mp3 corner (free download links 2009-2011)
25th October 2011
Here’s the latest batch of free and legal downloads that I’ve handpicked for your enjoyment ! Let’s begin as usual with a couple of exclusives :
DOWNLOAD : Lotzie Weaver – The Footie Song
DOWNLOAD : The Clever Little Tramps – I Was Sleeping
The footie song is from the Wirral songwriter’s recent album Caravan Dogs. He has an amusing bio on his website. He says “I’ll also be recording a new album as soon as I can get the spare cash to get into a studio” – so please buy the record and give him your money. The Clever Little Tramps (also from the Wirral) haven’t released any records yet and I can’t tell you much more about them except that they’re two brothers.
Staying in Merseyside, The Flamin’ Mamies are five girls who could’ve stepped straight outuva swinging jazz joint in the 1930s or a Texan dance hall in the 1940s. While Joe Rhead recorded his debut 5 track EP Growing Signs “in my Dad’s basement with nothing more than sheer love, heartache and a lack of natural light”.
Wooden Shjips and Howler are both from the US. But I saw Wooden Shjips in Liverpool last month, and Howler are touring the UK in November and December.
Wooden Shjips – Lazy Bones
http://soundcloud.com/the-405/wooden-shjips-lazy-bones
Howler – I told you once (free download from their website if you give them your email)
Daughter is Elena Tonra from London. This is the lead track from her Wild Youth EP due for release on Communion Records on 21 November – and it’s a grower !
Daughter – Love
The next two bands are also from down south, but are both on the bill for the closing party for Liverpool Music Week at the CUC on 11 November.
Fear of Men – Phantom Limb (from Hanna Schygulla Demos)
Bos Angeles – Beach Slalom (from Demo EP)
Last week Scotland’s Frightened Rabbit released their new EP as a free download to subscribers to the band’s newsletter, with the announcement of the vinyl being available for pre-order.
Finally for a rather lovely mellow sound, check out and download if you want these tracks from Ajimal, otherwise known as Fran O’Hanlon, who’s based in Newcastle / Edinburgh and is yet to release anything for you to buy.
Older posts – with more mp3s – are now on the mp3 corner page.
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27th June 2011
Some more free and legal downloads, all of which come with my quality seal of approval. The main aim of this is to feature some new and emerging talent, so please have a listen and then follow the links and check out some more of their stuff.
First of all a couple of exclusives :
Holly Taymar is an accomplished acoustic performer from Yorkshire who was featured in the Glastonbury Emerging Talent 2011 longlist. This uplifting track is from her Never Winter Mind EP – Part One.
Simon Maddison grew up in the north east but is now based in Liverpool. He says “I formed Silent Cities in early 2010 to pay homage to some of my favourite artists which included Patrick Watson, Bon Iver, Nick Drake and countless others.” This is taken from his Dream EP recorded with Lost at Sea Records.
I saw self-effacing 21 year old Aaron Shanley at Liverpool Sound City not having heard him before, and was blown away by his superb songwriting and delicate delivery. This is now one of my favourite songs. From Lisburn in Northern Ireland, he self-released a debut mini-album Let the Sun In late last year and will be releasing a four part series of songs of lost love called Tears On Elizabeth Street over the coming months, with Part 1 due out on 4th July.
http://soundcloud.com/aaronshanley/i-think-i-love-you
Ruby Ann Patterson is a 17 year old Manchester based singer songwriter whose “soulful vocals are matched by her haunting talents on piano and guitar”. Definitely one to watch.
http://soundcloud.com/rubby-ann-patterson/ruby-ann-in-my-head
Manchester’s Milk Maid have been getting a lot of attention recently, and rightly so. The band was signed onto Fatcat Records early 2011, with their debut album Yucca being released on the 20th of June.
http://soundcloud.com/fatcatrecords-1/milk-maid-thats-not-thinking
Another band emerging on the Manchester scene are noise merchants Ghost Outfit, who in the last few months have slimmed down to a two piece, signed up to Salford’s independent Sways Records, and reportedly been blowing people away with their live shows.
