ASHES dIVIDE Week: Day 3 "Defamed"

antiMusic reports: Billy Howerdel made a big name for himself with A Perfect Circle, but he's not one to sit around as his APC bandmates tool around with other projects. So Billy started ASHES dIVIDE and their debut album, 'Keep Telling Myself It's Alright,' hits stores this week. We caught up with Billy and asked him to tell us a little bit about his favorite tracks from the CD.

Here is Billy with today's song "Defamed": I've got a couple of nieces that are going into middle school and high school, that kind of age, in the beginning I was thinking about this album, the charge for it, initially, was that time, going into the 7th and 8th grade, you come out of elementary school and coming into a new city of sorts. The school I went to was pretty big, like 600 people in each class. And then you come into this place, like whoa, this is like adults almost. But then there is the clique thing, the popular kid in school to the people kissing the ass of the popular one, and they prop that popular kid up on a pedestal. And then, you're doomed to fail. Or whether it's working with rock stars that I've worked with over the years and seeing people on the peripheral that they expect or want something from them that they can never give. Then they expect people to have that relationship and keep wanting that. You know, it's a destructive path either way, whether its politics to the entertainment business to the catty school mentality that you go through when you're a teenager.

Learn more about the album and the band, preview some of the songs, and grab tour dates (they're on Linkin Park's Projekt Revolution tour) - more on this story

Axl Rose Reality TV?

antiMusic reports: Ozzy had one, Gene has one, why not Axl? That's right, there is a rumor that Axl Rose may have a reality TV show coming to boob-tube near you. What a better way to promote the new GNR CD? We're not holding our breath that Axl'll go for it but here is the report from allyourtv.com: A major music-oriented television channel has pitched an idea for a reality series to Axl Rose, according to sources close to the project.

The show, which would appear on a cable channel that asked not to be identified, would follow the troubled rocker as his continues his decade-long effort to release the Guns N' Roses project "Chinese Democracy."

According to sources at Geffen (Rose's music label) a version of "Chinese Democracy" has been finished and delivered to the label. But there are still outstanding issues between the singer and the label, not the least of which is a recording cost for the project which (depending on who you believe), has reached between $11 and $15 million. Another stickler is the digital rights for the tracks, along with some proposed "bonus" tracks Geffen would like to release digitally. - more on this story

Stone Temple Pilots Reunion Tour Dates

PR reports: Stone Temple Pilots took to the stage Monday night in Los Angeles for the first time in almost 8 years with a special performance to reveal the dates of their long-awaited and highly anticipated reunion tour.

The exclusive launch event was held at the Harry Houdini estate in the Hollywood Hills. The band hit the stage in front of a select group of fervent fans and contest winners and gave the concert-goers a special preview of what can be expected from STP's 2008 reunion outing with a powerful 7-song set that featured many of the band's top hits including "Plush," "Interstate Love Song" and "Vasoline."

Encompassing over 65 dates and hitting all corners of North America, the tour is scheduled to kick off on May 17th with the band headlining the Rock On The Range Festival in Columbus, OH and will continue through the fall. - more on this story

Metallica Get Down For Summer Tour

antiMusic reports: 'Tallica, the band formerly known as Metallica, announced that they will be getting Down for a summer tour of Europe. The band Down that is. You know, the band that punched out the guitarist for Adema at Ozzfest a few year back. If the prospect of 'Tallica and Down doesn't get your headbanging then maybe the addition of The Sword will.

Here is what the 'Tallica dudes had to say, "Since the second part of our little European summer vacation does not include any festival shows, guess what... we get to pick who we, and you, get to spend the day with. So we're psyched to share with you that our old friends in Down and our new friends in The Sword, one of our favorite bands of the last few years, have agreed to come along for the ride.

"Look for 'Tallica, Down, and The Sword starting on July 16 in Bergen, Norway through July 25 in Sofia, Bulgaria (except in Bucharest, where it will be just 'Tallica and The Sword)."

Jul. 16 - Bergen, Norway - Koengen
Jul. 18 - St. Petersburg, Russia - SKK Hall
Jul. 20 - Riga, Latvia - Skonto Stadium
Jul. 22 - Bologna, Italy - Parco Nord
Jul. 23 - Bucharest, Romania - Cotroceni (no DOWN)
Jul. 25 - Sofia, Bulgaria - Vasil Levski Stadium

- need to be refreshed about that Adema beatDown? Read all about it.

