Dear Future is one of those bands that right now is garnering a lot of record label attention, and for good reason. It might seem that there are a lot of Radiohead clones out there, and while that’s a comparison that borders on copping out for lack of a better one, the fact remains that Bends-era Radiohead coarses through the collective vein of Dear Future. And that’s not a bad thing at all. These guys from Illinois are back with their sophomore release, Can’t Wait Any Longer, and it’s likely that some label will do just that. Sure, the brooding tenor and moody arrangements are something you’ve heard before, but these guys get that the songs have to be there too, giving them a nice accessibility factor. And there is a nice little roller coaster ride, from the poppy title track to the darker but melodic “Eden” or “You Are Loved” to the bonus piano track, “Twenty.” Hopefully the slopes of the coaster will continue to be fun for these guys and that tons of adoring fans will continue to find them, because in a somewhat crowded genre, Dear Future is a band to keep on your radar. (self-released)

Dear Future MySpace Page

Nothing is official, but it appears that the RIAA has enlisted the group that can best help them fight music piracy — the internet service providers (ISP).

It’s important to note that none of the half dozen or so ISPs involved has signed agreements. The companies are “skittish” about negative press and could still back out, said the sources. But as it stands, AT&T and Comcast are among the companies that have indicated they wish to participate in what the RIAA calls a “graduated response program.”

Typically, ISPs have stayed away from getting involved in copyright enforcement. The ISPs working with the RIAA will forward take-down notices to network users accused of illegal file sharing and in an unprecedented move, will establish a series of responses for chronic copyright violators.These responses will gradually grow in severity as the number of violations go up and may include suspension of service or even service termination. Each ISP will decide its own response.

There are still plenty of details left to work out, the sources said. The RIAA has yet to address how it would help ISPs make up for the revenue they would lose by kicking people off their networks or who would pay the costs of sending take-down notices. The RIAA may disclose participating ISPs as soon as next month, according to a music industry source, adding that AT&T and Comcast are expected to be part of the group.

If AT&T and Comcast do join, the RIAA will have plenty of muscle to wage a new assault on piracy. The music industry said last month that it would no longer battle piracy by filing lawsuits against individuals. Instead, the big recording companies seek to create a new line of defense at the network level. And at least on paper, the plan is a potent one.

This move has always made sense for the RIAA, but it’s ironic how the ISPs built their broadband business on the backs of music and movie downloaders and now they’re going to turn around and punish their customers for doing just that. There is likely some very negative press once the full list of cooperating ISPs is revealed. And I wouldn’t be surprised if there are a few ISP holdouts that use their status of non-cooperation as a marketing tool to attract downloaders (or customers that just want as much privacy as possible).

I’m still confused about the digital music business model. I can buy a hard copy of a CD for around $10 if I go to a discount seller. I can buy a digital copy of the same album at iTunes for the same price. The difference is that the hard copy of the CD still holds value. I can resell it for $3 or $4 if I stop listening to it. That’s not possible with the digital copy. So, to me, the digital copy should be discounted ahead of time to account for that loss in value. Digital albums should be $5 or $6, not $10. There are no CDs to be burned or shipped, jewel cases to be bought or assembled, or artwork to be printed, so the digital copy should be far cheaper to produce and distribute.

Unfortunately, it appears iTunes is actually raising the price of (some) songs to $1.29.

Toth’s psychedelic combo Wooden Wand provided a promising template for this, his solo debut, but despite his persistent croon and a decidedly dark ambiance, it’s far less cryptic than that previous project. Toth enlists a back-up band with considerable credentials – among them, members of Wilco, Deerhoof, Vetiver and Geraldine Fibers, as well as his wife and foil, Jexie Lynn. – giving him plenty of room to maneuver within their fluid arrangements. “Nothing Hides,” “Do What You Can” and “Midnight Watchman” seem somewhat innocuous on first glance, but there’s a sinister subtext in Toth’s tales, with shady characters, worrisome encounters and a general air of pervading doom tainting the atmosphere. Indeed, lyrics like “Cocaine and bourbon, pinball and pool – look in on me/Don’t leave me to face the slow death of a fool” and an inside cover photo of Toth cradling a revolver confirm his shaded intents. Swagger turns to stagger on the woozy ballad “Poison Oak” and the aforementioned ode to decadence, “Look in on Me,” but overall, this is a most assured collection and a distinctive one at that. (Rykodisc)

