Much has been in the news lately on the six anti-circumvention exemptions the U.S. Copyright Office enacted into law this week regarding the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The three “most popular” exemptions include the unlocking of phones with regard to wireless carriers, security and vulnerability research with regard to DRM’d CDs, DVDs, etc., and the archiving of obsolete computer programs and video games that may be protected by DRM. If you’re interested in how these six exemptions came into being and all of the policy mucky-muck that goes into the Copyright Office’s decision making, I encourage you to read the detailed “Decision of the Librarian of Congress,” which can be found here. It should be noted that 74 total exemptions were proposed before the Office, and a number of the more credible proposals are discussed in the above linked report, including matters of space-shifting and DVD region encoding.

From the inbox:

Swiss noisemongers KRUGER have inked a deal with France’s Listenable Records. The band’s third studio album, Redemption Through Looseness, is being recorded at Belle Fontaine studios in Lausanne, Switzerland and will be mixed by Kurt Ballou at Godcity studios in Salem, Massachusetts. Mastering duties will be handled by Alan Douches in New York.

KRUGER’s last album, Cattle Truck, was released in 2005. The band previously played shows across Europe with ISIS, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, GOJIRA and CULT OF LUNA.

Fans of MASTODON, CULT OF LUNA, BREACH, ISIS, TOOL and ENTOMBED will find this new piece of sinister and ridiculously loud and massively heavy metal an enjoyable listen!

link: listenable.net

- Listenable Records has had a number of cool releases this year. I’m particularly partial to TEXTURES’ Drawing Circles full-length. Check them out on myspace.

From the inbox:

Tickets for the 2007 Epitaph Tour – featuring THE MATCHES, ESCAPE THE FATE, I AM THE GHOST and THE HIGHER – will go on sale December 2nd. Featuring rising stars of the world famous record label’s roster, the extensive seven week North American trek will get underway in San Diego on February 1 and wrap in Las Vegas on March 18.

The Matches have been touted as “some of the most creative and boundary-pushing musicians I have ever worked with,” by +44’s Mark Hoppus, who shared production duties with the likes of Rancid’s Tim Armstrong, Goldfinger’s John Feldman, 311’s Nick Hexum and Epitaph founder Brett Gurewitz on the group’s acclaimed new disc Decomposer. Named “an album capable of sneaking under the skin of enough skeptics to make the band rock stars” by Alternative Press, while All Music Guide called the Oakland foursome’s multiple-producer philosophy “a particularly distinctive and creative album to be proud of.”

As for Escape The Fate, the Las Vegas-based hard rock/screamo outfit, the group’s strongly received Epitaph debut has been praised by critics on both sides of the globe. Of Dying Is Your Latest Fashion, Australia’s The Globe wrote, “It’s schizophrenic, sinister and unsettling – and totally thrilling.” At home, Punknews.org announced “[it] has success written all over it.” Speaking of the group’s ambitions live, singer Ronnie insisted, “I have a vision – I want people to have fun and put their fists in the air.”

Also in tow, revered Long Beach, California-based dark rock sextet I Am Ghost – who were named among Alternative Press’ “100 bands you need to know” – support their debut full length Lovers’ Requiem. Bringing forth a breathtaking amalgam of vibrant strings, demonic guitar lines, choral flourishes and grinding punk rock, IAG are a breed apart. Described as “AFI sinking their fangs into Straylight Run and letting the new goth-screamo blood run free,” by Revolver, the band was also praised by Outburn for its “dynamic montage of all the modern heavy and agro styles, touching on punk, hardcore, emo, thrash and goth – all with a pop sensibility that won’t quit.”

Also from Las Vegas, quintet The Higher fuses elements of pop, emo and R&B, and have been described as Saves The Day meets Justin Timberlake. Signed on the strength of 2005’s indie release Histrionics after a performance at the Roxy in L.A. earlier this year, Gurewitz personally presented the group an offer. Citing “Seth [Trotter’s] exceptional voice” and their “R&B pop influence” as two key components, Gurewitz says, “I believe the sky’s the limit for The Higher.”

