Two of the Twin Cities' most promising songwriters have debuted new mp3s in the past few days. The new Aby Wolf song, which has been kicking around since Wolf debuted the track on a Radio K session, comes courtesy of City Pages, while the Brown song was premiered on Culture Bully. Both are very representative of the singer-songwriter's talents, and you should listen to the tracks at the top of the post. "Side" is an off-album track from Aby Wolf, while Brown's song is taken from her recently released Sankofa record.
Mark Mallman, Sailor Martin Give Away Free Music Online
(Mark Mallman - "Do You Believe In Breaking Up?")
Ten years is a pretty significant amount of time to be in the music business. So, naturally, it's perfectly normal to reflect your successes during that tenure in rock, even if you're an insanely extroverted rock and roll man like Mark Mallman. From Decider MPLS comes the news that Mallman has opted to give away his "hits" collection Loneliness in America (Best of 1998-2008) away for the cost of free on his website.
As for a 2009 effort, Mallman apparently decided to scrap his initial recordings after a series of life-changing events. To read more, head here. Watch the video to "Do You Believe In Breaking Up?" at the top of the post.
Speaking of crazy characters and free music, Sailor Martin, a man described as "the fetal alcohol syndrome love-child of Daniel Johnston and Tom Waits" by our friends at Switchblade Comb, has released his first full-length album as a free download. Titled "This is Sailor Martin," the album is described by Martin himself as "15 melodies to delight the ear and shock the squares, comprising 30 minutes of mirthful melodies." Judge for yourself by heading here.
If the problem that Andrew Broder of Fog that needs to be fixed is getting free music to his fans, then I gotta say, he's on that motherfucker like white on rice. As you know doubt know, Broder released a new ambient solo album titled "I Must Fix All The Problems," wherein he free verses for 15 minutes about his plan to fix the global economic crisis. Nah, I'm just kidding. It is, however, two separate pieces titled "I Must Fix" and "All The Problems," and Broder himself described the songs as being for "two pieces for improvised guitar, turntables and 4-track." Broder also said that this will be the first in a series of free solo releases. Check it out at the top of the post.
There are two types of album delays, and neither one is good. First, there's the times when both band and label delay an album's release because they are trying to polish a turd. The second is arguably worse: when a band's album is delayed because of label troubles, which means that a group's work is drowning in label bureaucracy. The latter is how you get lost classics like Slowdive's Pygmalion, for example. The newest effort by Chicago-based power-pop band OFFICE, titled simply Mecca, doesn't quite fit the lost classic label, but there are a handful of gems, one of them being the irresistible "Nobody Knows You". It's a great example of the band's blend of new-wave, power-pop, and multi-layered harmonies. Listen to it at the top of the post.
Radiohead may have popularized the give-away-your-latest-album-for-free business model, but, in recent times, it's hip-hop that's taken the baton and really ran with it. Artists like Atmosphere, Rhymefest, Girl Talk and The Cool Kids have gave it away, gave it away, gave it away, now.
Add to that list El-P, who last year put out one of 2007's best records, I'll Sleep When Your Dead. On his MySpace Blog, the Producto explains why he decided to give away disc one of his formerly tour-only We're All Going To Hell Megamix tape (of which this is the second volume):
...(T)o be honest i felt kind of bad not letting fans who weren't able to go to the shows hear this stuff.Also, for those lucky 500 who bought the limited pressings I am offering to replace any of the cds that may have been blank. Unfortunately I have heard that a small portion were, which sucks dick and makes me feel like an asshole at the same time. So in a bid to quell the justified pain and borderline rage some have felt popping in a blank cd please send your blank cd to Def Jux
115 South Oxford St.Suite 556 Brooklyn NY 11217 and we will send you a replacement of the cd only, keep your packaging. love, el
Read the full statement here here. Be sure that you do, because there is some key information in there.
As for the mix itself, it's mostly instrumental, but there are a few tracks where El-P is in more emcee mode than DJ. One of those is "Krazy Kings 3", which is posted at the top. Another highlight we've posted is "Fuck The Law", which we've done so because of the crazy sample that's featured prominently. For the rest, including one track that sample the same orchestral track that Lupe Fiasco's "Intro", from his Food and Liquor CD, sampled, go here
Audiosurf is a online game which combines those two most magically nerdy obsessions--video games and music, respectively--to create a self-described "music-adapting puzzle racer" where "the shape, speed, and the mood of each ride is determined by the song you choose." One earns points by clustering together blocks on the same highway and can compete with others on the internet for high scores. Sounds pretty bitchin', no? The folks at Asthmatic Kitty couldn't agree more with you. That's why, fine folks they are, the label has put together a free album designed especially for AudioSurf
(The label) decided to round-up a few friends of the label and put together a compilation designed especially for play in AudioSurf. The call was quickly answered by signed and unsigned alike, including folks from Anticon Records, Sounds Are Active, and imputor. The end result is a driving, definitive, compilation comprised of previously released and some unreleased material that is cohesive if only because our criteria was playability in addition to quality. Apparently, there is a mathematical and musical beauty in that.
