Christmas Eve with Ritchie Blackmore

PR reports: It's Holiday Season once again, and Blackmore's Night has the perfect Holiday anthem with "Christmas Eve."

For a decade, award winning singer/songwriter Candice Night, legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, and their fellow band of minstrels, have crafted an enchanting folk/rock sound with Renaissance overtones that has earned them the devotion of fans around the globe. On November 6, 2007 Blackmore's Night released Paris Moon, a long-form concert DVD/CD shot September 20, 2006 at Paris, France's famed Olympia.

Over the course of five internationally charting studio albums, several live and compilation releases, numerous awards and many sold-out tours around the planet, they have truly perfected their signature blend of music. - Check out the Christmas Eve video here

Talking Heroin

PR reports: The latest episode of "Talking Metal" features the uncut interview hosts Mark Strigl and John Ostronomy conducted with Nikki Sixx for their Talking Metal on fuse pilot.

(If you missed it, The Talking Metal on fuse pilot will be re-broadcast on fuse on December 13 at 11 PM Eastern and 8 PM Pacific. - grab a beet and don't miss it this time!)

The extended interview topics in the podcast include Sixx's new book "The Heroin Diaries," Sixx A.M., and Motley Crue. The podcast can be downloaded - at this location

2008 Made in Hell

PR reports: Next year Metal Mind Productions will present a worldwide edition of "Made in Hell" from Polish thrashers Retribution. As the title suggests, you can expect a huge dose of extreme metal music. Powerful vocals, crashing guitar riffs and strong rhythms - it's all there! As the band say: "our primary goal is to kick ass!". "Made In Hell" presents a rising star of Polish thrash metal!

Retribution is a thrash metal band formed in Poland in 1999. Most of the band's members played in other bands before (Velvet Thorns, Serpentia, Sad Kingdom) but Retribution is, and always will be, for them the undisputable number one. In 2002 the band released a 4-track demo. After a few years they decided to record material for the debut full-length LP entitled "Made in Hell". In the meantime, they played innumerable concerts at small pubs as well as at big festivals.

The album will be released on 21st January 2008 in Europe and 18th March 2008 in USA (via MVD). - more on this story

3 Mile Scream With A Glimpse of Hope

PR reports: 3 Mile Scream is currently putting the finishing touches on their sophomore album, A Glimpse of Hope, which is due for release in early 2008. The album is being produced by Cryptopsy guitarist Christian Donaldson, who recently produced The Agonist for Century Media.

Mile Scream have issued the following road report following their recent tour of Eastern Canada.: "We just got back from New Brunswick, what awesome times and the shows were totally awesome. We made a lot of new fans, and discovered a whole bunch of fans we never knew we had," says guitarist Alex Delis.

"I must say I have never seen that many 'Beware of Moose' signs in my life, it was quite scary and at one point we almost hit a deer. On the way back, when we finally got into Quebec, we hit the tail end of a massive snowstorm and after hitting a snow bank and pothole, we had two flat tires. The police were very helpful, so gave them CDs. Who would have thought the cops helping out a metal band like us? All in all it was a great time and we are already looking forward to going back to Eastern Canada in early 2008." - more on this story

Deivos Set Release

PR reports: Metal Mind Productions proudly presents a worldwide release of Deivos' debut album "Emanation From Below". The band formed around 1997/98 recorded its first demo in 1999. But only after completing the line-up in 2000 the band was ready to start working on the proper debut.

It took Deivos nearly 10 years to complete its first full-length album but the results are worth the wait. The material shows a multi-dimensional death metal attack distinguished by original ideas, brutal strength and astonishing technical perfection. It's Polish death metal at its best!

"Emanation From Below" will be released on the 21st of January 2008 in Europe and the 18th of March 2008 in the USA (via MVD). - more on this story

The OaKs Soph

PR reports: One of the major surprises of CMJ 2007, Orlando band The OaKs is set to release its sophomore album Songs For Waiting on March 3rd, 2008. The profound and stirring album is the follow-up to the band's Our Fathers and The Things They Left Behind which caught the ears and minds of many fans and scribes in 2007 with its unique blend of Graceland's polyrhythms, Steve Earle's politics, Wilco's urgency, and Sufjan Stevens' orchestrations.