Confirmed dates for the 2007 Epitaph Tour:

02/02/2007 Glasshouse Pomona CA

02/03/2007 Soma San Diego CA

02/04/2007 The Clubhouse Phoenix AZ

02/06/2007 The Door Dallas TX

02/07/2007 Emo’s Austin TX

02/08/2007 Warehouse Live Houston TX

02/10/2007 The Social Orlando FL

02/11/2007 Orpheum St. Petersburg FL

02/12/2007 Jack Rabbits Jacksonville FL

02/13/2007 Masquerade Atlanta GA

02/14/2007 Cat’s Cradle Carrboro NC

02/17/2007 The Recher Theatre Towson MD

02/18/2007 North Star Bar Philadelphia PA

02/19/2007 School of Rock South Hackensack NJ

02/20/2007 Bowery Ballroom New York NY

02/22/2007 Webster Theatre Hartford CT

02/23/2007 The Living Room Providence RI

02/25/2007 El Mocombo Toronto ON

02/26/2007 Call The Office London ON

02/27/2007 The Icon Buffalo NY

02/28/2007 Mr. Smalls Theatre Pittsburgh PA

03/01/2007 Grog Shop Cleveland Heights OH

03/02/2007 Shelter Detroit MI

03/03/2007 Metro Chicago IL

03/05/2007 The Loft @ The Barfly Minneapolis MN

03/07/2007 The Bottleneck Lawrence KS

03/08/2007 Marquis Theatre Denver CO

03/09/2007 Avalon Theatre Salt Lake City UT

03/10/2007 The Venue Boise ID

03/12/2007 El Corazon Seattle WA

03/13/2007 Hawthorne Theatre Portland OR

03/16/2007 Slims San Francisco CA

03/17/2007 El Rey Theatre Los Angeles CA

- If you listen closely, you can hear the heads of “Epitaph traditionalists” exploding. Message board fists of fury are a coming! Maybe in 2008 they can have a parallel tour for us ‘big kids’ featuring THE DRAFT, RANCID, CONVERGE, and THE BOUNCING SOULS. And maybe I’ll get a pony in the mail too one day…

I’m was listening to “You Spoke to Me” by THE SMOKING POPES the other day, and one line intrigued me greatly:

“I drove all the way from Carpentersville

I’m just glad I got to see you”

Being the nerd that I am, I started obsessively searching the internet to find what band THE SMOKING POPES were referring to. After about 5 minutes of annoying research – hey, this is 2006! I get should get results after 20 seconds – I came across this interesting tidbit of information from an article in the Michigan Daily Online:

“One song, “You Spoke To Me,” was inspired by a now-defunct band that had a big effect on Caterer. “I was thinking of Jawbreaker,” Caterer said. “We toured with them and I would see people come up to (the lead singer) … and start to say weird things about how much his music had meant to them. I was really impressed by that, so I tried to write the song from the point of view of one of those people.”

Of course it was JAWBREAKER – it always is. Mammoth Press ran an interview with the Popes a while back, and Josh Caterer said that ex-JAWBREAKER singer Blake was supposed to cover “You Spoke to Me” for a SMOKING POPES tribute, but the song was never released. Love to get my hands on on that thing!

Both articles mentioned above are great reads. The Michigan Daily Online article is an oldie but goodie from ’97, and you can check that out here. The Mammoth Press interview is a whole lot newer, and you can check that out here

With New Year’s Eve less then two weeks away the white belt sporting, girl pants wearing crowd is scrambling to nail down three things; whose parents will be out of town, who will buy them their candy coated barely alcoholic drinks, and what music will they party to. Luckily for the fashionable crowd, MC Goldie [...]

If you hit up the recent MINUS THE BEAR / VELVET TEEN tour then you heard a Minneapolis MC called P.O.S.. He is part of the Rhymesayer collective that has released excellent indie hip hop albums from Soul Position, Atmosphere and Brother Ali. One of the songs on the debut P.O.S. album samples the UNDEROATH song “It’s Dangerous Business Walking Out Your Front Door.” Click here to download the P.O.S. track and click here to download the original UNDEROATH track.

P.S. Does this post officially mean that Pastepunk covers rap rock?

While we’re planning our next slate of full-length streams to run on Pastepunk, I’ve added a nine song mix to our media player that features a little bit of everything under the punk, hardcore, and emo umbrella. Bands included are A DEATH IN THE FAMILY, BEERBONG, RADON, LIFE AT THESE SPEEDS, SIDEWALK, RETALIATE, COUNTERFIT, BAD ASTRONAUT, and 36 CRAZY FISTS.

From the inbox:

Have a computer? sure you do, you’re reading this. We have a ten year history of records that shaped the music you listen to now. We’ve made a great deal of that available again via the good people at

Itunes – Search these recently released titles:

Burnt By The Sun