW ARTIST TO WATCH AND FREE DOWNLOADS:

Twenty-three-year-old Ben Esser looks like he just appeared on the scene wearing his matchstick jeans, ska-inflected shirts and a psychobilly quiff that resembles a triple-decker sandwich from Katz’s Deli. But this young solo artist’s been part of the London underground since 2004 as the drummer for the jaunty — and now defunct — U.K. indie kids Ladyfuzz.

His debut Braveface — out now in the U.K. — proves it’s not just his hair that’s big. Esser, from Essex, has the potential for a Lily Allen-size U.S. breakthrough with his pop-friendly beats, laddish songs of big bad love, and withering English wit.

Braveface comes out Stateside in August, but until then you can whet your appetite with these free downloads of album track “Headlock” and a tasty Prince Paul remix of his first U.S. single “I Love You.”

MUSIC NEWS:

Live Nation is attempting to address consumer dissatisfaction with their multiple service charges by kicking off "No Service Fee Wednesdays" tomorrow.

Sexy gay folkie Jay Brannan will release In Living Cover, a collection of seven cover songs and two originals, on July 7. The release coincides with a month-long U.S. tour starting July 8 in New York City.

Joss Stone is reportedly trying to buy out the remainder of her recording contract with EMI.

Is Nelly Furtado bi-?  The "Promiscuous" singer of Portuguese descent will release a Spanish-language album in September.

eMusic, the internet music download site that positions itself as a mom-and-pop indie store in the shadow of iTunes' world-domination, has signed a deal with Sony Music to carry the label's catalog (over two years old) recordings.

Elektra Records, which was folded into Atlantic Records in 2004 during the Great Music Industry Meltdown, is being revived as an imprint just in time for its 60th anniversary. Signings include Little Boots, rapper Cee-Lo and the French electronic duo Justice ("D.A.N.C.E."). 

TODAY’S NEW RELEASES:

Has it been 12 years since Vanessa Williams last released an album of all original music? Get ready, because a quiet storm is once again brewing on The Real Thing.

Sophomore slump or sophomore slam? Find out when the Scottish bard Paolo Nutini drops Sunny Side Up.

The Sounds — Swedish New Wave freaks since 1999 — release their third album, Crossing the Rubicon.

The late troubadour Jeff Buckley gets a live CD/DVD combo, Grace-Around the World, celebrating the fifteenth anniversary of his seminal recording.

Even old reprobates can turn a new trick. Witness Iggy Pop’s turn as a French chansonnier on Préliminaires.

Broadway actor Malcolm Gets (who also appeared in HBO’s Grey Gardens) retraces his musical roots on his debut, The Journey Home.

New releases also from: Diane Birch — Bible Belt; 311 — Uplifter; Franz Ferdinand — Blood (dub remixes of tracks from their last album); Kleerup — Kleerup (import); Away We Go (film soundtrack); West Side Story (2009 Broadway cast) and Rock of Ages (Broadway), plus iTunes has launched a Gay Pride store with gay-related music, movies, apps, podcasts, audiobooks and celebrity playlists.

MUSIC VIDEOS:

DAN BLACK: “Symphonies”
A century of cinema is condensed into three minutes in this anthemic ballad from ex-The Servant singer. From his forthcoming solo debut ((un)) (out July 6 in the U.K.).

MAKE THE GIRL DANCE: “Baby Baby Baby”
French dance duo send three head-turning naked femmes down a busy Rue Montorgueil for this club-ready track. Chiropractors, rejoice!

BOB SINCLAR & THE SUGAR HILL GANG: “LaLa Song”
More Gallic grooves from French DJ/producer Sinclar and rap pioneers The Sugar Hill Gang in this colorful old-school block party of a clip.

PATRICK WOLF: “Hard Times”
The sexually ambiguous singer dons neon face paint in a call to political action, from The Bachelor (out today).