From the inbox:

Mightier Than Sword Records will be releasing SMARTBOMB’s upcoming EP, entitled Nowhere To Be Found, on May 11th! This will be a limited 7″ / digital release.

The vinyl colors are:

• Solid blue [ltd. 100 - exclusive to MTS webstore]
• Half blue/half black [ltd. 200]
• Blue w/ black splatter [ltd. 200]

The band will have copies at their upcoming shows with Set Your Goals and Comeback Kid, starting this Monday, May 3rd in Albany, NY.

More details and pictures can be seen in the MTS Blog and Pirates Press record of the week.

- A new song from the EP titled “Be Here” is streaming on the band’s MySpace page.

Few bands are as talented as DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN in making both their records and live shows seem like out of body experiences. The progressive metal/hardcore band is as intense and chaotic live as their studio recordings are examples of the brain’s innermost workings. After several full-lengths on Relapse the group has taken matters largely [...]

All I’ve ever wanted to do with Pastepunk is write about music that I love and hope others find that to be useful and maybe entertaining. A big assist in this for the past couple of years has been utilizing music service Lala’s embeddable song and album streams in my news posts. What better way to get a person to check out something than put it right before them? Whether it was brand new music or a classic hardcore full-length from the early 90s, Lala’s 8 million song catalog proved to match my particular desires, and it was all the better that the service actually paid rights holders (despite most payments being de minimus). Users could stream any song on the site once before being prompted for purchase. It was the ultimate “try before you buy” music site.

It was disappointing to read this morning that the Lala will be shutting down May 31st, and that any new embedding has been immediately turned off. Apple purchased Lala several months ago and doomsday has finally come. The expectation is that Apple will or is already using Lala’s technology and staff to bring iTunes into the cloud. As a heavy iTunes user, I’ll enjoy this as much as anyone, but I can’t imagine Apple will keep Lala’s embed functionality (legal and financial reasons apply).

I plan to keeping doing my best writing about music that makes a difference in our lives, and I hope that another business takes a stab at what Lala was trying to do with some of the streaming elements of its service. Hey, eMusic, Napster, Rhapsody, MOG, and Spotify – are you listening?

From the inbox:

Coming off two solid releases with the hardcore bands CRITICAL POINT and NOT SORRY, Salad Days Records is proud to announce that it will be releasing a record by Washington D.C.’s POLICE & THIEVES. The record will be a 12″ LP that will contain the Self-Titled 7″, the Amor y Guerra 7″, the demo and a few unreleased tracks with exclusive artwork by Jason Mazzolla (Count Me Out, Cloak/Dagger). Pre-orders and further information will be announced soon so keep checking.

Merrimack Valley hardcore band WATCHFIRE have dished out a new tune titled “Undertow” from the band’s upcoming full-length The Resurrection of Truth (Arrest Records). The track features guest vocals by CAVE IN frontman and prolific solo artist Stephen Brodsky. Give it a whirl here.

FAR, the together-again influential post-hardcore/rock band from Sacramento, is streaming their brand new song “At Night We Live” on their MySpace page. It is the title track to the band’s fifth full-length and first for Vagrant Records. Look for the release in stores on May 25th.

- FAR joins LIFETIME on the list of bands that I never thought I’d hear new music from again and moreso, having that new music be very, very good. There’s no rust on At Night We Live at all…

From the inbox:

Today we’ve released “Blind In One Eye,” the first track from our upcoming LP/CD – House With A Curse. Check out Stereogum.com for an exclusive stream and download of the song!

House With A Curse will be released June 22, 2010 on LP and CD from Temporary Residence Limited. It was recorded with Kevin Ratterman at the Funeral Home in Louisville and mixed by J. Robbins at the Magpie Cage in Baltimore, it features eleven brand spanking new COLISEUM tunes, plus appearances from all our guests you’ve heard about already.

We’ll be hitting the road after its release with our buddies BURNING LOVE from Toronto opening, featuring Mr. Chris Colohan from CURSED on vocals. The tour will cross through the Eastern US and Canada, then we’ll continue out West in August and September. European dates are in the early planning stages for November / December.

For being such an impact-making label in hardcore, Deathwish has a cool, understated side to them. Hype is not something that comes screaming from their modest press releases. I follow the label’s doings as much as anyone, and this ACID TIGER full-length seemed to go into stealth mode close to its release date. That’s a [...]