James Jackson Toth MySpace page

Toth’s psychedelic combo Wooden Wand provided a promising template for this, his solo debut, but despite his persistent croon and a decidedly dark ambiance, it’s far less cryptic than that previous project. Toth enlists a back-up band with considerable credentials – among them, members of Wilco, Deerhoof, Vetiver and Geraldine Fibers, as well as his wife and foil, Jexie Lynn. – giving him plenty of room to maneuver within their fluid arrangements. “Nothing Hides,” “Do What You Can” and “Midnight Watchman” seem somewhat innocuous on first glance, but there’s a sinister subtext in Toth’s tales, with shady characters, worrisome encounters and a general air of pervading doom tainting the atmosphere. Indeed, lyrics like “Cocaine and bourbon, pinball and pool – look in on me/Don’t leave me to face the slow death of a fool” and an inside cover photo of Toth cradling a revolver confirm his shaded intents. Swagger turns to stagger on the woozy ballad “Poison Oak” and the aforementioned ode to decadence, “Look in on Me,” but overall, this is a most assured collection and a distinctive one at that. (Rykodisc)

Ryokdisc website

Toth’s psychedelic combo Wooden Wand provided a promising template for this, his solo debut, but despite his persistent croon and a decidedly dark ambiance, it’s far less cryptic than that previous project. Toth enlists a back-up band with considerable credentials – among them, members of Wilco, Deerhoof, Vetiver and Geraldine Fibers, as well as his wife and foil, Jexie Lynn. – giving him plenty of room to maneuver within their fluid arrangements. “Nothing Hides,” “Do What You Can” and “Midnight Watchman” seem somewhat innocuous on first glance, but there’s a sinister subtext in Toth’s tales, with shady characters, worrisome encounters and a general air of pervading doom tainting the atmosphere. Indeed, lyrics like “Cocaine and bourbon, pinball and pool – look in on me/Don’t leave me to face the slow death of a fool” and an inside cover photo of Toth cradling a revolver confirm his shaded intents. Swagger turns to stagger on the woozy ballad “Poison Oak” and the aforementioned ode to decadence, “Look in on Me,” but overall, this is a most assured collection and a distinctive one at that. (Rykodisc)

Ryokdisc website

Yes, we know that writing about music is like dancing about architecture (even if we’re not convinced that Elvis Costello said it first), but let’s be realistic: if you’re a music fan who likes to read, you can achieve a very special level of bliss when you get the opportunity to dive into a book about music. The Bullz-Eye staff knocked their heads together and came up with a list of 45 books that span several musical genres and include autobiographies and biographies, histories of record companies and music magazines, essay collections, and straight-up reference tomes. It’s not intended to be all-encompassing, nor would we presume to call it a definitive list of the best music books of all time. It’s simply a selection of some of our personal favorites, none of which would be out of place on a music fan’s bookshelf…and you can find it right here.

We also got some of the authors in on the fun, as well as some of our favorite musicians, which resulted in enough responses from folks from Kyle Vincent to Henry Rollins to warrant Rock of Pages: Celebrity Edition.

But we know: we’ve missed one (or more) of your favorites. We always miss one (or more) of your favorites. So call us out already and leave a comment. We can always use another addition to our Barnes & Noble shopping list…

UBER.com, along with industry big shots such as Atlantic Records, The Agency Group, Sneak Attack Media and Peer Music Publishing, are launching a contest for unsigned artists and bands called You Bring the Talent. The winner will receive an EP deal with Atlantic, publishing deal with Peer, booking deal with The Agency Group, distribution through ADA from The Rebel Group and a showcase at Hollywood’s House of Blues. To enter, you have to join UBER.com, and upload your band’s music, bio, and photos–then set up a voting module for yourself.

