NEW MUSIC: k.d. lang / Neko Case / Laura Veirs, Devendra Banhart, Merchandise

This week in New Music: k.d. lang works magic on a collaboration with Neko Case and Laura Veirs, Devendra Banhart knows how to please his fans on Ape in Pink Marble and Merchandise channel Depeche Mode to (mostly) good effect on A Corpse Wired For Sound.

case/lang/veirs – case/lang/veirs

case/lang/veirs, a collaboration between k.d. Lang, Laura Veirs and Neko Case actually came out in June so apologies for the delay but it’s worth waiting for.

Legend has it that the album came about when lang moved to Portland, Oregon and emailed Veirs and Case suggesting a collaboration. “I think we should make a record together,” wrote lang. Veirs and Case replied within an hour saying “yes please.” “There was no question,” says Case.

Two and half years later comes the result, a collection of 14 stunning tracks highlighting the best each has to offer. On an album like this there could be a possibility that one voice will dominate. However, the trio came together with a vague idea and collaborated on most of the tracks in progress. The result is frankly stunning. As a vocalist, lang is probably the most recognizable throughout.

case/lang/veirs would appear to be a one-off project. It will leave you wanting more but it’s a good thing you can’t have it because you can’t better perfection. The “folk-punk girl group thing” lang envisioned was not to be. If they do make a follow-up that would be a joy to listen to.

Devendra Banhart – Ape in Pink Marble

Devendra Banhart (above and right) has been plugging away since 2002 and has issued eight albums to date, the best of which is probably 2005’s Cripple Crow, a sprawling 22-track collection that suggested great things to come.

However, he has since been left to ride the coattails of some of his contemporaries including Bon Iver, Sufjan Stevens, Mount Eerie, Andrew Bird and Grizzly Bear.

Working with the same team present on 2013’s Mala, Ape In Pink Marble continues with some of the problems that have beset Banhart’s career, namely two tracks (Fancy Man,” “Fig In Leather”) that are goofy at best and entirely out of tone with the rest of the album.

It’s a shame because there are some fantastic songs here including the trippy “Theme for a Taiwanese Woman in Lime Green” and the forlorn “Mourner’s Dance.”

However, the album is overall just a touch complacent. Banhart has a huge following, he knows what they want and for the most part he plays to his audience. That works for him and his fans but this is not a Mount Eerie-style breakout album.

Merchandise – A Corpse Wired For Sound

Florida natives Merchandise had something of a breakthrough with their 2014 album After The End. Given their no frills, home recording ethic and a penchant for an aggressive sound, that album cooled their jets a touch and even produced the closest they’ve come to a pop song in the form of “Enemy.”

For their latest album “ A Corpse Wired For Sound,” Merchandise would appear to be at least attempting to throw off their reputation for dirgy insularity self-described as a “distended corpse … forever singing in spite of everything.”

Their first recorded in an actual studio, the album embraces a wide-open almost stadium rock feel, closer to U2’s sincerity than overblown mid-career Coldplay.

It mostly pays off. Although there’s nothing here as immediately accessible as on After the End, on songs like “Right Back To The Start” the band seem to be chanelling Depeche Mode darkness of all things. That continues through “End of the Week,” “Shadow of the Truth” and “Silence” but those tracks are broken up by the lousy “Lonesome Sound.”

The post NEW MUSIC: k.d. lang / Neko Case / Laura Veirs, Devendra Banhart, Merchandise appeared first on Towleroad.

NEW MUSIC: k.d. lang / Neko Case / Laura Veirs, Devendra Banhart, Merchandise

TFW You Find Out Your Straight Friends’ Secrets – WATCH

Michael Henry is back with another sketch looking at the comedic intersection of gay and straight lives.

In his latest video, Henry gets overly excited when he learns that his straight guy friends like to gossip–and are in possession of some really good dirt.

PREVIOUSLY: When a Gay Guy Helps Two Straight Hunks in Need of Service – WATCH

Watch the tea spillage, below.

The post TFW You Find Out Your Straight Friends’ Secrets – WATCH appeared first on Towleroad.

TFW You Find Out Your Straight Friends’ Secrets – WATCH

#AllyWeek: How to Be a Better Ally

This week marks Ally Week, which is an opportunity to amplify the conversation about how to be a better ally to LGBTQ youth.

Ally Week is organized by GLSEN, which describes allyship as being “about more than broadly supporting LGBTQ people; it’s an active, ongoing process of advocating for LGBTQ youth (and other marginalized groups) without speaking for them or over them. During #AllyWeek, we challenge one another to think critically about what allyship means, how we are allies to others, and what kind of allies we seek out for ourselves.”

An ally is a term used to describe someone who is supportive of LGBTQ people. It encompasses non-LGBTQ allies as well as those within the LGBTQ community who support each other, e.g. a lesbian who is an ally to the bisexual community.

Ally Week focuses on LGBTQ youth, who are subject to pervasive discrimination, including harassment, bullying, intimidation and violence. According to Growing Up LGBT In America, HRC Foundation’s 2012 survey of more than 10,000 LGBTQ young people, LGBTQ youth in the U.S. still face unique challenges. Only half of LGBTQ youth surveyed say that they “fit in” in their community; LGBTQ youth are more than twice as likely to be verbally harassed at school; and 63 percent of LGBTQ youth say they will need to move to another part of the country to feel accepted.

GLSEN offers an action plan for how to be a better ally, and offers a guide for educators who are looking to support students during Ally Week.

