21 Free Tracks

Urban Outfitters released this mix about a week ago (I never check that email account anymore), so I figured I would pass it along. It looks pretty solid actually. Some notables that I would definitely grab/listen to:

Passion Pit - "Sleepyhead"
By far one of my favorite tracks in the last month or so. I try to tell people to not listen to this song first because it's completely different from the rest of the Chunk of Change EP, but I guess there's not stopping you now. For the record, that EP is great (this song is just greater) and I look forward to a full-length in the future. They seem like a CMJ band, so hopefully I'll get to see them in a couple weeks.

Girls - "Hellhole Ratrace"
I saw these dudes (yes, there's no girls in this band from what I can recall - ironylol) a couple months back. It's hard as fuck trying to find any info on them. Search "Girls myspace" and you get both Brazilian Girls and Vivian Girls before them. Not the best choice in name, it seems. I don't know if I know "Hellhole," but "Lust for Life" is on their MySpace. So maybe while you're waiting for this mix to download you can hop on over there. I even found it for you.

Sebastien Grainger - "American Names"
This is also off a solid EP by the same name. Grainger is one half of one of my favorite bands despite releasing only one full-length, Death From Above 1979. This is nothing like it. It's odd how you can separate DFA1979 and get MSTRKRFT and then Sebastien Grainger's solo work, but you can and I enjoy all three. It's sort of folksy. Like it would be released on Saddle Creek and titled Sebastien Grainger & The Mountains, which is all true. Full-length is due out in October.

Chairlift - "Evident Utensil"
iPop, which is the new name for all bands featured on iPod/Apple commercials. I also made that up and I'm also pretty sure it can't be original. If it is, we're failing as a country much more than you think.

Alright, just go download the damn thing.

Zip File of Mix:
Urban Outfitters - LSTN#2 Mix

Stereogum/RAC Remix Album Available for Download

Just stumbled upon this one and it has some goodies. I would go into more details about which tracks I like the most, but my Internet it currently hating on streaming music and the download is just wrapping up now.

RAC, or Remix Artist Collective, is a "artist agency strictly devoted to remixing." Simple enough. What you need to know is that they've done some killer remixes (I recommend Ra Ra Riot's "Manner To Act" for starters, but I'm biased towards them) and recently teamed up with Stereogum to put together RAC Vol. 1.

I'd go on, but really you can just start streaming below. If you like it, head on over to the Stereogum post and check out some more details, like the liner notes, torrent and individual track downloads. We'll link to the zip file below. Neat artwork too.



Download:
Stereogum Presents... RAC Vol. 1

Oh, and if you like this stuff, definitely check out more of RAC's remixes on their site (Tegan and Sara's "Back In Your Head," anyone?) And Stereogum's Memorial Day mixtape.

Monthly Mixtape: June

Hopefully you enjoyed May's mixtape. Well, here is June's. For those of you who missed the explanation the first time around. I take tracks from the previous month (in this case May) and pretty much tell you of albums I've been digging. I try to stay away from a weak album with just a couple standout tracks because the idea is to go check out the album further if you like the track on the mix.


1. Dosh - "Wolves"
Off 5/13 release, Wolves and Wishes.

2. Mates of State - "The Re-arranger"
Off the 5/20 release, Re-Arrange Us.

3. The Cool Kids - "88"
Off the Bake Sale EP, which hit iTunes in May. Physical release early June.

4. Islands - "Creeper"
Off the 5/20 release, Arm's Way.

5. Zeigeist - "Black Milk"
Off the 4/25 release (at least overseas), The Jade Motel.

6. Sam Roberts - "Them Kids"
Off the 5/20 release, Love At The End Of The World.

7. Sébastien Tellier - "Divine (Danger Remix)"
Off the Divine Vision EP. Tellier's album Sexuality, where the original track can be found, dropped 2/25.

8. The Explorers Club - "Last Kiss"
Off the 5/20 release, Freedom Wind.

9. The Last Shadow Puppets - "Separate And Ever Deadly"
Off the 5/6 release, Age of the Understatement.

10. Kidz in the Hall - "Drivin' Down The Block (Remix) feat. Pusha T, Bun B & The Cool Kids"
Off the 5/13 release, The In Crowd.

11. The Submarines - "Swimming Pool"
Off the 5/13 release, Honeysuckle Weeks.

12. Wale - "The Chicago Falcon (Remix) feat. The Budos Band"
Off the 5/30 release, The Mixtape About Nothing.

Two songs shorter than last month's, but May was clearly lacking when compared to April. June, however, is looking fantastic so far (as you can tell from the post below this one). Exciting.

Let me know what you think.

