3-4-FREE - 12/06/2011 - TWIN SISTER, STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS and DARK DARK DARK

Hi everyone, here's another helping of free, legal MP3s available right now on these here interwebs...

TWIN SISTER - BAD STREET
http://twinsistermusic.com/music/song/bad-street/





To coincide with Domino signing up the fantastic Twin Sister for their debut album the band have put this awesome little track out for free download on their website. The quintet are touring North America for the next 6 weeks (and if you're going to the show on the 18th in Brooklyn you also get to see the amazing Allo Darlin'). Bad Street is an awesome slice of chilled out, funky electro with traces of C.S.S. and The Fun Lovin' Criminals and bodes very very well for the band's first release.

STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS - SENATOR
http://cdn.stereogum.com/files/mp3/Stephen%20Malkmus%20And%20The%20Jicks%20-%20Senator.mp3




Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks are another band with an album coming out soon. Theirs is called Mirror Traffic, was produced by Beck and contains this fantastic track about what politicians really want. Sounding a lot like American indie, but in a very good way, Senator carries on effortlessly for four and a half minutes, sounding at times like The Pixies, Nick Cave (who I know isn't American!), The Dandy Warhols and (surprisingly) Pavement. Mirror Traffic comes out on August 22nd.

DARK DARK DARK - DAYDREAMING
http://www.clashmusic.com/feature/track-of-the-day-1511-dark-dark-dark





And so we end with a third song that comes in at well over 4 minutes long. After the electro funk and American indie, here's a bit of atmospheric, piano-led folk. Dark Dark Dark hail from Minnesota and are led, sonically at least, by Nona Marie Invie and her touching, dark vocals. Daydreaming is off the latest Dark Dark Dark album Wild Go, released last year. The track drags you in then swirls around you beautifully, always sounding slightly threatening, as it moves with an assured touch.

So there we go - 3 free, legal MP3s - enjoy! See you later this week for the introduction of another new band in Lend Them Your Ears.

3-4-FREE - 17/05/2011 - THE PRIMITIVES, FLEET FOXES and DEMS

Hello again, I'm not going to be around on Thursday so this weeks 3-4-FREE is coming at you a bit early. Don't worry though, it's top notch stuff.

THE PRIMITIVES - NEED ALL THE HELP I CAN GET
http://www.fortunapop.com/free_downloads.php



So, off we go with The Primitives and a stunning track off their new EP Never Kill A Secret. You may know the band for their 1988 single Crash, which reached number 5 and number 3 in the UK and American charts respectively. The new EP is a collection of covers of lesser-known female-fronted tracks, with Need All The Help I Can Get being a reworking of Suzi Jane Hokom's 1966 track. The Primitives give it a slightly more polished feel, but keep the edge and groove from the original to produce a kind of fresh-retro feel that rivals Hokom's version for sheer quality. (You can check out the original here)

FLEET FOXES - HELPLESSNESS BLUES


Fleet Foxes - Helplessness Blues by subpop


Hopefully by now you don't need me to tell you how fantastic Fleet Foxes are. Their debut, eponymous album garnered praise from all over the place, and rightly so. This taster from the second album, which also happens to be the title track, is 5 minutes of utter majesty, with urgent guitars powering around a magical vocal singing words of profundity. I don't think I've gone more than a few waking hours without listening to it over the last few days, it is truly amazing.

DEMS - JARNDYCE VS JARNDYCE

OK, so I'm a bit late getting in on the dems (to give the proper, grammatically incorrect name) love-in with Tom Robinson, Rob Da Bank, NME and Vic Galloway, but better late than never. The music is a kind of lo-fi urban-tinged folktronica and Jarndyce vs Jarndyce is rather poetically described as "a story about waiting for things". The XX and Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. are the most obvious recent touching points when describing the sound of dems' mellow vocals and pulsing electronica, but the waves that are being made by this London-based outfit are likely to mean they step away from such comparisons and become established in their own right.

So there you go, that's your 3 free, legal tracks for this week. Enjoy them and I'll be bringing you another Lend Them Your Ears on Monday.

3-4-FREE - 31/03/2011 - TRIPS AND FALLS, CRYSTAL FIGHTERS and CRAFT SPELLS

Hello there, peeps and peepettes. Since there hasn't been a 3-4-FREE for a few weeks I thought I'd treat you to one featuring 32 songs this week! Oh yes, that's the way uh-huh, uh-huh, I like it. Anyway, let's start with...

TRIPS AND FALLS - THIS IS ALL GOING TO END BADLY

So kicking off this mammoth edition of 3-4-FREE is The Song By Toad record sampler, the highlight of which, for me at least, is Montreal's Trips and Falls. Their bluegrass-infused indie is utterly wonderful and tinged with melancholy. Male and female vocals sing sweetly over simple guitar picking and military-esque drums in This Is All Going To End Badly. The 4-piece brought out their debut album on Song By Toad just over a year ago and continue to work with the Edinburgh-based label, hence their inclusion on the record sampler. All 13 tracks (plus a couple of toad-based skits) are available for free from Song By Toad's bandcamp page and show the pure quality of the artists on this amazing little label.

