This week in reunions... Eve 6! The Verve Pipe!

* Eve 6, who broke up in 2004 after the disappointing performance of their third album, have very quietly reunited, with two of the three original members (guitarist Jon Siebels is still missing). Their Myspace page shows a few college shows this spring and there are vague promises of a new album coming this year.

* One of the bands I considered for the "Who Should Reunite?" feature, the Verve Pipe, are actually (and unexpectedly) back together with a new children's album and an acoustic tour in February. Get more info here.

* Oleander are back together, and set to release an album this spring, their first since 2003. Fun fact: some acquaintaces of mine once got to open for Oleander in Lawton, Oklahoma. That's the most exciting thing I remember about Oleander.

* The reunited Sublime is going to have to call themselves something different.

* Days of the New are readying their first album since 2001. Given that Days of the New has been just Travis Meeks since he fired the rest of the band during recording sessions for Days of the New II, it's hard to call this a reunion, however.

Rock Band and the future of music

As album sales keep falling and the growth of downloadable singles through iTunes and others peters out, is Rock Band the future of music? It seems like a lot of acts are jumping on the bandwagon.

I'm completely addicted to Rock Band and its sequel, Rock Band 2, but I long ago played through all the songs on the discs. Thankfully, there's downloadable content (and there are Pepsi giveaways to get free downloadable content). Just this week, the Rock Band folks made available tracks by Blur, Eve 6, Blind Melon, and the Foo Fighters. Third Eye Blind just re-recorded six of their hits for the Rock Band store, and Pearl Jam will make their new album Backspacer available to download and play on September 20, the same day as the album release.

What do you think? I've certainly spent more money this year on Rock Band tracks than actual recorded music. Have you?