Snag 15 Free Tracks from artists playing Lollapalooza 2009 like: The Ravonettes, Bon Iver, Deer Hunter, Fleet Foxes and more.

Download the Free Lollapalooza Sample on iTunes

This is part a supplement to my recent music recommendation artillery, part catch up from lack of free track Fridays and part and easy way to post fresh tracks to download for your summer playlists.

Mew, “Reapeaterbeater” from No More Stories… (the full album title is actually an entire poem) – I have yet to get that inta Mew but I really like this track. I’ve heard the album is supposed to agree with their fans, but if the rest of the album is like this, it will agree with me.

VEGA, “No Reasons” – This is just a fun track that makes you wanna hit the dance floor with friends… or maybe thrash the streets with a killer board and kneepads…

Wavves, “Friends Were Gone” – Lo-Fi Surfer Punk Rock, it doesn’t really get better then this in indie rock today. Get the album Wavves.

The Dodos, “Fools”

Cale Parks, “One at a Time” from To Swift Mars

Best Coast, “Sun Was So High (So Was I)” – Washed out vocals and daydreamin lyrics bout girls

Jeremy Enigk, “Mind Idea” – A beautiful track, a tad to “radio-play” for me, but good for a playlist spot on a summer drive.

Wavves “No Hope Kids” from Pete Ohs on Vimeo.

Recently a friend of mine has been engaged in a small war of music. The battles up to this point have left her tragically out-numbered on the field to more experienced, far-reaching music pallet. Each recommendation she plucks fresh quickly wilts in the hands of her diligent, aficionado opponent. I imagine she is slightly saddened by the continued lack of surprise presented with each new recommendation. Yet overwhelmingly satisfied, though somewhat bitter, with each new hidden gem unearthed before her eyes.

That’s where I come in. Enlisted as a ghost wandering the tattered battlefields, pushing single-hit fads into the dirt and planting a wide range of soulful, energetic landmines ready to engulf any nearby listener with a steady stream of sonic bliss. And who knows, hopefully I’ll have to take a few steps back, raise an eyebrow, cup my ear and find myself lost in a new array of yet-to-be-discovered artists and tracks. Then again… that may be why I’m here.

The opponent has been described as having a wide taste in music but has recently fell into a great stash of indie rock. A typical pattern seen in music hungry laptop surfers, myself included. I am also keeping the little knowledge I know of my friends preferences in mind as well. Somewhere to get started, yet vague  enough to have fun with.

Because I consider any war a war of nutrition, I thought it best to dribble out a few snacks, see which ones get nibbled up first, then set the traps.

The best way to get started is some hand-to-hand combat. Get in close and either overwhelm your opponent with tactful surprise or dip back to a fox hole for reinforcements.

First I would launch a few quick left handed jabs, maybe something he’s seen before, just to let him know where we stand. A friend of mine once described Pinkback as, “the culmination of everything that is indie-rock today,” of course, that was a few years ago. Pinback has already been on the scene for over a decade, but they’re ramping up for a new US tour and are sure to still have a lick or two up their sleeves.  Their music is beautiful, inventive, and saddening, yet hopeful. A few tracks to sum it all up: “Loro” from Pinback and “Seville” from Blue Screen Life.

Next I’d have to throw a cross, something new that may catch ‘em off guard and leave ‘em a little weak in the knees. Surf City’s, Self Titled EP is an instant summertime classic. All six tracks are great and embellish that great lo-fi, indie-garage-rock sound. Grab a board and hit the shores for a backyard party with some kids you prolly shouldn’t be hangin wid.

Now it’s time for an unorthodox move; something that could win the prize or maybe just somehting that makes the crowd smile. Too Young to Love is the just released first album from London’s own The Big Pink. This is a perfect blend of electronic elements skillfully crafted into great melodies. Check out “Velvet,” a self-produced track mixed by the one and only Alan Moulder.

Next I’d move to a sure thing. A barrage of good music… and Elbow has been there along the way.  It’s been a long while since I first heard “Any Day Now” from Asleep in the Back but it still hits me in the right place. This is a band that was together a good ten years before they cut a major record; which stets them up for a prolonged existence of hits. I can’t say that every track on each record got major play in whatever beater I was driving around at the time, but a lot of tracks have stuck with me. Elbow’s subtleties and daring attitude to invent new ways to record tracks has left me listening from “Snooks (Progress Report)” from Cast of Thousands all the way through “The Bones Of You” on The Seldom Seen Kid. Watching the band play this album Live at Abbey Road will solidify their talents.

I’d have to end today’s battle as any modern-day gentleman should… with a slow, soulful, acoustic progression that tugs at your heart and leaves you staring into the night sky. Distance and Time by Fink will make you want to be close to all those just out of sight. Tracks such as “This Is The Thing” and “Little Blue Mailbox” take you to a moment in time when tears are your only comfort. Yet “Under The Same Stars” and “Make It Good” are breaks in the clouds filled with warm rays of sunshine… Althought his newest effort, Sort of Revolution has yet to embrace me so kindly.

View my Summer Download list for more Free Music Recommendations

Here is the second song from ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’, in which everyone untunes their instruments and nigel thrashes a dx-7, coaxing sounds hitherto unheard from the 80′s power ballad beast.

Record Club: Velvet Underground & Nico ‘Waiting for My Man’ from Beck Hansen on Vimeo.

Beck seems to never be short on inspiration. He also seems to be making music constantly and effortlessly. He has created a new project dubbed Record Club. With the help of some friends including: Devendra Banhart, Jamie Lidell, MGMT and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich, Beck plans to cover an entire classic album in one day, with no rehearsal, then post the efforts to a section on his yet-to-be redesigned website. He plans to release one song a week. He’ll begin his journey by tackling the timeless and revolutionary 1966 The Velvet Underground & Nico.This is a fantastic album that I’m sure will wield some interested results. But man, what can you do with a track like “Heroin”? I can’t imagine it any other way. Interesting.

The schedule for Lollapalooza 2009 is out. Check it. More on my personalized schedule later…

This is a track from the Fever Ray upcoming Triangle Walks single. The single is out on 12″/digitally on June 23, and features remixes from Tiga, Allez-Allez, and more. This is Ben Hoo’s still frame remix. The track is nice and soothing as much of her work is… all while adding her chilling signature vocal-effect-blends and childhood memory lyrics.

Fever Ray “Triangle Walks (Ben Hoo’s still frame)

Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails, has decided to stop communicating on social networking sites, twitter mainly, that have fueled his marketing efforts the past few years. Trent admits these platforms have been a way to immerse himself into the community and get a feel for what the fans really want; something traditional record companies don’t have a clue about. Being such a popular, and extemporaneous, individual exposed to the simple-minded, egotistic and noxious desires of socially inapt, yet computer-screen-empowered, 2.0 creatures can really bring a person down. All the extended-addition-digitally-enhanced-content hungry fans have done just as expected. They’ve been given inch-by-inch and taken foot-by-foot, in turn driving their star from a super nova into a secluded black dwarf. Give the guy some space and if you love him and/or his music so intently, give him the respect he has always shown you and his environment. Let him move on to the next chapter in his life. We will all miss his blatant and deceptive humor… but for the fans that really care, we will miss being able to connect with an icon and communicate with a generous human being.

Read Trent’s Post