It looks like the start of a beautiful weekend, but even if the heavens open, in Free Music Friday’s heart it is forever summer. So, it’s with Hawaiian shirt, Homer-style short shorts and shades on that we unearth another bumper batch of gratis tuneage for you.

FMF’s favourite thing this week – actually, make that year so far – is ‘Demons’, the awesome new tune and video from The National. Pop melancholia of the finest kind, it suggests that Matt & Co.’s new Trouble Will Find Me album is going to be a chart-topping monster.

Also getting copious Trinity Street plays this week is Get Back In The Van, a “Hello, it’s us again!” acoustic and live career overview from The Presidents Of The United States Of America.

We’re on a roll now! Danish found sound merchants Efterklang dropped by the NPR offices last week and used whatever they could lay their hands on to come up with this fabulous download session.

[link]3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/albums.html[/link] kicks our streaming action off with new albums by John Beltran, Pttrns, Deadstring Brothers, William Adamson, Ill Bill and a collection of Polly Harvey’s mate John Parish’s film music; the bumper [link]www.npr.org/series/98679384/first-listen[/link] crop includes Flaming Lips, Ghostface Killah & Adrian Younge, The Shouting Matches, Shuggie Otis and Iron & Wine; [link]music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/#/1[/link] is the go-to place for Plain White Ts, Jake Miller, Stars In Stereo, Paul Anka, Kree Woods, Mission South, The Material, The Supervillains and Rich Boy; Charli XCX, The Thermals, David Grimes, Ghost B.C., The Haxan Cloak, White Fence, Barn Owl and Thee Oh Sees are residing at [link]pitchfork.com/advance[/link], and [link]music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/spinner#/1[/link] pitch in with Breakfoot, Todd Rundgren, Pyyramids, Young Man, The Wilderness Of, Belle Mare, Little Tybee, Broadheds, Cobalt Cranes, Henry Blak and Sad Baby Wolf.
 
The fabulous soundtrack that M83 have conjured up for Oblivion can be listened to at [link]www.firstshowing.net/2013/its-here-stream-all-17-tracks-of-the-m83-oblivion-soundtrack-now[/link];
 
19-year-old Long Island spitter Davon King treats us to the killer ‘New York Times’ below and also has an equally essential mixtape available at [link]www.datpiff.com/Davon-King-Thoughts-Of-An-Analogical-Thinker-mixtape.420156.html[/link]

Staying in the Big Apple and Joey Bada$$, ASAP Rocky, Action Bronson, Worlds Fair and The Kid Daytona all contribute to the New York Renaissance mix assembled by Hot 97’s Peter Rosenberg and available from [link]www.datpiff.com/mixtapes-detail.php?id=473852[/link]

The quality mixtape-ry continues at [link]www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/20637/problem-iamsu-million-dollar-afro.html[/link] with Million Dollar Afro, a Bay Area-meets-Compton collaboration between Problem and IAmSu!

James Blake is sampled and Future, Wiz Khalifa, Smoke DZA, BJ The Chicago Kid, Big SANT and Trinidad James pressed into service on King Remembered In Time, another quality mix from the Big KRIT, which resides at [link]www.livemixtapes.com/mixtapes/21536/big-krit-king-remembered-in-time.html[/link]

Mayer Hawthorne previews his as-yet-untitled new album with the ‘80stastic disco strains of ‘Designer Drug’.

Also on album previewing duties this week is Sheryl Crow who drops ‘Easy’ at [link]sherylcrow.chateaustjean.com/#[/link]
Its nameless parent follows during the summer.

Bound for Whelan’s on April 22, Missouri-born, Berlin-based alt-folker Ian Fisher and his band The Present are giving away the ever so lovely ‘Why Do I Go?’
We feel a new musical love affair coming on…

Anglo-Antipodean four-piece Splashh underline their nu-shoegaze credentials with the jangletastic ‘Sun Kissed Bliss’.

[link]www.xlr8r.com/mp3[/link] keeps the dancey downloads coming with new tunes from Rumah, Outboxx, Chad Valley feat. Twin Shadow and The Range.

To Letterkenny and Derry now where the border-straddling Alaskan are gifting us ‘The Day You Saved’, a lovely warm blast of chillwave.

The Oh Sees, Polica, Cloud Nothings, White Arrows, Youth Lagoon and SpaceGhostPurrp are among the bounteous delights to be found on the [link]www.spin.com/articles/free-mixtape-download-spin-coachella-mixtape-2013?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=041113[/link] Coachella festival preview mix.

Polish sensations Wampire have come up with a damn fine cover of Kraftwerk’s ‘Das Modell’, which sticks to the original German.

The debut LP from Telephobia, AKA Colin Fien, is available free courtesy of those generous Oligopolsit Records people. We’ve no idea how to pronounce माया’s title, but "it" is a fantastic debut that uses homegrown samples of finger-snaps, keys, tambourines and plenty more to deliver a multi-genre electronic trip. 

London multi-instrumentalist SOHN's mournful, melancholic number 'The Wheel' has been given the remix treatment by Irish producer/DJ Reid.

LA punks The Transplants whet appetites for their new album with ‘In A Warzone’, a take no prisoners free sample, which comes with a most excellent shouty pop chorus.

Our arsenal of video treats continues with the (literally) incendiary clip for Flaming Lips and Bon Iver’s ‘Ashes In The Air’.

Ace Chicago rapper Sasha Go Hard takes her homegirls bowling on the promo for ‘Blow My Mind’. It’s only a matter of time before the lady’s massive.

Prince and 3rd Eye Girl have given ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ the dirtiest of blues makeovers. We thoroughly approve!

LETSGOCRAZY from Madison Dubé on Vimeo.

Free Music Friday fave Chance The Rapper has gone and shot a brilliant promo with comedian Hannibal Buress and Chicago filmmaker Austin Vesely.

When not being RSAG, Jeremy Hickey can be found in France indulging in Gallic sauciness with the rest of Bot’Ox whose new electro rocker, ‘The Face Of Another’, features the vocal talents of one Anna Jean.
It’s the fourth single from an album that’s being released in November. There’s also talk of Mr. Hickey bringing them back to his manor for a pre-Christmas Irish gig.

And that ladies, gentlemen, boys and girls, is your Free Music Friday lot for another week. Comments and links as always to @stuartclark66