Live4MusiC

SINGAPORE : SISTIC has been fined $989,000 for abuse of dominant position by Singapore's competitive watchdog. 

The infringement concerns the ticketing services market in Singapore. 

The Esplanade and Singapore Indoor Stadium and 17 other event promoters who are required to use SISTIC exclusively, capture 85-95 per cent of the market, leaving ticket buyers with no choice but to buy through SISTIC. - CNA/jy

Stone Temple Pilots' new self-titled album sold 62,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at No. 2 on this week's The Billboard 200 chart.

"Stone Temple Pilots" marks the sixth top 10 for the band — its entire output of studio albums. Only its greatest hits package "Thank You" missed the top 10 (No. 26 in 2003).

The group's self-titled sixth album is its first all-new effort since 2001's "Shangri-La-Dee-Da".

The effort features the following track listing:

01. Between The Lines
02. Take A Load Off
03. Huckleberry Crumble
04. Hickory Dichotomy
05. Dare If You Dare
06. Cinnamon
07. Hazy Daze
08. Bagman
09. Peacoat
10. Fast As I Can
11. First Kiss On Mars
12. Maver

Stone Temple Pilots reunited in 2008 after a six-year layoff.

Thanks for the report to Blabbermouth.net. 

 

Folks are sure to be skeptical: A hard rock band featuring members of Fall Out Boy? Really? FOB writes Top-40 choruses, not bottom-heavy riff rock. They're known for tabloid theatrics, not guitar heroics. They are emo, remember.

But despite any fan worries, The Damned Things — featuring FOB's guitarist Joe Trohman and drummer Andy Hurley — is a heavy band, and a pretty good one, too.

Of course, it helps to have some metal royalty in the group, in this case Anthrax guitarists Rob Caggiano and Scott Ian (he of the foot-long goatee). With singer Keith Buckley and touring bassist Josh Newton, both from Buffalo metalcore vets Every Time I Die, rounding out the lineup, The Damned Things offers up a veritable history lesson in the last 30 years of guitar rock — from metal to hardcore to emo.

This weekend, the band launched their MySpace page with "rough mixes" of two brand new songs: "We've Got a Situation Here" and "Ironiclast." (Their still-untitled debut album is due out on Island in the fall.) And Tuesday night, The Damned Things played their very first public gig ever, at Brooklyn's Knitting Factory.

Normally, this crowd wouldn't have been caught dead in each other's company. Before the band's set, emo kids with cheek piercings, Batman tattoo,s and Cure tote bags shuffled around hoping Pete Wentz and Ashlee Simpson might make an appearance, while older metal-heads in AC/DC, Metallica, and Skid Row T-shirts ogled the many guitars onstage and waited for Ian to show.

When he finally did, along with the rest of The Damned Things, everyone seemed to get along just fine.

The band dove headfirst into "Ironiclast," a tune that, like much of The Damned Thing's music, ran the knife-edge between melodic hardcore and classic rock. "This is the first show I've played sober in 10 years," marveled Buckley after a rip-roaring "Bad Blood." But he had no reason to worry. The Damned Things may be a new band, but they played liked old friends, cranking out hard rock tuneful enough for the alternative charts but brutal enough to please Buckley's hardcore fans back home in Buffalo.

With the three-guitar attack, every song featured riffs and solos aplenty. But "A Great Reckoning" was the sextet's showpiece. Trohman, his curly fro flying, whipped out a bluesy riff pulled straight from Thin Lizzy's Jailbreak before meeting up with Caggiano for some harmonized guitar duets. This is music made by and for guitar players.

Which is not to say Buckley wasn't an able front man. His scorched-earth tenor carried his band from the first riff to the last, easily finding its way around The Damned Thing's manic cover of Quicksand's "Fazer," one of Buckley's favorite songs.

"I'm getting drunk as fuck after this!" he screamed at one point. If The Damned Things keep playing as well as they did in Brooklyn, Buckley will have every reason to keep celebrating. And those hoping for an FOB reunion will just have to wait.

SETLIST:
1. Ironiclast
2. Excellent Time
3. Bad Blood
4. A Great Reckoning
5. Handbook for the Recently Deceased
6. Fazer (Quicksand cover)
7. Grave Robber
8. We've Got a Situation Here 

- SPIN 

Your chance to hear Trent Reznor’s first creative outpouring since NIN stopped touring.

Trent Reznor’s How To Destroy Angels have released their EP on their official website for free.

A $2 “hi-def” option is also available for the six-track, self-titled EP and will feature lossless audio along with a download of the bands music video for the track, “The Space In Between“.

LAST night, I attended a rather interesting meet-up with members of the arts community to discuss issues affecting, well, the arts community. Interestingly, there was strong representation – or representation, anyway – from almost every aspect of the arts except one: Music.

Where were you guys? Last time I checked, music was still considered an art form. And I’m not just talking about classical and jazz music. It’s a bit disappointing, since the Arts NMP Audrey Wong was there and from what I gathered, she ’s really interested in what can be done vis-a-vis the development of the local music scene.

But there’s got to be a strong consensus. Will there be a way for for everybody to come together over music? I know some of you have gripes about the abilities to push onward as local musicians or members of the local music industry. Here’s a thought: Perhaps you can ask your Arts NMP for some help, or at least, pointers to help your cause.

She has a Facebook page, you know? If any of you musos or music industry types are interested, it’s called Arts NMP (Singapore). www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=149593403966&v=wall&ref=search. Join it.

I’m sorry if I sound like I’m ranting but you know, I really, really think the indie music community should gather as a, er, community to press their case. Unless, of course, you feel everything is hunky dory. Then never mind. I was wrong. Just a thought to, er, think about.

Thank you for listening.

Sorry if I offended anybody’s sense and sensibilities.  Here’s a quote:

“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”.

- Christopher Toh (Poparazzi)