Times are tough, and baking beans ain’t easy. Sure, they’re cheap, but you can’t just cook ’em: they require something to open that can and a handy flame. Lucky for us, music in the recession age isn’t so infuriatingly elusive. In the third installment of our Depression Special series, we save you enough dolla-dolla bills to save up for that switchblade. After the jump, five free and legal full-record downloads to enjoy while you’re foraging for firewood.
The Joy Formidable – A Balloon Called Moaning Formed in Wales, and now based in London, hook-friendly dream-poppers the Joy Formidable’s freewheeling, Yeah Yeah Yeahs-style sass has been lauded by everyone from NME to the BBC. We were stunned to see their lush, atmospheric rock in the freebie bin, so grab this one up before they come to their senses.Preview| Download the Record
Metermaids – Nightlife In IllinoiseNew York hip-hop crew Metermaids deliver a mash-up every bit as seamless and inspired as the Grey Album, reworking indie pretty Sufjan Stevens’ twee-tinged ballads into a series of dynamic dance-floor bangers. Unexpectedly amazing! Preview| Download the Record
The Sight Below – No Place for Us Tapping light backbeats and a serious obsession with shoegaze, Ghostly’s The Sight Below create eerie, slowly-evolving electronic atmospheres that are as warm as they are welcoming. A ramp-up for their soon-to-drop debut, No Place for Us is more than just an impressive teaser; it’s a stunning record in its own right. Preview | Download the Record
Bogdan – Harmony Within Repetitive Structures Playing proper ambient with a harrowing, uneasy edge, Bogdan’s borderline neo-classical compositions are rife with unresolved interludes. It’s a sparse, uncompromising, and ultimately successful attempt to explore the inherent beauty of indeterminacy. Preview| Download the Record
Slaraffenklang – Danish Dynamite Live at Sono Festival 2008A recent live collab by two of the world’s greatest indie ensembles, Slaraffenland and Efterklnag, Danish Dynamite is a rollicking, unhinged release whose marching-band processions, banjo breakdowns, sweeping stings, and group sing-a-longs evoke everyone form the Polyphonic Spree and Sufjan Stevens to Beirut and Andrew Bird. Preview| Download the Record
Know about an album we should feature in next week’s Depression Special? Send our editors an email here and we’ll give it a spin.
Related posts: Depression Special #1 and Depression Special #2