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Daily Music News Report for 07/05/2016


Day in Rock Part 2



Elvis Presley's Stepbrother Believes His Death Not Accidental

(Radio.com) Next August will mark 40 years since Elvis Presley died of what coroners officially ruled a heart attack. But now his stepbrother has written a new book claiming there's a different story.

David E. Stanley will soon release My Brother Elvis in which he details his time living at Graceland and working for the King. Stanley's mother married Elvis' widowed father in 1960, and at only age four he moved into the famed estate.

In his book, Stanley writes about his last meeting with Elvis. It occurred on August 14, just two days before he died. At the time, Elvis said he would be going away for a few days and told Stanley when they next saw each other he would be "on a higher plane."

When he learned Elvis died, Stanley believed he had killed himself using pills and other drugs. Although emergency responders found no such evidence when they came to Graceland, Stanley claims he removed several pill bottles and syringes surrounding Elvis' dead body before anyone else discovered it. He stuffed everything in his pockets. Read more here.

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Pink Floyd Dragonfly Ummagumma Makes Top 10 New Species List

(Prog) A species of dragonfly named after Pink Floyd's 1969 double-album Ummagumma has made it onto the 'Top 10 New Species' list compiled by the State University Of New York.

The list was put together by the University's College Of Environmental Science and Forestry. The 'Robust Sparklewing' Umma gumma damselfly was one of 60 new species of dragonfly discovered in Africa last year - expanding the total number by almost 10% to 760.

Conservation measures can now be considered for the new species - as the freshwater ecosystem comes under threat due to rapid development in the country.

Named due to the dragonfly's genus, Umma, the term 'ummagumma' is also to be a slang term for sex. The insect is not the first newly discovered creature to pay tribute to the music world. Read more here.

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Henry Rollins Not For Crowd-Pleasing Nostalgia

(Classic Rock) Henry Rollins, the former Black Flag frontman and spoken word performer, says that listening to Foreigner and Twisted Sister at Hellfest play their greatest hits last month left him wondering why any artist would want to play old classics for the sake of crowd-pleasing nostalgia.

In his LA Weekly column, Rollins says: "A lot of bands do these blasts from the past. It is the band's total submission to the will of the fan. "The customers get what they want and can leave with a feeling of fulfillment and having been duly served. The rock stars get the adulation, proceeds and whatever else falls into their enclosure.

"I think it's safe to say that there are many motives for why groups do this. The most frequently reached conclusion is that it's for money, and perhaps that's the biggest one.

"I just think the past is sad. It holds all your failures, humiliations and unrecoverable victories. The future offers opportunities to improve, so why wouldn't you run at it with all speed?" Read more here.

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Joanne Shaw Taylor Releases 'Wild' Documentary

(The Blues) Joanne Shaw Taylor has released a documentary showing the making of her fifth album Wild. Wild is set for release on September 30 via her Axehouse Music label and is available for pre-order now.

In the documentary, Shaw explains how she fell in love with the blues and offers a behind-the-scenes look at the recording of Wild. She says: "My main objective for this was just to get as many good songs as possible and just to have something to sing about, which is more important for me. What happened since the previous album, what do I have to sing about, what relationships do I wanna moan about."

Wild producer Kevin Shirley adds: "Joanne has all the right things. She has the work ethic and she has the trust factor that is important to me. She let me mould her songs and guide her in the direction of these songs and that's very appealing for me, to be creative with someone. The sound of this record is blues-based, but it's challenging in many different ways." Watch the documentary here.

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The Amity Affliction Announce European Tour

(TeamRock Radio) The Amity Affliction have announced a European tour this for this coming winter. The Aussie metalcore outfit have added shows to their existing UK dates across November and December with Stray From The Path, Northlane and Wage War in support of their fifth album This Could Be Heartbreak - due out on August 12.

Roadrunner Records say: "Deeply personal and emotionally wrenching, This Could Be Heartbreak is The Amity Affliction's most transformative and revealing record yet.

"Recorded by producer and longtime collaborator Will Putney at Melbourne's Holes and Corners with additional drum tracking done at Sing Sing Studios, the album finds The Amity Affliction evolving their signature powerful and cathartic song craft.

"Both ambitious and grand, album standouts This Could Be Heartbreak and All F***ed Up are equal parts heavy and hopeful." The new dates can be seen here.

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Erik Norlander Releases 'The Galaxy Collectors' Video

(Prog) Erik Norlander has released a new music video for his track The Galaxy Collectors. It's taken from the keyboardist's latest album Surreal, issued last month.

The space-themed video for The Galaxy Collectors clocks in at 11-minutes. Surreal is mostly instrumental, but features vocals by Lana Lane on the title track.

Norlander and Lane are joined on Surreal by bassist Mark Matthews, drummer Nick LePar, percussionist Greg Ellis and guitarist Alastair Greene. Additional guests include Jeff Kollman, Mark McCrite and Don Schiff. Watch the video here.

