I received the following message from Public Service Broadcasting this week:
Regular readers will know that we released a limited edition 7” Elfstedentocht for Record Store Day 2014. We had a few queries from fans either a) unable to obtain a copy, and / or b) surprised to find that it had no download code. We’ve run some formulae here at PSB Towers and have come up with a + b = x, where x is a free download. It’s partly to say sorry to those who missed out, and partly as a bonus for those who didn’t.
In case you’re interested here’s a little background information about Elfstedentocht from Wikipedia…..
The Elfstedentocht is an almost 200 kilometres (120 mi) long skating tour which is held both as a speed skating match (with 300 contestants) and a leisure tour (with 16,000 skaters). It is held in the province of Friesland in the north of the Netherlands, leading past all eleven historical cities of the province. The tour is held at most once a year, only when the natural ice along the entire course is at least 15 centimetres (6 in) thick; [1] sometimes on consecutive years, other times with gaps that may exceed 20 years. When the ice is suitable, the tour is announced and starts within 48 hours.
Visit the National Public Radio (NPR) site (using the following link) and grab a 100 song from acts appearing at this month’s South By Southwest music festival but don’t daudle….the songs will go away at the end of March.
I’m a worrier at heart. I worry about everything. One of my biggest worries about this blog is that it is not living up to its name….The Best Music You Have Never Heard. Today I am putting that worry out of my mind because I have some music for you that truly fulfills this blog’s promise!
I work hard to try to stay current with new music. As part of this never ending quest, I was recently on the KROQ (K-rock) Los Angeles radio station website trolling for new music and I found a reference to a group that I was not familiar with….
Echo Park stalwarts NO closed out the night. The band has steadily gained steam in the music scene and has gotten a ton of critical attention for their latest EP, Don’t Worry, You’ll Be Here Forever. Their attacking, rhythmic back-beat paired with a down-trodden vocal style draws comparisons to indie rock gods The National, but their is also a late-era New Order level of melody and pop to their songs. NO perfectly closed out a musically heavy night.
This caught my attention and sent me off on a quest to discover more about NO. First stop, YouTube, hoping to get a taste of what this band was like. Here is the first NO song that I found…….
O my gosh where the hell did these guys come from, why have I not heard of them, and where can I find their album? This song is so good that it seemed like the band sprang to life fully formed….the musicianship, the song writing, the production, and the performance were all spot on. I could easily imagine NO performing this anthemic song in concert with the crowd singing along.
While all of these thoughts were running through my head I warned myself to not get carried away…..anyone can can produce one good song. Luckily for me there was more NO music on YouTube and I picked out another song……..
Holy shit….these guys are not one hit wonders. I liked this one better than Another Life and that is saying a lot. Now I definitely needed to know more about NO so I headed back to the internet.
After some searching (NO is not the easiest word to search on!) I finally located the band’s website (http://nomusicfor.me) which provided some background information on the band.
Echo Park’s NO began as a home recording project in July 2011. In a small house on Mohawk Street a group of friends began building something to represent their collective ethos of searching for the more authentic elements in music and in themselves. Their sound has since been dubbed ‘Post-Hymnal Anthematic’ and would appear to be stemming from their desire to collectively sing & yell while driving others to do the same.
Post-Hymnal Anthematic seemed to fit the band’s sound perfectly but I was sad to discover that they did not yet have an album. Their first album is only now nearing completion and won’t be released until later this year. This story has a happy ending; however, because I discovered that NO had produced an EP, “Don’t Worry You Be Here Forever”. To make the story even better, I discovered that the EP was available for free download on their site and contained both of the songs that I fell in love with on YouTube. We have a Freebie Friday winner!
I love this band and am certain that they are going to be huge. NO is the best music I have never heard and you can have their EP for free just by visiting their site. Grab it while you can and let me know what you think!
Today I have a really great freebie for you. Amazon has pulled together 15 great songs from what they have identified as the rising musical stars for 2013 and they are offering these songs for free download. There is a great song from Bootstraps, the group I posted about last night. There is also a great song by a group called Little Green Cars that is a favorite of my son. Lots of other good stuff as well and you definitely can’t beat the price!
This is the first of what I hope will be a series of free music Fridays. To kick off this series we have a free Newport Folk Festival sampler pulled together by Paste magazine. This sampler has some amazing performances from many artists that that we have highlighted in this blog including Of Monsters And Men, First Aid Kit, and Dawes. I high recommend you check it out…..you sure can’t beat the price!
Here are the performers and songs from the sampler…….
Blind Pilot – Always
Joel Rafael – Racing And Chasing The Sun
Robert Ellis – Comin Home
Jonathan Wilson – Ballad Of The Pines
Trampled By Turtles – Keys To Paradise
Preservation Hall Jazz Band – A Good Gal’s Hard To Find
One of the bands on the sampler that I have not written about but have been following for years is Blind Pilot from Portland, Oregon. I particularly enjoyed their 2008 debut album, 3 Rounds and a Sound. To give you an appreciation for this group I have two songs for you, a live performance from this years 2012 Newport Folk Festival and the title song from their debut album. Enjoy!
thebestmusicyouhaveneverheard 