The contest runs until March 31, and your fans can vote once every 24 hours. For more information, please visit www.uber.com/youbringthetalent.

After three years on major label Columbia Records, New York City based singer/songwriter Ari Hest is on his own again, and is embracing his independent status. Following an alarming trend of artists who feel the need to emancipate themselves from the major label machine to pursue more control and artistic freedom, Hest is launching a subscription based service on January 7 called “52.” The premise is that the prolific artist will deliver to his fans one new song per week with access to blogs, lyrics, interactive voting polls and more.

“After an amicable departure from my record label this summer, I decided it was time to try something a little different,” he said. “It feels great to be an independent artist again, and I’m more inspired than ever to write and record. ”

At the end of 2008, Hest will take the most popular songs from “52,” and record a new album with those tracks in 2009. There will be three levels to the subscription service, and fans can find out more by visiting Hest’s website at www.arihest.com

It is incredibly easy to get buried in publicity emails, and lose track of what you should actually be covering versus what publicists want you to cover. Our publicist (Mike Farley, take a bow) sends me, on average, dozens of emails a day, all of which scream, “Listen to this right this second!” Before I know it, a band I like, like Travis, has a new album out, and I wonder why I haven’t heard a thing about it. Seriously, isn’t it strange that Travis put out an album and the label did nothing to promote it?

Anyway, at the end of the day today, Mike forwards an email from the Director of Publicity at Victory Records. The title of the email instantly gets my attention:

“I’m removing you from the promo mailing list.”

Wow, classy.

Even better, the email is a mass email, delivered to God knows how many other sites that Victory had once called upon. The body of the email is almost as funny as the title:

I have been sending you promotional material for almost a year now and have not seen sufficient action on your site for one reason or another.

If you have an issue with this, please respond within the next WEEK and let me know how this can improve, otherwise, please get in touch when you’re able to give us exposure.

Again, wow, classy.

Okay, here’s the point of my piece. I have been so consumed with putting out the fires in my inbox that it wasn’t until I forwarded this hilarious email to some of the writers on my staff that I even realized (my writers, unlike me, are still in contact with the outside world) that Victory records is in the middle of a veritable shitstorm of negative publicity. All of their biggest bands, including Hawthorne Heights, Taking Back Sunday and Atreyu, have jumped ship following charges of gross malfeasance. The final nail in the coffin came today, when former Victory Records VP Ramsey Dean wrote a lengthy dissertation for Absolute Punk about his time with the label. It has since been taken down but, thanks to Idolator and Google cache, the rant lives on. If you have ever supported this label, you owe it to yourself to read this and learn what is really going on. Racism, hookers and paranoia, oh my!

To read the entire rant (warning: it’s really, really long), click here. As a post script, I was tempted to tell the publicist that we would be delighted to be taken off their promo list, but I care so little about their product that I decided not to bother.

Apple Inc. (the guys who invented the iPod) and Apple Corps (the guys who invented Revolver) announced Monday that they’ve agreed to settle out of court. The two companies have been at odds for years over Apple Inc.’s use of an apple as its logo. Apple Corps was founded in 1968 by the Fab Four to oversee their business interests, using a green apple as its logo.

While financial terms were not disclosed, the new deal give Apple Inc. ownership of all of the trademarks concerning “Apple,” including the logo for iTunes. In return, the computer maker agreed to license certain trademarks—the ones pertaining to specific music—back to Apple Corps. Both sides also agreed to end litigation and pay their own legal costs.

A deal seemed imminent for several weeks. In January, when trumpeting the new iPhone, [Apple Inc. CEO Steve] Jobs proclaimed the company was changing its name to Apple Inc. and expanding its business to include more high-tech gizmos in addition to Macintosh computers.

[Apple Corps] confirmed months ago that the Beatles were in the process of remastering their entire catalog for online sales. Industry analysts and fans alike point to the just-announced deal as a precursor for the band’s iconic songs and albums to finally be sold via iTunes. Some rumor sites have gone so far to predict Jobs unveiling a Beatles-themed iPod.

Now if we can just get that AC/DC catalog on iTunes, we’ll be good to go.