This must be really good news for my friend Jason - az

Dean Guitars has signed an exclusive artist endorsement deal with celebrity rocker Bret Michaels. Dean Guitars CEO Elliott “Dean” Rubinson said, “We are extremely excited to work with Bret, he’s the ultimate professional. We are in development on Bret’s first-ever signature line of acoustic and electric instruments, plus we’ll collaborate on accessories, promotional appearances, concert sponsorships and support of Bret’s charity of choice, the American Diabetes Association. This is really big for us!”

Bret Michaels said: “When I’m out on stage I don’t take it lightly. I give 200 percent every single night and my instruments have to handle that. I play hard, we are on the road nine months out of the year so my guitars take a beating. Night after night all over the world my Dean acoustics and Dean electrics take those beatings and keep rockin’. The guitars sound great, look great, and have held up tour after tour as well as in the studio. Dean guitars rock!”

Michaels will be one of many musicians playing Dean’s groundbreaking new line of acoustic electric “Aphex Powered” guitars that feature a custom version of Aphex’s Aural Exciter and Big Bottom circuitry specifically ‘voiced’ inside the instrument. This partnership with Dean Guitars and Aphex Systems is a guitar industry-first giving players the high-end brilliance of Aphex technology in an easy to use pre-amp system within the Dean Performer and Exotica Series acoustic guitars.

October 5 has finally been declared the date “Planet Terror” and “Death Proof” would be reunited with their linking trailers to bring the full “Grindhouse” experience to DVD. The rub: “Grindhouse” will only be available on Blu-ray. Well, looks like I finally found the reason that’ll force me to upgrade!

As if that wasn’t enough good news for you, ShockTillYouDrop also got their hands on the full list of expansive bonus features, replicated below for your drooling pleasure!

Disc 1 - Theatrical Exhibition:
* Grindhouse Feature (Planet Terror)
* Intermission Cards
* Don’t Trailer
* Werewolf Women of the S.S Trailer
* Thanksgiving Trailer
* Grindhouse Feature (Death Proof)

Disc 2
Planet Terror
* Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute Film School
* The Badass Babes of Planet Terror
* The Guys of Planet Terror
* Casting Rebel
* Sickos, Bullets, And Explosions: The Stunts of Planet Terror
* The Friend, The Doctor, and the Real Estate Agent
* Planet Terror Poster Gallery

Death Proof
* Stunts On Wheels: The Legendary Drivers of Death Proof
* Quentin’s Greatest Collaborator: Editor Sally Menke
* The Guys of Death Proof
* Kurt Russell as Stuntman Mike
* Finding Quentin’s Gals
* The Uncut Version of “Baby, It’s You” performed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead
* Introducing Zoe Bell
* Double Dare Trailer
* Death Proof Extended Music
* Death Proof Poster Gallery

Blu-Ray exclusive bonus features:
* Robert Rodriguez’s 10-Minute Cooking School
* The Makeup Effects of Planet Terror
* The Hot Rods of Death Proof
* From Texas to Tennessee: The Production Design of Death Proof
* Trailers
* Extended Werewolf Women of The SS Trailer
* View Extended Cut Of Werewolf Women of the SS Trailer with Commentary by Director Rob Zombie
* The Making Of Werewolf Women of the SS Trailer
* Extended Don’t Trailer
* View Extended Cut Of Don’t Trailer with Commentary by Director Edgar Wright
* The Making of Don’t Trailer
* Don’t Storyboard/Trailer Comparison
* View Don’t Storyboard/Trailer Comparison with Commentary by Director Edgar Wright
* Don’t Storyboards Still Gallery
* Don’t Poster
* The Making of Thanksgiving Trailer
* New York Times Talk with Quention Tarantino and Lynn Hirschberg at Comic Con 2006 Featuring the Directors and Cast of Grindhouse
* Grindhouse Trailer Contest Winner Hobo With A Shotgun

WEREWOLF WOMEN OF THE SS!

