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Song of the Day

Ari Up: a Tribute

Ari Up was only 14 years old when she formed the Slits in 1976. Embracing the DIY attitude of punk rock, the band charted unknown territory for women rockers, and along with the Runaways paved the way for all-female (or primarily-female) rock bands. The Slits featured three women with Ari Up as the lead singer. Not your typical girl, Ari Up grew up in a household with Johnny Rotten as her step-father and received guitar lessons from Joe Strummer. In 1981 she disbanded the Slits and moved with her family to the jungles of Indonesia and Belize and eventually settled in Jamaica.

The Slits debut album Cut, released in 1979, is an obscure punk classic. The album cover featured the women wearing nothing but loincloths and mud. “Typical Girls” was the single from the album and the 12 inch included a marvelous version of “I Heard It Through the Grapevine”. From the original vinyl, both can be heard here. Ari Up lives through her music.

The Slits

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“Typical Girls”
“I Heard It Through the Grapevine”

Urban Outfitters: 24 free downloads

It has become increasing popular for various companies to associate themselves with music in the alternative world, particularly apparel retailers; i.e. Converse, Levi’s and Doc Martens to name a few, the latter which we featured the other day. These corporations support new artists and offer free music downloads. Urban Outfitters proffers five free songs every Monday and also offers free playlist downloads from iTunes. Currently a number of artists that we have presented here in the past–Arcade Fire, Best Coast, Deerhunter, Neon Indian, Ra Ra Riot, Magic Kids, of Montreal, Les Savy Fav, and !!!–are free until the end of the year (24 in all). Click here to download. Yeasayer, the experimental rock band from Brooklyn, is part of this compilation with the song “Madder Red” which is the Song of the Day.

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“Madder Red” by Yeasayer

Bryan Ferry

Shades of Robert Palmer and the 80’s videos, only Bryan Ferry could pull this off yet remain his classy and elegant self. And having dined with Bryan in the past I can attest that he is all that and more as well as a most enjoyable dinner companion–charming, witty and self-effacing “You Can Dance” is the first song from next week’s release of his new album Olympia. Contributing musicians on the album include Pink Floyd‘s David Gilmour, Radiohead‘s Jonny Greenwood, Nile Rodgers from Chic, former Stone Roses bassist Mani and Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers, plus the Scissor Sisters and Groove Armada. Also, an almost reunited Roxy Music (Brian Eno, Phil Manzanera, and Andy Mackay) perform the Tim Buckley song “Song of the Siren” inspired by This Mortal Coil. As we await the album, “You Can Dance” is the Song of the Day.

Doc Martens at 50: 10 free downloads

Doc Martens, the boot forever associated with punk rock, has turned 50 years old. In celebration the company has commissioned 10 artists to cover one of their favorite songs as well as 10 directors to create videos for each of the tracks. Included are The Raveonettes performing the Stone Roses song “I Wanna Be Adored”, “If the Kids are United” by Sham 69 from The Duke Spirit, The Cinematic Orchestra covering “Lilac Tree” inspired by Jeff Buckley, and a version of “Dirty Old Town” known to most of us by the Pogues and recorded here by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. All ten are available here as a free download from Dr. Martens. Here is the Buzzcocks’ “Ever Fallen in Love with Someone You Shouldn’t’ve” interpreted by the Noisettes.

William Orbit

William Orbit produced Blur and Madonna, remixed Sting, Peter Gabriel and Prince, recorded as a member of the group Torch Song and has just released his eleventh solo album, Pieces in a Modern Style, Vol. 2. This is a follow-up to his 2000 Pieces in a Modern Style, where he reworked classical compositions. From the new album hear a rhythmic version of Johann Sebastian Bach’s “Prelude” followed by “Adagio for Strings” by Samuel Barber from the earlier album. This latter song was also remixed for the dance floor and became an international hit, but this is the original Orbit album version which is devastatingly beautiful and one of the saddest songs ever recorded.

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“Prelude”

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“Adagio for Strings”

Care Bears on Fire

Reminiscent of The Runaways but younger, Care Bears on Fire formed in 2005 when they were in the 5th grade! Connected to teen and pre-teen kid-core scene, these are not the adolescents of High School Musical. This trio out of Brooklyn (Sophie, vocals/guitar 15, Izzy-drums, 15 and Jena-bass, 16),has released two previous albums and their second EP, Girls Like It Loud, came out this week. A refreshing change from the sugar-coated Disney fodder, “What I Could Be” is the Song of the Day.

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“What I Could Be” by Care Bears On Fire

Antony & the Johnsons: Free download

Swanlights is the fourth studio album from Antony & the Johnsons. Another former Mercury Music Prize winner, Antony has one of the most distinctive voices in all of music. His plaintive operatic timbre is instantly recognizable with a melancholy forlorn that is painfully alone but evocatively engaging. “The Spirit Was Gone” is a free download from the album and is the Song of the Day.

