Twitter Killed Motley KISS Doc?- Iron Maiden Beat Eminem- Singer's Deadly Leap- New Anthrax Soon- Nugent Rejected Hendrix- System of a Meltdown- Kasabian On Ice- more

On this day in 1970, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground performed together for the last time at the New York Club Max's Kansas City. Reed worked as a typist for his father for the next two years, at $40 per week. Find out what else happened on this date in music history here -

Concert Suicide

A Swell Season concert last week turned deadly. Gibson reports: On Thursday night, a man reportedly jumped to his death during an outdoor concert by The Swell Season at Saratoga Mountain Winery in California. While frontman Glen Hansard was performing a song, the man jumped off a nearby roof and fell onto the stage, a few feet from performers, according to local reports.

"The crowd was singing along with [Hansard] and he was looking for the band member... I just happened to look up and I saw this guy falling from the top of the roof on the right side of the building behind the stage," one witness told SF Weekly. "He landed about three feet to the left of Glen on a speaker and he was motionless, like a rag doll."

Witnesses said that Hansard put down his guitar and walked over to the man as doctors attempted to revive him. The concertgoers said there was lots of blood on the stage. - more on this story

U2 At A Crossroads Following Disappointing Album

Rock Radio has the following report that should be of interest to U2 fans: U2 are struggling to choose between four very different albums for their next release, singer Bono admits. And they're aware they have to be more straightforward with a new record after the relative failure of last year's offering.

Bono tells Rolling Stone: "No Line on the Horizon is not very accessible, lyrically or musically. We put out a really difficult record – I have to admit that. If I was a teenager, it would be like a European movie. It's arthouse."

There are a number of options for the follow-up, he explains: "Songs of Ascent, which is the meditative work that was meant to complement No Line on the Horizon. We've also got a rock album and a club-sounding album. Then we have the Spider-Man musical stuff." - What might they do?

Blink-182's Travis Barker Recruits Big Names For New Album

Travis Barker has recruited some big name stars for his new solo project. But these big names don't rock. Gibson reports: Blink 182 drummer Travis Barker is preparing to release a new solo album. But fans expecting the pop punk of Barker's day-job band will be in for a surprise. Keeping with the tone of his more hip-hop oriented side projects, Transplants and Expensive Taste, Barker has recruited some of the biggest names in rap and hip-hop.

XXL magazine is reporting that collaborators will include Eminem (fresh off his own chart-topping album, Recovery), Lil Wayne and the ubiquitous Snoop Dogg. Also making guest appearances are Drake, T.I., The Game, Pharrell Williams, RZA, Lupe Fiasco, Rick Ross, The Cool Kids and Clipse.

Fans of Blink 182 needn't worry, though. The band has a host of European dates still on the slate, including Chiemsee Rocks in Germany, the Paris Rock En Seine Festival, and the Reading Festival in England. - more on this story

India.Arie, Chris Daughtry And Gavin Rossdale Joining Santana for a Live Trip Through The Hits.

India.Arie, Chris Daughtry And Gavin Rossdale will be joining Santana for a Live Trip Through The Hits. Here is the announcement: Fans should get ready for a special performance of Santana's residency show Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through the Hits at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino! For one night only, at the August 25 performance, Santana will be joined by superstar guest vocalists india.arie, Chris Daughtry and Gavin Rossdale * in celebration of the official album launch for Santana's brand new album, Guitar Heaven…The Greatest Guitar Classics Of All (in stores September 21).

On GUITAR HEAVEN…India.Arie joins Carlos on the album's first single "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," Chris Daughtry on "Photograph" and Gavin Rossdale on "Bang A Gong." Earlier that same day Carlos Santana will host a private, exclusive VIP listening event at Vanity Nightclub to unveil the new album.

Santana and his legendary band continue the successful run of Supernatural Santana: A Trip Through The Hits at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino which kicks off August 25 with this special performance and runs through September 5. - more on this story

Beatles Director Richard Lester Donates Archives

(hennemusic) Legendary Beatles film director Richard Lester has donated his personal archives to the British Film Institute.

Among the treasures are first draft scripts for the two Beatles movies he directed: "A Hard Days Night" (1964) and "Help!" (1965); the scripts are entitled "The Beatles" and "Beatles Two."

