While we pout over missing Coachella, we can at least be excited over Erasure's upcoming tour: Vince and Andy kick things off at Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, one of the most prestigious theaters in the world and a genesis of not-gay-friendly country music. Once can only imagine what that show will be like. We'd be most interested in the Bowery's "mini-show" on May 20, which will undoubtedly give the small audience a more personal experience. And maybe chat with the boys a bit. Very cool.

The concert goes along with their Union Street album, their first major acoustic release. Listen here:

Erasure's "Boy" [Real Media]
Erasure's "Boy" [Windows Media Player]

For concert dates, click on the jump:

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We've got three copies of the new Erasure album to give away to some lucky readers. The first 3 correct responses win. WE HAVE OUR WINNERS, Thanks.

Andy Bell’s voice has never sounded as good as it does on the brilliant new Erasure disc, Union Street, released next week. The album is named after the street in Brooklyn where the duo recorded the tracks. For years the HIV+ and openly gay front man has teased us with the possibility of a stripped down, acoustic album. This is Mr. Bell doing his best Tammy Wynette. Obviously, he pulls it off. The band is also about to undertake their first tour with a live backing band, starting the US trek in Nashville, naturally.

Their rendition of the same-sex heartbreaker “Boy” opens the set and you can hear a definite maturity in Bell’s voice now. There is a richness, a depth, that was at times missing from the theatrical falsetto of Erasure albums past. Here his voice sounds stronger in the lower register and weaker in the higher, a complete reverse to the original versions of these songs. “Stay With Me” and “Rock Me Gently,” pulled from their underrated eponymous album are finally getting a deserved second chance. The album’s standout is the beautiful ballad “Home.” On their Chorus album the song was lost at the end of an overly stylized and produced dance pop record. Here it shimmers and builds like an epic tale.

The band’s take on their own catalog allows listeners to rediscover gems that never got radio play. It’s about time Vince Clarke and Andy Bell got a little respect as serious musicians and songwriters. Union Street is a brilliant record and deserves recognition.

Erasure Information Service [Official Site]

• We'll never look at our toothbrushes the same. [MySecretiveLife]

• Rosie O'Donnell dishes Naomi Campbell on The Tonight Show. We think it's time for Rosie to come back in style, we love her and she's been away for long enough. [FishDrinkWater]

• Sex In The Same City lands on Choire's desk, and he's stoked about the hot girl-on-girl action. But then he's disappointed to learn it's really about real-life lesbians. [DailyTransom} via [Jossip]

• The Mirror Boiyz, gay hip-hopsters, take on 50 Cent. How does "gay hip-hop" work, anyway? Well…you judge for yourself. [ArjanWrites]

• Erasure's Andy Bell on his GLAAD Awards performance, his new song, and hip replacement surgery. Damn, we're getting old. [AfterElton]

*Skreeve is British gay slang for "writing." If Madonna can become British overnight, then so can we.

Erasure are set to return this spring with a new album of acoustic material. This record, named Union Street, has been in the works for years and longtime Erasure fans have been waiting with bated breath for the duo’s simplified reworkings.

The track list is full of not so know Erasure classics: “Rock Me Gently,” “Home,” and the first single “Boy.” Bell’s voice soars on the three tracks available for streaming on their official site. After a shaky solo outing this year, Bell’s voice seems more fragile and more reflective. It works wonderfully in the new setting.

And the duo just announced acoustic tour dates across Europe and the USA. We’ve seen them do an acoustic show before and though they’ll be no dancing the boys do deliver. Majorly. It’s a true testament to their powerful pop confections; even with simple arrangements the songs sparkle like gems.

Erasure Information Service [Official Site]

Like we promised you last week, every day between now and Christmas we are listing the reasons why 2005 was gay. So Gay! Need proof? Take a look at the musicians who made 2005 gay, gay, gay!

5. Green Day. The punk trio released the brilliant American Idiot technically in late 2004, however its staying power lasted all through 2005. Front man Billie Joe Armstrong gave kids everywhere one positive message: you can wear make-up and be tough at the same time. And we love him for that.