The Lees are Liverpool duo Lee and Lee who have a bunch of free songs on Soundcloud.
Manchester’s Al Baker is already a familiar figure on the folk punk scene. He cites his influences as “Phil Ochs, Billy Bragg and Riot Folk records”. This is from his second album Causes & Cures which came out in February.
Download link : Al Baker & The Dole Queue – Thank God I’m An Atheist
Manchester based singer songwriter Christopher Eatough says “All romantics are inherently miserable. Romance is tragedy by its very nature; it’s so separate from the reality of things, and bound to disappoint. That said, the endless references to heartbreak and despair which people direct at my music become tiresome. I’d like to think there’s more to the album than just music for moping.” This came out as a free download single in January prior to the release of his album A Creak in the Cold in March.
And Dan Wilde is a soulful singer songwriter from Blackpool. Here’s a song from his debut album This Is The Place.
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3rd April 2011
Another selection of free and legal downloads, this time with a bit of a protest song theme.
Three fresh and exclusive tracks to kick off. Seven Years Behind and Karl McCann are unsigned Liverpool artists. The Seven Years Behind track is from a free EP, and the Karl McCann track is from his album Scorpio [Explicit] . Then just to prove that emailing me out of the blue can sometimes pay off, one from the Sea Kings, a Cornwall band who do “Folk, Sea Shanties, Harmonies, perhaps Medieval pop” and don’t sound quite like anyone else.
Seven Years Behind – Excuses For My Lack of Moral Fibre
The Sea Kings – Sails and Boards
Next up, one from the new album Build A Rocket Boys! by Mercury music prize winning band Elbow :
Elbow – Jesus is a Rochdale Girl
And a couple of powerful songs from two Newcastle bands, both recently released as free downloads :
The Greeting Committee – Borders & Patrols
The Detroit Social Club were my October 2008 band of the month – here’s the download link.
It’s very exciting how much protest music is being made right now. Here’s two new songs from UK bands who each already have a big following.
The King Blues – We Are Fucking Angry (from Punk and Poetry, due out April 18th) – download link
Frank Turner – I am Disappeared ( from England Keep My Bones, in stores June 7th) – download link
And one from the other side of the pond :
Borderlands – That Ain’t Right : A Song for Wisconsin – download link
These next two protest songs aren’t for giving away free – the singers want you to buy them and get them in the charts. The first one is a protest about what the Tories are doing to the NHS, and the second is about the media response to the Hillsborough tragedy.
Nxtgen – Andrew Lansley Rap Buy here
Stephen Smith – Liar Liar Buy here
Is Catherine Joy’s song a protest song ? On the face of it, it’s a funny and memorable song about the coming seagull apocalypse. But substitute ‘immigrants’ for ‘seagulls’ and hmm … interesting … For what it’s worth she claims there’s no hidden meaning – “”I train falcons for a living, so I have a lot of connection to birds, especially. That’s where the album title comes from – my job is to keep seagulls off the landfill in Waterloo with trained falcons. The two of us don’t really get along because I’m battling them all day.” That’s Waterloo in Seneca County, New York in case you were wondering.
Catherine Joy – The Seagulls are Coming
Finally, here’s the link for a free sampler album released by Scottish music blog Song By Toad which features tracks by sixteen different bands. I recommend Animal Magic Tricks and The Savings and Loan.
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21st January 2011
Exclusive to music to die for, here’s a couple of free tracks from Liverpool’s very own bluegrass outlaws, the Loose Moose String Band :
Loose Moose String Band – New Shoes
Loose Moose String Band – Run Mountain
Glasgow’s Glasvegas have just released a powerful sounding free track from their second album EUPHORIC /// HEARTBREAK which is due out in April 2011. Download it from their website, or listen below :
Glasvegas – The World is Yours
Also from Glasgow, I like the sound of these dudes. They’re called velcroBROTHER, and their 11 track debut album A Helpin’ Hand’ is due out the end of February on reverbnation and itunes. Click the down arrow on the right to download :
velcroBROTHER – The Samaritans Called me last night
Another freebie, from Australia’s Bleeding Knees Club, which has a good punk snarl to it. It’s from the EP Virginity, which was released before Christmas, but I don’t think has had many plugs over here. The downloadable version is here.