The landmark, "A Hard Days Night," influenced a generation of musicians and directors; both the band and Lester received the inaugural MTV Video Vanguard Award in 1984 for "essentially inventing the music video." - more on this story

Ozzy Recruits Son for New Video

Ozzy's next video will be a family affair. hennemusic has the story and a preview: A trailer – not the video – but a trailer, for Ozzy Osbourne's latest single, "Life Won't Wait," has surfaced.

Ozzy's son, Jack, is directing the new video, shot mostly at Ozzy's home as well as locations around L.A.

The track comes from Ozzy's latest album, "Scream". While we await for the actual video, see what's it's all abou - here

Sebastian Bach Rules Out Skid Row Reunion, Compares Himself To Robert Plant

Sebastian Bach drew a comparison between himself and Robert Plant. There is a legit context to it, so read this report from Gibson: Speaking recently on Orlando's Real Radio 104.1, Sebastian Bach fielded a series of questions about whether or not he was interested in reuniting with his ex-bandmates, who are still touring under the Skid Row moniker.

"Let me answer it as honestly as I can," said Bach. "You're talking about when Skid Row was last good – we broke up in '96, but I don't even count that – I would say '91 was when we were last really a good band. I just don't live in 1991 in 2010, and I'm talking about four other guys that I haven't seen in 15 years." He continued, "I think of Skid Row the same way you might think of picking up your high school yearbook. You have affection for what happened 30 years ago, but you look at the yearbook and you go, 'Oh, cool,' and you shut it, and it's today. I don't know those people."

Bach went on to compare himself with another leonine frontman, albeit one of a slightly different stature: "Robert Plant can't go anywhere without hearing, 'Hey, why don't you do Led Zeppelin?' 'Cause it's not in his heart. Raising Sand, with Alison Krauss, is who Robert Plant is. He's not squeezing the lemon juice down his leg at the age of 65. And I'm not the 'Youth Gone Wild.' I'm sorry, I'm 42. It's a great song, but I'm not gonna pretend that it's who I am today, because it's not."
-

Singled Out: Little Beirut's Nadia

Welcome to Singled Out! where we ask artists to tell us the inside story of their latest single. Today Little Beirut frontman Hamilton Sims tells us about "Nadia" from their new album "Fear of Heaven". We now turn it over to Hamilton for the story:

This song was one of the first of the demos for the new record to stand out to me. With our band, we typically start with the music. Edwin usually brings in a great riff or progression to chew on, and then after hashing it out dozens of ways, we end up with something for me to sing/write over. I was really stuck on the crescendo in the chorus with that cool little arpeggio. (da da DA da da, da da DA da da). I knew if we had a good question/answer thing going with that arpeggio, that we had something. So the name Nadia kept coming out and it seemed like it worked. Except that I knew no one named Nadia. And I'd never written a song with a girl's name as the title. It's tricky because there's some definite cheese potential (see: "Amanda" by Boston). And if the girl's name is not your girl's name, and said girl has to hear it live, and often, there could be trouble.

Luckily I had just read some sports article naming the top 10 athletes of all time, and above Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, etc, was Nadia Comaneci. A 14 year old girl who scored a perfect 10 not once, but seven times in a row in the 1976 Montreal Olympics. Now I didn't immediately say, "OH! I've always wanted to write a song about Nadia Comaneci! Killer!", but when I read her story I knew it would work; especially the part about her cracking under the pressure, attempting suicide and the Romanian government watching her every move. I've always felt so sorry for child stars that are expected to perform like gods and deal with the pressures of fame. I mean, can you name any success stories? Ron Howard's the only one, right?

So it turns out she defected to America in1989 with some shifty dude and left a suicide note for her family in the middle of the night. She had no money, no reputation. nobody close with her. Just broke out with nothing. I can't imagine any other world famous athlete, hero to millions, ever going through that kind of trauma and surviving. Then, if you skip ahead when she gets her s*** together, she hooks up with a guy from Oklahoma she met in competition 20 years before and opens up a gym with him. Maybe she got what she really wanted. I guess I just wanted the song to tell what it took to get there.

So when then coda, says, 'Offer your heart, offer your daily bread, offer your blood, offer your bed", I'm just trying to show that she gave up everything important. Not many people can do that.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen for yourself and learn more about the album
- right here!

Them Crooked Solo Album

Got some news that may be of interest to QOTSA and Them Crooked Vultures fans: Fresh off his latest run of shows playing guitar for Them Crooked Vultures, and currently on a tour of Europe to include appearances at Reading and Leeds festivals, Alain Johannes is getting ready to release his solo debut, Spark (Rekords Rekords/ Ipecac Recordings), which has the new release date of October 5th.

