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10 MP3s You Need to Download for Free This Week: Le1f, Paul Banks

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, which means that we’re feeling somewhat fragile, having slept no more after Sleep No More, and also that it’s time for our regular roundup of new music to get your hands on this week. This week’s headline attraction is Le1f’s entire new mixtape for free download, which should be more than enough to get you clicking through post haste — but if not, there’s also a hip hop mixtape from, um, Paul Banks, along with a bunch of weird ambient atmospherics, Elite Gymnastics remixing How to Dress Well, neo-rave and neo-soul and various other neo- action for good measure. Get downloading… after the jump. … Read More

Music

10 of Music’s Most Bizarre Alter Egos

By Tom Hawking on

This week sees the release of the utilitarianly titled Banks, the first solo release under his own name by Interpol singer Paul Banks. It’s not his first solo release, though — Banks has already put out an album and an EP under the pseudonym Julian Plenti. He appears to have retired the alter ego now, which only makes the whole thing more bizarre — despite the fact that Julian Plenti’s records sounded awfully like Interpol, Banks even insisted on being interviewed in character, reputedly refusing to answer questions that weren’t addressed to “Julian.” In memory of Julian Plenti, then, here are a selection of music’s most strangest and most memorable alter… Read More

Music

10 MP3s You Need to Download for Free This Week: Cat Power, Matmos

By Tom Hawking on

It’s Friday, and we’re back with another installment of our regular roundup of downloadable MP3 goodness from around the web. This week brings a pretty eclectic haul of tracks — there’s a Cat Power remix that (whisper it quietly) is better than the original, along with new Matmos (hooray!) and new tracks from Thee Oh Sees, Nü Sensae, and Paul Banks. There’s also a cut from what might be our favorite sneaky under-the-radar release of the last couple of months (the debut from Brooklyn band ERAAS), a whacking great 20-track Chemikal Underground sampler, and more. 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. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Julian Plenti

By Doug Levy on

Julian Plenti is the alter ego of Interpol frontman Paul Banks, who releases his debut solo album this week.

While there’s no mistaking the inimitable singer’s ominously captivating vocals, as Julian Plenti, Banks is free to explore wider territory than with his suited-for-brooding band. In fact, Julian Plenti Is… Skyscraper sounds downright uplifting at times (most notably on the Polyphonic Spree-esque “Unwind”); at others, it relaxes into string-laced acoustic melancholy. … Read More