Driven Far Off

The latest on the indie, alternative, and rock music scene including news, music, contest, interviews, and more. Best described as your favorite place to find new bands.

Article #2 – DRM

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DRM is the same thing as the record labels and some content providers saying “I’m Scared”. DRM (the cute way of saying Digital rights management) locks Music, movies, and any other type of content to a specific way of using it. An example of this would be buying a song from itunes but not being able to play the song without an iPod or the itunes media player. Another example would be Microsoft’s Playsforsure. The clever name is not very descriptive though because Playsforsure DRM does not work with every mp3 player (ex. Microsoft’s own Zune).

The internet tubes are filled with anti-DRM propaganda, and so I will spare you all the reasons that DRM is evil because at the end of the day it does that on its own. Rather Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢d like to spend a few minutes going over the opposite, and all the positive things about DRM free content.

The Compact Disc was such a great way to deliver music to a paying customer. I say was because in the age of downloads, the CD appears to be one the way out. However if I were the record companies I would be pushing CD’s now more than ever. CD’s are a way they can still feel safe and people can then do use the content they purchased to listen it in whichever way they prefer. My temporary suggestion to the dilemma that people run into would be “The Ten Dollar CD”. $10 seems to me to be a sweet spot, so why not suck in a little bit of the greed [record labels] and sell every CD for ten bucks?

I know I would seem to be trying to hold on to the past. With 13 billion songs (or whatever the number) sold on itunes, the general public looks to be saying that they want the convenience of buying songs online. It’s funny I use the word convenience because owning a song that you have to go through many illegal steps to get it to play where you want it to is not convenient. The opposite of DRM is freedom right? Well what’s the opposite of downloading a song? I guess the closest thing would be going to the store and buying a CD. As of right now there’s only one or the other. You can’t have freedom in a download. So what is the answer? I guess it’s to buy a CD, or download from the DRM free Emusic.com, or listen to the radio, or give up music. The answer is not Digital Rights Management.

 

Just a few bands and labels you’ll
find on www.Emusic.com

-Vagrant Records
-The Militia Group
-Doghouse Records

-Sufjan Stevens
-Dashboard Confessional
-MxPx
-Copeland

There is also www.downloadpunk.com
which is in the business of non-DRM mp3’s

More Links where you can find more info about DRM and alternatives

Defective By Design: Against DRM, points out the fact that this copy protection is crippled from the start.
http://www.defectivebydesign.org/en/about

Wikipedia: Information about which devices use DRM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Rights_Management#Devices_that_use_DRM

DRM.info: Article giving reasons to care about this
http://www.drm.info/fsfe/why

Lovedrug News

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Lovedrug’s new album Everything Starts Where It Ends will release on February 20th in Japan and March 6th in the U.S.A. The beginning of February will see Lovedrug in Japan touring and promoting the release there, before returning to the States for a number of limited acoustic and radio appearances at the end of the month (more details to follow). On March 4th, the band will join The Plain White T’s for a 60 date trek across North America.

The music video for ‘Ghost By Your Side’ will premier at Singingfool (www.Singingfool.com) this Friday, January 5th. Shot in and around New York City last fall, view director David Johnson’s creative meld of performance and concept video for the first time here.

Article #1 – 2007 Expectations

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Every year around the end of November and the beginning of December the releases start slowing down. The tours start fading out, and the music scene kind of takes a break for a bit. I, along with several other people Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢m sure find myself looking at the next years release schedule and drooling over the next album from so and so.

It usually takes until February until the releases start to roll out again. Slowly you start finding more and more reasons to visit the record store come Tuesday morning. For anyone who enjoys music, and enjoys owning it legally, when April hits you know that your wallet is going to start to feel it. Thatâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s about the time of year bands and labels love to open the flood gates and pour out the big hits of the year.

Come 2007 I already have my eye on several releases, especially the records that are already done and have been for months. Bands like Relient K and Melee whose new albums are being primed for the masses with the early spring release, giving enough time to the marketing department to figure out how to sell these bands that hardly need it. Get songs from Melee and Relient K out there and I guarantee you sell few records. I hate waiting for these albums that I know are done and just waiting to be listened to. What can you do except wait though?

Future of Forestry is a band that I canâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t stop talking about and for a good reason. They bring the indie rock that will definitely have them drawing attention in 2007. Their debut full length comes out in January and I hope people donâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t miss out on the amazing record â┚¬Ã…”Twilightâ┚¬?. Anberlin is another band who seems to always put out records early in the year and I canâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t thank them enough for that. Their third release â┚¬Ã…”Citiesâ┚¬? Comes out mid February and has already been building a nice bit of buzz for itself before ever releasing a song.

Release from Limbeck, Sherwood, Jimmy Eat World, and Cassino top my list of bands whose cd canâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t come out fast enough. With the new year always comes the expectations of music for the next year and every year I know there will be cdâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s that fall short of the hopes for it, but I also know that next year I will have another list of amazing cdâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s that I just canâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t live without. Hereâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s to all the new music 2007 will bring us.

What are you looking forward? Let us know

Weekly Articles

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We’re (mostly me, I think) going to start doing weekly articles about anything and everything music related. I would like some feed back on stuff people are interested in though. I know there are people that read this site, so please leave so feed back in the comments section. Thanks

Waking Ashland Interview

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waking ashland

Who are we talking to, and what do you do in Waking Ashland?