Bleeding Knees Club – Bad guys
Next, an essential download from a very talented 21-year-old singer-songwriter from Ohio. From her second album Tell Me, produced by Dan Auerbach of the Black Keys and to be released February 2011, this is Jessica Lea Mayfield. Download the song from her website or listen here.
Jessica Lea Mayfield – Our Hearts Are Wrong
Also due out next month is the self titled debut album from La Sera, the new project of ex-Vivian Girl Katy Goodman. The promo track featured here is, we are told, one of a bunch of “warm celestial-pop melodies that echo with the dreamlike effect of a church choir and effuse a softer, less aggressive sound than the Vivian Girls.”
La Sera – Never Come Around
One to watch is Kate Threlfall, a young singer songwriter who has performed her own songs with the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, has appeared at Chester Summer Music Festival at Alexander’s Jazz Club, now one of her regular venues, and won Best Vocalist 2010 at UK Jazz Radio’s Jazz Performer Competition. This beautiful song is for listening only :
Kate Threlfall – Alright
And finally this is from Beans, an alternative hip hop artist and member of the group Antipop Consortium. It’s taken from his solo album End It All which comes out in February and features on this track Tunde Adebimpe of TV on the Radio.
Beans – Mellow You Out
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November 22nd 2010
Since the last mp3 corner the great music keeps coming out of Liverpool. I’ll keep this short and sweet :
Jo Bywater releases her debut album Cycle Grace Pulse Break in a couple of weeks. She’s a terrific guitar player and knows how to write some good bluesy acoustic songs. The album launch is at Liverpool’s Mello Mello on Thursday 9th December; after that the album will be available for people to buy at gigs, from CD Baby, and in News from Nowhere on Bold St.
Next up, here’s a demo track from Norwegian born Ragz Nordset. I think it’s one of the best things she’s done, and am looking forward to hearing the studio version in the new year. Both Jo and Ragz were previously featured on this site in this article from 2009.
Also the free download from Lizzie Nunnery’s album Company of Ghosts that I posted last time has been so popular that I’m going to repost it here :
Lizzie Nunnery – Company of Ghosts
Many thanks to Jo, Ragz and Lizzie for permission to post these exclusive downloads.
Liverpool’s Delta Maid released an EP a few months ago called Broken Branches : from this, there’s a gorgeous acoustic country blues track Don’t Ever Let Nobody Drag Your Spirit Down available as a free download from this blog site.
Finally Alun Parry has posted on his website a free downloadable recording of Oh Mr Cameron, recorded live at a recent demonstration. No self respecting anti-government protestor should be without a copy.
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July 30th 2010
This month mp3 corner is featuring some of the great new music coming out of Liverpool and the North West.
Thanks to Lizzie Nunnery for letting us post this number from her intriguing debut album Company of Ghosts (available on Amazon). The song has a Liverpudlian flavour : “This started life as a poem … it’s about looking out towards the river waiting for a loved one to return; imagining the great mass of ‘sailors and sorry men’, who’ve made their way home from the water in the city’s history.”
Lizzie Nunnery – Company of Ghosts
No less than three local bands released highly acclaimed albums in July 2010. Hoylake band The Coral released their 5th album. You can get a free download of the title track Butterfly House by adding yourself to their mailing list. Likewise, Bolton’s Cherry Ghost are offering you a track from their 2nd album Beneath This Burning Shoreline. And Manchester based I Am Kloot have a free download of Lately from Sky At Night which has just been nominated for the 2010 Mercury music prize. The band have also just announced that they will play Manchester Cathedral on 3rd December 2010.
Delphic were mysteriously overlooked for the Mercury prize this year. The Marple Bridge band’s thrilling debut album came out in January, this has been followed by a 4 track EP which is available as a free download if you connect your facebook or twitter account.