Finally the deluxe version of GRINDHOUSE is coming to DVD on October 5th! Along with tons of extras the special features will feature the extended cut of WWSS. The trailer is now 5 minutes long with director’s commentary and a making of WWSS featurette! More Commander Hess! More Eva Krupp! More Fu Manchu! More nude Nazi action! Do not miss this!

Michael Monroe, iconic rock and roll frontman and founding member of hugely influential Finnish outfit HANOI ROCKS, has entered into a recording agreement with Universal Music. The first fruits of this international deal will be a brand new live album, “Another Night In The Sun/Live In Helsinki”, set for release on September 27. This 15-track outing will be made available through Universal subsidiary Spinefarm Records.

Says Jarkko Nordlund, Managing Director, Universal Music Finland: “Michael Monroe is a true international rock star, and Universal Music’s international network is extremely proud to be working with him. Spinefarm Records is the best home for this rock and roll legend, as both label and artist share the same degree of professionalism and passion.”

Mixed in Los Angeles by Niko Bolas (whose credits include NEIL YOUNG, FRANK SINATRA, KEITH RICHARDS, KISS, SPINAL TAP and more) and mastered by Grammy winner Richard Dodd (the man behind TOM PETTY and DIXIE CHICKS), “Another Night…” — recorded on July 6 at the Tavastia Club in Helsinki, Finland — features key tracks from Monroe’s solo career spiced up with selected HANOI classics, some well-chosen covers, plus two brand new, previously unreleased songs — “You’re Next” and “Motorheaded For A Fall”.

Says Monroe: “No excuses, it is what it is, and will probably end up sounding great with all its clunks and flaws, once it’s mixed and finished. Obviously, we’re not doing any overdubs, so you’ll have a very raw ‘‘rough-and-ready-or-not’ live recording of another rockin’ night in the sun in the beautiful Finnish summer!”

In the wake of the album’s release, Monroe (plus regular band: THE WILDHEARTS mainman Ginger on guitar, ex-HANOI member Sammy Yaffa on bass, Steve Conte of NEW YORK DOLLS and COMPANY OF WOLVES fame on guitar, and Karl “Rockfist” Rosqvist on drums, a Swedish/Finnish drummer who has played with both CHELSEA SMILES and DANZIG) will head out on tour in Finland and Sweden before heading over to the U.K. to support MOTÖRHEAD on their 35th-anniversary tour in November.

SOURCE: gibson.com
by: Michael Wright

With the recent release of the documentary, When You’re Strange, The Doors are, once again, in the news. The film, directed by Tom DiCillo and narrated by Johnny Depp, is a more balanced account of the band’s meteoric rise from the L.A. club scene to international superstardom and their ultimate collapse with the death of Jim Morrison than seen in Oliver Stone’s biopic, The Doors.

Robby Krieger and John Desmore sat down with The Brief  to take a look back at the band’s career, beginning with their introduction to Jim Morrison.

“It was Ray [Manzarek] who introduced us to Jim and we didn’t know what to think,” said Densmore. “Ray said he had never sung before and he was extremely shy, so I thought, ‘He’s not going to the next Mick Jagger.’ But he turned out to be the only Jim Morrison. He was perfect as a frontman. You know, back then, the words ‘rock star’ weren’t in our vocabulary, it wasn’t even an energy drink.”

“Jim didn’t seem that different when I first met him,” recalled Krieger. “He seemed like a normal kind of guy, a very good looking guy, but just normal. It wasn’t until we started rehearsing that I had an idea of how crazy he was. The first time we realized was when we all went out. We all took things, but he just took more. Way more. And one night he took 10 tabs of acid, that’s when we knew he was different and would do everything too much, whether it was booze or drugs. We were always worried about him. At one of our early rehearsals, Ray and John and me were all there but Jim never showed up. We made some calls and found out he was in jail out in the desert somewhere for fighting with some bikers.”

Despite Morrison’s excesses, Krieger said the band still had an amazing ride to the top.

“That was one of the best times of my life, we played at the Whisky for the whole summer of ’67 — the best summer ever. We’d been trying to get a record contract for about a year when we were spotted by Elektra Records. They were a small label at that time, but they were doing well. You know, we were all like brothers. Especially before we were famous.”

