3-4-FREE - 26/11/10

First off - an apology. I'm sorry this post is a couple of days late, I've been interning at 6Music (ooo get me, being all showbiz!) and commuting and so haven't had the time to put this week's 3-4-FREE together. Until now! Hurrah! And just for the next few weeks 3-4-FREE will be coming out on Thursdays. Lend Them Your Ears posts will remain the preserve of Sundays.

So here's this week's 3-4-FREE...

Allo Darlin' - My Heart is a Drummer
http://www.fortunapop.com/free_download.php?id=9

Allo Darlin' are one of the finest indie pop bands around at the moment - their self-titled debut album is one of my favourite albums of the year, they've been receiving plenty of national airplay and their live show is just wonderful. They make the sweetest music you're likely to hear without lapsing into a coma, driven by Elizabeth (also of Tender Trap) and her gorgeous, sparky vocal and chirpy uke playing. This bitter-sweet cut of twee-pop never fails to put a sad smile on my face and make my heart ache like it's been beaten. It's compulsive listening and available from Fortuna Pop as a 7 inch single or a free download, so get it NOW!

Grenouilles - Hawk on the Down EP
http://grenouilles1.bandcamp.com/

This Norwich 3-piece first caught my attention with their rather stunning cover of misogynistic r'n'b floor-filler Low by Flo Rida. That can be heard at their myspace - www.myspace.com/vivelagrenouille. At their Bandcamp page however you can find their moving, soaring Hawk on the Down EP. Now, acoustic-y folk has been done over and over and over in recent years but everything about these songs stands out - the quite incredible string sections, which make that special link between your heart and your spine quiver, the interplay of the melodic male and female vocals and the general sense of a gentle strength. So get all 5 tracks for free now and never look back...

The Boy Least Likely To - Happy Christmas Baby
http://www.theboyleastlikelyto.co.uk/

Yes, I know it's still November but it is an inescapable fact that Christmas is coming, and quickly. One of the best things about this particular Christmas is that the inimitable Boy Least Likely To are releasing their 3rd album (or 4th if you count their b-sides album). This fact has put a smile on my face so wide and permanent that I'm in serious risk of suffering lockjaw. The anti-folk-indie-pop-country duo are dedicating the whole album, which is released on 29th November, to the subject of the festive period. A couple of covers (Little Donkey and In The Bleak Midwinter) are mixed in with their original compositions, such as this track, Happy Christmas Baby. A cheery ode to pre-noon drunkenness, leaving it until Christmas eve to buy pressies and stealing marzipan from cakes, this song will make you smile like a cat who's getting the cream served to him by nubile kittens in silken outfits and being fanned with palm leaves...

There we go, see you on Sunday for another Lend Them Your Ears blog, Ta-ra!