1. It’s New Release Tuesday and a slew of new singles are hitting the internets as well. A brief round-up:

- RISE AGAINST – “Help Is On The Way”

- YELLOWCARD – “For You and Your Denial”

- THURSDAY – “Generator” (BAD RELIGION cover)

2. Artistdirect (I had no idea this company still existed… ) is streaming the brand new debut full-length from TIMES OF GRACE, featuring KILLSWITCH ENGAGE’s Adam D, and former KSE vocalist Jesse Leach. The album hit stores today via Roadrunner.

3. A couple of days ago I tweeted about the top sales charts on eMusic, and how as predicted by many, they have largely turned over to major label releases, particularly as Sony, Warner and Universal have dropped substantial amounts of their catalogs on the site. When a number of notable indie labels (Merge, Domino, Beggars Group), jumped ship this fall right before tens of thousands of major label titles were added, the labels cryptically hinted that they were upset with eMusic’s direction and new pricing structure. After a couple of months, it’s not hard to see why indie labels might be upset. Generally, a finite number of downloads exist per month among the eMusic user base due to the subscription nature of the service. As the number of customers on eMusic has either stayed static or decreased, indies face an increasingly compromised status as competition from hugely popular recordings adds pressure where there was none before. While the money generated per song download might increase for all labels under the new pricing structure, that doesn’t help much when consumer choice simply explodes. If any label is willing to illuminate their experience with eMusic since the addition of major label catalogs, please get in touch. And for what it’s worth, the three Pastepunk titles on eMusic earned a total $14.51 on eMusic in 2010 (we have yet been paid for any sales in December).

4. BALANCE AND COMPOSURE are currently in the studio with Brian McTernan, recording their debut full-length for No Sleep Records. Gotta be one of the most anticipated full-lengths of 2011. A spring release is expected.

5. New PJ BOND EP on Bandcamp… acoustic, and charming…