Friday, November 06, 2009

This Week (or so) in Digital Downloads

When I started the O/CD Tally, I didn’t foresee how much music I’d be acquiring in digital form, not actual CDs. As I’ve mentioned before, I still like that dinosaur plastic, much as I love the dinosaur wax that came before, but since old skool media is fossil fuel-intensive, I will try to learn to live without the plastic cases. But I will always miss liner notes! (And you won’t get label info, which I generally include when working from physical discs.)

Anyway, I’m taking this mellow Friday night opportunity to review some of the new music that’s come my way recently over the Internet. Thanks to iTunes' “Recently Added” playlist, we’ll work in reverse chronological order until I run out of steam.

One-off singles (not to be tallied):
TEGAN and SARA – Hell
amazon.com free download
VAMPIRE WEEKEND – Horchata
free download from the band’s web site.
The new album comes out in January. Looking forward to it, big time!
MITCHEL MUSSO – Every Little Thing She Does is Magic
OK, so this is embarrassing. I’m a sucker for amazon.com's free downloads. I don’t grab ‘em all, but I’ve always liked this Police track, so what the heck, I clicked on to the site. And then I see it’s from the soundtrack from “Wizards of Waverly Place” and I realize that Disney is grooming yet another tousle-haired actor kid to be a pop star. The track is sorta catchy, in that evil Disney way.

And back to full-lengths:
PHOENIX – It’s Never Been Like That
amazon also gets me with their Daily Deals, which sometimes offer albums, such as this one, for as low as $1.99. (I just checked and it’s now going for $6.99). Since “Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix” is shaping up to be a shoe-in for one of the year’s Ten Best, I will gladly spring the cost of a cuppa to hear what they were up to in 2006. From first listen, they were a bit less dancey, a bit more rocky, but that lead singer’s voice is distinctly wonderful.
ELIZABETH and the CATAPULT – Taller Children
They play tonight at Historic Sixth and I Synagogue, opening for
JUSTIN NOZUKA – Holly
While I had heard of E&tC, thanks to an NPR profile, I was only dimly aware of Nozuka, which worries me. How’d he get to Sixth & I headliner status under my radar? I consider myself fairly well-connected.
The few tracks of his that I’ve sampled so far seem fine, but not earth-shaking, whereas E&tC, playing as I type, are already engaging my attention. Elizabeth (I’d tell you her last name, but I don’t have the friggin’ liner notes!) can sound like Bonnie Raiit in one place, Amy Winehouse in another. Covering Leonard Cohen’s “Everybody Knows” is a good sign, and the title track touches on the Wall Street meltdown with mockery rather than anger. Sounds like a keeper. Hope they’ll come back soon and headline.
SPRING TIGERS – S/T (Bright Antenna)
The publicist asked me on Wednesday afternoon if I could be of help in garnering some coverage for the band’s show at North Hall of Eastern Market tonight. First off, who knew that Eastern Market was now hosing concerts? And with such short notice, I said the best I could do was a blog mention and he said that was cool. Trouble is, I got the date wrong in my head and thought the show was tomorrow. Oops. (Sorry, Bill.) But I just noticed that the band is offering two free downloads, so they may get “examined.” In the meantime, I offer you the tracks now:
"New Improved Formula"
"Just Suggesting"
By the way, the singer/frontman of Spring Tigers is the very same Kris Barratt who fronted The Capes. As the publicist wrote, “It's supposed to be a secret, but screw it! People need to know!” Scoop!?
HARMONIA & ENO ’76 – Tracks and Traces
This is a reissue of a collaboration between Michael Rother (an early member of Kraftwerk) and Cluster's Hans Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Moebius with Brian Eno come aboard for the ride. Supposedly, the sessions were unreleased for two decades and now emusic.com has ‘em. It’s little bit ambient, a little but art-prog, but that can be fun. I found this when I was looking for:
The AVETT BROTHERS – I and Love and You
My new favorite band. I heard the track “St. Joseph’s” on a sampler and fell in love with its tender melody, vulnerable vocals and bittersweet lyrics. When amazon (yeah, it’s getting to be a thing) offered the album from which that track was taken during one of their $1.99 deals, I jumped on it.
The AVETT BROTHERS – The Second Gleam
And before that, I searched emusic for other Avett releases and got
The AVETT BROTHERS – Four Thieves Gone: The Robbinsville Sessions
And, as I work my way through this band’s back catalog (I had a physical copy of “Emotionalism” on a reference shelf), I find that the trio’s roosty, folky blend and sharp songwriting - smart and sensitive and soothing - is just what I need in my life right now.

Okay, my battery light is starting to blink. I’m turning to some quick hits, albums that I downloaded to write about for examiner.com. You can read about them there. I need the pennies.
NORAH JONES – The Fall (Blue Note)
My article is about how you can listen to a live stream (but the PR person sent me a digital download, she bragged).
TIMBER TIMBRE – S/T
One friend who downloaded this freebie said listening to it was torture. I didn't think so. I report. You decide. Alas, the free download offer is over, but I think you can stream the tracks.
TOM WAITS – Glitter and Doom (Anti-)
Eight tracks, free downloads from the upcoming live double-disc set.
PHILIP GLASS – The Orange Mountain Music Sampler, Vol. 1
Another (dare I say it?) amazon download, this one totally free. Not sure how long it’ll last, though, so jump on it now.

YTD O/CD Tally: 321


And just so you’ll have the complete set, here are two other examine-ations that haven’t appeared here on the blog before.
Halloween music mixes.
Musicians united for climate change action.

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