Freshly Seized

The best free n’ easy music downloads on the webbly this week.

They say that if you love something, you’ve got to set it free. It didn’t work well with my canary, but my mournful tales won’t garner any attention from the music community, which is all the better to feed your lugs with, isn’t it? Here’s a sampler of the lovely teasers available from talented so and sos this week.

By now I hope you’ve all had a lovely listen to Band Of Horses’ new album, Infinite Arms. It’s streaming in its entirety here, and it’s certainly more worthy of your time than that hour you were going to spend watching Scrubs reruns and eating droopy oven chips. Perfect if you like your indie-rock floaty and your musicians beardier than an Amish werewolf. I’m being facetious; Infinite Arms really is a fantastic listen. Available everywhere now.

And while we’re on the subject of arty, hairy, folky boys and their delicate, sweeping melodies, why not have a listen of Pete Roe, who’s inviting you to download and love his new song Bellina here. Pete is one of the new-folk stable - he’s played with Laura Marling and Mumford & Sons, which is a CV not even that baby panda from teh internetz could sneeze at.

And sure while you’re at it, you really must download Johnny Flynn’s new song, the hyper-summery Kentucky Pill, which I guarantee will make your week. I know I told you all to do it before, but I often find that I need to repeat myself in order to pluck any attention at all out of the ether, and I’m doing this for your own good, after all. Johnny Flynn is wondrously talented, and he’ll give you Kentucky Pill for your email address. It’s a fair swap!

As the mere mention of the prodigious Laura Marling is nowhere near enough to balance out this sausage fest, you should also get your ears around Hands In The Sink, from the deliciously driven yet ridiculously cute Alessi’s Ark. Bittersweet. Yum/Youch.

And when you’re ready to pick yourself up again, here’s something very special. Brand new to the Stay Loose roster is Bear Driver, who are ready to spoil you with the gorgeously ethereal A Thousand Samurais. Bear Driver are a collective who specialise in pretty noise and stirring harmonies, and they’ve certainly coaxed up the hairs on the back of my neck. Fantastic, non?

Now that you’re well alive, and seeing as we’re in the mood for lovely discoveries, here’s something else rather magic for you. Dublin band Hoarsebox, who sound far too funky to be of the land of spuds and showers, are up for blessing you with their double A-side, featuring the shimmyshaking of Inside Out and the absurdly catchy Work Party. You can grab both here, after you prepare your t-shirt for waving wildly around your head (pix pls!).

Still up for jiving? It’s a bit late and all, but just in case you’ve been living in a tree (even a party tree), you can listen to MGMT’s new album Congratulations on the band’s site. Which is nice of them.

Bit of electronica, guv? We are heading in that direction, after all, and you really must get the new 65daysofstatic tracks - the rocktronictastic Crash Tactics, and the tight euphoric dance of Tiger Girl, which tastes like 3am. Oh yes. Both can be bartered for an email address at the lads’ official site, and should give you major wantsies for new album We Were Exploding Anyway. Although, do take it into account that I am entirely biased, seeing as the lads presided over The Best Gig I Was Ever At, last Sunday.

Just slipping a little from the ould electronica, and heading into shoegaze territory, I really believe that one of the most underrated bands of the moment is Atlanta’s Snowden, who are gifting their new EP, Soft Slow Syrup here. It’s heavy, overworldly stuff, so if it’s a bit too deep to dive into, you can still get their biggest song, the melodic rawk of Anti-Anti, as a free download on Last.fm. Anti-Anti is blimmin’ gorgeous, so it is.

And just to round off this post and make it something truly beautiful, here’s a link to download Pete Lawrie’s Jimmy &The Bird On Fire, a piece of piano-driven loveliness from a man with a crystalline honey voice. Close your eyes and enjoy!