FREE MUSIC FRIDAY

Free Music Friday is Cambodia-bound next week – the search for the country’s legendary Tarantula Whiskey starts the second we touch down! – so we’ve a bumper crop of tuneage to last you the fortnight.

Azealia Banks is making headlines for the right reasons this week with her fab and downloadable cover of The Strokes’ ‘Barely Legal’. The fact that some indie fascists are horrified has merely enhanced FMF’s enjoyment…

MIA shows the youngster how it’s done with an eight-minute mini-mix she did for the Kenzo fashion imprint.

America’s National Public Radio comes up trumps again with this nearly hour-long Unknown Mortal Orchestra gig, which can be popped on to your iTunes at [link]www.npr.org/event/music/172518002/live-wednesday-unknown-mortal-orchestra-with-foxygen[/link]

Ditto the equally excellent [link]www.npr.org/event/music/173105666/foxygen-in-concert[/link] set from Foxygen who should be a lot bigger on this side of the Atlantic than they are.

Josh Ritter and The Royal City Band were in top form t’other day when they played a US launch gig for The Beast In Its Tracks in New York’s Poisson Rouge venue.
The download button was sadly in the ‘off’ position, but you can look at all 79 mins 44 secs of it.

Tricky trails his False Idols album – out here on May 24 – with the beautiful Francesca Belmonte-assisted ‘Nothing’s Changed’. If the rest of the record’s this good, we’re in for an absolute treat!

We Weren’t Expecting This Dept. Almost 10 years ago to the day since leaving JJ72, Hilary Woods has reappeared as The River Cry. Out now on Betrothed, her eponymous album is a real ethereal pop delight as you’ll discover from the free [link]www.huggerpr.com/promo/The%20River%20Cry%20-%20Honeymoon.mp3[/link] taster.

He’s maybe not God anymore but Eric Clapton still plays some mean geetar on this surprisingly sprightly track from his new Old Sock album. Get it for free at [link]wxrt.cbslocal.com/2013/03/01/exclusive-eric-claptons-new-single-gotta-get-over-free-download[/link]

This fortnight’s streaming action starts at [link]3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal/albums.html[/link] where new offerings from The Men, Javelin, The Cave Singers, Gemma Ray, John Grant, Suuns, Stereophonics, Young Dreams, Statue, Blue Hawaii, Julia Kent, Larkin Poe & Thom Hell, KEN mode and Laura Mvula can be heard; [link]music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/#/1[/link] is the go-to place for Marcus Canty, Brendan James, Great Divide, Nakia and Nick Moran; Clinic, Deptford Goth and the Spring Breakers OST await you at http://pitchfork.com/advance;
[link]music.aol.com/new-releases-full-cds/spinner#/1[/link] can sort you out with How To Destroy Angels, They Might Be Giants, Son Volt , Jamaican Queens, Superhuman Happiness, Bloody Amateur and Hey Marseilles and back at [link]www.npr.org/series/98679384/first-listen[/link] you can luxuriate in new releases from Devendra Banhart, The Delfonics, Marnie Stern, Phosphorescent, Youth Lagoon, Jimi Hendrix (sort of!) and Dave Grohl who gets Stevie Nicks, Pat Smear, Rick Springfield, Corey Taylor, Rick Nielsen and Josh Homme to help him assemble the soundtrack to his Sound City rockumentary.

Alabama Shakes’ Brittany Howard and Jack White’s pal Ruby Amanfu – she provided vocal back-up on ‘Love Interruption’ – have recorded a cover of Rodriguez’s ‘I Wonder’ which can be heard at [link]soundcloud.com/thirdmanrecords/02-when-my-man-comes-home[/link]; more quality tunes from Third Man Records are being streamed at [link]soundcloud.com/thirdmanrecords/02-when-my-man-comes-home[/link] and [link]www.spin.com/articles/hy-brazil-vol-1-fresh-electronic-music-from-brazil-compilation-download[/link] has an exotic “from technobrega to Trap” Brazilian electronic compilation.

It’s taken them an inordinately long time but Giant Drag have finally followed up 2005’s Hearts & Unicorns. Actually, we should say “has” because it’s now just singer Annie Hardy flying solo. We’re pleased to report that Waking Up Is Hard To Do is a cracker.

Free Music Friday wouldn’t be the biggest of mash-up fans, but loves what Chicago’s This Guy I Know has done to The Who’s ‘Baba O’Riley’ and the Chromeo dance classic, ‘Night By Night’.

The dancey [link]www.xlr8r.com/mp3[/link] download delights come this week from Baconhead, RxGibbs, Natasha Kmeto and Wildarms.

To [link]t.opsp.in/c0o1S[/link] next where you can land yourself a 10-track ATO Records Spring Sampler featuring the likes of Caitlin Rose, Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket, The Bronx and Jim James. That’s one helluva roster!

Team Hot Press is rather liking Making Trails, the debut album from Ana Gog who are folky in a thoroughly post-rock sort of way. We also detect elements of ‘70s prog and Afrobeat, making for a heady musical stew.
In fine form the other week at the launch party in the Unitarian Church, they also played rabble-rousing sets last year at Electric Picnic and the Kilkenny Arts Festival.
You can pick yourselves up a hard copy from [link]anagogmusic.com[/link] and have a sneaky pre-listen here.

New from the Noise Trade stable are collections from Samantha Crain whose country-tinged pop has The New York Times jolly excited, LA’s Fol Chen whose cover of Sufjan Stevens’ ‘I Walked’ is masterful and Ruston Kelly, an impressively whiskered 23-year-old from Nashville who’s equal parts Ryan Adams, Ben Howard and Ray Lamontagne. All the albums are free but you’re welcome to leave a tip.

The aforementioned Ruston Kelly is about to head out on a lengthy US tour with The Lone Bellow, the Brooklyn roots ‘n’ rollers who serve up all sorts of acoustic loveliness below.

Noise Trade are among those looking forward to SXSW with a 28-track The Stages On Sixth compilation, which includes Matthew E. White, Josh Rouse, Allah-Las, Billy Bragg, Josh Ritter, Ron Sexsmith, The View, Brendan Benson and City And Colour among its bounteous delights.

[link]www.npr.org/2013/03/01/173275533/the-mix-the-austin-100[/link] has a hundred – that’s right, a tonne – of tunes from Austin-based acts including Frightened Rabbit, Big K.R.I.T., Hey Marseilles, Indians, The Joy Formidable, Lydia Loveless, Metz and Micah P. Henson. So go on, fill your digital boots!

Free Music Friday is indebted to Andrew Moore for pointing us in the direction of this fab duet version of ‘Ain’t No Ash Will Burn’ performed by Lisa Hannigan and the Ireland-bound John Smith on a dinghy off the Cork coast. It’s a couple of years old and utterly fabulous.

Anyway, the taxi’s outside and we’re off to Phnom Penh for a week of non-stop work and no Tarantula Whiskey (honest!) Keep those comments and links coming to @stuartclark66