The story behind The OaKs' music is just as interesting as the sounds. In late 2003, just two years after 9/11, The OaKs' Ryan Costello sold everything he owned, joined a humanitarian organization and moved to Afghanistan. Costello lived there for two years, working in the Central Afghan Mountains with returned refugees, teaching them creative agricultural techniques and becoming fluent in their native language, Farsi. Late at night, while the dust storms blocked out the stars and rattled the windows, he would sit and work out impressions of what he had seen and heard that day on his acoustic guitar. Costello also documented his time in Afghanistan with a series of moving portraits which can be viewed at ryancostello.com. - more on this story

Silverstein Winter Tour Plans

PR reports: North America, you have been warned. Burlington, Ontario, band Silverstein will be dominating the continent coast-to-coast this winter. Eleven days after it finishes its first-ever national headlining jaunt in Canada, the band moves south to echo the feat across the United States for the Chillers: Bros In The Snow Winter Tour.

Beginning February 21st in Worcester, Mass., Silverstein will embark on the hefty 31-date headlining extravaganza that will culminate in Cincinnati on March 29th. Absent from the U.S. since a summer run with Rise Against, Silverstein will be pulling out all the stops with a cavalcade of classics and tracks from its third record, Arrivals & Departures. - more including dates

Radiohead Top Filter's Top Ten Albums of 07

Filter reports: It is with much fanfare that we announce Filter's long-awaited Top Ten Albums of 2007! These are the albums that we've been listening to on a constant loop in the office this year, from the eagerly awaited follow-ups from Band Of Horses and Arcade Fire to new friends like Elvis Perkins and The Good, The Bad & The Queen and the little self-released digital album that beat them all to the top of the stack. Here's the full list below:

Filter's Top Ten of The Year:
1. Radiohead, In Rainbows
2. Band of Horses, Cease To Begin
3. Arcade Fire, Neon Bible
4. The Good, The Bad & The Queen, The Good, The Bad & The Queen
5. Animal Collective, Strawberry Jam
6. Elvis Perkins, Ash Wednesday
7. LCD Soundsystem, Sound of Silver
8. The National, Boxer
9. Great Northern, Trading Twilight For Daylight
10. Andrew Bird, Armchair Apochrypha

Head over to Filter-mag.com for the breakdown of staff lists, as well as Top 10 lists from assorted artists including Paul Banks of Interpol, Jared Followill of Kings Of Leon, and Ad-Rock of Beastie Boys shares an exclusive glimpse into his Top 10 breakfast buffets! - Filter-mag.com

Ween's Claude Coleman Jr. Announces Tour

PR reports: Multi-instrumentalist Claude Coleman Jr., best known as the perversely versatile live/studio drummer for cult-rock gods Ween, is taking his own project AMANDLA on the road to promote their new album: "The Full Catastrophe."

The sophomore release is the product of a "four year journey back from the brink of living," following a near fatal car accident which forced Coleman to painstakingly reclaim control of his body and life well enough to finish the work.

AMANDLA continues leaping across boundaries of style and sound with this release. There is still a steady current of rock, pop, folk and soul, resting in a bed of psychedelica, but now stretching a bit further into jazz territories.

Confirmed dates for AMANDLA's appearances in the new year are forthcoming - Myspace page

Sexually Confusing Pop Punk Xmas

PR reports: Pop-Punk-Rockers Mink have given their fans an early Christmas present in the form of a holiday single: "Little Drummer boy (girl)", featuring Mink's own Little Drummer girl, Stella Mozgawa.

If the Sex Pistols assaulted Santa Claus, this is what it would sound like... - Grab the mp3 here

Super Deluxe Antichrist-mas

PR reports: Super Deluxe has the perfect remedy for all of the Scrooges out there already sick of visions of sugar plums, fat jolly men donned in red, and malls packed with bratty kids and clueless parents: "Violent Night: The War On Christmas."

The game arms the player with a howitzer and the mission to destroy all of the cloying ailments of the season including puckish elves, syrupy-sweet candy canes, and overly-decorated presents.