DOWNLOAD

Wale Drops a New Mixtape About Nothing

Wale (pronounced Wah-lay) based out of Washington D.C. has just released his newest mixtape through his website Elitaste this morning. While the version available at this moment is a single track running near an hour and a half long, there should be a tracked version some time this afternoon. The Mixtape About Nothing is Wale's fourth free mixtape made available through Elitaste.

I will be updating this with a review tonight when I have the opportunity to listen to the entire thing. So far, the album title is incredibly fitting, he has touched on more than a dozen ideas, none of them really fit together. Still sounds real good though. URB magazine might be right comparing Wale to Kanye and Lupe, his sound is right on par we these two.

Wale caught my attention recently with the release of a video he did, mixing Justice's D.A.N.C.E. That video can be seen below.

Download:
Wale - The Mixtape About Nothing (one big track, tracked version coming)

Inspector Owl's EP Now Free to Download

Inspector Owl, the Illinois-based synth-indie-pop-etc band, have made their EP from last year available for download. You can grab it on their Web site after you sign up for their mailing list.

Ed reviewed Life Finds a Way last April and seemed to love it. We discussed it shortly tonight during out podcast (look for that tomorrow afternoon) and it still seemed to like it.

You can brush up on your Inspector Owl before they come through Hamden, Conn. on June 4.

Download:
Inspector Owl - Life Finds a Way

New Neon Coyote Mixtape is Here!

We loved Neon Coyote's last mixtape, so make sure you didn't miss that one. However, we're here to let you know that another one is ready for your ears. This time coming your way thanks to the third and latest member, Chico Love.

Chicago-based blog redthreat is hosting the mp3, but if you're a bit lazy feel free to grab it below. You can find the tracklisting, which consists of Chromeo, Amanda Blank, Danger, Rick Ross and Hot Chip (to name a few) on the redthreat post linked above.

Download:
Neon Coyote - "From Chico With Love"

Move Over Girl Talk

This is old (see: November 2007), but still amazing and worth your time if you're looking to be lazy when you throw a party. Ludachrist (EWUN + a dude from EVOL INTENT) put out this epic mixtape called Bangfest. Follow the Bangfest link to check out the track listing.

It includes a lot of the standbys you'd expect from mash-ups (Biggie, Jim Jones, Justice, etc), but with plenty of refreshing takes and some slightly unexpected tracks.

If you're a bit unsure if you want to commit to the whole long track. You can download/listen to "Se-bast-i-Am," which is featured on Bangfest and combines SebastiAn's "Ross Ross Ross" and Timbaland's "The Way I Are." Both are below.

Downloads:
Ludachrist - Bangfest
Ludachrist - "Se-bast-i-Am"

Hood Internet Mixtape Expected to Drop Tuesday

They've blamed their lack of posts for single songs on their efforts behind the scenes where they've been working on a mixtape (I wish we could blame our lack of posts on a secret mixtape). The Hood Internet says they've been pacing their time with, "The Hood Internet vs Chicago," a compilation of 23 new tracks, and they're going to release it Tuesday, May 27.

Some of the artists making appearances on the mixtape include Kid Sister, Kanye West (in combination with Wilco and the 1985 Chicago Bears), Chin Up Chin Up, Rhymefest and Andrew Bird. R. Kelly's in there, too.

You can expect sweet match-ups and, as always, more clever and dramatic Photoshopped representations of the artists together on their description of the mixtape.

Download:
The Hood Internet - "The Hood Internet vs. Chicago" (full mix, 320kps)
The Hood Internet - "The Hood Internet vs. Chicago" (split tracks, 320kps)

Mother's Day Download from Middle Distance Runner

For those in the Hartford area, you may have caught Middle Distance Runner on accident or maybe even on purpose at one of a couple Shag Frenzy nights that they've played at. They were last here in October.

They just put up their new track "Momma" up and is now available for download (grab it below). I definitely have to recommend getting it now. I might as well recommend their self-titled EP too, which came out last year.

The band said this about the new track and more new music to come on their MySpace blog:

"Dear John Q. Public,  

It's been a while since we last talked, but that's not because we're lazy or angry with you. It's because we're recording! A lot! Boyoyoing!

In acknowledgement of Mother's Day, we've recorded an apocryphal ditty of ours called "Momma". See, it was hidden on our debut album, Plane in Flames, but you had to be very clever to find it...

With the help of some of our most attractive friends, we've recorded a MUCH better version. It's got EVERYTHING! Trumpets! Choirs! Banjos! Even hip hops!"

Middle Distance Runner - "Momma"

Monthly Mixtape: May

So I decided to start making monthly mixes of tracks from the previous month's releases. This is my first one and the May 2008 version. It mainly consists of albums from April, but I dip into March since this is the first one.