John Mayer Summer Tour

PR reports: Columbia recording artist John Mayer has announced dates for a full-scale national summer tour, beginning on July 2nd in Milwaukee, WI. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on April 19; supporting him on the tour will be Colbie Caillat and Brett Dennen.

John Mayer's Continuum was reissued Tuesday, April 8th. The double-platinum album contains the addition of Mayer's newest hit single, "Say", both on CD and vinyl (vinyl to be released on April 22).

Also, be sure to tune in to American Idol as "Say" will be featured on the "Idol Gives Back" program. "Idol Gives Back" will air on Wednesday, April 9 (7:30-10:00 PM ET/PT) on FOX. - more on this story

Pete Doherty Finally Going To Jail

antiMusic reports: It seems like he's had 100 drug arrest and kept getting off without spending time in the pokey, but Pete Doherty's luck has finally run out and he has finally been sentenced to time in the slammer.

Here are some of the details of the UK justice working at last, courtesy of Gigwise: Pete Doherty has been sentenced to 14 weeks in jail for breaking conditions set out in his probation order.

During a 30-minute hearing at West London Magistrates Court this afternoon, Doherty was told his sentence was for "breach of time keeping, non-compliance of his order and using different drugs." - more on this story

Social D Going Acoustic

antiMusic reports: Need a sign that Armageddon is fast approaching? How about legendary punkers Social Distortion recording an acoustic album. Will that convince you? We'll let Spinner tell you there tale:

Punk veterans Social Distortion aren't exactly known for soft numbers. But change is healthy, or so it's suggested. To that end, singer/guitarist Mike Ness reveals to Spinner that he and his band are planning an acoustic album for 2009. "I think it could be really, really neat," he says. "It's almost like a Bob Dylan/Bruce Springsteen/Johnny Cash kind of feel with a punk edge ... but acoustic."

The effort will feature new renditions of older songs and maybe a few new tunes. Ness came up with the idea after kicking off, for 10 weeks, his holiday-timed shows with a handful of Social D hits performed acoustically. - more on this story

Phantom Planet Secret Myspace Show

PR reports: After three years from their last album, the Los Angeles power pop band Phantom Planet are set to release their new album, Raise The Dead, on April 15 and will celebrate by performing an intimate MySpace Secret Show at the Bottom Of The Hill in San Francisco, California on April 9th. The album has already been hailed as "Phantom Planet's best" by Alternative Press who, in a rare four star review, also hailed the album as a "brilliant" effort that "stews in its drama like vintage Radiohead."

Also on the bill are the band's new labelmates, Fueled by Ramen/Decaydance artists The Hush Sound, who recently released their second album, Goodbye Blues. Both bands are performing as part of the largely sold out Honda Civic Tour, and this will be the only performance in a small venue such as Bottom Of The Hill.

MySpace Music has organized more than 100 Secret Shows in 16 countries around the world since the franchise launched in February 2006 with artists like Rilo Kiley, Panic at The Disco, Primal Scream, Killers, Fall Out Boy, Franz Ferdinand, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Stephen Malkmus performing in cities around the world. For more information about the artists and upcoming schedule, - visit the official MySpace Secret Shows profile

Gene and Paul and Those Other Guys KISS Off Serbia Show

antiMusic reports: It seems that Serbia's plans to hold elections in the Serb-dominated parts of Kosovo, in defiance of Kosovo's declared independence, has scared KISS away from rocking Belgrade. Blabbermouth reports: KISS has cancelled its previously announced May 15, 2008 concert at the Tasmajdan stadium in Belgrade, Serbia.

According to Blic Online, "The agency Lupa, organizer of the concert, explained that the agent of the band KISS informed them about the concert cancellation, explaining that it was due to political situation, which reminded them of their previous stay in Belgrade, especially because of the forthcoming elections in Serbia.

'The members of the band regret to inform you that the concert has to be cancelled, but the situation in Serbia does not leave them much choice. However, they hope they will perform in Serbia on some other occasion,' it has been stated in organizers' report" - more on this story

Dead To Fall is Dead

antiMusic reports: A visit to Dead to Fall's Myspace shows a huge preorder graphic for their album that came out in Feb, but if you scroll down to their music player the words "Dead To Fall is Dead" appear. If you didn't get the message by then, frontman Jon Hunt hammers it home with a blog entry simply titled "We broke up"

Here is what Hunt has to say, "Dead to Fall is no more. After 9 years, its time to say good-bye. There really isn't an easy way to say this, but the Dead To Fall machine broke beyond repair this last weekend. I guess the financial, personal, and emotionalstrains wore some of us down and caused a violent collapse.