It was only when the band became successful that the seams started coming apart.

For us, it took forever to make it, playing ratty clubs every night and not making enough money,” said Krieger. “Finally it happened and it was all different. It was harder and harder to stay together. All kinds of weirdos latched on to Jim to try to get him away from us. And once Jim had money, he could do anything he wanted and that was very tough to deal with. One record company guy said to us before we got famous, ‘If Jim Morrison ever gets any power, look out.’”

American actor Chris Evans, who also starred in the Fantastic Four comic book films, is playing the title role in the film.

And today his stunt double was snapped in a leafy London location, dressed in full regalia, riding a US Army Indian motorcycle.

True to the original character, the costume comprised the colours of the American flag, complete with a huge star on the chest, and helmet.

There was also a magnificent Forties-style car on set, which was seen being driven through a woodland location, as well as some more futuristic looking motorcycles.

The film started shooting in June, when Tommy Lee Jones was confirmed as playing US Army Colonel Chester Phillips, Dominic Cooper will also play a role as the younger version of Howard Stark, the character which John Slattery portrayed in Iron Man 2.

One of the first filming locations earlier in the summer was near the University of Manchester in the Northern Quarter, centred around Dale Street, chosen after a search for a location best fitting 1940’s Lower East Side Manhattan, New York.

More filming is scheduled there for later this month. But in the meantime production will continue in London, with a number of key landmarks expected to be taken in during filming.

The movie, directed by Joe Johnston and scheduled for release in July next year, will also star Lord of the Rings actor Hugo Weaving as Johann Schmidt / Red Skull, Captain America’s nemesis and head of the Nazis’ terrorist activities.

The futuristic-looking bikes on set today appeared to be carrying riders bearing the Red Skull symbol as a chase scene was filmed.

Scenes will also be shot in Liverpool in the autumn at locations including the city’s Albert Dock. It is being filmed with 2-D cameras, but will be converted into a 3D movie during post production.

Johnston did a one-day test shoot with a 3-D rig as opposed to shooting in 2-D and converting but called it ‘a nightmare’ due to bulky gear and restricted filmmaking options.

He said he’s a firm believer in the conversion approach if done right, telling the Los Angeles Times recently: ‘It’s a new challenge and it’s exciting.’

FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!

The NYC Industrial Hardcore Metal Machine, BILE, returns after a 7 year break from touring. The scene is growing soft. Time for a steel toed boot in the face. All the hits, and lots of gems off “Hate Radio”. All new band. All new angst. All new explosion. No other band on the planet looks and sounds like BILE.

Elitist. Modest. Exterminate.

Thurs. Sept. 16 @Europa Brooklyn, NY
Fri. Oct 1 @BERLIN: Goth-Industrial in Queens w/ BILE live!
Sat. Oct.2 @Fallout Richmond, VA
Mon. Oct. 4 @TBA St. Louis, MO
Tues. Oct. 5 @Abbey Pub, Chicago, IL (notice how they have a day off)
Thurs. Oct 7 @Blondies, Detroit, MI
Fri. Oct. 8 @Peabody’s Cleveland, OH
Sat. Oct. 9 @Outland Columbus, OH

DANZIG will headline the 2010 edition of the “Blackest Of The Black” tour in October.

The complete billing for the trek is as follows:

DANZIG
POSSESSED
MARDUK
TOXIC HOLOCAUST
WITHERED

The dates are as follows:

Oct. 23 - Pala, CA - [to be announced] (DANZIG warm-up show) *
Oct. 25 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre
Oct. 27 - Little Rock, AK - The Village
Oct. 29 - San Antonio, TX - San Antonio Live
Oct. 30 - Houston, TX - Warehouse
Oct. 31 - Dallas, TX - Palladium
Nov. 02 - Knoxville, TN - Valarium
Nov. 03 - Louisville, KY - Expo Five
Nov. 04 - Buffalo, NY - Town Ballroom
Nov. 05 - Columbus, OH - Alrosa Villa (no DANZIG)
Nov. 06 - Royal Oak, MI - Royal Oak Music Theater
Nov. 07 - Chicago, IL - Congress Theater
Nov. 09 - Minneapolis, MN - The Cabooze
Nov. 10 - Fargo, ND - The Venue
Nov. 12 - Denver, CO - Gothic Theater
Nov. 14 - Spokane, WA - Knitting Factory Concert House
Nov. 15 - Seattle, WA - Showbox SODO
Nov. 16 - Portland, OR - Roseland Theater

* This show is not part of the “Blackest Of The Black” tour.