This is Jonathan and I play the piano and sing in waking Ashland.

When is the new record coming out? and what stage are in right now?

The record is now done and we are waiting for it to be mastered this week. It should hit stores in April.

Is there an overall theme to the record? If so, what?

The record is based around the idea of change. The music is a step forward for us in the manner that everyone wrote for this record. I believe the quality of the songs is a reflection of that. Our style took a turn to.

Is there a name for the record yet?

We have been having a hard time coming up with a name

Why the move to Immortal records? Are you guys still on good terms with Tooth and Nail?

Immortal just seemed to be a better fit. There are fewer bands on immortal and they seemed to be more excited about our music. We are not on bad terms though with tooth and nail. We had fulfilled out contract with them before we chose to move on.

Who is recording the new record for you guys? Any specific reason for the choice?

Chris Shaw did our new record. We wanted to take a different approach than our last records and Chris was the guy. His previous works speak for itself. He added a lot of character to our sound.

Is Waking Ashland big in Japan? Is that why the telescopes EP came out in Japan first?

I think “big” is a relative term, but we have done well over there and touring there is always a good experience.

Why the split with the band members and adding new ones?

We lost two of our original members about a year and half ago due to the strains of the road and differences that we could not really work out. We have two new members now who are a full part of Waking Ashland. Tim Vary plays drums and Nathan Harold holds down the bass duties.

With the year coming to a close, what are you top 3 records?

Sufjan Stevens (Feel the Illinois), Tom Petty (any record), and the new Damien Rice record.

Any other bands or thing you’d like to promote and give a shout out to?

We love our boys in Sherwood and think theyâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢re going to be huge this year.

Thanks to Jonathan for taking the time to do this interview with me

Future Of Forestry – Twilight

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Future Of Forestry Twilight

Artist: Future Of Forestry
Album: Twilight
Label: Credential Recordings
Purchase: Amazon
Release Date: January 23rd, 2007

Overall: 9.0
Music: 9.0
Lyrics: 9.0
Production: 9.0

If all of the releases of 2007 are as good as Future Of Forestryâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s Debut album â┚¬Ã…”Twilightâ┚¬? then 2007 will be an amazing year for music. This band has huge things ahead of them and â┚¬Ã…”Twilightâ┚¬? is just the first step. This is the band to keep an eye and ear on this year.

The album opens with two songs, â┚¬Ã…”Open Wideâ┚¬? and â┚¬Ã…”All I wantâ┚¬? that were also on the bands first EP, both of which are mellower in the verses but have soaring indie rock choruses. These two songs also seem to be fan favorites from the EP.

The next song is the albumâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s title track â┚¬Ã…”Twilightâ┚¬?. The song starts off slow but continually builds the whole time adding instruments and backing vocals gradually. Around minute three you realize that the song has captured you with its engulfing melody. The song then begins to gently let you down with its â┚¬Ã…”da da daâ┚¬Ã‚¦Ãƒ¢Ã¢”š¬? (Youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ll understand when you hear it). The song â┚¬Ã…”You and Iâ┚¬? is easily one of the more radio friendly tracks the album has. The melody and hook begin the moment Ericâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s vocals start and the song just takes off from there.

Eric Owyoungâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s vocals on this record are what make it stand out and shine like it does. Causal, strong, laid back vocals reminiscent to those of Switchfoot yet with distinct originality. The album has the powerful guitars and drums that it needs to propel the songs like it does. Yet there are just as many ambient sounds on the record that give you the intimate feel that a lot of records leave out.

Go buy this album, bring it home, or listen to it on the car ride home. Please forget what Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve said in this review though. Neither the band nor the album need my hype, let this album prove its self to you, because it will.

Tracklisting
1. Open Wide
2. All I Want
3. Twilight
4. Speak To Me Gently
5. Thinking of You
6. Sunrising
7. Sacred Place
8. You And I
9. Sanctitatis
10. If You Find Her
11. Gazing
12. Stay Beside Me

Switchfoot/Copeland Tour Dates

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Here are the dates for Switchfoot‘s headlining tour which includes support from Copeland.

02.14 San Francisco, CA
02.16 Eugene, OR
02.17 Spokane, WA
02.18 Seattle, WA
02.19 Vancouver, BC
02.21 Calgary, AB
02.22 Edmonton, AB
02.23 Saskatoon, SK
02.24 Winnipeg, MB
02.26 Thunder Bay, ON
02.28 Toronto, ON
03.01 London, ON
03.02 Ottawa, ON
03.03 Montreal, QC
03.06 Burlington, VT
03.07 Boston, MA
03.08 Providence, RI
03.09 Hartford, CT
03.10 Philadelphia, PA
03.11 Baltimore, MD
03.13 Albany, NY
03.14 Buffalo, NY
03.15 Pittsburgh, PA
03.17 Cincinnati, OH
03.18 Ashville, NC
03.19 Charleston, SC
03.22 New Orleans, LA
03.23 Houston, TX
03.24 Austin, TX
03.25 Dallas, TX
03.26 Oklahoma City, OK
03.28 Tucson, AZ
03.29 Los Angeles, CA
03.31 San Diego, CA