Making a rare FRT appearance to share about 1/100th of the great free [and legal!] music I've downloaded lately. They're all good, but if you're only going to listen to a few of these songs, I highly recommend 02, 03 and 06 (and then you should come back when you have more time and download 07, 08 and 09).
[Truth in advertising disclaimer: these were the first ten songs iTunes spit out that I could still track down the source of.]
01. "Roselin" - Maia Hirasawa [mp3]
"'Roselin' starts daintily enough, heading almost but not quite towards preciousness, but right away with a great melodic sensibility. And I'll tell you where it just slays me... is in the chorus, which has as winsome and plaintive a melody as I've heard in a long time: notes that sound ancient and familiar and fresh and coy; as a bonus it's got a touch of early Jane Siberry about it, adding to the depth and charm." [Fingertips]
02. "Breakfast By The Mattress" - Kristoffer Ragnstam [mp3]
"Critics are calling Kristoffer Ragnstam the 'Swedish Beck,' and on Ragnstam's U.S. debut, Sweet Bill, he's got a unique sense of melody and along with some Beck-ism's, Ragnstam pulls up some old school Prince like falsetto singing and funky beats." [WXPN Blog]
03. "Skeleton Key" - Margot and the Nuclear So and So's [mp3]
"Full of quiet harmonies and pop hooks." [3hive]
04. "Enough To Choke A Cold Air" - Candy Bars [mp3]
"Warm up under the blanket of enchanting sounds of Candy Bars. Call it dream pop or chamber pop or whatever you want." [WXPN Blog]
05. "Starsign" - Over the Atlantic [mp3]
"The bonus with Over The Atlantic is their skills are those of a songwriter twice their age, yet they fill their hooks with youthful exuberance." [3hive]
06. "Cinematic" - The A-Sides [mp3]
"Check out this swirling storm of electric guitarism beauty." [Some Velvet Blog]
07. "Lonesome Warrior" - Eric Bachmann [mp3]
(Chromewaves year-end Top Ten pick). [Chromewaves]
08. "Replace You" - Jay Bennett [mp3]
"A straightforward rocker from ex-Wilco member Jay Bennett's new solo record, garnished nicely with a selection of organs and plinking pianos and ducking all too briefly into a tender and vaguely psychedelic bridge before heading back into bar- band chug." [Salon Audiofile]
09. "Phantom Limb" - The Shins [mp3]
"Mercer's ability to write subtly beautiful melodies becomes another alluring feature of his songwriting. To think of his songs simply as 'catchy' sells Mercer way short, because he's doing much more than writing songs to hum after one listen." [Fingertips]
10. "Try Again" - First Coat [mp3]
"First Coat is a band that keeps getting better and better. This improvement could be due to maturity or significant line-up changes, but either way, their newest work is confident and well-constructed." [3hive]
I really liked the A-Sides cut.
(Oh, and thanks for the link.)
Posted by: The Velvet Blog | 2006.12.11 at 07:41 PM