According to a posting on THE CULT’s official Twitter profile, the band’s previously announced four-song “capsule” — which is described as a collection of not just new music, but film, art and fashion — will arrive on September 14.

The “capsule” will span across multiple media formats, including vinyl, digital, USB, CD and DVD formats.

In an August 20, 2010 interview with the U.K.’s leading classic rock radio station Planet Rock, THE CULT guitarist Billy Duffy spoke about the “capsule” concept and how it differs from the way the band released new music in the past.

“Well, I think you’d have to have been living under a rock for a long time to not notice that the music business has somewhat changed,” Duffy explained.

“It’s a different way of getting music out there.

“People — not everybody, but a lot of people — are, really, now more comfortable downloading music and the fact that aren’t any, really, many record shops or places to buy music in that format anymore is indicative that people’s habits are changing with the Internet, and we just felt, as a band, that the idea…

“We did a new album in 2007 in a sort of traditional way — get a record deal with a company and make an album and take out a very bad loan from them and then go and promote it, and blah blah blah. This time we just thought we’d do it a little differently, and we did it on… New Wilderness is our own label. And Ian [Astbury, vocals] felt very strongly that he’d prefer to try and record two or three, four songs and get them out there while they’re quite fresh than spending a lot of time trying to write a whole album. It was really Ian’s general feeling, which I sort of agreed with; I think people’s attention spans are shortening, and I think the idea was… He just wanted to capture the music quickly and get it out there. That was the theory; the practice is not always quite so as easy as putting that into practice. But the idea of the capsule, if you wanna be old-fashioned, you could call it an EP. So rather than doing albums…

“Other bands who operate on a grander scale two, three, four years recording a record, or they sail in from their Carribean hideaways, go on a tour that lasts 18 months, and everybody is really happy with that format. That doesn’t really work for THE CULT anymore. So we’re just trying to be a little more fluid.

“The people who are buying tangible, what you’d call hard products, like vinyl, they’re collectors and they want stuff that has a little bit more depth and content, and that’s why it’ll be a multimedia package.”

THE CULT’s first new studio recording since 2007, “Every Man and Woman is a Star” was released as a two-week exclusive through the iTunes store.

Rock fans worldwide will immediately recognize Billy Duffy’s blistering guitars and Ian Astbury’s powerful vocals soaring over a relentless beat.

“The latest recordings from THE CULT, guided by legendary producer Chris Goss (MASTERS OF REALITY, KYUSS, QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE), are a mixture of violent guitars, emotive vocal performances with high melody and driving beats,” Astbury said in a statement. “Textured metaphysical rock music for the contemporary music head.”

This new release is a partnership between the band’s New Wilderness label and media pioneers Aderra.

In 2009, Aderra recorded several live shows on THE CULT’s U.S. and European tours, including a sold-out appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in London. The live recordings were released exclusively through a USB flash drive housed in a dog tag necklace.

The success of this initial project lead to this partnership to release the new capsule material on multiple formats.

THE CULT in 2008 parted ways with Roadrunner Records, the label that released the group’s latest album, “Born into This”. That CD sold 12,600 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 70 on The Billboard 200 chart. It was recorded in London with producer Youth (VERVE, PRIMAL SCREAM).

THE CULT’s current touring lineup includes principals Ian Astbury and Billy Duffy alongside bassist Chris Wyse, drummer John Tempesta (ex-WHITE ZOMBIE, TESTAMENT, EXODUS, HELMET) and rhythm guitarist Mike Dimkich.

