Free Music Friday

You’ll have to excuse Free Music Friday for being a bit distracted, but we’ve Reginald D. Hunter in the Iveagh Gardens tonight....

The Hot Press Newsdesk, 26 Jul 2013

Ennio Morricone and 97 of his closest orchestral pals in Kilmainham tomorrow and Brooooooooce in Kilkenny on Sunday to get ready for. We’ve still found time though to assemble a bumper crop of tunes including a lady who in our humble opinion is the new Bjork, Janelle Monae and Lauryn Hill all rolled into one.

There’s a veritable orgy of album streams this week with 3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/albums.html offering Pokey LaFarge, Congo Natty, Nadine Shah, Fuck Buttons, True Widow, Soft Metals, Alela Diane, Hunx And His Punx and Juan Atkins & Moritz Von Oswald by way of seduction; Tom Russell, Randal Bramblett and Bobby Womack are flaunting themselves at www.radio6.nl/luisterpaal; Jackson Scott, Mammoth Grinder and True Window are gagging for a listen at pitchfork.com/advance and Ebony Bones, Ka  and Timo Andres & The Metropolis Ensemble are awaiting your aural pleasure at www.npr.org/series/98679384/first-listen and

The star among those is Ms. Bones’ Beyond, A Pale Horse, which is out here on August 2 through Rough Trade. Its diversity is no surprise given that Cee Lo Green and ex-Damned drummer Rat Scabies are both close musical allies of the Londoner’s. Standouts include a version of The Smiths’ ‘What Difference Does It Make’, which finds her joined by the New London Children’s Choir.

A superstar is definitely born!

NPR also have a fabulous acoustic download session from Guards, the New Orleans retro twangers who are opening for MGMT in October when they swing by the Dublin Olympia.

Fresh from working with Kanye on Yeezus, Brooklyn producer Arca has released adeliciously dark mixtape, which underlines his own superstar potential.

There’s no hanging around with &&&&&’s 14 tracks squeezed into an exhilarating 25 minutes.

Not since our very own The Cast Of Cheers has there been a better televisually inspired band name than Scott & Charlene’s Wedding. The Any Port In A Storm album taster they’re giving away at www.stereogum.com/1413761/scott-charlenes-wedding-wild-heart/mp3s is similarly inspired.

It's sensory overload time as Drogheda three-piece Sights Distorted make their bow with this trippy, strobe-laden promo for debut single 'Arrows'. A punchy mix of synth-pop and industrial gristle, it offers a taste of forthcoming album Last Light which saw the band seek to create "a cinematic musical backdrop with a lyrical narrative to explore Hope and the loss of Hope."

Last Light is set for imminent release with the trio planning on making it available as a free download. Keep your eye on facebook.com/sightsdistorted for details. 'Arrows' is currently available as a free download from their Bandcamp page.

Elvis Costello and The Roots have released the first taster from their collaborative album, Wise Up Ghost, which drops in September.

What at first seems an unlikely hook up makes perfect sense when you hear ‘Walk Us Uptown’, a funky slice of retro jazz funk, which wouldn’t sound out of place in a Blaxploitation movie.

Los Angeles punk gods X come under the microscope in The Unheard Music, a fabulous documentary that includes plenty of archive ‘70s and ‘80s footage.

Fronted by Siouxsiealike Exene Cervenka, the band have recently hit the comeback trail and earned themselves a whole new audience courtesy of a Pearl Jam support tour.

Franz Ferdinand followed in Kiss, Adele, Katy Perry and Coldplay’s illustrious footsteps on Monday when they performed a 48mins 19secs Live On Letterman set.

Alex Kapranos recovered from a nervy start – “We’re from Franz Ferdinand in Scotland… er, we’re Franz Ferdinand from Scotland!” – to lead his men through a set that drew on all four of their albums including Right Words, Right Action which drops just a few days before their Electric Picnic appearance.

