It’s Friday, and we’re back with another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week there’s a track from Flavorpill favorite John Maus’ new rarities compilation, a collaboration between The Soft Moon and Ultravox’s John Foxx, a live Light Asylum recording, brooding techno from Yakine, a surprisingly good synth track from John of Peter Bjorn & John, an entire sampler for Cornershop’s record label, and plenty of other good stuff besides. In other words, there’s plenty of interesting sounds awaiting you after the jump, and since they won’t cost a penny or land you an RIAA lawsuit, as your attorneys we advise you to start downloading immediately.
John Maus — “Mental Breakdown” Yay for new John Maus, even if it’s new old John Maus. This is taken from our favorite synthpop philosopher’s upcoming rarities compilation, which is due out in mid-July, and appears to include lyrics about Shakira (although we’re not entirely sure we’re hearing them right). Get a hold of it right here.
Light Asylum — “Dark Allies” Having previously described Light Asylum as an “acquired taste,” much to the disgust of certain corners of the Flavorpill office, your correspondent is warming to the Brookyln duo’s hyper-dramatic charms. It’s a fine time, then, to encounter this live recording of “Dark Allies,” which is from an upcoming live CD called Snacky Tunes Vol 2, curated by Darin and Greg Bresnitz of Finger on the Pulse. Get it here.
Stevie Jackson — “Where Have All The Good Girls Gone?” Fans of twee pop starved of new Belle and Sebastian material, rejoice — here be a new solo track from B&S guitarist and songwriter Stevie Jackson. This is taken from his amusingly titled solo record (I Can’t Get No) Stevie Jackson, which is getting a belated US release on July 3. Download the track via this YouSendIt link.
The Soft Moon vs. John Foxx & The Maths — “Evidence” We are sizable fans of Bay Area post punk synthwielders The Soft Moon, and as such we were thoroughly excited to see that they’ve been working with Ultravox singer John Foxx. It’s one of those collaborations that intuitively makes sense, and the result is pretty great indeed — “Evidence” is a kind of weird minimalist synthpop detective tale, and you can get it right here.
Yakine feat. James Teej — “Rise” This is the title track from the Parisian producer’s debut EP for the consistently excellent Spectral Sound, which is the sister imprint of one of our favorite labels, Michigan-based Ghostly. This track is ominous, brooding techno par excellence, with a narrative from Canadian DJ James Teej that reminds us a little of this. Get the track via XLR8R.
Hortlax Cobra — “Wasteland” Despite the vaguely Potterish name, Hortlax Cobra aren’t witchy or warlocky in any sense — they are, in fact, the side project for John Eriksson (of Peter Bjorn etc. … fame), and they make pleasantly downbeat and atmospheric synth music that’s a million miles away from the insanely catchy “Young Folks.” You can download this track via XLR8R, where you can also hear a preview of Hortlax’s Cobra’s debut LP Night Shift.
Leda — “Halfway” and “Thimble” The band once known as Amy Klein and the Blue Star Band have a snappy new name — they’re now known as Leda, and they have a couple of new tracks available for free download via Low Times. If you’re a fan of literate, intelligent folk-inflected rock, then you could do a lot worse than clicking here to download these two tracks.
The Tallest Man on Earth — “1904” In our discussion of great indie labels from around the world last week, we touched on the fact there seems to be something in the water in Sweden as far as its capacity for producing an apparently endless line of fine indie pop songwriters goes. The Tallest Man on Earth is most definitely a part of this proud lineage, and he’s back with a new album — his third, in fact. It’s called There’s No Leaving Now, and this track is the lead single — you can download it here.
Permanent Collection — “It’s Alright” Wait, Kramer is still producing records? Apparently so — the legendarily erratic producer responsible for helming classic records from Galaxie 500 and playing bass in Ween has handled production duties on this song from San Francisco neo-shoegaze types Permanent Collection. Get hold of it here.
Various Artists — Ample Play sampler And finally, here’s something to brighten up your Friday — a whole heap of free music from Ample Play, the label run by Cornershop’s Tjinder Singh and Ben Ayres. As you’d expect, there’s a pretty eclectic and fascinating assortment of music to be heard — download all nine tracks via our friends at The Quietus, and get listening!