Free Music of the Week 3: January 25th, 2013

Sunny Ali & The Kid | Tastebuds EP

At the very end of 2012, Sunny Ali & The Kid release a 2 song EP that kicks more ass than a lot of full length albums do. The first song Vinegar Lips is an old time Rock N’ Roll song with Sunny singing in an almost spooky voice. The second song Onamonapia has some great lyrics in it. I love “been around the world/seen a lot of things/I wanna fuck your face”. Both songs are super catchy and super short. The EP isn’t even 5 minutes long. So go ahead and download this and enjoy your life. 

Is and of The | Acrobatic

Is and of The is a Philadelphia project fronted by Drew Bandos. I put their 2012 album Know Not onto my top albums of 2012 list. He has recently released this new free EP Acrobatic. It’s a dark, bass-driven, ambient album, with some 8bit sounds and possibly found sounds thrown in there. It’s all instrumental. It is pretty fucking great. This is the kind of music that makes you want to just lay down on the floor naked in the middle of whatever room you are in and just absorb all the great sounds that you experiencing and let the music take over you. And it’s also the kind of music that will make you write run-on sentences when trying to describe it. It’s also free, but you can purchase it for however much your little heart desires. 

(Source: http://bandcamp.com/)

TOP 5 EP’s of 2012

#5
TNGHT: TNGHT

 

Hard-hitting, bass-heavy beats that will blow out your headphones/speakers.

#4

How To Destroy Angels: An Omen
 

Trent Reznor’s side project that is actually really good. If you like anything that he has done in the past, you won’t be disappointed with this.

#3
Nic Lawless: NIC LAWLESS
 

I accidentally found this guy through tumblr. I’m glad I did. It has a really cool punk vibe to it. The first and the last tracks are my favorite. LISTEN TO IT AND THEN DOWNLOAD IT. 

#2
Sunny Ali & The Kid: Two Girls One Gun
 

A Philadelphia punk-alt country band that is also a side project of The Kominas. Redrum gets stuck in my head every time I hear it. It’s so good.

#1
Crosslegged: Inner(Outer)Space

From Norristown, PA, Makeba Robinson makes some of the best folk I’ve heard in a while. Although this EP is very short, I love it. The harmonies and melodies in Eviction Letter ARE SO GOOD. Listen and download it because it’s FREE.

Crosslegged: Inner(Outer)Space EP

Crosslegged: Inner(Outer)Space EP

Crosslegged is 19 year old Keba Robinson playing guitar and singing. I am loving this EP. I heard What The River Told Me a couple days ago, and I needed to hear the rest of it. Even though it’s only a 3 track EP, I keep listening to it again and again. I really like the way this sounds. It’s almost like you’re in a room with Keba singing directly to you. It has the perfect amount of reverb. The first track, Eviction Letter, has a soothing melody and catchy hook. The next track, What The River Told Me, is the first song I heard by Crosslegged. She has pretty oo’s and ah’s harmonizing with her verses and chorus. And the post-chorus she has this ugly sounding chord. But that’s my favorite part. The ugliness that still fits the song’s mood. The last song is Blind Dancer #2. My favorite part is the finger-picking. She does it very well. Towards the end of the song, you start to hear a fluttering, what I think is a flute, but it might be something else completely different. Either way, it adds creepiness to the song. Overall, I really really really enjoyed this EP. You will too, hopefully. Also, if you really like her music, follow her tumblr. 

This EP is very very good.

City Rain: Montage EP

City Rain: Montage EP

I first heard of these guys back in April. I was seeing Washed Out at the Union Transfer. Memoryhouse was supposed to open up, but all of their gear was stolen the night before in New York. So, I supposed R5Productions thought this was their chance to throw in a local electronic artist. They chose City Rain. Now, I’m not going to say anything about their performance because that has nothing to do with the review, but I feel as though I have a bias because of it. What I saw has definitely affected what I’m about to say. This EP is kind of generic, I feel like. I just feel like I can see the project on Fuity Loops now. I mean, it does have some parts that I really like. The intro to Big Boys Do Cry is really pretty. They have this female voice sounding synth (or maybe it’s a real female vocalist) that matches up with another synth and it sounds really beautiful. I wish the whole song sounded like the intro, but it goes back into the 4/4 beat that the rest of the EP is in. Not that it should be in a different time signature every song, but the the snare doesn’t have to it every 2 and 4 beat. The orchestral mixes for Big Boys Do Cry and Heart’s On Fire are cool, though. I always like hearing a reworked version of a song. It’s defiantly not the worst thing I’ve heard. I’m just afraid that the members of this band are going to see this and be angry with me. IN CASE THE TWO MEMBERS OF CITY RAIN SEE THIS: I AM SORRY, I JUST DIDN’T DIG YOUR MUSIC. IT’S NOTHING PERSONAL. I GUESS I’M JUST NOT INTO THIS KIND OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC. PLEASE DO NOT BE MAD OR ANY OTHER NEGATIVE FEELING. 

This EP was okay.

Chief Priest: Piscean Delusions

Chief Priest: Piscean Delusions

I accidentally stumbled onto this album today. How convenient because it just came out today. First of all, look at the cover to this album. Isn’t it pretty? I think so. Chief priest consists of 3 people: Allen Payne, Karissa Lawrence, and Mark Dingman. These are 3/4 people from one of my favorite noise bands topanga. I just got done listening to this album (ep?) and I just had to post something about it. It’s really beautiful music recorded on a fuzzy 4-track tape recorder. It’s almost like post-rock without the drums. There are lots of build ups and breakdowns, and even though there isn’t any percussion whatsoever, it still sounds amazing. Occasionally, you’ll get the sweet swoon of the vocalist come in singing sounds. It seems that she doesn’t actually say any words. It all sounds like this up until the very last song. Actual verses (kind of), a breakdown with reversed trumpets, random hits on a guitar, and some mumbling. Then it goes right back into the song as if nothing weird just happened. It’s really like nothing I’ve heard before. I really love this, and you might love it too. 

This album is musically enlightening.

Also, I made it so you can click the picture and go to the link, now!