After the country’s brief infatuation with World Cup Egg-Chasing, it’s all about the beautiful game this weekend with the Republic looking to book their place in France next summer alongside the already qualified Nordy Ireland. Martin O’Neill’s men start tonight as underdogs, which has historically been the prelude to some of Ireland’s finest international sporting moments. If Martin wants to forgo his traditional team talk, we have a quality Free Music Friday collection of downloads, streams, vids and trailers to put fire into collective footballing bellies. 
Blur have debuted the trailer for New World Towers, a documentary film charting the making of their The Magic Whip album and subsequent gigs in Hyde Park and Hong Kong where the preliminary studio sessions took place. It’s in cinemas for one night only on December 2 with Cineworld, The Lighthouse, Vue and the Odeon in Dublin and the Odeon in Belfast the go-to places on this side of the Irish Channel.

There’s hot streaming action to be had courtesy of American NPR who have first dibs on The Grateful Dead’s farewell gig; the latest Jonny Greenwood flight of fancy that takes him to northern India, and a new album from D.C. pop-punk veterans The Max Levine Ensemble.



The massive news for Jeff Buckley fans is that Columbia have announced the March 16, 2016 of You & I, a 10-tracker mainly comprising of cover versions along with new versions of his own ‘Grace’ and ‘Dream Of You And I’. Those covers are Bob Dylan’s ‘Just Like A Woman’, Sly & The Family Stone’s ‘Everyday People’, Louis Jordan’s ‘Don’t Let The Sun Catch You Cryin’’, Jevetta Steele’s ‘Calling You’, The Smiths’ ‘The Boy With The Thorn In His Side’ and ‘I Know It’s Over’, Bukka White’s ‘Poor Boy Long Way From Home’ and Led Zeppelin’s ‘Night Flight’. Most of the recordings are from the early part of his career, which was tragically cut short in 1997 when Buckley drowned aged 30. 

It’s over to Holland next where 3Voor want you to check out the latest from punk-era veteran Wreckless Eric, Rocket From The Tombs, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats, Angie Stone, Joel Sarakula and British Sea Power who’ve given their back catalogue a brassy makeover.

 




Noise Trade have an absolute gem for us in the delicate alt. folk shape of Siv Jakobsen who hails from Asker, Norway but studied at Berklee College of Music in Boston, and is already on the Hot Press Hot For 2016 list.



Gavin James played another blinder on Tuesday night as at the host’s personal behest he guested on James Corden’s Late Late Show in the States for the second time this year. You could hear an emaciated pin drop in the studio as Gav belted out ‘Bitter Pill’ with considerable gusto. Other guests were Anna Faris, Joshua Jackson and Patrick Vieira. 
Earlier in the week, Corden helped Alanis Morissette update ‘Ironic’ with thoroughly chucklesome results. 


Richie Egan, AKA Jape, is letting you name your price - don’t be tightwads people! - for .wav goodbye, a gorgeously understated collection of tunes made in Malmo. “Here's a little home-recorded experiment of stuff,” Richie writes. “My friends always tell me I never release most of the stuff I do, and that is true to be honest because I see songwriting as a gift to help with my mental health. So when the song is done I feel like in a way it has served it's purpose. Hope you're good and I hope you dig the roughness and weirdness of these tunes.” We most certainly do, Richie!

The whole of the soaring Rise Of The Tomb Raider video game soundtrack is available for free download.

We’re loving the video for ‘Me & Johnny Cash’, the debut single from American country songstress Rainey Qualley who plays Buck’s Townhouse, Dublin on November 14. She’s a seriously hot property in Nashville at the moment and likely to grace a far bigger stage the next time she’s in town. The namechecking of classic Man In Black song titles reminds us of Alabama 3's equally belting 'Hello I'm Johnny Cash’. It would be remiss of us not to have some actual Johnny to bring the curtain down on this working week.



The always wonderful Erykah Badu has premiered her new single, ‘Phone Down’, which trails her upcoming But You Caint Use My Phone mixtape. It is, we’re pleased to report, as funky as fuck.

Hotshot Danish DJ and producer Morten has given Adele’s ‘Hello’ a thorough techno going-on with http://www.hive.co/downloads/download/415798/spotlight able to sort you out with a copy.

From the House of Bitter Rocc comes this amazing re-working of Drake’s ‘Hotline Bling’ featuring the honeyed tones of Daniela Andrade whose own stripped-down version has gone viral with almost 300,000 YouTube views.


Finally, there’s only one song that can possibly get the country in the mood for the Bosnian travails ahead.
Here’s hoping for someone to join the likes of Ray Houghton, Jason McAteer, David O’Leary and Alan McLoughlin in the pantheon of Irish goalscoring heroes. And, meanwhile, keep those links coming to @stuartclark66