1. Neon Neon - "Raquel"
Off the band's 3/18 release, Stainless Style.

2. Santogold - "You'll Find a Way"
Off her self-titled 4/29 release.

3. Cut Copy - "Lights and Music"
Off their 4/8 release, In Ghost Colours.

4. Someone Still Loves You, Boris Yeltsin - "Oceanographer"
Off the 4/8 release, Pershing.

5. M83 - "Kim & Jessie"
Off the 4/15 release, Saturdays = Youth.

6. Blood Red Shoes - "ADHD"
Off the 4/15 release, Box of Secrets.

7. Robyn - "Who's That Girl"
Off the self-titled 4/29 release.

8. A Great Big Pile of Leaves - "The Size of Dinosaurs"
Off the the 4/24 release, The Fiery Works II.

9. Los Campesinos! - "Broken Heartbeats Sound Like Breakbeats"
Off the 4/1 release, Hold on Now, Youngster....

10. Yelle - "Ce jeu"
Off the 4/1 release, Pop-Up.

11. Foals - "Red Sock Pugie"
Off the 4/8 release, Antidotes.

12. The Roots - "Birthday Girl"
Off the 4/29 release, Rising Down (iTune extra track only though, I believe).

13. Hercules & Love Affair - "Blind"
Off the self-titled 3/25 release.

14. The Dodos - "Joe's Waltz"
Off the 3/18 release, Visiter

Edit: Link is down as I said.

A Great Big Pile of Leaves Drop New, Free EP at Midnight

We mentioned this previously, but we figured it wouldn't hurt to remind you. A Great Big Pile of Leaves just released (an hour an a half ago) their latest EP and part two of The Fiery Works. You can download the five-song EP directly here, or from their MySpace and Web site.

There's really not much else to say other than to check it out. I haven't gotten a chance to listen to it as I plan on passing out asap, but I'm sure one of us we'll have a glowing review in the near future.

Photos from Boy Crisis Last Night

Wow, last night was a good time. I knew Boy Crisis would be a fun, but Francis and the Lights were a pleasant surprise. Boy Crisis, of course, brought plenty of dance tunes to the table. They actually have an incredible stage presence and as you'll see from the photos had a fun time with the crowd, and vice versa.

Francis and the Lights was the one band on the bill that I didn't check out briefly prior to the show. The New York band put out an EP last year, which can be downloaded for free off their site. Definitely worth checking out. Some real funky jams there.

Mixel Pixel opened up the night and were plenty of fun themselves, but I just loved Boy Crisis and Francis and the Lights. Mixel Pixel will be dropping Let's Be Friends on Mental Monkey on June 3. You can find/download "Sinking Feeling" off that album now. Full gallery after the pics.



Mixel Pixel

Francis and the Lights







Boy Crisis

For the rest of the photos check out the gallery.

Download:
Francis and the Lights - Striking EP

Free Mashup: Adult Situations (there's Price is Right here)

It's been a while since we've stumbled across any mash-ups that we've wanted to throw up here. This new mash-up from Adult Situations is very much in line with Girl Talk, so if you dig Mr. Gillis, you'll like this.

Without further ado, we present the Dude York Mix '08. You can stream it there or hit download right away and enjoy it in your iTunes.

If you're still unsure let me give you a short recap of what is involved here. As you can tell by the title of this post the Price is Right theme is there and hits you early. Some others include Rick James, Beastie Boys, Beach Boys, Queen and Deerhoof, just to name a few.

FREE MUSIC: Ulysses Campbell - Color It All

I found this album a little over a week ago and reviewed the hell out of it. If you want to hear for yourself you can find the full version on Ulysses Campbell's MySpace.

Here is what i had to say about it in The Recorder last week.

Good luck finding any information on what Ulysses Campbell is all about, outside of the fact that he is originally from New Hampshire and now resides in Florida, where he goes to school. The only reason you are hearing about him right now is that this shaggyhaired 21-year-old makes fantastic electronic music out of his bedroom that could make Avey Tare of Animal Collective jealous.

Ulysses Campbell and Color It All is the epitome of low-budget electro-rock that doesn’t skip on the static and uses a pretty standard Casio-like 61-key keyboard [ed. Campbell let me know that in fact uses a Korg Electribe, which he describes as "a little workstation that's 2/3rds drum machine and 1/3rd synth, and all 3rds awesome,"] homemade mixers and acoustic guitar. While Campbell’s set-up doesn’t sound like much, his creations sound rich enough to fool most listeners that an entire band is producing the blips and beeps f lowing through their speakers. This is not the case – Campbell is a doing it all himself.

