Free Music Friday

Today is the day! If you want to wipe that smug grin off Senator Ronan Mullen's face get to your local polling station and vote a resounding "Yes!" To soundtrack what we hope is the dawn of a glorious new Irish age, Free Music Friday has rounded-up another quality collection of tunes, streams and vids to banish the bigots!
The Longitude-bound Young Fathers kept it short but ever so sweet the other day when they treated American NPR listeners to soulfully stripped down renditions of 'Am I Not Your Boy' and 'Only Child'.  4min 6secs to cherish!

Hanging around the NPR offices a little longer were Bellows, a Brooklyn combo who remind us in a totally good way of The Mouldy Peaches.

Compensation for those unable to make it to June 18 – 21's Firefly Music Festival in Dover, Delaware is provided by the free (but you're welcome to tip!) 25-track preview mix featuring the likes of Sylvan Esso, The White Panda, Bahamas, Vacationer, PHOX, Twin Peaks, Hey Rosetta! and Prinze George, a Brooklyn electropop duo Hot Press to which has taken a bit of a collective shine.


The hot sampler action doesn't end there with SOJA, Benjamin Booker, Stars, Fly Golden Eagle, Midlake, Hurray For The Riff Raff and Mariachi El Bronx among the baker's dozen of artists gracing the latest ATO Records try before you buy collection.



That Fly Golden Eagle set is the first time we've encountered WFPK Radio Louisville's In-Studio Session.
Courtney Barnett's June 2014 visit is just one of aground a hundred archived performances that can be found on YouTube.

If it's something primeval you're after, let Free Music Friday point you in the direction of Dirty Cakes' 'Kill, Kill, Fuck', which sounds pretty much how you'd expect it to sound. Which is shitkickin' awesome!

The Arctic Monkeys-ation of The Strypes continues with these blistering renditions of 'Eighty-Four' and 'Scumbag City'. While sticking proudly to their R'n'B roots, there's a new toughness and swagger about the Cavan combo that we really like. It all bodes extremely well for their Little Victories album, which drops here on July 24.


To the streams now and [link]3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/albums.html[/link] wants you to check out the latest from Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Thee Oh Sees, Jim O'Rourke, The Tallest Man On Earth, Warm Soda, The Hello Sequence, Torres, Echo Movis, Jamie Scott, Weedeater, We Are The Ocean, Surfer Blood and Holy Holy; The Vaccines, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Shana Cleveland & The Sandcastles, Joshua Redman & The Bad Plus, The Milk Carton Kids and Faith No More star in a bumper [link]www.npr.org/series/98679384/first-listen[/link] crop, and [link]www.nytimes.com/interactive/arts/music/pressplay.html?_r=3&[/link] is crazy about New York-via-Texas jazz collective Snarky Puppy.
If you've lost sleep wondering, "What would Death Cab For Cutie sound like remixed by Dan Deacon?" you can now rest easy, with the Maryland techno boffin having his evil way with the Washington State quartet's 'Black Sun'. 

Recent Hot Press cover stars and, of course, imminent Slane headliners Foo Fighters have released a short but very sweet doc of them playing a Record Store Day gig in Niles, Ohio. This week found them in New York where they joined Bob Dylan in saying "farewell, old friend!" to David Letterman who after 23-years in the Late Show With... hot seat has decided to take life a bit easier from now on. Dressed for the occasion in tuxedos, their blistering version of 'Everlong' accompanied a montage of Mr. L's best bits. We have to say we found it all rather emotional!


Mixtape of the Week goes to Gucci Mane whose King Gucci – modesty is not one of his strong suits! – collection features cameos from DJ Scream, PeeWee Longway, Young Scooter, Chief Keef and Migos, to name just five.

The first full-length trailer has appeared online for Amy, the controversial documentary about Ms. Winehouse from the makers of Senna. As previously revealed on hotpress.com, her parents Mitch and Janis are unhappy with the prominence given to her ex-husband Blake Fielder-Civil who's admitted introducing their daughter to heroin.

North Dublin guitar merchants The North Sea treat us to 'Decay', another prime cut from their self-titled debut album which is being unleashed on June 26.

Which brings the curtain down on another action-packed Free Music Friday. The polling booths close at 10pm tonight, please make sure you see the inside of one before then! And, of course, keep those links coming to @stuartclark66