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Somalia-born Toronto native K’naan puts rap music in a choke hold on the first single from his upcoming album, Troubadour. “Bang Bang” is a call for creativity in a genre where homogeneity reigns supreme over nearly everyone. K’naan does it all – flowing over rock beats, singing the hook, defiantly stomping down his own path. If you like the track, check out the album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date. |
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A sonic bed of gorgeous, ethereal electronica sets the swirling foundation for Passion Pit’s mastermind, Michael Angelakos, to unleash manic, falsetto crooning about visions of burning stars and beards growing through doors. The cosmic result is like walking into a bright, hazy dreamland — somewhere between hypnagogia and MGMT. If you like the track, check out the album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date. |
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Puerto Rico’s Melina León brings a powerful, sultry vocal performance to this track from her new album. The tune is a mix of stylish pop and the rhythms established by countless conjuntos típicos before her. If you like your merengues big and brassy, León delivers. If you like the track, check out the album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date. |
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Chicago rockers the Last Vegas do their best to dig up the kind of dirt that used to fly out of nightclubs on L.A.’s Sunset Strip in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Soaring, ragged vocals fly up against big, nagging riffs that preen and pose in the best way. “I’m Bad” isn’t just about the hard rock; there are insidiously catchy melodies in the chorus that show love for the great Cheap Trick.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date. |
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Before taking the name VOTA, this Nebraska-based band were known as Casting Pearls. Sounding re-energized and refocused, the songs on their self-titled “debut” brim with ideas and passion. “Hard to Believe” is a glossy, alt-rock stomper of a track, finding middle ground between the Killers and Maroon 5. If you like the track, check out the album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date. |
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Peruvian singer/songwriter Gian Marco shows off his balladeer style on this song from his latest, Desde Adentro. Abetted by a folk acoustic guitar that occasionally veers into flamenco-style flourishes, Gian Marco cries and croons in his sweet, romantic style. This one’s for the lovers. If you like the track, check out the album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date. |
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The second album from Foreign Exchange works as a blueprint of how R&B ought to sound in the future. The eleven tracks found on Leave It All Behind are a set of well-crafted songs that bring out the best of producers/group members Nicolay and Phonte. Dreamy folk-soul and hip-hop are mingled with West London broken beat – but it’s all within an R&B structure. “Take Off the Blues” is sound of soul music to come . . . If you like the track, check out the album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date. |
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It’s time to open your ears and hearts to Mishka’s smooth reggae rhythms. On “Above the Bones,” the former windsurfer with roots in the Caribbean and Canada delivers an easygoing, guitar-based groove that echoes the positive vibes flowing through the album of the same name. If you like the track, check out the album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date. |
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Born in New Jersey but raised in the Dominican Republic, Daniel Santacruz brings the sounds of north and south together in the music heard on his second album, Radio Rompecorazones. Indeed, heartbreak weighs heavy on the mind of our man Daniel, as you can hear in the bachata-flavored, crooning pop gem, “If I Give You My Love.” If you like the track, check out the album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date. |
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Alela Diane hails from Nevada City, a forest-enclosed town in Northern California where indie favorite and harpist Joanna Newsom also calls home. Indeed, it was Newsom who gave Diane some encouragement to perform early on. This track from Diane’s sophomore album To Be Still lies more within the folk idiom than Newsom’s surreal, complex poetry, but they both inhabit that slightly off-kilter world of fable-like storytelling. Her and her guitar take the spotlight, aided by some haunted female backing vocals and a light folk backing band. There is a rough and rural sincerity to this ghostly tune that gives the track some extra emotional weight. If you like the track, check out the album.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.