Free Music Friday

Despite a week of obsessive African Cup of Nations viewing - politically, geographically and sporting-wise we now know everything there is to know about Equatorial Guinea - Free Music Friday has once again left no digital stone unturned in rounding up the finest tunes, vids and trailers for your aural pleasure.
Richie Egan continues to wow with this delicate acoustic rendition of the This Chemical Sea title-track. The album itself is a pearler, which propels Jape towards the mainstream without sacrificing any of their offbeat charm.

Percussions, AKA Four Tet, AKA Kieran Hebden, is giving away this taster from his new album through Annie Mac's Soundcloud, while the whole 11-tracker is available for £6 courtesy of Bandcamp.


To the streams now and The Charlatans, Deux Deux, Nikki Lane, John Coffey, Betty LaVette, Papa Roach and Charlie Winston are among the [link]3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/albums.html[/link] bounty; http://www.npr.org/series/98679384/first-listen lets you check-out Asaf Avidan, Mount Eerie, John Carpenter, Diana Krall, Title Fight and Jessica Pratt; depending on the geophysical niceties, [link]albumstreams.com[/link] can hook you up with Fossil Youth, Petite Meller, The Vespers, Yumi Zouma, Skylar Fri, Kaiser Chiefs, Sarah McGowan, Clark, My Brightest Diamond, Little Dragon, Say Lou Lou, The Prodigy, H Hawkline and Ken Starr; Indiana, Gaz Coombes and Matana Roberts are the [link]www.theguardian.com/music/series/album-streams[/link] exclusives, and Two Gallants is the quality over quantity offering from [link]www.nytimes.com/interactive/arts/music/pressplay.html?_r=3&[/link]
LA Americana specialists Forty Below Records are giving away a 10-track sampler, which also has room for legendary bluesmen John Mayall and Walter Trout. Also new, free and recommended from Noise Trade is Hello Cruel Word, a stunner from country legend Gretchen Peters, which you had to pay full-whack for when it came out in 2012.



Staying in Nashville, and Bobby Bare Jr. proves that he's just as out-there as his 'Dropkick Me Jesus Through The Goalposts Of Life' dad.

The Jayhawks are back in alt. country action and treating KEXP Seattle listeners to some swoonsomely good tunes.

On the other side of the world, Catfish & The Bottlemen add a dash of R. Kelly to The Killers' 'Read My Mind' for Australia's Triple J Radio.
The results are most enjoyable!

Hot Press cover stars Kodaline have seamlessly fused Ed Sheeran's 'Sing', Mark Ronson's 'Uptown Funk', Taylor Swift's 'Shake It Up' and their own 'Coming Up For Air' for their latest BBC Radio 1 Live Session. Accompanied by some tasty backing singers and a string section, it works a treat! Meanwhile, we had a fascinating chat this week with Mr. Ronson, which will be appearing shortly in Hot Press.


If you haven't already bagged it from his own site, James Vincent McMorrow's stunning Live At The Theatre At The Ace Hotel album is also residing here.

Navelin, a Gothenburg outfit whose ranks include expat Dubliner Andy Colbert, have a new single, 'Shake It Off', and accompanying vid which we just can't get enough of.

Darling have premiered the video for 'Just One Look', the title-track from their current EP, which is garnering considerable radio attention.
Gary Harding and James McGuire will doubtless give it an airing on January 31 when they play a Dublin Sugar Club headliner. It and the tune are both lively affairs, which explain the duo's presence on many a 'Big In 2015' list.

Out standing - well, sitting - in his own field this week is Mr. Andrew Hozier-Byrne whose 'To Be Alone' promo is a delightfully homespun affair.

"Happily ever after only exists in fairytales" proclaims the new Ted 2 trailer and, sure enough, it all goes teddy bear tits up when our favourite stuffed Ursidaen mammal gets hitched and tries to have a baby. Due in late June, it looks like another toilet humour classic from Mr. McFarlane. Not music, but we suspect you'd like to see it...

And that, sadly, is where Free Music Friday must take its leave of you for another week. The African Cup of Nations doesn't resume until Saturday, so tonight will be spent in quiet contemplation of whether the National Thunder can make Equatorial Guinean dreams come true by lifting their first ever piece of silverware. In the meantime keep those lovely links coming to @stuartclark66