Free Music Friday

It’s time to banish all Shane Long-related negative thoughts and concentrate on Ireland’s Six Nation annihilation of Italy. If the chaps are in need of a pre-game gee-up, we’ve compiled another adrenaline rush of a Free Music Friday for their and, indeed, your aural stimulation. Go get ‘em, gentlemen!

We’ve checked with your boss and they’re happy for you to take the next 1hr 17mins off to watch James Vincent McMorrow’s recent visit to La Gaîté Lyrique, a handsome looking Parisian venue that went suitably ape for our man.
So, phone off the hook, feet on desk, enjoy!

Actually, make that 2hrs 11mins off! If April 25 is simply too long to wait for Damon Albarn’s Everyday Robots solo album, fear not, because you can hear most of the tunes now courtesy of his BBC 6 Music gig in Manchester. It was a good ‘un!

This week’s streaming action starts at [link]3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/albums.html[/link] where new music from Linda Perches, Blood Red Shoes, Reptile Youth, Eagulls, Sexton Creeps (Ann, what have you been up to?), The Men, Drive-By Truckers. Champs, Snowbird and the mighty Tinariwen awaits; Raz Simone, Tycho, Ambrose, Nothing and naughty Puerto Rican rap boys Calle 13 are lurking with considerable intent at [link]www.npr.org/series/98679384/first-listen[/link]; depending on geographical niceties there’s booty to be had fro Spring Offensive, Bradford Cox, Lykke Li, Hark, Bend Sinister, Picastro, Janelle Monáe, Sharon Van Etten, Reptile Youth, Dean Wareham, Metronomy, Chronic City, Ernest Ellis, Calling All Cars, All The Colours, Max Cooper, Hands & Teeth, Kimono Kult, Eamon MCGrath, Dena, Black Lips and Coldplay at [link]albumstreams.com[/link]; Sufjan Stevens, Serengeti and Son Lux gather under the collective Serengeti banner at [link]www.theguardian.com/music/series/album-streams and R’n’B siren Ledisi’s The Truth is all yours – for a while – at http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/arts/music/pressplay.html?_r=3&[/link]

A visit to [link]www.npr.org/2014/02/28/283974226/the-austin-100-a-sxsw-2014-mix[/link] also allows you to download a massive 100 tracks from the acts playing at SXSW.
With the likes of Against Me!, Agnes Obel, Cate Le Bon, Dum Dum Girls, Eagulls, Kelis, Laura Cantrell, Lydia Love, Public Service Broadcasting, Sleeper Agent and Warpaint on the list you can really fill your digital boots!

In the Somewhat Unexpected Dept., Common, Wale, Big Boi and Daddy Yankee are among the hot ’n’ heavy rap types contributing to Catch The Throne, a Game Of Thrones mixtape available for free [link]soundcloud.com/catchthethrone[/link] download.

At this stage we thought that Lana Del Rey’s ‘Born To Die’ was all downloaded out but, nope, this Two Friends jobbie takes it off in all sorts of different dancey directions.

Brooklyn spitter Papoose enlists the services of Loaded Luxe, Cassidy, Raekwon and DJ Premier on his rather fine Cigar Society mixtape.

London grime guv’nor Prince Rapid mightn’t be able to spell for toffee, but he makes banging tunes as evidenced by ‘Fire Hydren’.

Interviewed in the current issue of Hot Press – he’s an interesting fellow – Icelandic troubadour Ásgeir whets appetites for his excellent In The Silence album with the equally excellent Going Home + The Toe Rag Sessions Acoustic EP.

Also new from the Noise Trade stable are Americana doyen Mary Gauthier’s Live At Blue Rock; PHOX delivers a fabulous iTunes Festival: London 2013 set and Hearttaker, the debut album from Nashville’s HOSTS, AKA Miles Patzer, who’s got a bit of a countrified Glen Hansard thing going on. We like!

Band Horses are streaming their ace  Acoustic At The Ryman live album.

Bray and Waterford-bound this summer for festival dates, Paloma Faith is streaming her A Perfect Contradiction album at [link]nylonmag.com/articles/paloma-faith-perfect-contradiction#[/link] – but not for long!

And that’s where we take our Free Music Friday leave of you for another week. Keep those links flooding in to @stuartclark66 and good luck tomorrow to the egg-chasing Boys In Green!