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Gary Hoey Streaming New Song 'Boxcar Blues'

(The Blues) Gary Hoey is premiering his track Boxcar Blues with The Blues. It's taken from the bluesman's upcoming 20th album Dust & Bones, due for release on July 29 via Mascot Label Group.

The record has attracted the praise of guitar icon Joe Satriani, who tells TeamRock: "It's great to hear Gary sing and play the blues with his trademark intensity, feel and authenticity.

"And the guitar tones. Dust & Bones is a great sounding blues rock album that's both vintage and modern at the same time." Hoey says the album is inspired by artists including Johnny Winter, Led Zeppelin, Robert Johnson and Robin Trower. Lita Ford makes a guest appearance on duet, Coming Home. Stream the song here.

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Police Bust 130 Music Gear Thieves In Sting Operation

(TeamRock Radio) Police in Houston, Texas, have arrested 130 people suspected of working together to steal music equipment from touring bands. It follows a spate of thefts in the region, where vehicles pulling trailers - a standard means of travel for musicians - had been targeted. Over $2m of property is thought to have been involved.

In January this year, Saving Country Music reported that Houston was becoming the "stolen music gear capital of the world." The sting, codenamed Operation Wheels And Deals, was executed after the theft of a 100-year-old fiddle from country music artist Zane Williams resulted in the discovery of new information.

Houston Police Department Captain Daryn Edwards says: "HPD's burglary and theft division was investigating a large theft that involving Zane Williams." Read more here.

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Video From Guns N' Roses' July 1st Chicago Show Go Online

(hennemusic) Guns N' Roses performed the first of two shows on their Not In This Lifetime tour at Soldier Field in Chicago, IL on July 1st and videos from the show have been posted online.

The reunited trio of Axl Rose, Slash and Duff McKagan led the band through their standard 25-song setlist on the fourth stop of the summer run, which opened in Detroit on June 23.

The 2016 concerts mark the first time the three have performed together since a July 17, 1993 date at River Plate Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Rose rejoined Guns N' Roses after stepping in to front AC/DC through a spring tour of Europe in place of Brian Johnson, who was sidelined from live performances due to hearing loss issues.

The singer upped his game to prepare for the AC/DC gig, bringing in a vocal coach for the first time in decades. Check out the videos here.

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Of Mice & Men's Austin Carlile Reveals 'Pain' Inspiration

(TeamRock Radio) Of Mice & Men's Austin Carlile says he wrote the band's latest song Pain because the emotion has defined a "big part" of his life. The band recently issued a video for the track, which is lifted from their upcoming fourth album Cold World.

The vocalist tells Alt Press: "It talks about my personal journey of the last few years and how I relate that to the current state of the world that we live in now. People face pain every day, whether it be physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, metaphysically, metaphorically - everything.

"It's something we wanted to touch on because it's been such a big part of my life and pain in general has been something I have been living and breathing for the past 12, 15 years."

Carlile also says he's looking forward to Of Mice & Men's tour with Slipknot and Marilyn Manson later this summer. He also reveals their upcoming record will include songs that only employ clean vocals. Read more here.

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Gideon Streaming New Song 'Pulling Teeth'

(EVR) Gideon have released an online stream of their new song "Pulling Teeth". The track comes from the group's forthcoming fourth full-length, which is expected to be released by Equal Vision Records in late 2016.

The album was recorded in Belleville, NJ with producer Will Putney (Northlane, Stray From The Path, Counterparts). Guitarist Tyler Riley had th following to say,

"This song is a taste of what we've been working so hard toward since Calloused dropped. For the old faithful fans and the new fans alike; Thanks for an incredible couple of years, and here's to the next! Hope you guys enjoy it! Learn the words and sing them to us on the rest of this year's Vans Warped Tour. See you in the pit." Stream the song here.

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Vi, Temple Of Baal And The Order Of Apollyon Split Releasing Coming

(Agonia) Agonia Records have announced that they will be releasing a new split release featuring French black/death metal band's Vi, Temple Of Baal And The Order Of Apollyon later this year.

The three group are currently at BST Studio recording material for split and the label sent over the following comments from each group about the new effort:

VI: "Being a part of this split along with Temple of Baal and The Order Of Apollyon was an opportunity for us to release a new single track. We thought we were done for a while with creating new music since the release of De Praestigiis Angelorum, but it appeared that we still had more to do. Expect something slightly different from what we're known for. Expect something unique".

Temple Of Baal: "Split releases have paved Temple Of Baal's history through the years as special items in the band's discography, done with special bands strictly chosen for their common views on Black and Death Metal as sacred works of Left Hand Path dedication. Once more, Temple Of Baal teams up with bearers of the Black Flame to bring a three-fold testimony of Faith".

The Order Of Apollyon: "Joining forces with Agonia for a fresh new start for The Order, we deemed appropriate to release something special. We chose to share this one with artists that we respect not only as musicians, but also as genuinely devoted human beings. The song we wrote for this EP is also meant to give you a taste of what's to come on our side in the near future".

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