A free 15 track compilation album has been made available through Clash magazine of acts who featured at Liverpool’s Sound City festival in May 2010. You can also download individual tracks – recommended are Manchester’s The Paris Riots (Hotel Of Infadels) and Liverpool singer songwriter Ragz (Run).
A couple of new rock bands have been posting tracks on soundcloud for free download. Check out tracks from Liverpool’s Fare Evaders here, or from Nowthen (who appear to be Ibiza based at the moment, but used to perform at Liverpool’s Cavern Club) here; or listen to these sample tracks :
Fare Evaders – You Know You’re Wrong
Nowthen – The Price Is Right
Also on soundcloud : Liverpool’s Clinic are giving a free preview of the first single from their sixth album Bubblegum, due out on October 4th.
Clinic – I’m Aware
And some affecting string sounds on this ballad by Atlantic Massey :
Atlantic Massey – Wreck of the Hespers
And there’s more to look forward to. Miles Kane (from The Last Shadow Puppets) and Kaya, who’ve both previously featured on this site, have new albums due out in the autumn.
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April 4th 2010
First up a couple of free promo tracks. From Scottish punk band The Girobabies, this irreverent song is one of the best things I’ve heard this year. Their debut EP Social Not Working is due out at the end of April, they tell me they’ll be posting details soon on myspace and facebook.
And this altogther more tasteful number is from Let The Light In, the new album from Texan singer songwriter Amy Cook, due out April 6th (more details soon on her website). It’s also the first album produced by Alejandro Escovedo.
And Kina Grannis is giving away the folk pop number Valentine from her new album Stairwells.
From my hometown of Wallasey, I’m excited to report that the brilliant Alexis Blue have released this weekend a 5 track EP for free download. Some really strong indie pop songs here, packed with hooks, I love it already.
And here’s another outstanding free 5 track EP. The band is Dirt Dress, a garage rock band from California who’ve developed their own original sound.
It’s nice to find some world music on free download. The exciting new Cumbancha label are giving away these three rather wonderful promo tracks. Culpa de la Luna is from Este Mundo, the latest album from the multicultural Californian based Rupa & the April Fishes. The joyful track Living Stone is from Rise & Shine, the new album from Sierra Leone’s Refugee All Stars, out on April 26th. And finally the melodic folk pop track Babonao is from Razia’s album Zebu Nation, inspired by the rhythms of traditional Malagasy music and by environmental destruction in Madagascar.
There seem to be a lot of free full length hip hop albums out there, here are a couple worth checking out. The United States of Mind make what they call “100% Detroit hip hop shit with no frills or industry selling points” (the album is independently reviewed here). And Bodega man has written a collection of conscious songs which describe the effects of the recession, keeping it very real.
I’ve started exploring soundcloud.com. This is a fantastic resource, full of music that you can’t get anywhere else. It includes a lot of demos and mixes. At the moment it’s predominantly electronic music, but it’s rapidly expanding. A large minority of it is available for free download. I’ll be featuring more from soundcloud in coming months, but in the meantime here are a couple of choice tracks. First, with over 3,000 downloads already, is Massive Attack’s Paradise Circus featuring Hope Sandoval, remixed by Gui Boratto :
Second is Hot Chip’s I Feel Bonnie featuring Bonnie Prince Billy (Club Version) :
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February 23rd 2010
Here’s a free promo song from Plug Research records. Ignore the song’s odd title, it should be called Something that your heart beats for. Quadron are a Danish duo who make what they call electronic soul. Robin Hannibal concocts the downtempo beats and Coco provides the lush soulful vocals.
She’s 31, she’s been recording great albums for over a decade, and she’s one of the finest singer songwriters in the United States, with a string of awards for her songwriting. Here with permisison is a preview of Hard to Change, the lead single from Meg Hutchinson’s new album The Living Side.
Meg Hutchinson – Hard to Change
And now let me take you on another tour of some of the free and legal music currently available which meets with my quality seal of approval. Let’s start with a bit of Americana. Highly regarded singer songwriter Josh Ritter has a new album out on May 4, So Runs the World Away, and is offering the track Change of Time as a promotional download from his website. Drew Danburry, a quirky singer songwriter from Utah, has a selection of tracks past and present on his website being given away for free.