CRYSTAL FIGHTERS - AT HOME (TRUFIX MIX)

And from Montreal to Navarra, Spain and electronic folk 5-piece Crystal Fighters, who have been given the remix treatment from London dubstep type Trufix. The remix sees the original slowed down then have the aggression element pushed hard. The vocal still has a sweetness to it but it exists within a harshly swirling, stamping dubstep backing. This makes it less accessible than the original version but is still utterly brilliant, albeit in a somewhat different way. The band are planning Europe-wide gigs in the summer, including a performance at the Latitude Festival in Suffolk.

CRAFT SPELLS - YOU SHOULD CLOSE THE DOOR
http://stereogum.com/655072/18-dark-bands-to-watch-in-2011/franchises/listomania/





And finally, we have Seattle based Craft Spells, who have popped up on Stereogum's list of '18 Dark Bands to Watch Out For' (a list which also contains aTelecine and Brighton's Esben & The Witch). As the site acknowledges, Craft Spells stand out a little from the rest of the bands on the list, as they have a far more summery, blissful feel to their music, perfectly exhibited in You Should Close The Door. However, the darkness is there - the Ian Curtis comparison is obvious, but no less relevant for it and the synths are tinged with New Romantic misery. Craft Spells start their North American tour on Sunday, in their hometown, but here's hoping they'll be in the UK before too long, because they are utterly ace!

And that's your lot for this week, do have a spiffy weekend!

3-4-FREE - 03/03/2011 - Bass Drum of Death, The Dodos and Summer Camp

Word, quite literally, to your mother. It's Thursday which means another 3-4-FREE for your delectation. Let's get it on...

BASS DRUM OF DEATH - YOUNG PROS

Bass Drum of Death are a couple of likely lads from Mississippi who make music that sounds like The Cribs and The Fratellis getting together for a grunge-influenced jam. If that doesn't sell this track to you on the basis of pure curiosity at least then you're just plain weird. Looking to bring themselves to wider attention through SXSW 2011 there's a good chance they may just set Austin alight with their brash, distortion-laden style.

THE DODOS - DON'T STOP

http://stereogum.com/646601/the-dodos-dont-stop/mp3s/

San Franciscans The Dodos are back with their 4th album No Color this month, which heavily features the wonderful vocals of Neko Case on most tracks. However, that is not so on this little preview of the album. Don't Stop is engrossing from the first moment starting, as it does, with spirited folksy finger-picking before a slightly threatening distorted guitar line looms in the background. Before we can become too pre-occupied with that Meric and Logan get started with their imploring vocals and from there the song just keeps soaring and soaring.


SUMMER CAMP - I WANT YOU
http://www.gorillavsbear.net/2011/02/22/mp3-premiere-summer-camp-i-want-you/

Pure, awesome elctro synthy goodness from the fantastic Summer Camp. This is such unadulterated excellence that it makes me a little big weak in the knees. The synthy intro, overlaid with a clip of children talking (I'm guessing it's from some film, give us a shout if you know what film!) is good, the vocal starts very well indeed but the change of pace as we hit the vocal is pure brilliance. And if you like this be sure to check out Summer Camp when they support Wild Beasts on their tour of the UK in May. Now those are going to be fantastic gigs!

So I hope you've enjoyed your free music for this week. If you're still hungry for more check out yesterday's interview with Louise from Wartime Sweethearts which includes 3 free MP3s from the band!

LEND THEM YOUR EARS - 24/01/11 - LOW DUO

Good day one and all, here is another Lend Them Your Ears, where I offer up a new act for your listening pleasure - this week, it's incredible purveyors of "highly emotive minimalist guitar pop music" - Low Duo.

As their name (and the above picture) suggests, Low Duo are a duo. In fact, they are a pair of brothers from Sheffield, if we're going to get all precise about it. Listening to their tracks, it is easy to forget that they were formed just 5 months ago - the sparse sound of their songs crackles with a quite remarkable depth of feeling that lures you in, gently but firmly.
Despite being such a young band Low Duo already have a 5 track EP out, available from http://lowduo.bandcamp.com/ for just £1, which is incredible value - what can you even get for a quid these days? One and a half Creme Eggs? 117 Nepalese Rupees? Anything in Poundland? Needless to say, the EP, entitled The EP of Hope and Despair, offers much better value than all of these and purchasing it could turn out to be one of the wisest things you do with your money all year. To give you a taster, the opening track It Was You and Me is available as a free download below.




All 5 tracks follow a similar template - a single voice over a single guitar or piano, singing songs of, yes, hope and despair which are equal parts romantic and dark ("some people will die, some people will fly to the moon" ). These songs get under your skin and creep up and down your spine, firmly lodging themselves somewhere deep inside you, their simplicity making them incredibly easy to get immersed in. It really is amazing how much Low Duo get out of such simple, stripped back arrangements - they leave you on the edge of your seat, genuinely touched, and there's so little going on musically that you really wonder how they do it. Maybe they're a pair of shamans, who knows. What I do know however is that this is truly brilliant music that you, yes you, should be listening to.



