FREE MUSIC FRIDAY~!

As if this sunny start to the weekend wasn’t glorious enough we’ve another action-packed Free Music Friday to jolly things up even more.

Hot Press spent a very pleasant 45 minutes yesterday chatting to Paul Weller who revealed that he’ll be playing here in December. You don’t have to wait though for an earful of his Sonik Kicks album, which is streaming at [link]music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/spinner#/1[/link] along with the latest opuses from Civil Twilight, Lindsay Fuller, Poor Moon, Astra and Mercies.

Next to our bounteous old friend [link]3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/albums.html[/link] who are streaming the new albums from Orbital, The British Expeditionary Force, Simon Felice, Justin Townes Earle, Blood Red Shoes, THEESatisfaction, Breton, Grinderman and Miike Snow.

Their kindred American spirits [link]npr.org/series/98679384/first-listen[/link] with similarly impressive streams of the new M. Ward, Bear In Heaven, Of Monsters And Men and High On Fire offerings.

Meanwhile at [link]npr.org/2012/03/29/149163085/glen-hansard-new-songs-and-old-friends?ps=mh_frhdl2[/link] you can hear Glen Hansard previewing some new songs, covering Brooooce and getting on down with E Street Band-er Jake Clemons.

It keeps getting better with [link]npr.org/event/music/148530119/alabama-shakes-live-in-concert-sxsw-2012[/link] and [link]npr.org/event/music/148474924/sharon-van-etten-live-in-concert-sxsw-2012[/link] home to downloadable live SXSW sets from Alabama Shakes and the equally genius Sharon Van Etten who counts The National among her admirers.

On the home front, Dublin electro heroes Sounds Of System Breakdown have a brand spanking new and completely free remix EP available for your listening pleasure at [link]soundsofsystembreakdown.bandcamp.com/album/others-remixes[/link] so get on it!

Having seen it go platinum in the States, AWOLNATION have decided to give their ‘Sail’ single away in return for a [link]facebook.com/RedBullRecords/app_209906579108771[/link] 'like'. Which seems perfectly reasonable to us!

The hot streaming action continues at [link]t.co/lATHGQC6[/link] where Maximo Park let us hear the title-track from their new album, The National Health, which is unleashed in June.

It’s “welcome back” to Heathers who have the gorgeous ‘Forget Me Knots’ available as a free [link]heathersmusic.net/forgetmeknots[/link] download. Its parent album follows later in the spring.

Among the many Record Store Day delights to look forward to is this [link]t.co/W7T5o0Fb[/link] hook-up between Bon Iver and The Flaming Lips.

Also debuting one of the tracks from her new elpee at [link]www.bronaghgallagher.com/[/link] is Commitments star Bronagh Gallagher who has a load of gigs coming up as well.

The generous to a fault Anna Calvi treats fans to an assortment of free live downloads at [link]annacalvi.com/[/link]

If it’s old school headbanging fare you’re after, look no further than the [link]exclaim.ca/MusicVideo/ClickHear/3_inches_of_blood-long_live_heavy_metal_album_stream[/link] run through of 3 Inches Of Blood’s Long Live Heavy Metal, which is the best album Iron Maiden have never made. They play Dublin's Pint Bar on May 11 with the lovely Goatwhore supporting.

Pacific Northwest legends The Melvins – Dave Grohl and Eddie Vedder are both huge fans – have a free tune available from [link]scionav.com/collection/917/The-Melvins---The-Bulls--The-Bees[/link] which proves that there’s plenty of life in the old rottweilers yet.

Soak is 15, from Derry and coming up with some seriously quality tunes like ‘Numb’, which has more than a touch of the Mazzy Stars about it.

Teenage Fanclub’s Gerard Love and a bunch of Glaswegian mates have joined forces as Lightships, and made an album that Domino are releasing here today.
Try before you buy at [link]guardian.co.uk/music/musicblog/2012/mar/27/lightships-electric-cables-album-stream?newsfeed=true[/link]

Dream pop fans should also check out the [link]soundcloud.com/johnnyjewel/chromatics-kill-for-love-album[/link] stream of the new Chromatics album, Kill For Love, which kicks off with a rather lovely cover of Mr. Young’s ‘Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)’.

Ed’s Irish cousin Laura Sheeran has a free download available from [link]laurasheeran.bandcamp.com/download?enc=mp3-320&id=2902576139&ts=1332755446.2055648081&tsig=f58dd4936755753c23a321195df11a74&type=track[/link] which we suspect will make you want to rush out and buy her debut album.

Northern contenders runawayGO have produced this rather striking promo clip for their debut ‘Electric’ single, which reminds us of Evanescence’s ‘Falling’. That's a compliment by the way.

David Guetta isn’t coming to Dublin’s Marlay Park until August 24, but you can see him doing his superstar DJ thing now courtesy of Nothing But The Beat, a retina-pleasing, if you will, danceumentary, which is available for the next few days as a free iTunes download.

Broooce and The E Street Band’s Wrecking Ball tour kicked off last week and judging by this footage from Tampa they’re in seriously rocking form.

It’s a bit over-noodly for our tastes, but if The Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir jamming with assorted members of The National and The Walkmen is your cup of PG Tips, watch them them below covering Cass McCombs.

We are very much liking the look of the new Van Warped Tour film, No Room For Rock Stars, which is available online from April 2.

Also wending its way to a big/small screen near you soon is Marley, Last King Of Scotland man Kevin McDonald’s tribute to His Bobness, which includes some particularly nifty live footage.

Finally, Free Music Friday is thrilled that both Tenacious D and Ron Burgundy are soon to resume their cinematic adventures. Jack and Kyle preview their return with a new choon and video while Ron, complete with jazz flute, made his big announcement this week on Conan. [link]rizeofthefenix.tenaciousd.com[/link] has more D goodness.

We’re back with another bulging Free Music Friday next week. Make sure to send all your lovely links ahead of time to @stuartclark66