Robert Rodriguez has been called a lot of things: awesome, exploitative, prolific, Robert… but high-minded? That’s a new one. Rodriguez slices and dices his way back onto the screen with Machete, a flamboyantly manly action film based on the standalone trailer fromGrindhouse, about an ex-Federale swept up in an anti-immigration conspiracy. Along the way he maims, murders and/or fornicates every living thing in sight. He is a living legend: a Schwarzenegger for the other side of the border. He is Machete, and Robert Rodriguez views him as a living God of Mexican Pride who both confirms and overpowers every stereotype imaginable with his paradoxical blend of goodness and homicidal mania. If every illegal immigrant were this mindbogglingly incredible we’d be opening our borders and offering free t-shirts. But then, that’s kind of Rodriguez’s point: Maybe every illegal immigrant is this incredible. They’re human beings, after all.

Danny Trejo, who must either be Robert Rodriguez’s best friend or worst blackmailer to be given this kind of star treatment, stars as the titular character Machete, a heroic Federale whose family was murdered by the evil drug kingpin Torrez, played by Steven Seagal (who actually seems to be having fun for a change). Machete leaves Mexico for Texas, where illegal immigrants are second class citizens… except for the whole “citizen” part. Immigration is a hot button issue with cartoonishly conservative Senator McLaughlin (Robert DeNiro, with better material than he’s used to lately), so a shady character named Booth (Jeff Fahey, never better) hires Machete blindly off the street to assassinate the troublesome politician. Everything immediately goes awry and Machete finds himself the most wanted man in America, the victim of a broader conspiracy involving politics, drugs and a giant electrified fence threatening to spread like wildfire across the Mexican/American border.

Machete was co-directed by Rodriguez’s editor Ethan Maniquis, but it’s unclear how the duties were divided between them: This feels like a Robert Rodriguez joint if there ever was one. Certainly they were both on the same page. Machete follows the Grindhouseschool of filmmaking with a low-budget visual style punctuated by moments of striking imagination, often betraying the film’s larger-than-thematically-appropriate price tag. LikePlanet Terror and Once Upon A Time In Mexico, Rodriguez pads out a pretty thin narrative with a myriad of distinctive supporting characters, from Spy Kids’ Daryl Sabara as an adopted Chollo to a particularly naked Lindsay Lohan, who spends most of her screentime with her Mom (Alicia Marek), who is also naked. Unlike Planet Terror and Once Upon a Time in Mexico, these digressions don’t get in the way of a coherent storyline, as they are all (with the slight exception of the stunt-casted Lohan) connected to Rodriguez’s recurring theme of building modern Mexican legends.

Rodriguez of course began his career withEl Mariachi, a genuinely low-budget action classic about a normal guitar-toting street musician fighting for his life after being mistaken for a deadly assassin. The film combined elements of classic Hitchcock (mistaken identities, everyman action heroes) and classic John Woo (the visual aesthetic and focus on shootouts) to turn the harmless mariachi archetype into a warrior myth. While Rodriguez also explored this character to some success inDesperado, which found our mariachi struggling to boost his own urban legend despite the fact that he’s obviously a lovable goof, Once Upon a Time in Mexico rang false. The legend had been built, but the character himself disappeared in a fog of badass action movie clichés and self-congratulatory nonsense (entertaining though it may have been). Machete takes the opposite tack and presents itself up front as a 1980’s power fantasy. Machete has no character to speak of besides his belief in truth, justice and the illegal immigrant way. He’s shockingly violent to those who deserve it, and has sex with just about everyone else. Unlike Rodriguez’s original hero, Machete is born into his world fully realized as a Herculean superman. The lack of character development doesn’t detract from the story but instead informs every frame. This is a man of action. Thinking is a lesser concern.