"After a show in Wisconsin Logan and Chad to quit this past weekend. I wont go into the whole 'behind the music band break up scenario' but it was a night filled with retarded actions and words. The rest of us don't want to go through yet another major lineup change and really are just ready for a new chapter in our lives.

"The Super Massive Fist tour with Impending Doom, Arsonists Get All the Girls and Sea of Treachery is continuing on without us. We have no idea if we are going to play a last show or not, but at this point there is nothing planned." - read his full statement here

Toni Braxton Hospitalized

AP reports: Toni Braxton canceled her Las Vegas show after being hospitalized overnight with chest pains, hotel officials said.

The 40-year-old Grammy winner spent Monday night at a Las Vegas hospital and was expected to be released after precautionary tests, Flamingo Las Vegas hotel-casino and Harrah's Entertainment Inc. spokeswoman Deanna Pettit said.

The cause of the chest pain was not immediately known. But Pettit said Braxton has been treated in the past for pericarditis, a viral inflammation of the heart. - more on this story

Have No Fear, Fear Factory Not Reuniting

Blabbermouth reports: Ex-FEAR FACTORY and current DIVINE HERESY guitarist Dino Cazares has shot down rumors of a possible reunion with his former bandmates after he was photographed hanging out with FEAR FACTORY frontman Burton C. Bell at Sunday night's (April 6) MINISTRY concert at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California.

In a statement released to BLABBERMOUTH.NET, Cazares said, "[Sunday] was the first time I talked to [Burton] since 2002, but it felt like we never stopped talking. He seemed really happy. It just seemed like we just continued where we left off as good friends… like none of this drama ever happened.

He continued, "People may think that FEAR FACTORY will reunite but those were not our intentions. We did not speak about that — we were just happy to be talking to each other. - Read the rest of what he told Blabbermouth

Darkest Hour Puck Around With Hockey Song

PR reports: Darkest Hour have recorded a new arena anthem for their favorite ice hockey team – the Washington Capitals. Based on their song A Thousand Words To Say But One, Let's Go Caps! can be downloaded from a special page Darkest Hour have set up on Myspace [see link at the end of this article]

Ex-youth puck player and Darkest Hour guitarist Mike Schleibaum notes about their forays into sports themes: "It was something we did just for pure fun. I mean, when you play music — especially death metal — for a living, you start to take a lot way too seriously. This tune is pure fun. We recorded and produced it ourselves in one night after reminiscing about our love for hockey — and don't forget, the beers helped.

"If you listen to the backup vocals you'll hear many of our friends that love hockey. Yeah, the crowd voices are actually a big group of all our D.C. friends. We just called 'em up and said, "Hey, you guys want some beers and to scream 'Let's Go Caps!' for a few hours?" It was a hell of a night!"

Darkest Hour will be main support on the most anticipated metal tour of the year – the At The Gates reunion tour. - Check out the pucking song here

Get Hurt This Spring

antiMusic reports: Capitol Records want you to get Hurt this May. So they are sending the band back out on the road for a series of dates. No word of who they'll be playing with on this headlining run. There are a few festival gigs in the mix as well.

Although the latest release from the band, "The Re-Consumation," hit stores in Feb, The band will be out pimping their cleverly titled 2007 Capitol release "Vol. II," the follow up 2006's "Vol. I".

Confused? According to HurtMerch.com, "The Re-Consumation is HURT's first album ever recorded that is available. This newly remastered collection of songs was the prequel to Volume One & Volume II. The Re-Consumation also contains an early recording of "Cold Inside" from Volume One as well as early alternative recordings of "Loded", "Et Al" and "Alone With the Sea" from HURT's current release Vol. II." - now that we have that cleared up, head here for the dates

Total BS: We Are Now Keeping Tabs On Where Britney Craps?

antiMusic reports: Want an example of what's wrong with the stalkerazzi obsession with celebutards? Look no further to this gem of utterly worthless information that made its ugly way into our inbox courtesy of someone named Sheeraz Hasan. (a poor man's Perez Hilton? As if we needed a clone?)

Here is the nugget of poptard wisdom that Sheeraz bestowed upon us, "EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: Britney Spears stopped at a McDonalds Restaurant in Malibu to use the public restroom before being driven back home by her bodyguard Tuesday, April 8."

And we wonder why the rest of the world hates America. They think that normal Americans actually give a crap about where a lipsyncing poptarts takes a crap. But if you're one of those that are helping bring our culture to a new low and you just have to see this "EXCLUSIVE VIDEO," then - go here and we hope you choke on it!

Wait there is more!

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