Players that are able to destroy the spirit of the holiday and make it through the Twelve Days Of Christmas are rewarded with the establishment of "World People Day" in place of the holy holiday. - more on this story

Luke Temple Keeping Busy

PR reports: After a great tour with Chuck Prophet and a stellar show at the Bowery Ballroom with Peter Morén (of Peter Bjorn and John) and Besnard Lakes this week, Luke Temple is holing up in his Brooklyn apartment yet again to prep numerous new projects.

First, Luke recently finished work on an upcoming volume of THE SEVEN INCH PROJECT, which will be released in limited availability under the name "Brain"—the title of Luke's new touring band who joined him on the road with The Good Life. One new song, "They're Gonna Land", can be found on Luke's MySpace page.

According to the Seven Inch Project, it's "a vinyl record label that releases Limited Edition Collectible 7-inch (45-rpm) records. - more on this story

Axl Quit GNR To Gain Control of Guns N' Roses A Top Story of 2007

antiMusic reports: For the rest of the year we are going to be looking back at most read articles from the past year. Today we feature the biggest story from the 2nd week of November: One of the big revelations in Slash's new autobiography is how the original Guns N' Roses split up and Axl Rose gained control of the group and name. Slash also delivers bad news for those that have been hoping that the original line-up would somehow regroup, it's not going to happen.

Slash writes of the possibility of a reunion: "It's funny, when fans ask me, as they do almost every day, whether Guns, in its original form, will ever reunite, it is hard to take them seriously. That question is so asinine to me; if they knew the real story, they'd already know the answer. But my response is always the same: 'Take a look at what everyone is doing now. Duff and Matt and I are part of a really successful band. Izzy's content doing his thing; Steven too. And Axl is touring with the "new Guns." No one is making phone calls to see when we can get the band together again.'"

Just how did that "new Guns" come about? It started when Axl and the band's manager had the other members of the band sign a contract that gave Axl control of the group name if they ever broke up. And that's exactly what Axl did, he broke the group up. Slash writes that the break up was caused by "Axl wanting control to the point that the rest of us were strangled." Then on August 31, 1995 Axl dropped a bomb on Duff and Slash, the only remaining members at the time, when sent them a letter "saying he was leaving the band and taking the name with him under the terms of the contract." Of course, Slash and Duff were invited to still be part of Axl's band, but you'll have to read to book to learn more about how that worked out. - A little more info on the book here

Wreck The Halls This Christmas

PR reports: What are rock fans to do when the holiday season rolls around and they feel force-fed with sugar plum Christmas songs? Thanks to Christmas Rock Records, which has transformed songs from some of rock music's top acts into instrumental holiday carols, they can rejoice. With the debut release of three Holiday Tribute CDs that feature songs by Metallica, AC/DC and Green Day, Christmas Rock Records now offers an alternative to the usual holiday musical fare for rockers who want to celebrate the season with the music they love.

Christmas bells ring like never before as Santa Claws and the Naughty but Nice Orchestra wreck the halls with instrumental versions of songs by these three beloved bands that will get the elves head banging and the reindeers rocking. It's holiday music that's as seasonal as freshly fallen snow yet filled with a Christmas spirit. The albums are perfect gifts that keep on giving year after year and offer an ideal soundtrack for that big holiday bash. - more on this story

.... Billy Joel 2007 Photos

Billy Joel from 12/1/07 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates Illinois - Check out Rob's Photo Blog of this show

.... Review: The Klezmonauts - Oy to the World: A Klezmer Christmas

Paul Libman has used his creative genius that is usually reserved for commercials and musical theatre and created a band known as The Klezmonauts to form a musical marriage of Christian Christmas music and Jewish music. - Read the full The Klezmonauts - Oy to the World: A Klezmer Christmas review

.... Review: Ignitor - Road of Bones

How often do you hear a woman fronting a band with traditional metal overtones in place of the Gothic junk hovering around the mainstream. Though interesting, Ignitor’s Road of Bones is a bit lackluster in many areas, quite an average effort at the end of the day. - Read the full Ignitor - Road of Bones review

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