Long Island’s most awesome LATTERMAN got some t-shirt camera time on the CBS Evening News tonight. Here’s the details, courtesy of Deep Elm Records.

“”On tonight’s CBS Evening News, they did a story about hearing loss in teenagers. They visit a teenager at home in Boston who is playing guitar and wearing a LATTERMAN shirt! That is priceless. All we have to say is TURN UP THE PUNK!!! Listen LOUDLY!!!”"

Check it out: deepelm.com/news/cbs_latterman.html

- Hearing loss is definitely a serious issue and something that I think we all take for granted. I’ve had measurable hearing loss for a few years now (no doubt, the product of too many nights spent in music clubs or with a pair of trusty headphones) and it’s depressing to know that my hearing will only get worse over time. Don’t forget to bring a those ear plugs with you the next time you subject yourself to a live aural flogging.

1. FALL RIVER – Lights Out (Thorp): Screamy, blistering metalcore. Most of the songs are about two minutes long and the singer is a female who sounds she’s listened to a lot of WALLS OF JERICHO. Totally vicious stuff. COALESCE’s Sean Ingram makes a guest vocal appearance.

2. ONCE FOR ALL – Down for the Getdown (Harvest Earth): Straight-forward old-school positive hardcore with a mild metallic feel. Similar to early SICK OF IT ALL with a better grip on the mosh. Simple lyrics and instrumentation keep this release in the middle of the pack.

3. ALLISTER – Before the Blackout (Drive-Thru): This is the same band that released Dead Ends and Girlfriends?!?! ALLISTER were a bland, annoying, and strikingly immature pop-punk in their formative years, and now they’re just a bland, bloated “”mature”" pop unit. Time to hang it up fellas…

4. BARCODE – Showdown (Nuclear Blast): Another European band who has signed up to be on the MADBALL fastrack. That’s not really a bad thing though as these guys execute the speedy, crude and burly ‘core with plenty of punch and tenacity. The cover art features a couple of guys in suits with handguns for heads shooting at each other. I don’t get it either…

5. DROPPING DAYLIGHT – Take A Photograph (Octone): This sounds like TRAPT with a piano and a weird MUSE complex. Sigh…

While the press has (rightfully) piled on against Sony’s arrogance and misdirection after computer security risks were discovered in the company’s copy-protected CDs, leading entrepreneur Michael Robertson has written a nicely detailed article about the positives that are coming to light with a mainstream discussion about DRM and its collateral effects. Read the article here.

From the inbox:

Indianola Records has announced the signing of Jacksonville Florida’s LOKYATA. Formed in 2004, LOKYATA has spent much of the last year touring around the south east and recently recorded their Indianola debut Purified by Anger at Earthsound Studios (Evergreen Terrace, From First to Last). The record will be released February 7th 2006, you can check out unmastered tracks from the album at myspace.com/lokyata.

From the inbox:

Yes! A WILHELM SCREAM is finally headlining! Check them out all during December. Dates are with the THE BLACKOUT PACT.

Touring in support of their latest release, Ruiner is fourteen unorthodox arrangements of punk, metal, and melody going far beyond a rehashing of their previous record.

Relentless songs like “”The King is Dead”" and “”Killing It,‚Äù you soon realize that you‚Äôve become a glutton for the band‚Äôs punishment. A Wilhelm Scream‚Äôs subtle humor, revealed in not-so-subtle song titles such as “” Me Vs. Morrissey In The Pretentiousness Contest (The Ladder Match)”" and “”Less Bright Eyes, More Deicide,”" makes said punishment all the more palatable.

Here’s the dates. Go!!!

December 2nd – Fenton, MI – Fenton Community Center

December 3 – Milwaukee, WI – Mad Planet

December 5 – La Crosse, WI – The Warehouse

December 6 – Sioux Falls, SD – Washington Pavilion Schulte Room

December 7 – Minneapolis, MN – Triple Rock Club

December 9 – Denver, CO – The Fillmore (w/Rise Against, Bouncing Souls, Blackout Pact)

December 10 – Ft. Collins, CO – Starlight

December 11 – Colorado Springs, CO – The Darkside

December 12 – Wichita, KS – Headway Skate park

December 13 – St. Louis, MO – Creepy Crawl

December 15 – Cleveland, OH – Grog Shop

December 17 – West Chester, PA – Rex’s Tavern December 18 – Providence, RI – The Living Room

- Hot damn!

We are proud to announce that starting on Tuesday, November 22nd, iTunes will be offering 3 exclusive downloads from THE ARCADE FIRE and DAVID BOWIE! THE ARCADE FIRE and BOWIE collaborated on two songs: Wake Up, from THE ARCADE FIRE’s debut CD Funeral, and the BOWIE classic Five Years, from Ziggy Stardust. BOWIE also contributed an incredibly moving solo version of Life On Mars?, from Honky Dory.These three tracks will be available as exclusive iTunes downloads only, and there are no plans to release these tracks on any other formats in North America.

Also, Merge Records has organized a series of auctions to benefit two very worthy charity organizations Oxfam and The North Carolina Food Bank. From now January 1st, the labelwill be auctioning off silk-screened tour posters from designers and shows all over the country signed by many of your favorite Merge bands/artists. Those auctions can be found here.

-I highly recommend the download of all three tracks as they showcase a special collaboration from two great artists.

The folks at Fueled By Ramen have signed CUTE IS WHAT WE AIM FOR and FORGIVE DURDEN. The former can be heard here while the latter will be found here.

- These bands look cute enough and young enough for FBR to sell them to the masses. It seems like this label can sell 10,000 copies of anything to kids these days.

As announced earlier this month, former Long Island hardcore band TRIPFACE will be the subject of a discography release on State of Mind Recordings. To help promote that release, a myspace page has been set up with two songs from the band (“Burden” from their 1997 release Some Part Sorrow and “I’ve Lost” from the 1994 demo) . You can also find a brief history of the band and a round-up of the other bands the members went on to play in.