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.
Each week we find a track from an artist or band we’ve been enjoying and bring it to you, for free, as our Canciòn de la Semana. Sophisticated Latin pop queen Paulina Rubio and the upstart teenage trio 3BallMTY may be a surprising collaboration. But as “Me Gustas Tanto” demonstrates, it’s a match made in dance music heaven. 3BallMTY brings its innovative underground genre—tribal guarachero, with a frenetic electronic loop of ethnic drums—to the polish and glamour of Rubio’s upbeat pop sound.
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 Tulsa-by-way-of-Nashville modern rock quartet specializes in clean melodies delivered with big-sounding guitars. “These Times” starts with an ambient keyboard sound similar to the one at the start of Alphaville’s “Forever Young,” before the earnest vocals of singer/guitarist Doug Brown come in. Fleeting and then instant guitars join in, along with topical lyrics about economics that end on a declarative, optimistic note.
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 Canción de la Semana.These siblings stormed the scene with their 2006 debut, Esta Es Mi Vida, brimming with Joy’s commanding vocals and Jesse’s instrumental arsenal (piano, drums, guitar). Since then, they’ve earned a Latin GRAMMY® for Best New Artist and progressively honed their sound — a warm and energetic blend of pop, rock, and folk. This track comes from their latest album, ¿Con Quién Se Queda el Perro?.
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. The Icelandic six-pack know as Of Monsters and Men—five guys and a girl from Reykjavik—won the annual national battle of the bands called Músiktilraunir with its repertoire of indie rock and folk songs. “Little Talks” is an upbeat delight, festooned with happy horns and boy/girl verses about an idyllic childhood.
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 Single of the Week. Mexican Institute of Sound was established when Camilo Lara, the president of EMI Mexico, made year-end playlists of his favorite tracks, culled from his massive record collection, for friends. His style evolved into a pastiche of folkloric Latin American idioms and electronica. “El Jefe” is no exception, with its mournful mariachi horn loop juxtaposed against a monotone rap and the hustle and bustle of a high-velocity drum track.
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. These indie rock pioneers reunited for a Matador Records anniversary party last year in Las Vegas—and thankfully what happened in Vegas didn’t stay there. Guided by Voices’s classic lineup just released Let’s Go Eat the Factory, its first album since 1996’s Under the Bushes Under the Stars. The 21-song collection is filled with blasts of lo-fi brilliance, as highlighted by “The Unsinkable Fats Domino.” Clocking in at just less than two minutes, the triumphant track is built on a rumbling bedrock. It chugs along with Robert Pollard’s pretty, unaffected vocals floating above it all, urging listeners to “make disbelief unthinkable.”
IMPORTANT: Downloads are only free on iTunes for approximately 1 week from this post date.
![Paulina Rubio - Me Gustas Tanto (feat. 3BallMTY) [3BallMTY Remix]](http://a3.mzstatic.com/us/r30/Features/61/1a/6d/dj.vjprnuby.170x170-75.jpg)