4. Gwen Stefani. Like Green Day, she too released her Love. Angel. Music. Baby. album in late 2004, but the first single “What You Waiting For?” tanked at radio. Fear not, she rebounded big with hit single after hit single, a clothing line co-designed by Zaldy at Fashion Week, and an album that stayed near the top all year. While Britney becomes a mother, it’s this Southern California girl who has, dare we say, become the new Madonna.

3. Melissa Etheridge. Melissa Etheridge does not get the credit she deserves. It took a battle against cancer and a soaring Janis Joplin cover to prove that this woman, who appeared to be past her prime, still has a lot of rocking left to do. Green Day and Kanye West look like sissies next to her.

2. The 1980s. The 80s have been back in fashion for a while and the decade’s influence on music has been apparent in many hip-hop and pop records of late. But 2005 could have been 1985 all over again. New records were released by Kate Bush, Cyndi Lauper, the Eurythmics, Depeche Mode, and Erasure. This revival gave us a reason to break out our parachute pants and leg warmers.

After the jump, the #1 gayest thing in music in 2005.

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• Erasure are planning a spring release of Union Street, an acoustic album of underrated and forgotten tracks. Some of our faves made the cut. Via Arjan.

• The Manhattan Offender has a message for the ladies. In fashion, that is. Gawker has a different take.

• We scored a copy of Mary J. Blige’s new album The Breakthrough and it is hot, hot, hot. The diva even sings with and covers U2. Want a taste yourself? Check out Pop Bytes.

• Not a soul that reads this site could win the Mr. Hetero pageant. Of course, we wouldn’t want to either. Rip up copies of Oprah's magazine? Heck no. We have them cataloged and stored in airtight bags. They'll be collector's items some day, you know.

• Brokeback Mountain is released today. Check out Andy’s site within a site dedicated to the gay cowboy film. It’s the virtual equivalent to this shrine to Paris Hilton. And are we bad gays to want to see The Chronicles of Narnia more?

• Hillary Clinton and Ellen DeGeneres will be going to a show but won’t be hitting the clubs when Ellen comes to NYC for Thanksgiving. Does Henrietta Hudson’s count?

• Daniel Craig is the new James Bond. This is the first time Bond has been played by a blond. Blond, James Blond.

• Coldplay may pull an Erasure or Madonna. Their next sound could be very ABBA according to Apple’s dad Chris Martin. Then again it could be a “transvestite” sound, which means they will start lip-synching Whitney Houston records.

• The gay movie Loggerheads opens in New York and Los Angeles today and the NY Times thinks it is worth checking out. And it has nothing to do with getting to see newcomer Kip Pardue shirtless.

• San Francisco pop artist and local television personality Tim Gaskin “will take the new oral (non-blood, saliva) HIV antibody test which produces a result in 20-minutes, live” on-air of OUT Spoken, the San Francisco talk show. This is a first.

• “People who drive large four-wheel drive vehicles are more likely to be fat, conservative men who dislike homosexuals,” a new Australian survey reveals. So it's just like America.

Erasure's Andy Bell has released clips from his upcoming solo debut including his duet with that big fag Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters. Bell was one of the first openly gay popstars paving the way for Mr. Shears' sequined ass and just last year announced that he had contracted HIV.

Last year Erasure released the critically lauded Nightbird and then toured Europe and the US, where they played 10 sold out shows in NYC and 5 in SF. Now Bell is set to release his first solo effort, Electric Blue, on October 4th. Arjan got his hands on a copy and posted a review a little while back.

Clips of the Shears/Bell sissy fabulous duet and of the first single "Crazy" are up now on the singer's site. The set is co-produced by dj duo Manhattan Clique and listening to the new tracks gives the impression that the album will be much more dancefloor ready than Erasure's more poppy fare.

Also,a clip of the upcoming Larry Tee collaboration "Matthew" is now posted on the Manhattan Clique website. That track, another dance record, is about the killing of Matthew Sheperd. Release details are not confirmed yet for that track.