(The video can be seen in the YouTube tab in the upper right. Antony pays tribute to Kazuo Ohno, a pioneer of butoh, a Japanese dance form.)

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“The Spirit Was Gone” by Antony & the Johnsons

Badly Drawn Boy: Free download

Former Mercury Music Prize winner, singer/songwriter Badly Drawn Boy, has just released It’s What I’m Thinking Pt.1 – Photographing Snowflakes, his seventh studio album. On his website he is offering a free download of a four song EP – demos of some of the songs on the new album. Here is “In Safe Hands”, one such demo, where you can hear a raw stripped version of what eventually became a beautifully produced song.

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“In Safe Hands (Demo)” by Badly Drawn Boy

Broken Social Scene and classical Pixies

The soundtrack to the film It’s Kind of a Funny Story features a new song from the Canadian music collective Broken Social Scene. And it also includes classical pianist Maxence Cyrin’s brilliant cover of the Pixies’ “Where is My Mind”. Listen to the new Broken Social Scene “Not at My Best” below and view Cyrin’s video of “Where is My Mind”. This video is not from It’s Kind of a Funny Story. Rather it is from the 1928 film The Mysterious Lady starring Greta Garbo.

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“Not At My Best” by Broken Social Scene

Bright Eyes and Sound Strike

The artist boycott of Arizona continues. I have written about it here in the past (refer to the June 1st post) and the list of Sound Strike artists has grown dramatically: those who refuse to aid Arizona economically in light of the passage of the egregious immigration law SB1070.

Money is being raised for the Sound Strike Fund which “donates needed resources to families caring for children in Arizona whose parents are detained or have been deported, immigrant rights organizing and legal defense”. Sound Strike Songs directly benefits this Fund. And the first Sound Strike Song is from Conor Oberst and Bright Eyes.

In an open letter to artists Conor says: “American ideals of democracy and liberty are built on the foundation that all people, regardless of race or country of origin, deserve fair and equal treatment by the government . . . We’ve all seen the power music has to spread messages of solidarity and hope. Please join the Sound Strike Songs project by donating a track and help us . . . enable people to continue to dream.”

This exclusive moving Sound Strike Song “Coyote Song” from Bright Eyes is a $2.00 download. Below is the video.

Support The Sound Strike. Sign the petition. Download the song. Boycott Arizona!

Exclusive Song for The Sound Strike “Coyote Song” by Bright Eyes. from Producciones Cimarrón on Vimeo.

Stereolab

In April of 2009, Stereolab announced on their website that after 19 years they were going to have “a bit of a rest” and to work on other projects. Although they do not plan to record any new music for awhile they did record numerous tracks in 2007. Out of that recording session came the 2008 album Chemical Chords, and the soon to be released Not Music. From the latter is the “Sun Demon” the Song of the Day.

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“Sun Demon” by Stereolab

Choral Creep

Scala is a Belgian girls’ choir formed by the classical-trained Kolacny Brothers with Stijn conducting and Steven on piano. They have gained international recognition by reworking covers of well-known rock songs by the likes of U2, Nirvana, Metallica, Depeche Mode, the Cure to name a few as well as with their own compositions. Their hauntingly beautiful cover of “Creep” by Radiohead is being used in the trailer of the film The Social Network and is the Song of the Day.

“Creep”
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British Sea Power: Free download

British Sea Power, the indie rock band from the UK (with brothers Yan and Hamilton), are known for their outlandish stage performances. They have just released the seven-song EP, Zeus. The title track is available for streaming, and a free download of “Living Is So Easy” is available with the simple addition of your email address below. Hear and add to your collection the Song of the Day.

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“Zeus” by British Sea Power

No Age

Punk band No Age rip it up on their third album Everything In Between. The duo of Randy Randall (guitar) and Dean Allen Spunt (drums) is associated with the underground Los Angeles DIY punk scene. They champion the All-Ages Movement Project (AMP-a network of community-based organizations that connect young people through independent music and art) as well as independent radio stations. Their call to arms is Community! Communication! Freedom! “Glitter” is the Song of the Day.

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“Glitter” by No Age

The Social Network

The film The Social Network opens tomorrow to general release. It’s the dramatic story of the early years in the development of Facebook that has forever changed the way that we interact.

I had the opportunity to explore Facebook in its nascent incarnation. In 2004 a neighbor who was attending Harvard University asked if he could produce a short documentary about me for his film class. During the course of the filming, he and his partner told me about this new website that had become overwhelming popular at their school and that was spreading to other college campuses. Membership was restricted to students but they gave me their login information and password. The website revealed many risqué and revealing photographs and much of the content was of a student body unleashed. Facebook then was the wild west that has since been settled and has conquered the world.

The movie has received rave advance reviews. The soundtrack was scored by Trent Reznor and his frequent collaborator, the English composer, Atticus Ross. The soundtrack will be available in later October. Here is a free download of a five song sampler from the album.

“Pieces Form the Whole”
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