From a couple of artists you won’t have heard of, a couple of albums being given away for free. In each case you can listen to or download individual tracks, you don’t have to download the whole album. Andrew Taylor’s The Lincoln Range is a tasteful lo-fi session of acoustic folk (recommended : De-urbanise). And Midpoint’s Edumacation is a mainly instrumental project from the San Francisco based producer, I recommend State of the Union, a satiric look at attitudes to crime.
Ghanaian American hip hop artist Blitz the Ambassador has released as a free track in honour of Martin Luther King day his take on the story of Emmett Till. Another single only available as a free download is Mark de Clive Lowe Presents Rahel – Hope. Rahel’s silky vocals over de Clive-Lowe’s jazzy arrangement with the dominant piano cords and thumping basslines is a pleasure not to be missed.
The Golden Filter (who featured in my top 50 songs of 2009) are offering their latest single Hide Me for free download in advance of the release of their debut album Voluspa on April 26. Another electronic track worth checking out is King Britt’s Now featuring the excellent Astrid Suryanto, available for download from King Britt’s own label fivesixmedia.com.
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January 31st 2010
Dub Gabriel is a producer who’s pushing at the boundaries of NYC’s dub/electronic scene, creating exciting fusions of beats from around the globe. He’s kindly provided this mix of a track from his forthcoming album featuring vocals by the legendary U-Roy.
Dub Gabriel – Luv n’ Liv feat. U Roy
And with permission from new LA band Warpaint, here is a dreamy hypnotic song with breathy vocals in the style of Cat Power. A cover version of My Guy is slipped into the track as if on a whim. The song’s taken from Exquisite Corpse, an EP which the band self released last year. The girls are currently working on their debut album, provisionally due out this summer, which won’t include any of the songs from the EP.
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January 8th 2010
On January 18th Brooklyn’s Dinowalrus release their debut album (entitled %) on Kanine Records. Here’s a free track from it. Dinowalrus, who describe their sound as “drums and drone”, also tell us that “to capture some of the spontaneity of their improvisational instincts, retain the complex spatiality of their recorded experiments, and transcend the limited sonic palette that plagues most three-piece bands, Dinowalrus re-invents their instrumentation with every song.” I think this means that they swap instruments. There is also a rather good trippy video for the song : check it out.
Unsigned San Francisco band Collider have just released a free album or mixtape whatever you want to call it, of 8 songs. Download the whole album, or just individual tracks, here. Recommended tracks : The Grid Goes Down Tonight (shades of Sonic Youth) and Take a Stress Pill (shades of Animal Collective).
And here is a free 14 track mixtape from Outasight. He was recently featured in the Wall Street Journal (no less), so I’ll let them do the introductions : “Outasight, aka Richard Andrew, a 26-year-old native of Yonkers, N.Y. If his stage name sounds like a line out of Superfly, that’s a clue to his sound. Over his live backing band (tight, funky) or crafty soul and rock samples, Outasight divides his time between rapping and singing. He’s using the new mixtape to help build momentum for his first official album, which he’s currently recording and hopes to release next spring on Asylum Records, the Warner Bros. imprint that he signed with in October.”
A record label website worth a visit is Kill Rock Stars. On this page you can find a strong range of free mp3 downloads, music videos and poster artwork. Recommended downloads : Thao, Portland Cello Project, Marnie Stern.
This website is for a distributing company, but what of it, they have a great selection of free mp3s. My choices were The Pains of being Pure at Heart, Ty Segall and the experimental sound of Themselves. Also on offer : Why ?, King Khan & BBq Show, and the Vivian Girls.
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December 13 2009
Two more MTDF exclusives. Brooklyn based Amber Rubarth is a cut above other emerging singer songwriters : she writes with great sincerity and always finds the emotions to fit the song. This is Real is from her latest album Good Mystery. Cloud Nothings are a new band from Cleveland Ohio and this song from their debut release Turning On is two minutes of unbridled freshness and energy.