We're releasing it for free as a digital download, to be enjoyed with AudioSurf, or without. Download it here, or stream from AKradio here. If you have a Windows PC, you can play a demo of AudioSurf here, or buy it for a mere $10 here.
The sampler, featuring acts like Sufjan Stevens, Dosh, and the Fantastic Mr. Fox (who contribute an unreleased track), can be downloaded here.
Today, Mobius Band released an EP of covers as a free download, just for those of you having trouble making a good Valentine's Day mix. You can download Love Will Reign Supreme (er, sorry, LOVE WILL REIGN SUPREME, as the E.P. labels itself) here. Up top is an mp3 of their cover of Daft Punk's "Digital Love," which is marvelous, but the album also features covers of Neil Young, Bob Dylan and The National. Very cool stuff, well worth the free download. Go do it now.
Drew Toothpaste Toothpaste For Dinner Ultimate Music CD (Self-released, 2007) Grade: A-
Drew, the web-comic artist behind Toothpaste for Dinner and Married to the Sea (with wife Natalie Dee), has released a comprehensive record of all his music projects from the years 2003-2007. The collection went out in a limited run of 300 copies, and no further attempts to distribute the material will be made. I was fortunate enough to nab a copy before they all ran out in less than two days.
The collection contains seven albums worth of music, which includes both Toothpaste's more straightforward from Dog Traders (Drew's indie pop/comedy alias) and Kompressor, his more satirical techno alter-ego.
The first item I loaded from the disk was a collection of Dog Traders' music. The collection's beginning albums, The Floor Is Made Of Lava and A Panic In A Pagoda, are albums full of veritably listenable indie-pop and loads of good humor.
Bands from the Elephant Six Collective and their offspring heavily influence both albums, with The Floor Is Made Of Lava especially being full of sweet psychedelia and fuzz-heavy folk. Songs such as "New Planet" generate a simple, understated folk-pop sound mixed with the lazy flow of Essex Green. Drew's muted vocals prove him to be a dead ringer for Elf Power's Andrew Rieger, making favorable comparisons between the two bands all but unavoidable.
Tracks such as "City Hall" and "Molecules Surround Us" show the aforementioned similarity as an homage, rather than as a insipid carbon copy. Dog Traders expand their sound with synthesizer, electronic percussion and melodies which are even bolder than the considerable tunes of Elf Power. The tongue-in-cheek humor of the tracks likens the group to Apples In Stereo, but this album is also perfect for those of us who still loyally follow the Elephant Six Collective.
The second Dog Traders album included in the collection, A Panic In A Pagoda, starts out with "Belgium," an explosion of synth-pop. The song helps establish the fact that Pagoda itself is far removed from the mellow psychedelia of Lava. Tracks such as "Rebel and the Rock" feature melodies much more prominently, as compared to the muted tones on Lava; Song construction is also radically different, an effect which is augmented by Pagoda's louder instrumentation. The overall sound of the album calls to mind E6's rowdy cousin, Of Montreal.
The third Dog Traders album included is a collection of comedy songs. These songs have been featured in Drew's YouTube videos, and are absolutely hilarious. That said, the songs are much better with the accompanying images. At the top of the post, you'll find my personal favorite, "Charles Has a Licking Problem."
As mentioned before, Kompressor's albums are also included. Unlike Dog Traders, Kompressor songs had been commercially available, until Drew sold off his remaining collection of tunes. Kompressor is geeky electronic music in the vein of the Super Mario Brothers Soundtrack and, while it's not something normally my scene, this project manages to be hilarious. Drew sing-talks on top of the beats in a German accent, parodying many geek-tronica and geek-metal bands, and his rasped, robotic delivery of lyrics such as "Kompressor will crush you" and "look both ways before crossing da street" can't help but make one smile.
To cement the album's hilarity, Kompressor covers R.E.M.'s "Shiny Happy People," here renamed "S.H.P." and Beck's "Deborah," renamed "Kompressor Want To Get With You." These covers are excellently chosen, as nothing better could fit in between the album's mock-threatening techno than shouts of "Happy! Happy!" and bad pick-up lines ("Lady! Step inside my Volkswagon!") over a growling bassline.
Since these albums are free for copy, I've included a large sampling of my favorite tracks from the collection.
Regarding giving away free music on the internet, it would seem that more and more artists are following in Radiohead's footsteps everyday. Add Brit-pop propagators The Verve, who are legends in the UK, but, due to the sole success of "Bittersweet Symphony," are one-hit wonders in the US, to that mix. The band, who reunited last June after singer 's stalled solo career, has chosen to give away its first recording in ten years via NME . The idea is more interesting in theory than in execution - the "song" in question is really a 14-minute jam session called "The Thaw Session," which is an apparent reference to the final bonus track off of "Urban Hymns", the band's breakthrough album. However, as an insight into the band's creative process, it's pretty interesting, though very free-form and definitely jammy.
Click here to read more about the Verve and NME's free music giveaway. You can download the track at the top of this post.
