Amanda Palmer, Nicole Atkins and Regina Spektor walk into a bar.

Stop me if you've heard this one before.

OK, so it may not have been a bar — more like New York City's Spiegeltent — but the three were indeed together and, thanks to some peer pressure from Palmer, Spektor walked away from the evening with a mission: update her MySpace blog. "Amanda was kind enough to remind me that me not writing about anything on MySpace for such a long time, is uncool to the max (not her exact words)," she wrote.

In fact, it had been eight months and 11 days since the quirky chanteuse fully took to her digital scribe, and only then to talk about her then-recent health ailments (vertigo) and to wish readers season's greetings. In that time, Spektor, as she reveals, wrote a song, titled "The Call," for Disney's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, recorded a tune with Ben Folds for his new album, played a Brooklyn show with a Stroke (Albert Hammond, Jr.), opened for Ani DiFranco in Philadelphia, and played three dates on the True Colors tour, which included a little tour-bus dance party with Tegan and Sara in Washington, D.C.

"They are the funnest and awesomest twins I know," Spektor wrote, "and just because I don't know that many twins doesn't mean they are not the highest caliber of awesome and fun." We'd imagine few would argue. … continue reading

While they both came out of the same pop cauldron of the early '80s, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna are rarely compared to one another musically. Well, that is, until now. Just in time for pride month (not to mention her second annual True Colors Tour), Cyndi has released her own confessions on the dancefloor. Her new CD, Bring Ya to the Brink, is a pure dance confection. Its 12 pulsing tracks will give Madge and her Hard Candy a run for disco domination.

The video for the single, “Into the Nightlife,” was also just released. Crowded dance floors, same-sex canoodling and the fabulous Cyndi Lauper? What’s not to like?

And lest you think Cyndi’s new danceable delights are all sound and fury, signifying nothing – take heart. This girl may just want to have fun, but she’s not mindless fun. Cyndi told Entertainment Weekly the inspiration for the “Into the Nightlife” was Henry Miller’s book by the same name that also inspired Lawrence Ferlinghetti's A Coney Island of the Mind. That, in turn, inspired Cyndi to describe NYC’s nightlife in the song. … continue reading

Deborah Harry, best known as the lead singer of Blondie, is prominently featured in the most recent print edition of The Advocate. The article is part of the magazine's fall entertainment preview, and Harry is featured because her first solo album in 14 years, Necessary Evil, will be released in the U.K. this month and the U.S. next month.

The author of the article, Brantley Bardin, is somewhat annoying and repeatedly refers to Harry as "pouty." (First he mentions her "permanently pouty lips that could give you a smooch as easily as wolf you down for dinner." Later he describes her as "faux-pouting like a sexed-up Shirley Temple.") Regardless, he presents an appealing picture of one of the most influential female performers of the last 40 years. He highlights the ups-and-downs of her long career, her versatility (punk to jazz) and her activism. And he elicits why she doesn't like to be called an "icon." Harry says, "It sounds like 'acorn.'"

Of course, one of the most amazing things about her is that she's still going strong. Check out the video of "Two Times Blue," the first single from her new album. … continue reading