So it’s amusing then that despite Machete’s broad humor and insanity-fueled action sequences (you’ll never look at a lower intestine the same way again) the film comes across as a valuable political document. Rodriguez and Maniquis mask their message movie in the machinations of mindless media. Not that theirs is a complicated concept: Immigrants are people too, they claim (shocking, I know), while also reminding audiences that there are other important issues at hand regarding the Mexican border; not just the flow of narcotics but also the very real fact that much of America depends on cheap migrant labor. It’s a little surprising to find that a film that embraces such flighty interpretations of entertainment as staring at Jessica Alba naked in the shower has such a well-conceived conspiracy at the heart of it all: complicated but plausible, even compared to larger mainstream hits like Quantum of Solace and Clash of the Titans. Not that Machete ever feels like an Oliver Stone film, but it’s a pleasant surprise to find that this supposedly brainless piece of mainstream entertainment has something on its mind other than Lindsay Lohan’s breasts, Jessica Alba’s ass and Michelle Rodriguez’s abdominal muscles.

But of course all of these noble ambitions result in little more than a series of massive shootouts where every character shows up even if they have no right, reason or even the address necessary to be there. Still, these are some wonderful shootouts, punctuating an equally wonderful film. Violent but never pessimistic, funny but still worth taking seriously, and sexy but surprisingly chaste (actually, that last part may not be a good thing). Rodriguez and Maniquis have succeeded not just in turning a joke trailer into a worthy film, but also in making Rodriguez’s best movie in years. Machete puts the “mind” back in “mindless entertainment,” and kicks your ass without ever insulting your intelligence.

DANZIG will embark on the 2010 edition of the “Blackest Of The Black Tour” in October. The dates are as follows:

Oct. 23 - Pala, CA (warm-up show)
Oct. 25 - Albuquerque, NM - Sunshine Theatre
Oct. 27 - Little Rock, AK - The Village
Oct. 29 - San Antonio, TX - San Antonio Live
Oct. 30 - Houston, TX - Warehouse
Oct. 31 - Dallas, TX - Palladium

More shows will be announced on Tuesday, September 7.

Glenn Danzig recently spent time editing the music video he directed for DANZIG’s new single, “On A Wicked Night”, which was shot on location in early June at the infamous BatCave in the Hollywood Hills.

“On A Wicked Night” comes off the first new DANZIG studio album in six years, “Deth Red Sabaoth”, which sold 11,700 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 35 on The Billboard 200 chart.

DANZIG’s last album, “Circle of Snakes”, opened with 6,400 units back in September 2004 to enter the chart at No. 183. That number was in line with the 6,900 first-week tally registered by 2002’s “Danzig 7:77 I Luciferi”, which debuted at No. 159.

“Deth Red Sabaoth” was released on June 22 via Evilive/The End Records. Produced by Glenn, the CD was recorded in Los Angeles over the course of 2009.

The 11-track collection, penned by Danzig, is laced with Glenn’s lycanthropic growls and blues-infected wailing. Tracks including “Black Candy”, “The Revengeful” and “On A Wicked Night” emit a spectral glow to rival the highest points in Danzig’s colossal discography. Part I of the exquisite two-part “Pyre of Souls” opens with acoustic guitar, haunting piano, Glenn’s plainsong vocal, and an almost dirge-like feel; Part II explodes with electric guitars and a driving, mesmerizing cadence.

Joining Glenn in the studio for the recording of “Deth Red Sabaoth” were guitarist Tommy Victor (PRONG, MINISTRY), a Danzig cohort on and off since 1996, and drummer Johnny Kelly (TYPE O NEGATIVE, SEVENTH VOID). While Kelly has toured with Glenn intermittently since 2002, this is the first time he has recorded with the band. Glenn handled the bass chores for most the album, and played drums on “Black Candy”.

As with all of Danzig’s releases, the CD cover artwork for “Deth Red Sabaoth” (see below) is provocative and ominous. The cover is an original piece created specifically for the CD by the award-winning artist Joe Chiodo, whose work has graced not only Danzig’s Verotik publishing line, but also the covers of numerous graphic novels and comic books, including X-Men Unlimited. “Deth Red Sabaoth” isn’t the first time one of Chiodo’s paintings has been part of a Danzig package — one of his erotic “good girl” pinups was part of 2007’s “The Lost Tracks of Danzig”.

DANZIG — Glenn, guitarist Tommy Victor, drummer Johnny Kelly and bassist Steve Zing (also an original member of SAMHAIN with Glenn) — plans to tour extensively to support “Deth Red Sabaoth”.