Fists Fly Over Britney at LAX

After the skirmish, we're told the two men shook hands and made up. No arrests were made. - Watch the video

The Orchard Now The Proud Owners of TVT Records

The Orchard reports: The Orchard and TVT Records today announced that The Orchard was selected as the winning bidder in a bankruptcy auction held yesterday in New York City to purchase TVT Records.

Under the terms of its bid, The Orchard would assume control of TVT's catalogue of recorded masters, artist contracts and physical record distribution infrastructure, among other assets, but excluding its holdings in its music publishing subsidiary.

The acquisition is expected to close on or before July 3rd, 2008, although there can be no assurances that the transaction will close as it is subject to court approval, customary closing conditions and finalization of the purchase agreement between the parties. - more on this story

Local Live On The Drive

PR reports: Singer-songwriter Mike Mangione is one of ten Milwaukee artists selected for a program called "Local Live On The Drive," which broadcasts live performance video clips on buses via Transit TV in Milwaukee, Chicago, Orlando, Atlanta and Los Angeles for the duration of the summer. His performance of "It's Me Not You" (along with the other performance clips) was taped in the WMSE-FM studio in Milwaukee. The bus programming debuted on June 18th.

Mangione is set to release his album "Tenebrae" nationally via Oarfin Distribution on August 5th. With "Tenebrae" already enjoying a soft release on the internet, and reaching #9 on the Euro Americana Charts for January, Mangione has his sights set to top these achievements in 2008. - more on this story

Fiddy Restrained By Ex, But Sues Her for Defamation

TMZ reports: 50 Cent's ex Shaniqua Tompkins got a restraining order Friday morning against the rapper, but she was also served with a real doozy of a lawsuit.

The rapper's lawyers brought the legal hammer down on Tompkins, slapping her with a $20 million defamation suit in Connecticut court for accusing Fiddy -- over and over again -- of burning down his own house, and trying to kill her and his own son.

Not only that, 50 wants the court to force Shaniqua to let him visit 11-year-old Marquise, in accordance with an earlier order. - more on this story

Wine And Pickles From Mike Keneally

PR reports: A Note From Mike Keneally: We have finally finished work on Wine And Pickles, the album of unreleased or otherwise rare and/or scintillating material recorded in the studio between 1998 and 2006.

We've been working hard on this release since February. You wouldn't think it would take so much time to put together an album of material that's already been recorded. But it does. Because we care. It's mostly unreleased tracks from my own album sessions, but it also collects a couple of tracks from other projects (such as "Inhale," a collaboration with Lyle Workman, and "Thou Shalt Not Kill," my track from the 156 Strings acoustic guitar compilation on Cuneiform), some unreleased solo recordings not attached to specific album projects, and some of the soundtrack work I did for Court TV in the late 90s.

Originally this collection was going to be only available for download, but we're such album geeks at Exowax and we were so happy with the way the album was turning out, we just needed to make it a real-life thing you could hold and fling. I've done two paintings for the package and three tons of liner notes, and Atticus Wolrab has done his customarily spine-tingling job designing the package. - more on this story

Bumblefoot Abnormal Release Fast Approaching

PR reports: "Abnormal", the long awaited 16 track follow up to Bumblefoot's 2005 "Normal" is now available for presale at Bald Freak Music. With a sound described as "The Sex Pistols meets Queen, with innovative guitar and a Zappa-esque twist" there is something for all fans old and new.

An autographed CD can also be purchased with a portion of proceeds going to support Multiple Sclerosis research. In addition, a radio-friendly and an instrumental version of the album will be made available for purchase on iTunes and other digital stores on July 1st.

For the diehard fan that thought they had everything Bumblefoot, there is a limited edition "Fan Pack" - more on this story

Take A Mono Ride With Jan & Dean

conqueroo reports: Jan & Dean rode the surf wave to the top of the charts in the early to mid-'60s, and even introduced the sub-genre of hot-rod rock. Yet their Liberty singles have never been comprehensively compiled into one CD package — until now. On August 26, Collectors' Choice Music will release Jan & Dean: The Complete Liberty Singles in original mono (instead of the after-the-fact stereo that has dominated reissues of the band's work). The collection contains 42 songs including all the hits and some rarities (plus Jan Berry's solo singles and an unreleased B-side).

Liner notes were written by Jan & Dean authorities Ed Osborne (who also produced the reissue) and David Beard, and include input from those who were on the scene, such as engineer/producer Bones Howe, Jan Berry friend and co-writer Don Altfeld, and Dean Torrence himself. The package contains vintage album cover art and photos.

The set includes "Surf City" (#1), "Little Old Lady From Pasadena" (#3), "Dead Man's Curve" (#8), "Drag City" (#10),"Ride the Wild Surf" (#16), "Popsicle" (#21), "Sidewalk Surfing" (#25), "Linda" (#28), "The Anaheim, Azusa & Cucamonga Sewing Circle, Book Review and Timing Association" (#77), "I Found a Girl" (#30), "You Really Know How To Hurt a Guy" (#27), "Tennessee" (#65),"Batman" (#66), "A Sunday Kind of Love" (#95) and from the T.A.M.I. Show episode they hosted, "(Here They Come) From All Over the World," among many others. - more on this story

Ephel Duath Dog Eyes Details

Earache reports: Davide Tiso, guitarist and founding member of Italian experimental jazz metallers Ephel Duath, has spoken about the band's upcoming new album, Through My Dog's Eyes.