With a resume that includes co-founding the band Eleven and collaborations with Queens of the Stone Age, Them Crooked Vultures, Chris Cornell, Mark Lanegan, and Spinnerette (Brody Dalle's latest project) among numerous others, Alain Johannes has already established himself as a gifted and prolific musical talent. However, Sparkis where Johannes' strengths as a songwriter, vocalist, producer, and multi-instrumentalist are finally showcased all at once.

Queens of the Stone Age/Them Crooked Vultures frontman Joshua Homme, whose label Rekords Rekords will co-release Spark with Ipecac Recordings, says: "Alain's record is the total embodiment of what the label stands for—the war against endorsing mediocrity and the uncensored attempt to take a leap off the musical cliff. Spark is a stunning examination of figuring out what you do when someone's gone, and it's utterly breathtaking." - more on this story

Foreigner's Lou Gramm Returns For Revelation Generation Jam

Former Foreigner frontman Lou Gramm has been added to Revelation Generation for the ERACE All Star Jam on Sunday evening of the music festival which tales place September 4 and 5, in Frenchtown, NJ.

Other headliners at Revelation Generation include Skillet, The Devil Wears Prada, Anberlin, Relient K, Fireflight, and BarlowGirl.

The ERACE All Star Jam is led by the energetic and talented artist TobyMac, who brings concert-goers to their feet with a unique mix of funk, hip-hop and R & B. TobyMac co-founded the ERACE foundation 15 years ago to support and empower organizations that foster racial harmony and unity. Among the group of festival promoters and event planners involved in the execution of RevGen the verdict is unanimous: with the addition of ERACE to the lists, this year's edition promises to provide attendees an unsurpassed festival experience. - more on this story

The Disco Biscuits Offering Live Halloween Treat for Fans

The Disco Biscuits are heading South to deliver a big treat for fans this Halloween: The band have announced a five-night, late October run of shows leading into a Halloween night performance in Charlottesville, VA – marking the ten-year anniversary of the band's first Charlottesville Halloween in 2000.

Those lucky enough to follow the band for the entirety of the five-night run will be there for a monumental week in band history, as the Halloween run takes the Biscuits on a whirlwind tour through the best venues the South has to offer.

The Disco Biscuits will kick things off just a short drive from their Philly homebase at Baltimore's Rams Head Live! on Wednesday, October 27 before heading south to Norfolk, VA's NorVa on October 28. There the band will perform the pre-party of the decade one night before joining friends The String Cheese Incident at the Hampton Coliseum for a Friday night throwdown to open their Hulaween festivities. - more on this story

Gibson to Reproduce Randy Rhoads Les Paul

Gibson broke huge news early Monday morning for Randy Rhoads fans: It is one of the most iconic guitars in rock history: Randy Rhoads' 1974 Les Paul Custom.

The guitar that Ozzy Osbourne sideman Randy Rhoads drove to stardom on the landmark albums Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman has been one of the most requested re-issues ever.

Now the Gibson Custom Shop is pleased to announce the release of this legendary axe. The guitar that drove "Crazy Train" off the rails will soon be available in stores. - see a photo of the iconic guitar here

Devotionals and Judgment Day Tour

Devotionals are hitting this road with Judgment Day: Devotionals is the new solo project by Tyson Vogel of Two Gallants, with additional help from Anton Patzner (Judgement Day / Bright Eyes) on violin and his brother Lewis Patzner (also from Judgement Day) on cello.

Devotionals self-titled full-length debut is in stores now on CD, digital and limited edition vinyl formats through Alive Records.

Beginning August 27th the trio, featuring Vogel and the brothers Patzner, will be hitting the road for a stretch of West Coast dates with Judgement Day. - more on this story

The Americans Recruit Sean Lennon and Daniel Merriweather For New Album

The Americans got a little help from their friends Sean Lennon and Daniel Merriweather for their new album. Here is the announcement:

R&B infused indie rock outfit The Americans will release their six-track, sophomore EP on November 16th.

