Music/News: 14 Nov 2014
The Hot Press Newsdesk

Free Music Friday

Winter may have started to bite but Free Music Friday has amassed another collection of tunes, vids and trailers that will warm even the coldest of cockles.

It started with a trickle, now Richard James is treating Aphex Twin fans to a deluge of rarities on his SoundCloud. They’re all available for free download so get stuck in!

It's a big Free Music Friday "hello" to Making Movies, a band of Panamanian expats who’ve been working with Los Lobos’ Steve Merlin. The modern Latino noise they make is fabulous!

Sticking with America’s National Public Radio, [link]www.npr.org/2014/11/11/362344517/heavy-rotation-10-songs-public-radio-cant-stop-playing[/link] will sort you out with free tunes from Oil Boom, thestand4rd, Lost Midas, A. Sinclair, Amelia Curran, A.Mo, Bully, Snake Rattle Rattle Snake, Melody’s Echo Chamber  and our very own Damien Rice. You can also scroll through other recent editions where some of the downloads are still active.

There's another rich seam of tunes to be mined at [link]www.xfm.co.uk/new-music/download-tracks-latest-bands[/link] which has freebies from The Jacques, The Flies, Pale Fires, Broken Witt Rebels, Lucky T. Jackson, Rebel Westerns and half-a-dozen other hip young British things.

Declan O'Rourke's series of monthly singles giveaways continues with 'Let's Make Big Love', which finds him joined by Americana legend John Prine and The Milk Spots. 

You'll find it lurking with considerable intent at [link]declanorourke.com/news[/link]

To the streams now and [link]www.npr.org/series/98679384/first-listen[/link] has the latest from Bryan Ferry, Robert Wyatt, Andy Stott and Mr. Gnome; check out The Paperhead, Beardyman, Gong, The Voyeurs, Purple, Landmark 105 and Spookyland at [link]3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/albums.html[/link]; Krokodil, Savages, Brassica, Mark Maguire, Nathan Bowles, Red Red Meat, The Cyclist, Buzzcocks, Laurel, Ariel Pink and Foo Fighters can be checked out at [link]albumstreams.com[/link] as long as you and your device happen to be in the right place; actor Guy Pearce - yep, the Neighbours one - and the Macca celebrating Art Of McCartney compilation jostle for pole position at [link]www.theguardian.com/music/series/album-streams[/link], and it’s all about Canadian experimentalists Art Department at [link]www.nytimes.com/interactive/arts/music/pressplay.html?_r=3&[/link]

Rewinding there a bit, The Cyclist is a Derry producer who has also been known to answer to the name of Andrew Morrison, and will definitely be on our Hot For 2015 list. Which is the last spoiler you’ll get out of us before January!

Must-haves brought to you this week by Noise Trade include Everybody Loves You, a full-length from Brooklyn instrumentalist Kaki King who sounds like she may be a bit of a Rodrigo y Gabriela fan; a three-track sampler from Gregory Porter, another New Yorker who has a quality retro jazz funk thing going on; a live EP from Ryan Adams-y Canadian strummer Bahamas, and an introduction to Liam Hayes, a Chicagoan who we suspect may be of Irish stock. In case you're wondering, yep, he did appear as himself in High Fidelity!

The trailer has been released for Season Three of Lilyhammer, Steve Van Zandt’s acclaimed mob series which will be available for Netflix binging on November 21. As previously revealed by Hot Press, there are cameos to look forward to from his former Sopranos cohort Tony Sirico, AKA Paulie Walnuts, and the Boss of bosses, Bruce Springsteen.

Team Hot Press is loving ‘You Give Me Love’, the song Maverick Sabre has assembled with actor and DJ Idris Elba. It will grace Idris Elba Presents: Mi Mandela, a celebration of Madiba’s life which features both well-known international acts (Mumford & Sons, Mr. Hudson, James Blake) and legendary South African artists (Mahotella Queens, Spoek Mathambo, Nothembi Mkhweban).

Hear tracks now on [link]hotpress.com[/link]

It won’t win any prizes for innovation - or the non-objectification of women - but AC/DC’s new ‘Play Ball’ finds the (mainly) Antipodean rockers cranking it out like they were still in their twenties.

We’re very partial to this clip from HP’s old mucker Luane Parle, ‘Day Is Done’, which was co-written with Tupelo frontperson James Cramer and produced by the here, there ’n’ everywhere Gavin Glass who obviously has no concept of what a day off is. The song itself is a quality footstomper that strays wilfully and wonderfully into Kacey Musgraves territory.

Just in case you’ve spent the past few days in solitary confinement, here’s the excellent ‘Parklife’ parody that Rubberbandits helped Russell Brand assemble as a riposte to his critics. FMF isn’t buying into his revolution, but we do admire his chutzpah. 

The MTV EMAs were, in truth, pretty unwatchable but U2 compensated somewhat for the presence of Nicki Minaj - has there been a fringier musical moment this year than her breaking into 'I Would Walk 500 Miles'? - with this cracking rendition of 'Every Breaking Wave'.

Royal Blood comprehensively nailing Pharrell’s ‘Happy’ is the latest aural treasure to emerge from the BBC Radio One Live Lounge The Beeb have also supplied us with this gorgeous SOAK interpretation of Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’, which was aired on Huw Stephens’ Piano Sessions. Mr. Stephens will be hotfooting it over to Kerry next month to help Aidan Gillen co-present Other Voices. 

Tiny Vinyls have hit us up with another new tune, ‘Nothing’, which makes us all the more eager for that debut album of theirs.

Jennifer Evans has conjured up a fabulous vid for 'Colours Of Bruises', the lead track from her Works From The Dip & Foul album, which is out tomorrow on Delphi. There's lots of bizarre costume-ry, rope twirling and hanging upside down!

Finally, Tim Wheeler has come up with nifty YouTube sampler for his Lost Domain solo album, which is in shops today, kids!

And that’s yer’ Free Music Friday lot for another week. Here's hoping that Ireland, Republic and Northern, and our English cousins - nowhere are loyalties more split than in HP Towers - all emerge victorious this weekend from their footballing travails. In the meantime, @stuartclark 66 will suck up all the links you can throw at it.