Each week we select music from an independent artist we’re excited about and bring it to you, for free, as our Indie Free Download. We’re pretty much hypnotized by this this gorgeous, drone-drenched winner. It’s a spacy, psychedelic whirlpool with a shimmering pop melody that recalls The Cure’s “In Between Days” slowed way down—befitting an act called Porcelain Raft performing a song titled “Drifting In and Out.” This weightless track sets in motion Strange Weekend—an eclectic, beautiful debut album from Italian-born Mauro Remiddi (a.k.a. Porcelain Raft).
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Each week we find a track from an artist or band we’ve been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. While writing tracks for Chairlift’s second album, Something, the Brooklyn duo envisioned having to sing them in front of massive concert audiences, which makes “I Belong in Your Arms” extra impressive. The beautiful, weightless track from the band’s new album is an intimate love song, which finds Caroline Polachek‘s soaring vocals skating atop a swirling, ethereal landscape that calls to mind ‘80s electro-pop icons like a-ha and Eurythmics.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Each week we find a track from an artist or a band we’ve been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Canciòn de la Semana. Chilean emcee Ana Tijoux doesn’t so much rap as purr lyrics about a personal history steeped in political intrigue, all to a hypnotic cadence. She’s got a thing for jazzy beats and turntablism reminiscent of early-‘90s hip-hop. “Shock” rumbles to a military drumbeat as a string section lends a flamenco air and Tijoux launches a breathless verbal soliloquy about power, corruption, and greed.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Each week we find a track from an artist or a band we’ve been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Canciòn de la Semana. Mexican synth-pop duo Jotdog is singer Maria Barracuda and the illustrious producer Jorge Amaro, whose discography includes collaborations with Maná, Timbiriche, and many others. Set to a hyper-melodic synthesizer track beautified with chiptune doodads, “Lluvia de Estrellas” relies on metaphors of space and stardust to convey all-encompassing, unconditional romantic love.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Each week we select music from an independent artist we’re excited about and bring it to you, for free, as our Indie Free Download. Twentysomething Peter Barbee (a.k.a. Among Savages) moved from the Smoky Mountains to Nashville as a 17-year-old, and his aptly titled debut—Wanderings of an Illustrative Mind—features the artist’s reflections on youth. “Terrified” quickly builds into a smooth, stirring foot-tapper, with a gentle maelstrom of acoustic guitars, choral accompaniment, and string accents. Barbee confesses he needs stop running, quit playing hide-and-seek with his doubts and fears, and overcome a childhood tendency to suppress his emotions.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Each week we find a track from an artist or band we’ve been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. This Swedish duo is made up of two sisters with a love of folk, country, indie and, most stunningly, harmony. A cover of a Fleet Foxes song gave First Aid Kit an overnight fanbase thanks to the Internet, then the sisters set out recording more music, touring, and finding fans and friends in people like Jack White and Bright Eyes. This cut from First Aid Kit’s latest album, The Lion’s Roar, pays tribute to two of country music’s finest pairings: Emmylou Harris and Gram Parsons, and Johnny and June Carter Cash.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Each week we find a track from an artist or band we’ve been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. Lana Del Rey’s smoky chanteuse persona—a “gangster Nancy Sinatra,” as she’s been described—nearly melted the buzz meter in 2011, thanks to her swanky and seductive “Video Games” and “Blue Jeans.” The single “Born to Die” finds Del Rey in the throes of another tragic relationship. Strengthened by a background of synthetic strings and a noir beat that recalls Kanye’s “Flashing Lights,” Lana Del Rey zooms toward Dead Man’s Curve as she recites this dashboard confessional, mascara running. “Born to Die” is the title track of Del Rey’s debut album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