HRC also has resources on how allies can help make the world more understanding and supportive for the LGBTQ community. Don’t miss out on An Ally’s Guide to Issues Facing LGBTQ Americans, Coming Out as a Supporter, and more.

www.hrc.org/blog/allyweek-how-to-be-a-better-ally?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Arizona Volunteers Mobilize for Pro-Equality Candidates

Last week, HRC volunteers came together at a phone bank in Phoenix with HRC President Chad Griffin to mobilize voters for pro-equality candidates. Volunteers talked about HRC’s endorsement of Hillary Clinton for President, Ann Kirpatick for Senate and other pro-equality candidates.

The event was part of Griffin’s “Road for Equality” tour to #turnOUT the pro-equality vote in this year’s critical election. Griffin spoke to volunteers about HRC’s work to elect the most pro-equality ticket in history. He also discussed what’s at stake in this election and how HRC is working across the country to mobilize pro-equality voters in key races up and down the ballot.

HRC has aggressive plans to mobilize our members and supporters this fall and there is an important role for you in our effort. If you’re interested in being a part of HRC’s elections work in Arizona contact Alec Thomson at [email protected] for more information.  

www.hrc.org/blog/arizona-volunteers-mobilize-for-pro-equality-candidates?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

HRC, Treatment Action Group & the Fair Pricing Coalition Launch #FairDrugPricesNow Campaign

Today, HRC joined with the Treatment Action Group (TAG) and the Fair Pricing Coalition (FPC) in launching #FairDrugPricesNow, a public education and outreach campaign to mobilize LGBTQ people and their allies to address the alarming rise of prescription drug prices in the United States.

The campaign launches as public debate and outrage is increasing around the costs of prescription drugs and the dire and sometimes deadly health consequences that can follow when vital medicines become too expensive for many patients who desperately need them. The centerpiece of the campaign is a video that lays out the unfair system of drug pricing in the United States and the disproportionate effect it has on LGBTQ people, those living with and affected by HIV, and, in particular, individuals at the intersection of those identities.

“No family should have to choose between paying for medicine or putting food on their table, but, more and more, patients and consumers are being priced out of lifesaving and necessary care,” said Mary Beth Maxwell, HRC’s Senior Vice President for Programs, Research, and Training. “We are proud to join with the Treatment Action Group and Fair Pricing Coalition to mobilize our communities in support of common-sense reforms to ensure that every person can access the care they need to live and thrive. Our outrage at needlessly inflated drug prices must be channeled into calls for change and a desire for action that reflects the urgent reality faced by so many families.”

The #FairDrugPricesNow campaign is made possible with generous support from the Elton John AIDS Foundation

“Over the years, we have seen HIV and hepatitis drug prices rise to unsustainable levels. There have been numerous Congressional investigations and a comprehensive report issued by the Senate Finance Committee on this issue, but nothing has really changed to date,” said Lynda Dee, FPC Co-Chair. “Thus, there is a need to raise awareness and mobilize the LGBTQ community to address this continuing crisis. We have a long and successful history of self-education and activism. Now is the time to turn our attention to unsustainable drug pricing and price increases.”

“Rapidly escalating drug pricing trends cannot continue,” said Tim Horn, HIV Project Director of TAG and an FPC member. ”In 2016, federal spending on HIV and AIDS care and treatment will be in the ballpark of $26.4 billion. Our National HIV and AIDS Strategy aims to increase the percentage of people diagnosed with HIV who are on antiretroviral regimens and virally suppressed to at least 80 percent. Nationally, we’re only halfway there. If we’re to end HIV as an epidemic in the U.S., some things are going to need to change—runaway drug pricing being at the top of the list.”

The #FairDrugPricesNow campaign calls for several steps to combat rising prescription drug prices. They include increasing transparency by requiring drug companies to disclose pricing for government-funded programs including Medicare and Medicaid, and to reveal the actual cost of research and development of particular drugs.

Last fall, Martin Shkreli, then-CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, came under intense public scrutiny when his company increased the price of Daraprim, a crucial and often life-saving drug frequently used by people living with HIV and pregnant people, by more than 5000% overnight. HRC slammed Shkreli and called for a Congressional investigation into Turing’s price gouging.  Several other pharmaceutical companies have faced similar controversy, including Mylan for a recent six-fold price increase for its essential EpiPen.

To learn more about the #FairDrugPricesNow campaign, visit www.hrc.org/campaigns/fairdrugpricesnow.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-launches-FairDrugPricesNow-campaign?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

13 things you didn’t know about being bisexual+

www.glaad.org/blog/13-things-you-didn%E2%80%99t-know-about-being-bisexual

Political Provocateur Randy Rainbow Is the Best Thing About The Election

Randy Rainbow’s videos are the only thing keeping many of us from immediately moving to Montreal. We caught up with the gay internet’s newest star and premiere his latest Trump takedown.

www.advocate.com/comedy/2016/9/28/political-provocateur-randy-rainbow-best-thing-about-election

These Gay Men Love Juan Gabriel So Much They Pretend to Be Him

www.advocate.com/music/2016/9/28/these-gay-men-love-juan-gabriel-so-much-they-pretend-be-him

California Blocks Travel to North Carolina Over Anti-LGBT Law

It’s yet another blow to the Tar Heel State.

www.advocate.com/politics/2016/9/28/california-blocks-travel-north-carolina-over-anti-lgbt-law