“All in Front (of me)” kicks off the album with a disoriented mass of fuzzed distortion backed by 8-bit keyboard lines straight from late ‘80s video games. After a few moments this chaos fades away and Campbell shows us a quick glimpse of his voice, if only to draw in the listener to see what he actually has in store.

Of course, the second track really shows off how well Campbell can actually sing. “The Things That Happen So Often” brings back the distorted keys, but this time they play second to Campbell’s vocals, which are on display for the track’s first 60 seconds, after which they slowly disappear to allow Campbell’s bread and butter - spacey key lines and pounding drum machine beats. While he does bring back words about three minutes into the song, you shouldn’t care; you’ll already be nodding your head mindlessly to the beats.

Though I could go on endlessly about the rest of Color It All, the last five tracks will be for you to discover and make your own comparisons. The only thing you need to do to get yourself a copy of Color It All is to visit Campbell’s MySpace and click on the download link – simple, really.

In Rainbows Remixed and Free for Download

Free music is great. Free music involving remixes of Radiohead's In Rainbows featuring the likes of Del the Funky Homosapien and Too $hort is wonderful. Apparently Amplive, the Oakland producer and DJ, had some legal issues originally, but everything is all puppies and lollypops now.

For more info, the track listing and the download go here.

Mixtape of the Year?

It may be early to crown this gem as mixtape of the year, but it sure is going to be hard to top. Neon Coyote crams in 131 samples in under 21 minutes on their "Holler at the Moon" mix. Some of the names featured on here are: Kid Sister, Joy Division, Kanye, HEALTH, The Teenagers, Pharoah Monche, Elton John, Justice, Muscles and SebastiAn, to name a few. There's just A LOT on here.

For a full track listing and the download visit here.

If you enjoy what you hear and can't get enough, Neon Coyote has some older mixes on their MySpace for download.

Free Pancakes for All Today!

This is a bit unrelated to the realm of entertainment, but it's vital information nonetheless. Today is National Pancake Day, which means you can go to any IHOP and get a free short stack of pancakes. IHOP is just asking for donations to local children's hospitals. So you can eat pancakes and feel good doing it, what is better than that? Nothing. You have until 10 p.m. tonight so you have some time to take advantage of this. I plan on eating two meals there today.

Former Test Icicles with New Album

Former member of the short-lived band Test Icicles released an impressive album last week. Devonte Hynes aka Lightspeed Champion brings to you Falling Off the Lavender Bridge. If I had to call it one thing, it would be folk, but there's a lot here. My first listen through I already liked it, but when I learned Lightspeed Champion was Hynes who was former Test Icicles I couldn't help but be more into it. For Screening Purposes Only was a fun album.

Hynes will be keeping busy over the next few months touring Europe with some short stints in the States. You can find him at two dates in March in New York.

I know you all enjoy free music, so while you're waiting for Falling Off the Lavender Bridge to come in the mail or whatever, you can find three free albums by Hynes. There is I Wrote and Recorder This in Less Than Five Hours, a complete album cover of Green Day's Nimrod, and more covers with the Bad Covers EP.

Edit: I almost forgot to mention. Take a look at our new People to See, Places to Go sidebar. We will be updating that often and will be much easier to track than our typical calendar posts. We will still be posting about new and upcoming shows of course, but that will be the place to go for reference.

1/2 of Flosstradamus Selling Crap on eBay

Normally, this wouldn't be a story because who wants another dude's garbage, but if you're part of Flosstradamus your garbage is actually pretty amazing. J2K (1/2 of Flosstradamus and big brother to Kid Sister) has 15 listings up on eBay right now. They range from a one-night stay at the Trump Hotel in Chicago (king suite) to a futuristic LED watch from Japan. If this is shit you'd normally buy you'll probably find a deal here or if you're just really obsessed with Flosstradamus you can get some signed gear too.


The more important news, however, is that the DJ duo is now working on a full-length album that is expect to be released this summer. So far no label yet, but the contributions list is already looking good. Cool Kids, Kid Sister and Amanda Blank were the first contributions named by Pitchfork. I assume more will be announced as we get closer to the release date.

PS: In case you've missed this. Flosstradamus' MySpace (linked aboved) has two mixes for download. Both the 3 Peat and the mix for Vice Records are solid mixes to have, so grab them if you haven't yet.

Shut Up and Jam, and also Play This Game

The Internet is a beautiful place. Without it we'd never have gems like "Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden." And a life without "Barkey, Shut Up..." is no life at all.

To cut to the chase, this game is real. The official trailer shows off the game and gives a bit of background to the storyline. As a big fan of old school video games and old school basketball this is a dream come true. I'm still only 68% done with the download of the game, but I cannot imagine this falling short of amazing.

For more info, more screens and links to downloads of the game, click here.

Edit: Just played a bit of it, seems as I expected: great.