Archive for the ‘Discovery Download’ Category
Our Free Rock Download puts the focus on a different artist or band, offering up a free track we think is worth your attention. Young Texan guitar slinger Tyler Bryant takes his cues from the electric side of the blues. He’s got an explosive style and a great raspy voice that draws from inspirations like The Black Crowes and Led Zeppelin. "Shackles" puts him in the same, pared-down intense mold of The Black Keys.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Our Discovery Download puts the focus on a different artist each week, offering up a free track we think is worth your attention. “I’m a-talk about marriage for a little bit,” said the late bluesman Eddie Kirkland, and after 50 years on the circuit playing with John Lee Hooker and Otis Redding, Mr. Kirkland knew plenty what he was talking about. On “Why Can’t I Be Your Backdoor Man Instead,” Kirkland professed to not be first mate material, preferring the easy-come/easy-go spontaneity of being the dude on the side. “Why Can’t I Be Your Backdoor Man Instead” appears on the posthumous Kirkland album Pick Up the Pieces, a collection of live and unreleased tracks.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
As laid out in its name, downhere deals in a grass roots brand of ministry that extends beyond the bandstand and among its fans. Co-founded by pastors’ sons Jason Germain and Marc Martel, this Tennessee-based band infuses it modern rock influences with inspirational lyrics. On “Let Me Rediscover You,” from the band’s latest album, On the Alter of Love, Germain and Martel’s heartfelt vocals soar over dramatic guitars, rich strings, and mellifluous piano arpeggios.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Our Discovery Download puts the focus on a different genre each week, offering up a free track we think is worth your attention. Fabian Almazan is a Cuban-born, Miami-raised, and New York–educated pianist. On his debut album, Personalities, the gifted musician draws upon life experiences to tell stories; the stirring tale he shares on “The Vicarious Life” is tremendously evocative. Accompanied by bassist Linda Oh and drummer Henry Cole (whose brushed drumming is punctuated by crashes carrying a tumultuous, stormy element), the pianist’s fingers dance around to create a hint of gorgeous tension; the track conveys the complex emotions of overbearing parents watching their children’s piano recital.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Our Discovery Download puts the focus on a different genre each week, offering up a free track we think is worth your attention. For their second album, Only in Dreams, California’s Dum Dum Girls reunited with producer Richard Gottehrer—the Brill Building songsmith who penned classics like “My Boyfriend’s Back” and produced for Blondie—plus brought The Raveonettes’ Sune Rose Wagner into the producing fold. With so much musical talent in their corner, the female foursome continue making their alluring brand of guitar-based tunes, incorporating elements of distorted indie rock, pop, and casual coolness. Befitting its placement on an album titled Only in Dreams, “Bedroom Eyes” finds vocalist Dee Dee sounding like Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde as she waxes poetic about being in a hypnagogic state—realizing she’ll only see the person she fancies in her dreams.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Our Discovery Download puts the focus on a different genre each week, offering up a free track we think is worth your attention. San Diego–bred Nathan Williams returns with a new EP, Life Sux, filled with the King of the Beach’s characteristically rumbling indie rock. On the rollicking lo-fi opener, “Bug,” a melodic guitar riff wraps itself around more fuzzed guitar and snarky lyrics about someone who’s a total downer—crashing parties, crashing cars, and “always crashing at the new girl’s place.” Life might suck for Williams, but we have a feeling that his tongue’s firmly planted in cheek . . . though he takes it out long enough to sing some rocking tunes.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Our Discovery Download puts the focus on a different genre each week, offering up a free track we think is worth your attention. We’re still in awe over the skillful yet natural manner in which young singer/songwriter Laura Marling’s “Sophia” unfolds. Acoustic guitar and the southern England native’s comforting singing are all one hears for nearly a minute, until strings, subtle electric guitar, and wordless vocals seamlessly drop in. Drums join near the three-minute mark, and the previous accompaniment becomes assertive to the point where the quietly personal statement transforms into a rousing communal triumph.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Our Discovery Download puts the focus on a different genre each week, offering up a free track we think is worth your attention. Members of Baltimore-based Ashes Remain embrace their spiritual beliefs, yet don’t claim to be holier than thou. The band readily shines a light on personal struggles throughout What I’ve Become, yet we’re especially digging one of the debut album’s most uplifting tracks, “On My Own.” Amidst a rocking music palate that buzzes with fuzz guitar, vocalist Josh Smith paints an optimistic picture of a grounding force, a figure that provides a ray of hope when everything else looks dim.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Our Discovery Download puts the focus on a different genre each week, offering up a free track we think is worth your attention. Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs have been making a slew of Seattle-ites into life-long fans for a while now, but with a new album recorded (in Pearl Jam’s studio no less), it’s time that the word got out on a national level. "Alone In This Together" sets the stage perfectly. The tune starts like a creaking lullaby, with Star Anna’s vocal sounding beautiful and broken-down. The band builds the track into a swaying, adrift, Crazy Horse-esque circus of noise while Anna’s vocals reach into some wellspring of anguish. It’s rare that a track can be so therapeutic and yet so completely enjoyable.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
Our Discovery Download puts the focus on a different genre each week, offering up a free track we think is worth your attention. From saxophonist Joshua Redman to pianist Marcus Roberts to vocalist Gretchen Parlato, Thelonious Monk International Competition winners have risen to the vanguard of the modern jazz scene. On his debut album, State of Art, double bassist and 2009 winner Ben Williams presents an exciting musical concept that breathes in the present while being firmly rooted in tradition. “Home,” its opening track, rolls out skillfully chunky layers of soulful jazz via buoyant drumming, interlocking electric piano and guitar lines, effortless saxophone, and the D.C. native’s nimble yet assured bass lines.
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