The band are already working on a follow up EP and have a slot supporting Sound of 2011 nominee Anna Calvi in February to look forward to, as well as other live dates over the next 2 months.
You can find more information at www.myspace.com/lowduo and http://www.facebook.com/lowduo

After the mash-ups of Girl Talk, the industrial goth of Silk Flowers and now the minimalist melancholy of Low Duo it feels like something is out of kilter around here but don't worry, I'm sure there will be something with some glockenspiel, ukulele and hand-clapping mentioned on this blog in the not too distant future...

3-4-FREE - 20/01/11 - Girl Talk, Silk Flowers & Jon Dots

Hello and welcome to what, hopefully, marks the beginning of a regularly scheduled This Does Not Make Me A Journalist in 2011 with 3-4-FREE every Thursday and Lend Them Your Ears every Monday.

So lets kick off this 3-4-FREE...

GIRL TALK - TRIPLE DOUBLE
http://illegal-art.net/allday/



Whilst the above link gives you access to the entire Girl Talk album All Day (you are spoilt you know...) it is Triple Double, the 11th track on the record, that I keep playing at the moment - 6 and a half minutes of mash-up madness featuring Phoenix, Ludacris, The Rolling Stones and Willow Smith, amongst others. It is utterly barmy but also great fun, which is an approach TDMMAJ likes very much.

SILK FLOWERS - A BRUSH THROUGH THE DUST
http://stereogum.com/617602/band-to-watch-silk-flowers/franchises/band-to-watch/

Far from the chipper indie-pop I normally immerse myself in, this gothic, industrial, down in the mouth track from NYC's Silk Flowers caught me completely off-guard, as it turns out I really, really like it. There's a great deal going on in this song as Avarim Cohen's dark vocal is backed by some well-layered downbeat electro shenanigans. The band will be touring the USA and Canada in March.

JON DOTS - THE GREAT DICTATOR

And lastly, a fantastic track from Irish bedroom singer-songwriter-producer Jon Dots, The Great Dictator. Inspired by Charlie Chaplin's film of the same name, and promising to be the first of the artist's songs to be based on films, this is a catchy, twinkling shimmy of an electrio-indie track. Hopefully this guy will have a long career of making equalling interesting and listenable songs for our pleasure...

So there we go - 2 tracks and a whole album for you to enjoy! We'll be back on Monday for Lend Them Your Ears. Have a good weekend!

3-4-FREE - 08/12/10

Hi everyone, sorry for the rather disjointed state the blog is in at the moment, this should only be the case for another couple of weeks. In the meantime I shall aim to give you just as much content as ever, just at slightly less regular and predictable intervals...

Transmittens - Marfa Texas
http://www.weepop.net/backcat.php

"What's this?" I hear you cry as you lay eyes on the artwork above and hear the hand-claps, school music lesson percussion and cutesy female vocals "an indie-pop track? How very surprising Chris!". To which I reply "go fuck yourself with a rusty spanner, you sarky prick".
Marfa Texas is an excellent track - lo-fi, catchy and eminently smile-raising. It's the opening track on their album We Disappear which has sold out in physical form but is available digitally on their Bandcamp page - http://transmittens.bandcamp.com/ (Hurrah for Bandcamp by the way!).
It is an excellent showcase of the Seattle duo's sparky energy which is now being put to good effect in their new band Seapony (http://www.myspace.com/seaponyband)

Zircon - Monstrous Turtles
http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR01558/

And now for something not at all similar - a remix of the music played in Map 5 (Forest of Illusion) of Super Mario World entitled Monstrous Turtles. Whilst Zircon (a.k.a. Andrew Aversa) may not exactly look like a rock star his manipulation of the video game soundtrack makes for awesome listening - epic and flowing, the kind of thing you might hear in a Commodore 64's most terrifying nightmare. Zircon also has a number of other remixes under his belt, including a particularly good re-imagining of 'Flying Heaven' from Super Street Fighter Turbo II but Monstrous Turtles stands head and shoulders above everything else



Futuristic Retro Champions - Jenna

Yep, more indie-pop with female vocals - go fuck yourself with a rusty etc. etc. The final track in today's 3-4-FREE comes from The Futuristic Retro Champions - Scottish purveyors of a wonderful electro-indie-pop that they describe as "a magical pop explosion". Jenna is the best track off their brilliant LaChunky EP , which is now available for free on their Bandcamp (www.retrochamps.bandcamp.com), and includes the rather awesomely titled Kitten With A Loaded Gun. Alas, the band are now splitting after 4 years together although, if you're in Scotland, you will have a couple of chances to see them one last time in the New Year. And I urge you to exactly that if you can - having seen them live a couple of time a few years back I can confirm they are one of the most fun bands ever to watch on stage.

So there you go, another 3-4-FREE for your enjoyment. The next one will be up soon but as I've said before things are a bit hectic at the moment. Best thing to do is to follow me on Twitter @cellardoorchris where I always put up notifications of new blog posts. Which is what I'm about to do now. Toodles!

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!