Cloud Nothings – Can’t Stay Awake
This month’s tour of free and legal downloads begins with a few record label websites. Sub Pop is one of the most famous indie labels, and the downloads on offer here include an exciting new artist, Avi Buffalo, who’s an 18 year old singer songwriter from Long Beach California; a track from the new album from Bassekou Kouyate and Ngoni Ba (whose previous album won Album of the Year at the 2008 BBC3 World Music Awards); and a song from the new remastered Nirvana album.
Serious Business Records offer tracks from a few lesser known names : I recommend The Unsacred Hearts who describe themselves as “American-styled old-school rock and roll. Riff-happy power trio fronted by one shoutin’ drunkard. Weird chords. Songs about airlinebottles, Dylanology and giving up on rock and roll.”
Bad Influences say “We are a new label based out of Bristol [UK]. As a taster of what we have lined up in 2010, we are currently giving away 2 free tracks both vocalled by Bristol 7 piece party animals Central Spillz.” If you enjoy a bit of raw UK grime the tracks are worth a download.
And finally to a couple of artists websites. Mississippi born folk country singer songwriter Caroline Herring is offering a selection of free tracks.
And you can also download for free Portofino, the hot new trippy trance track from the Ohio duo Teengirl Fantasy.
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November 16 2009
Exclusive to music to die for, here are a couple of original tracks by Jonathan Mays. He’s unsigned and hasn’t released anything, but he has a beautiful singing voice, and on this evidence he should do fewer covers and write some more songs.
Don’t wanna turn 20
Sweet melody
A couple more singer songwriters for you. County Wicklow’s Fionn Regan who was nominated for the 2007 Mercury music prize, is giving away a free track Protection racket for a limited time only. And San Francisco’s Jesse Mills is giving away a digital single as a sampler for his upcoming full length album.
If trance or house is your bag, it’s worth checking out Toucan music, who give away free tracks from all their current releases including music from Psychadelik Pedestrian, Risey, sea.envy, Fioko, Yakoozai, Beat Doctor, Hyperterminal and Marc Burt.
Sage Francis, one of the finest and most intelligent hip hop artists around, is offering an entire album of songs for free. His new mixtape is available here.
Dollabin is a unique hip hop project by DJ Ian Head and Mc Verbal Math. Their debut full length album is a tribute to their love of record collecting and checking out the dollar bins, and has some great jazzy beats. Naturally the whole album is available as a free download; you can also read the liner notes and download individual tracks on the website.
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October 20 2009
The mp3s published here will only be tracks which the artist or the record label have provided or given permission to appear. And any links will all be to sites run or officially approved by the artist or the record label.
So here they are, your free legal downloads. If you like what you hear, why not go out and buy their music.
First, a music to die for exclusive. The Good The Bad are “three Danish desperados, bringing the finest New School Surf & Flamenco to the worthy masses”. This instrumental track is a sampler for their debut EP from 001-004, released next month on Stray Cat Records.
Singer songwriter Laura Veirs, recently featured in my 100 best female vocalists of the decade, is offering two free tracks from her next album (July Flame, due out January 2010), I Can See Your Tracks and July Flame.
NYC band Guignol is also giving away two tracks of gypsy punk music from the collaboration album (not yet released) Guignol & Mischief Brew Fight Dirty. Check out the brilliant song Fight Dirty.
They fell from the sky is a new hardcore punk band formed by Pitchshifter drummer Jason Bowld and Hundred Reasons vocalist Colin Doran. Now a 5 piece band, they are giving away their debut single Crush this World as a sampler for their debut album, scheduled for spring 2010.
Finally (for US residents only I’m afraid) here’s a couple of albums currently available for free download from Amazon. The first is courtesy of the Anti- record label who have provided a 19 track sampler of 19 of the label’s own bands. Recommended : In These Arms by The Swell Season. The second is a compilation of bands on the indie label Sargent House. Here it is. Recommended : Chinchilla by This Town Needs Guns.
Hey, give me a shout at bridgetownrecords@gmail.com and I’ll hook you up with some new stuff including companion releases to the Cloud Nothings CD!
Best,
Kevin