once more with feeling

Today, I got something new for you: I’m gonna give away some music, for free. Yes, that’s how much I love you. And how much Lazy Acre Records love you. Because they gave me some codes to download their compilaton “Three doors down and doing the charlestone”. Awesome, eh?
The compilation is full with catchy indie and folk tunes, perfect for listening to while enjoying the last days of this summer. My personal highlights include the Oslo based pop orchestra Cold Mailman, my most favorite Norwegian boy Uno Moller, the lovely two-voices composition of Stylusboy’s “Jigsaw” and “Burial” by the Escapists, a song that somehow reminds me of the earlier Kings Of Leon.

But now – enough with the talking. If you want one of the five download codes leave a comment, write me a mail, send me a DM on twitter or a message on facebook or just call me if you have my number. As soon as the codes are all gone – well, then they’re just gone.

Enjoy the music and enjoy the weekend.

At one of the panels at Popfest last week, some guy asked Skero (an Austrian rapper) what he thinks about giving music away for free. He said he was just about to release his first record, and he was wondering whether to make it available as free download for example – so that people get to know him and his music without the barrier of having to pay for it.
I think that’s a tough question. The problems are: make people listen to your music is hard enough. When they have to pay for it, it’s even harder. But then again – how are you supposed to make money if you give your stuff away for free? Do you just hope that they’ll buy your second record then? But, will they?

There are some tools that make those decisions easier. I’m a big fan of bandcamp, where you can allow people to stream your record and even download it – you can either set a fix price or opt for “pay as much as you want”, while maybe giving away one track for free.
Also, there’s tweet for a track and similar stuff. Now, I came across the free music club Next Biggest Thing, which gives away a free track from a different band to their mailing list each month. Their May release is “Try?” by Francobollo, a Swedish lo-fi/grunge/electro-pop band. You can get their track as exchange for your email address and if you’re a musician, you could also try to get in contact with the eARmusic people – and maybe your track is gonna be up there soon!

Since I have two exams today and one on Wednesday, I am absolutely going crazy at the moment, plus I don’t have any time for new music, which upsets me even more. But you all should listen to something… no, you have to. I honestly don’t expect a lot of this record because of how this band has changed in the past years… but well, you never know.

So, here is where you can stream the new Bright Eyes album “The People’s Key” for free. Go, do it!

The People's Key

She is the most talented cellist/singer/songwriter I’ve ever heard. She is from the U.S., but parts of her are Viennese. She can be funny, ironic, melancholic. She has a powerful voice and is quite a character (in a positive way, of course). She has played in several combos: Cheating on New York, Loose Lips Sink Ships, Rash, Primordial Undermind (all of those in Vienna). She is gorgeous.
And now, she released her debut album, which is available as name-your-price download on bandcamp.

Her name? Meaghan Burke.

Her music? Listen.

One was a story with no end,
one would have been a better friend.

You fancy Norwegian music? Yes? Perfect. No? You should.
However, I’ve got some new stuff for you, and no matter what your attitude towards music from the North is, you really should check those bands out. You won’t regret it.

The first one is Cold Mailman from Oslo. They are no newcomers, not at all. But on February 14th, they will finally have their deserved debut UK single “Pull yourself together and fall in love with me” out. Not only that it’s a perfect track for Valentine’s Day – additionally, it is a limited edition single in a Valentine’s card. Also, their new record is to be released by the end of February.
In case you don’t want to wait until Valentine’s Day, you can already take a look at the nice and authentic video of “Pull yourself together and fall in love with me”, which shows the band on a roadtrip and on stage.

The second wonderful band I’d like to present you is Twin Pines Mall. You might have already realized that I’m totally into Uno Moller – well, this is his new side project.
The band’s name sounds familiar? Well, then you probably watched “Back to the Future” too often. There, the Twin Pines Mall was the location which Doc chose to show Marty the DeLorean time machine. As far as I know, this is actually a real place – or rather a real mall –  somewhere in California. I could be wrong about that though…
However, back to the music! It’s a kind of post-rock, emo, hardcore style… but, better if you listen to it yourself. Go to their bandcamp page, where they put their “Knitted Glass EP” up for streaming.

You already had enough family-time and ate too much food, and need a little rest now? Then what better to do than listen to some awesome new music?
The new album of the Gorillaz, called The Fall, is available now on their website for free download for fan club members, and everybody else can stream it by just giving your name and e-mail address for the mailing list.
The impressive thing about this album: not only did they record it in 32 days on their North American tour, but they also used the iPad as main “instrument” plus some additional instruments as Ukulele, Omnichord, Melodica, Piano etc. On their website, they list the iPad applications they used – so maybe you might as well give it a try?

Enjoy the last Christmas day. Hugs to everybody from cold Vienna.