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 #9 – Virb.com [the new Myspace?]

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When mp3.com went down and under the knife years back, there were a lot of musicians looking for a place to promote their bands, and fans looking for a place to listen to new bands. Probably the most popular site to emerge and fill the void would be purevolume.com. In the beginning people were celebrating the first bands to get to a million plays along with other milestones.

Over the years MySpace became this massive train traveling wherever it wants. They integrated music into peopleâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s profiles and because about 16% of the TOTAL internet traffic surfs through MySpace it automatically became the most popular place to find and promote music. I assume unborn media, who runs purevolume wanted back into the action and so they, along with everyone else, are jumping into the â┚¬Ã…”be the new MySpaceâ┚¬? race. Their offering, â┚¬Ã…”Virbâ┚¬? is quite a contender.

Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢m not sure whether Virb was the only 4 letter web address left, or itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s trying to be a clever play on something somewhere.

Virb is the clean cut new kid at school who hasnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t made it into the in crowd yet, but will. I say yet because Virb is still in beta form, and not even viewable to anyone without a Virb account. The thing unborn media has learned is that people want to make their pages look how they want it to look. Almost every part of your Virb page is customizable, which is something a lot of sites tend to stray away from.

The part where purevolume bleeds over to Virb is in the music player. When you go to bands Virb page you can click â┚¬Ã…”add songâ┚¬? and it then gets added to you 15 song play list. Along with the music side of things Virb gives you a place for pictures, blogs, and videos.

The thing that saves Virb is the clean, classy look along with all the customizable features. With everything said and done is Virb worth it? If youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢re not sick of these social networking sites, then yes, if you are sick of them itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s probably not going to change your mind though.

Hereâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s a prize for people reading this article, the first 7 people to leave comments with a valid e-mail address (just put it on the e-mail line on the comment form, it won’t be shown to the public) will recieve invites to www.virb.com

Damiera – M(us)ic

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Dameria m(us)ic

Artist: Damiera
Album: M(us)ic
Label: Equal Vision
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: January 23rd, 2007

Overall: 7.5
Music: 7.9
Lyrics: 8.0
Production: 7.9

I rewrote this review over and over again about 4 times, each time feeling just as boring and dumb as the last. I don’t know if it’s the album or I just have writers block for this band. I’m going to try something different, making this review very short and to the point.

M(us)ic is a very good album. It’s subtly catchy, its technical, but most of all it shows the potential of this band. I think Equal Vision wanted to cash in on this band’s already good album (by re releasing it) without paying for a new studio album yet. Smart move on their part, I just can’t wait to hear the next album from these guys because I think the way â┚¬Ã…”Over Itâ┚¬? progressed from a very punk band into pop punk I think Damiera will become more accessible and people will really be able to get into them.

Vocals are awesome, and music great, my only thing is that the album can get repetitive at times but that, in my opinion, wonâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t deter most people.

Tracklisting
1. Immure
2. Lessons
3. M(US)IC
4. Via Invested
5. I AM Pulse
6. Ember Eason
7. Departures
8. Flora: Yield
9. Broken Hands
10. Obsessions

Article #8 – “Postmarked: Yesterday”

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I write to you with the expectation that you will never read this, and if you are reading this, then itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s too late. My heart is overcome with sadness that you have ended up like this. Since youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢re reading this you know what I’m talking about. All I can say is do anything you can to warn the others, without putting you and others in harms way. After you’re done reading this, shred it, burn it, and then drive over the computer you read it on.

I have seen you every day, and everyday I was trying to tell you everything I knew. I tried leaving clues, and hinting, almost everything except for coming out and directly saying it. Now that I have your attention though there are still a few things you may or may not know. All of your phones are tapped, thereâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s a camera in every room youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve ever been in within the last 3 years. You know as well as I do, once youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢re in they don’t want you out until theyâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ve sucked you dry of funds. I don’t really understand exactly why the security is so tight, but itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s like the mob. They got investments and they intend to protect them.

They get in your mind, you think youâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢re making the decisions, but thatâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s just when they know they have you. As soon as you signed that dotted line thatâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s the second they started thinking for you. This whole thing is like â┚¬Ã…”professionalâ┚¬? wrestling, itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s all decided behind some curtain with dice and money. I stumbled backstage one day and thatâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s why I disappeared. I saw the minds behind the minds, and so I was taken out of circulation.

The first song I ever wrote, that song was for me, it was for music, it was just because I could, it wasnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t good it wasnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t really bad either. The second song I wrote was for a girl, and after that they moved my hands and wrote the hits. A modern day, music industry Cyrano de Bergerac, thatâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s all it was. Some kids sang along, some yelled and screamed that we sold out others just stopped listening. To sell out you have to have made something, and we didnâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢t make anything. It was more like a crime scene where we got robbed and were took hostage by nothing more than a piece of paper.

