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Viva La Mix! #4: Downloads from Morrissey, Yeah Yeahs Yeahs, and More

By Joe Defranceschi on

New music! Get your brand new music here! Impress your friends with a breadth of indie knowledge to make Ryan Schreiber cringe! Check out the latest downloads from favorites Dan Deacon, Neko Case and Morrissey! Grab free tunes to bolster your already overflowing collection of obscure artists from mid-level industrial cities who might or might not blow up and then enigmatically fade in the next eight weeks! Check out our Viva Radio show! Read a paragraph in which every sentence ends in an exclamation point! … Read More

Music

Exclusive: “Church Is Not a Club” and Other Words of Wisdom from Soul Revivalist Sharon Jones

By Joe Defranceschi on

As the voice behind one of the hottest record labels in Brooklyn, soul revivalist Sharon Jones has seen it all. Born in Georgia in 1956, she served as a corrections officer at Rikers Island prison for years, sneaking in talent shows and session work after hours. As such, Jones is one of a few select stars whose fame came late – she was in her 40s – but that doesn’t seem to bother the diva. After all, she got here the hard way, channeling the fighting spirit that lifted Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin from the church and the Chitlin’ Circuit to the bigger stages of Broadway. Her devotion to old-school soul icons like James Brown and Otis Redding is matched by her electric energy and tight arrangements.

After the jump, Jones explains about what Obama means for African American music, backs Etta James in her battle with Beyoncé, and runs rap’s bling fixation through the wringer. … Read More

Music

Viva La Mix!: Free Downloads from the Interweb

By Joe Defranceschi on

After the success of last week’s Viva La Mix! mixtape, our research concludes you like free downloads of sweet-ass new singles. Shocking. All we can say about this week’s mix is “The Dude abides.” Avoid the hours you spend trolling blogs for new singles and let us sift and winnow the best new tunes for you. Once you’re done downloading, check out our Viva Radio page for this week’s show (which offers a nice preview of next week’s mixtape), and browse the 60-plus playlists in our archive. … Read More

Music

Viva La Mix!: This Week’s Essential Free Downloads

By Joe Defranceschi on

Flavorpill’s weekly show on Viva Radio is a canvas upon which we splash, dot, and etch hyper-fresh gems and classic cuts. In this inaugural edition of Viva La Mix!, we hone last week’s playlist into a mixtape containing 10 essential downloads. Once you’re done downloading, check out our Viva Radio page for this week’s show (which offers a nice preview of next week’s mixtape) and to browse the 60-plus playlists in our archive. … Read More

Music

Depression Special #2: Five Free (and legal) Full-Album Downloads

By Joe Defranceschi on

Now that Obama has had time to arrange his pens and photos of Michelle & Co. in the Oval Office, everything is better in your life, right? Wrong! If only the tears shed on Inauguration day had turned into cold, hard cash, we wouldn’t feel the need to drop the second installment of our Depression Special this week. This edition offers more legal, full-album downloads that will not only delight and titillate, but save you enough dolla-dolla bills to spring for a wonton soup with tonight’s take-out. (Or you could always get really crafty and make your own while listening to your free new music. It’s all about sacrifice now, people.) … Read More

Music

Exclusive: School of Seven Bells Sound Off on the Electro/Indie Divide

By Joe Defranceschi on


Photo: Elle Muliarchyk

On Alpinisms, Ghostly International buzz band School of Seven Bells carve out a musical niche somewhere between electro-pop, dreamy shoegaze, and experimental art-rock. The melodic interplay between former Secret Machines guitarist Benjamin Curtis and twins Alejandra and Claudia Deheza (both formerly of On! Air! Library!) is fleshed out by electronic beats, synths and an array of live instruments.

Roughly translated, the band have managed a meteoric rise by dropping popular indie sounds into electronic atmospheres so fluid it makes you wonder, “why didn’t I think of that?” We spoke with Curtis about the band’s combination of electronics and rock and their insistence that the music, not labels or scenes, is what defines them.

… Read More

Music

All We Want for Christmas… is Less Christmas Music

By Joe Defranceschi on

Whether you’re getting (foolishly) wasted at the office holiday party or duking it out in a department store, Christmas music is utterly inescapable this time of year — and has been for at least the last month. Running the gamut from cheesy to classic, the genre spreads more simultaneous joy and seasonal depression than any other. Still, with lows that are so low, do oldies stations really need to devote all that air time to the same fifty songs?

After the jump, our thoughts and the accompanying audio for some of the world’s most adored and apocryphal holiday tunes. Got other ideas? Leave them in the comments. … Read More