Blog: Today's Tonic From ModernTonic.com

Thirty years after the Sugarhill Gang called Superman a "fairy‚" mainstream hip-hop remains as macho and bullheaded as ever. But things are different underground‚ attests Pick Up the Mic: The Evolution of Homohop (on DVD June 23)‚ a one-of-a-kind documentary that recounts how a small circle of... more

• » 04_I_Seen_Beyonce...__feat_Jonny_Makeup_....mp3

Once Gossip Girl roofied the zeitgeist, it was only a matter of time before someone decided it needed a reality check. Or at least a reasonable facsimile using non-actors, which is what Bravo is serving up with NYC Prep (premiering Tuesday, June 23). The parallels are uncanny (and calculatedly so): PC is slimy http://www.youtube... more

Caleb certainly wasn't having any fun being Caleb. Neglected by his father, picked on by the schoolyard bully and not altogether clear about his burgeoning sexuality, this kid needed an escape. Then one day he found it: Marilyn Monroe's lips. The http://images.google.com/image s?q=andy+warhol+art&oe=utf-8&r ls=org.mozilla:en-US:official& client=firefox-a... more

Laura Izibor, a 21-year-old Dubliner, is here to change the musical landscape of Irish soul for good. Brought up in a working-class home with a love of Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack and Marvin Gaye, Izibor worked on her debut for four years. Let the Truth Be Told finally arrives honed to a warm shimmer. Opener "Shine" adds the grit of... more

Oh, Woody Allen, how you inspire handwringing. We've been devoted fans since at least Annie Hall‚ but the guy kinda went off the rails with the throwaway murder mysteries and the marriage to Soon-Yi. Some of Woody's recent films‚ like last year's http://tinyurl.com... more

"Don't Ask‚ Don't Tell" may seem an anachronistic relic of the early 1990s‚ but the policy of drumming out otherwise capable members of the military simply because they are gay or lesbian is alive and well. Despite two wars and the need for mission-critical skills like foreign language proficiency‚ same-sex love still gets you booted from the armed services. <br... more

Little Boots (aka Victoria Hesketh) is the best thing to happen to the thigh-high since Beyoncé strutted her way through Austin Powers in Goldmember as Foxxy Cleopatra. Hands — her much-anticipated debut (available as an import) with production help from http://itunes.apple.com/WebObj ects/MZStore.woa... more

We know you wouldn't allow your body to atrophy during swimsuit season, so why let your brain? Stay sharp this summer with our reading list; your abs can't do everything. You or Someone Like You Chandler Burr When Howard and Anne's son Sam... more

Slogans like "No glove, no love" and "Don't be silly, protect your willy" may seem quaint nowadays, but in the early 1980's, just talking about safe sex in the gay community was an incendiary act. Daryl Wein's documentary Sex Positive (opening in New York June 12 and in select cities soon) tells the surprisingly little-known story of Richard... more

Our memories of summers' past always come with a soundtrack. What tunes will accompany our lives in summer 2009? Five artists whose singles have been rocking our world are about to release debut albums (to be available as imports) that are major contenders for summer soundtrack status. La Roux — http://www.amazon.co.uk/Roux.. . more

So what did it take to get The Sopranos' Edie Falco to do another cable series? Percocet, Adderall and extremely sensible shoes. The three-time Emmy winner takes on the title role in Nurse Jackie (premiering Monday on Showtime). The no-nonsense RN has a chemical dependency on the level of http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0009 WPM1Q/?tag=your_modetoni... more

Hankering for more Glee? Nothing's new on that front until the fall, but last year's fantastical indie film Were the World Mine (on DVD June 9) just might fill your need for cute jocks singing and dancing to catchy tunes. While studying lines for the part of Puck in his class production... more

Wade Rouse, confirmed urbanite, struggling author and unashamed label whore, received a sign from Jesus (or a vagrant who uncannily resembled him) that St. Louis — where he'd spent his adult life fitting in by feverishly shopping, exercising, tanning and working at a job he despised — was driving him insane. Convinced that his urban life was vapid and exhausting, Rouse dragged... more

You can just never tell with musicians. Some — like Radiohead and Muse — stumble before finding their voice. Others — like Madonna —... more

• » 04_Nothing_But_A_Miracle.mp3

"I have gotten used to the idea, never challenged, that children do not gain the qualities of their sex until after marriage, when the girls give birth to children and the boys go out to work." The quote sounds like something out of a Jane Austen tract from 200 years ago, but it is actually the product of present-day author Siba al-Harez. Her debut novel, The Others... more

"You had me at hello." "I'm the king of the world!" "Nobody puts Baby in a corner." Some movie lines stick with us because they represent a moment or a feeling that resonates deep inside of us. That line in Away We Go (opens June 5 in Los Angeles and NYC) comes when a pregnant Verona ( http://tinyurl.com/5559to... more

A club bash, a Pagan romp through the woods and a retro-tinged heartbreak make our pre-summer summer jams list in our latest Video 3way. Fritz Helder & the Phantoms: "Lagerfeld Lady" The first signing to Nelly Furtado's boutique label, <a target... more

Here's what photographer Matt Albiani's new book Lifeguard on Duty (out June 9) is NOT: It is not an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog — Albiani's photographic collection of lifeguards... more

Dance music can be deeply shallow, full of shiny surfaces and entrancing rhythms. But beneath that seductive glitter, the best electric pulse fires up all cylinders: heart and soul, passion and pelvis, brain and booty. Tiga's Ciao! (on iTunes now, on CD May 26) — the sophomore release from the... more