Commented DAVIDE: "Through My Dog's Eyes is a generous album and we are extremely proud of it. After tons of preproductions we are ready to enter the studio this next July 14 to complete the recording sessions. We have tried to limitate intricate structures, and dissonant arrangements, offering a warm trip not too difficult to capture and appreciate. This album arrives directly to the stomach of the listener, but not using any kind of violence. The body of TMDE is massive, his eyes are delicate and gentle: what you find in a big size dog. - more on this story

Sister Hazel Named One of the Most Influential Independent Performers of the last 15 years

PR reports: Performing Songwriter magazine has named the band Sister Hazel as one of their Top 100 Most Influential Independent Performers of the last 15 years in their June issue (on stands now).

Sister Hazel was included in the "Organizers" category, which focuses on artists who provide opportunities for others. Said Performing Songwriter of Sister Hazel: "The Gainesville, Fla., band, known for devoting to their fans and charity events, has built an entire community of like-minded individuals. In 2001 they launched the Rock Boat, a first-of-its-kind floating festival that was the model for all fan cruises that followed. The 2009 event will feature a dozen acts including Carbon Leaf, Cowboy Mouth and Aslyn. In 2004 they created the Rock Slope, a ski and snowboarding music fest in Steamboat Springs, Colo. Sister Hazel's 10th CD, Before The Amplifiers, Live Acoustic, will be released in June." - more on this story

Gojira Discuss Their New Album

Prosthetic Records reports: France's metal titans Gojira are currently finishing the band's forthcoming album, 'The Way of All Flesh,' which is currently slated for an October 14 release in North America through Prosthetic Records. The follow-up to the critically-acclaimed 'From Mars To Sirius,' the album will be available throughout Europe one day earlier through Listenable Records.

Gojira frontman Joe Duplantier recently spoke with MTV's Chris Harris about the upcoming record. An excerpt from the conversation: "That's the theme — it's about death itself," explained. "It's also about the immortality of the soul. That's the main subject for us. Since we started to play and release albums, we've always talked about the same thing: the soul.

"This album's got a more dramatic feel to it, and some of the lyrics are almost cynical," continued Duplantier. "Usually, with my lyrics, I'm always positive. But on this album, I'm so pissed off with the situation on Earth right now, how we're abusing so much, and we take everything that we can take from the ocean, and we kill off endangered species. So in some of the songs, it's almost like a requiem for the Earth. This record is a lot darker — like, a lot darker, I would say. The music is darker and more violent." - read the full article

Mandragora Scream's Again

MMP reports: Metal Mind Productions will rerelease Mandragora Scream's debut album "Fairy Tales From Hell's Caves" and the follow-up "A Whisper Of Dew" which are the mandatory releases for any fans of modern gothic rock.

Mandragora Scream is without question one of the most prominent groups on the contemporary gothic rock/dark wave scene. Their amazing releases include all the best elements of the genre, resulting in unforgettable musical experiences that touch the deepest parts of the soul.

"Fairy Tales From Hell's Caves" (2001) was a concept album, telling the story of Virgil, who descends all the way down to the Dantean Hell, where he meets a mysterious vampire fairy. - more on this story

Not To Be Undimensional Conscious Again

PR reports: Metal Mind Productions announces the rerelease of Disharmonic Orchestra's "Not To Be Undimensional Conscious". New digipak edition is limited to 2000 copies and includes 3 bonus tracks! The release date is scheduled for 21st July 2008 in Europe and 2nd September 2008 in USA (via MVD).

Disharmonic Orchestra is one of those bands that leave you speechless after listening to just one song. Right from the get-go you simply hear the difference – it's death metal, but not played in the way you would expect it to sound. Innovative ideas and groundbreaking patterns – all of this reinvents the sole definition of death metal, introducing music that reaches far beyond its boundaries.

The group's second LP from 1992 entitled "Not To Be Undimensional Conscious" is perhaps one of the finest releases in the history of avant-garde metal… Everything on this album, from the peculiar cover and booklet design to the music itself, ventured as far from traditional death metal approach as possible. - more on this story

. Motley Crue - Saints of Los Angeles

We decided that for Motley Crue's new album that tag-team review coverage was in order. We'll hear from both a casual Motley Crue fan and a die hard fan about their take on the 'Saints of Los Angeles'. We kick off with antiMusic contributor Jake Brown (4.5 stars) - Read the full Motley Crue - Saints of Los Angeles review

. Bloodbath - Unblessing The Purity

Without even opening the case, I chalked up a few preliminary notes on what I was about to hear: First of all, in Bloodbath's having realigned with Opeth's Michael Akerfeldt on vocals, there was almost no way the disc could do worse than a 8 out of 10. - Read the full Bloodbath - Unblessing The Purity review

Wait there is more!

Read Day In Rock Reports From Other Days
 

Submit news or a press release to the Day In Rock report