It used to be about the music. It used to be about shows, and fans, and fun but in the end it was only about making it out alive. You wonder why some of the better bands break up? Because they escaped and itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s just the story the label told everyone. My guess is they are living under some other name, playing in some other band, and probably only doing house shows. I know thatâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s what my plans are as soon as I’m fully out. Don’t forget though whenever you think you know, and you think itâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s not real thatâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢s when they are feeding you your thoughts. When and if you try and tell the world, they wont care, so don’t try. They would rather go on believing in lies than come to grips with the reality as it is. Iâ┚¬Ã¢”ž¢ll see you on the other side.

Sincerely,

The one who used to be

[I wasn’t going to write an explanation and I’ll keep this simple, because I still want feedback. This is simple commentary on the industry from a band members perspective written in the letter format]

Article #7 – Christian Genre

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Why is “Christian Music” a separate category altogether? This may be a touchy subject, but one which I find interesting and one I just don’t understand. Okay, let’s break this down. Every name for genres of music describe the actual style of the music, rather than the content. Rap, country, rock, jazz, classical. They all refer to the style of the bands or artists in that category. Christian music on the other hand could be rock, pop, country or whatever style and still fall in the “Christian” category.

I’ve been trying and trying to think of another genre that categorizes bands based on content rather than style and I just cant think of another one. At least not on the same mainstream scale. Last time I checked they didn’t have an Amish only radio station (joke intended).

I may sound like it, but I don’t have a problem with real “Christian music” or rather “worship music”. The part I find interesting and fail to understand is why a band who has Christian beliefs gets lumped into the Christian category. What makes a band a Christian one? As soon as they mention Jesus, are they a Christian band? As I recall Brand New has a song named “Jesus” and they don’t get lumped into the genre with bands like Relient K, Hawk Nelson, Emery, and others. I’m not arguing whether it’s good or band to get that label, I’m still trying to figure out what or who determines those things.

I know there are a lot of bands that don’t want to be labeled “Christian” because that alone would cut off part of the fan base. Some people hear that about a band and won’t listen to them or won’t give them a chance based on that.

Good music is music that is honest. A band’s thoughts, opinions, and feelings on love and life will come out through the lyrics. Some people believe in God, some don’t. Some people believe in faith and hope, and some don’t. Some people like rock and some like rap.

Hot Rod Circuit – The Underground is a Dying Breed

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Hot Rod Circuit The Underground is a Dying Breed

Artist: Hot Rod Circuit
Album: The Underground is a Dying Breed
Label: Immortal Records
Purchase: Smart Punk
Release Date: March 20th, 2007

Overall: 8.0
Music: 8.0
Lyrics: 8.0
Production: 7.5

This will be the record that saves 2007 from completely being taken over by the Fall Out Boys of the world [you can quote me on that]. â┚¬Ã…”The underground is a dying breedâ┚¬? could not have been a better title for this album that shows Hot Rod Circuit has always stayed true to the music they believe in whether its popular in the mainstream or not.

The record has a raw production to it that makes you feel like its 1999 again but never once does the production take away from the songs or make you feel like its a bad recording. The drums hit hard during the chorus of â┚¬Ã…”Vampireâ┚¬? which has a subtle hook and a ton of replay value. Lyrically â┚¬Ã…”What we believe inâ┚¬? is the punk version of snow patrols â┚¬Ã…”Chasing carsâ┚¬? with the same vibe of needing to take advantage of the moment.â┚¬?U.S. Royaltyâ┚¬? starts off twangy but quickly jumps into the catchy rock that this band excels in. The singing on â┚¬Ã…”Cali’sâ┚¬? verses has an interesting feel to it, which takes most of the song to get used to.

Hot Rod Circuit returns to the days of â┚¬Ã…”Sorry about tomorrowâ┚¬? on their stellar new new record. My only grip with the album is that it’s over too fast. I urge everyone to race down to the store the day this comes out and pick it up, and roll down the windows as you drive down the freeway.

Track Listing
1. Stateside
2. Vampire
3. Battleship
4. What We Believe In
5. 45’s
6. Holding On To Nothing
7. US Royalty
8. Ventricle
9. Spit You Out
10. Cali
11. 6-8

iTunes Concert Calendar

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This iTunes add-on adds a calendar to your player. The cool part is that it adds all your bands that are in your library and looks on pollstar.com to find out when your favorite bands are coming to your town

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Via: Freeindie, Sterogum.com