Also Stradbally-bound are Arctic Monkeys who go all T.Rex-y with ‘2013’, a new track that’s not included on their AM album, but will grace an upcoming B-side.

Much-vaunted UK singer-songwriter James Bay says “hello America!” with the five-track The Dark Of The Morning EP.  About to embark on a lengthy coast-to-coast tour, he sounds like a younger, less weather-beaten Ray LaMontagne with a smidgeon of Damien Rice thrown in for good measure.

Having been missing in action for a while, Childish Gambino suddenly re-appears with a beguiling new tune, ‘Centipede’, that’s available for free soundcloud.com/childish-gambino/centipede download.

Little League Records gift us ‘Last’/ ‘Evening’, a virtual double A-side single from Carlow’s Shriekin’ Specialist who has an avant hip hop raga thing going on. Don’t we all!

Not one to let the grass or anything else grow under his feet, Shriekin’ Specialist also collaborates with Auxiliary Phoenix on the excellent Assorted Gs, Vol. 1 mixtape.

Our old electro-folk chums Tenonsaw up the ante with ‘After Each Dark’, a Portishead-y affair, which may or may not feature on their debut album, The Storm.

She may be on a year’s break, but that didn’t stop Florence Welch jumping up on stage last week with English band Sourberry at their summer party and belting out suitably rowdy versions of Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ and Gossip’s ‘Standing In The Way Of Control’.

Needless to say, she was caught in the act by a gig-goer who’s to be complimented on his/her steady hand!

John Moore, the Hollywood director whose CV includes A Good Day To Die Hard, Beyond Enemy Lines and The Omen remake, has shot a stunning promo video for Colin Devlin’s ‘The Heart Won’t Be Denied’.

Shot in the Mojave Desert, the song “struck a chord personally” with the Dundalk man who’s also considering turning Helen Seymour’s pirate radio novel, Beautiful Noise, into a film.

Fancy a mash up of Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’ and JT’s ‘Suit + Tie’? Well, you’ve come to the right place…

As for that Pearl Jam Chicago soundcheck you’re after, 

www.wetransfer.com/downloads/819f24f868288adc8c6dfb78b1d804bd20130719021123/f42727# sneaks you into Wrigley Park before the gates open.

Metallica have released the official trailer for Through The Never, their live 3D movie with a side narrative about a delivery boy who gets caught up in an apocalyptic riot outside the Vancouver venue.

“The film itself is multilayered,” James Hetfield proffers. “It’s not blatant. It doesn’t tell you what it’s supposed to be. Hopefully you can see it more than once and see something different every time. And not just a week later, but a couple years later.”

The film is out Stateside on September 27 with a European release doubtless to follow.

Having last week issued a video for the title-track, Manic Street Preachers now debut the lead single from their Rewind The Film album.

‘Show Me The Wonder’ is a brassy little affair with a bit of a Motown (but no junk!) thing going on.

It all bodes extremely well for their September 20 show in Dublin’s Olympia Theatre.

The leftfield hip hop genius that is Earl Sweatshirt whets appetites for his official Doris album, with a free mixtape that includes Casey Veggies and Vince Staples-assisted lead single ‘Hive’.

His OFWGKTA colleague Tyler The Creator, Pharrell Williams and Action Bronson are also among the Earl Part II: The Road To Doris collaborators.

Not to be outdone, the aforementioned Mr. Veggies has unleashed his own Life Changes mix, which includes The Futuristiks among its supporting cast.

Finally, Kodaline have recorded a cover of the Roy Davis Jr. house classic, ‘Gabriel’, which will feature on the Brand New Day EP they have coming out here on August 23. It’s a thing of immense piano-driven beauty.

And on that emotionally wrought note we bid you a fond farewell for another week. Whether you’re Comedy Festival-ing, Ennio-ing or Bruce-ing, have a good ‘un and keep those links and comments coming to @stuartclark66

The Hot Press Newsdesk