The album was produced by lead singer / guitarist Charlie Klarsfeld and Sean Lennon, who also lends vocals to the forlorn yet optimistically sweet "Requiem" (which he produced). Each of the EP's six tracks organically build upon The Americans' debut EP, trading well-mapped lyrics for a more vulnerable set and collaborating with musicians like Daniel Merriweather and Mr. Jpatt (of NYC production team, The Knocks) to round out their already robust lineup. - more on this story

Testament's Chuck Billy In The Smithsonian

We never thought we would write such a headline but it is true. Metal legend Chuck Billy of Testament is in the Smithsonian. Here are the details:

Testament vocalist and Native American Chuck Billy is pleased to announce his inclusion in the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian's new exhibition, "Up Where We Belong: Native Musicians in Popular Culture". The exhibition is located on the National Mall on the second-floor level of the Sealaska Gallery, and is open until January 2nd, 2011.

Quoting the Smithsonian official press release, "Up Where We Belong" tells [Native artist's] stories and histories and provides visitors the opportunity to hear music and discover artists with whom these exceptional musicians collaborated. Visitors will also learn of the musical greats who inspired these artists, as well as the growing number of contemporary performers who follow in their path." - more on this story

TV on the Radio, Andrew Bird and More Bored To Death

TV on the Radio, Freelance Whales, Lykke Li, Andrew Bird, M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel are just some of music stars you will find on the Bored To Death soundtrack.

The music perfectly encapsulates the mood of the acclaimed HBO original series, yet stands alone as a great compilation. Whether you are an avid watcher or unfamiliar with the noirish offbeat comedy about a struggling writer moonlighting as a private eye, the album due September 21 on WaterTower Music, serves as both an excellent introduction to the sounds of the show or a replay of favorite moments from the first season.

Coconut Records, the musical solo project of the show's star Jason Schwartzman, kicks off the album with the series' theme song, a loungey number that sets the tone with its swinging beat, tinkling piano and blast of horns (previously digital only, this is the first time the track is available on CD). From there the album ebbs and flows over 15 songs: the happy-go-lucky indie pop of Freelance Whales ("Kilojoules"), the sun-drenched harmonies of The Explorers Club ("Forever"), the bluesy shuffle of Dan Auerbach ("The Prowl"), the lo-fi minimalism of Young Marble Giants ("Salad Days"), the electro-disco of Arling & Cameron ("Dirty Robot") to the orchestral pop of Lykke Li ("Little Bit") and the soulful post-punk of TV on the Radio ("Halfway Home"). - more on this story

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: the Game Soundtrack Announced

First there was Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World the movie, then Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World the soundtrack and now Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World the game and of course the soundtrack to go along with it.

ABKCO Records and UBISOFT® have announced the August 24, 2010 release of the soundtrack to Scott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game. Anamanaguchi, a four-piece melodic, 8-bit rock band from Brooklyn, created a freshly conceived 24-song soundtrack to the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World video game from Ubisoft, following the release of the critically acclaimed Universal Pictures film Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, directed by Edgar Wright.

The game soundtrack follows ABKCO's release of both the Scott Pilgrim vs. the World original motion picture soundtrack as well as the original score album featuring music composed by Nigel Godrich, which were released August 10. - more on this story

Sleeping With The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

The Sleeping have announced a short run of North American dates with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus this fall. Here is the info Victory sent over along with the dates:

With three albums under their Victory Records belt, The Sleeping return on September 28th with what is anticipated as their best album to date.

Currently on tour with Dommin and Volbeat, The Sleeping will quickly jump back in the van and head out on a slew of dates with The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus. - more on this story

Metal Supergroup Sandalinas Going in Circles

Sandalinas which features Mats Rendlert (bass; Dreamland), Alvaro Svanerö (drums; Loch Vostok), Jordi Sandalinas (guitar)and Rick Altzi (vocals; At Vance) are wrapping up recording of a new album.

The album, Circles, features music written by Jordi Sandalinas, Andy LaRocque (King Diamond)and Guitarist Chris Caffery (Savatage, Trans-Siberian Orchestra).

Andy LaRocque also wrote music specially for this album and will lay doan some guest solos. The band is currently at Andy La Rocque's Sonic Train Studios in Varberg. - more on this story

Quarterfly Head To Rock Ridge for Third Album

Quarterfly has signed to Rock Ridge Music and will be releasing their third album, "Do You Believe," in January 2011.

The album was produced by Greg Archilla (Matchbox 20, Collective Soul, Edwin McCain), who also worked on the band's 2007 release, "Quarterfly II."

In addition to working with Archilla in two different studio sessions in Nashville, the band put in some studio time with Michael Wagener (Ozzy Osbourne, Motley Crue, Metallica, Queen), and also recorded at Edwin McCain's Whitestone Studios in Greenville, SC. - more on this story