NYC rockers and Fuzzy Lion friends Morning Theft are giving away their latest album, Between Walls, for free on their website. Not only that, but they’re giving away a Nintendo Wii to lucky fans.
Free (great) music and chance to win a Wii…sounds good to me.
Download at www.morningtheft.net
Counting Crows will be releasing Saturday Nights & Sunday Mornings on March 25, but to hold fans over, the guys are giving away two song, “1492″ and “When I Dream of Michelangelo.” While “Michelangelo” sounds like vintage Crows, “1492″ is a total departure from anything the band has done before.
Listen to:
“1492″
“When I Dream of Michelangelo”
Click here to download the mp3s.
Celebrate Christmas a little early this year (or Hanukkah a little late) by heading on over to Okkervil River’s website. The band is hosting a free album of covers they recorded during their 2006-2007 tour at their website. Be sure to grab it before it’s gone.
Update: Looks like Pitchfork is mirroring the EP due to the high demand on Okkervil River’s servers. If you have trouble with the official site, you may want to get it here instead.
It was very hard for me to compile a list of only 20 albums for this year’s “best of” list and there were some really strong records which didn’t make the cut. For example, Jimmy Eat World’s Chase This Light was a very solid offering, as was Elk City’s New Believers and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah’s Some Loud Thunder. While I do like (not love) Radiohead’s In Rainbows, I do give the band a lot of props for trying to shake up the music industry with their “pay what you want” plan.
All that being said, I present to you my Top 20 Albums of 2007. As usual, if you like what you hear, buy the music and support the artists, or go see them live and buy their merch! 
Fuzzy Lion’s Top 20 Albums of 2007
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20. The Snake The Cross The Crown – Cotton Teeth Best Tracks: “Gypsy Melodies” “Cake Walk” / “Behold the River” |
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19. Shout Out Louds – Our Ill Wills Best Tracks: “Normandie” “Tonight I Have To Leave It” / “South America” |
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18. Ryan Adams – Easy Tiger Best Tracks: “Pearls On a String” “Two” / “Halloweenhead” |
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17. Rilo Kiley – Under the Blacklight Best Tracks: “Silver Lining” “Under the Blacklight” / “Breakin’ Up” |
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16. Minipop – A New Hope Best Tracks: “Like I Do” “Butterflies” / “Someone To Love” |
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15. Mika – Life In Cartoon Motion Best Tracks: “Lollipop” “Love Today” / “Any Other World” |
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14. Matt Pond PA – Last Light Best Tracks: “Sunlight” “Last Light” / “Until the East Coast Ends” |
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13. Jeremy Enigk – The Missing Link Best Tracks: “Tatseo Show” “Chewing Gum” / “Oh John” |
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12. Patty Grifin – Children Running Through Best Tracks: “Heavenly Day” “No Bad News” / “I’m Getting Ready” |
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11. Stars – In Our Bedroom After the War Best Tracks: “Take Me to the Riot” “The Night Starts Here” / “Today Will Be Better, I Swear!” |
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10. Kate Nash – Made of Bricks Best Tracks: “Birds” “Foundations” / “Pumpkin Soup” |
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9. Travis – The Boy With No Name Best Tracks: “Closer” “Big Chair” / “Selfish Jean” |
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8. New Pornographers – Challengers Best Tracks: “Myriad Harbour” “My Rights Versus Yours” / “Challengers” |
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7. Okkervil River – The Stage Names Best Tracks: “Our Life Is Not a Movie or Maybe” “Savannah Smiles” / “A Girl In Port” |
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6. Young Galaxy – Young Galaxy Best Tracks: “Embers” “The Sun’s Coming Up and My Plane’s Going Down” / “Outside the City” |
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5. Band of Horses – Cease To Begin Best Tracks: “No One’s Gonna Love You” “Is There a Ghost” / “Ode to LRC” |
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4. Arcade Fire – Neon Bible Best Tracks: “Intervention” “Black Mirror” / “Keep the Car Running” |
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3. The National – Boxer Best Tracks: “Apartment Story” “Fake Empire” / “Start a War” |
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2. Pela – Anytown Graffiti Best Tracks: “Song Writes Itself” “Waiting On the Stairs” / “Lost to the Lonesome” |
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1. The Smashing Pumpkins – Zeitgeist Best Tracks: “(Come On) Let’s Go” “Pomp and Circumstances” / “Zeitgeist” |
Zeitgeist takes the #1 spot of the year for me not just because it’s a Smashing Pumpkins record, but because it’s the record I wanted the band to make for a long time. Corgan and Chamberlin went back to their rock roots and created an album that schools all mainstream wanna-be rockers how it’s done.
Pela and The National round out my #2 and #3 spots. Pela’s Anytown Graffiti is a work of art from start to finish. The National’s Boxer proved to everyone that the hype surrounding Alligator was no fluke and it’s possible for a band to experiment and grow without abandoning their roots.
Please feel free to post your best-of lists in the comments or links to your own blogs, as I always love to see what the readers opinions are.
Head on over to http://www.tunecore.com/freealbum to download a free, 34-track album offered by digital distribution service Tunecore thru iTunes. The album features such artists as The Dandy Warhols, Steve Vai, & Public Enemy
Davey von Bohlen has seen a lot, from huge indie success with his seminal band The Promise Ring, to a horrific tour-van crash in 1998 and in 2002, a thankfully benign brain tumor. While The Promise Ring may not be around any longer, Davey is still releasing amazing music, most recently with his band Maritme.
Heresy and the Hotel Choir is the band’s third album, and in my opinion, their strongest. From the opener “Guns of Navarone” to the closer “Love Has Given Up,” Maritime has crafted a wonderfully cohesive album that I imagine will find it’s way on many end-of-the-year best-of lists.
Download “Guns of Navarone” here.
Official Homepage: http://www.maritimesongs.com
NYC’s The GoStation received critical acclaim with their 2005 EP Quiet Zone and plenty of support from KEXP, K-Rock, XM & Sirius radio, to name a few. Two years later, The GoStation are finally releasing their first full-length titled Passion Before Function.
Produced by Bill Racine (Rogue Wave, The Flaming Lips, Phantom Planet), Passion Before Function will hit stores tomorrow (September 25). The first single, “All Together Now,” sounds like it could’ve come straight off of an Oasis record. Not surprising, since the band lists Oasis as one of its inspirations, along with U2. Those are some big shoes to fill, but GoStation seems up for the challenge.
Download “All Together Now”
Official Site: http://www.thegostation.com
One of 2007’s best albums thus far has got to be Pela’s Anytown Graffiti.
Hailing from Brooklyn, Pela formed in 2004 and released two EPs before releasing this year’s debut full-length. Citing influences from such artists as Bruce Springsteen, Hubert Selby, Hüsker Dü, Raymond Carver, The Replacements, Andre Dubus, The Pixies, Wilco, and the Hold Steady, Pela has crafted a masterpiece that I have been unable to turn off since my very first play.
Listening to Pela, I can’t help but draw comparisons to one of my favorite bands, The National. For example, “The Trouble With River Cities” features a simple repeated guitar melody over a shuffling drum beat played with brushes. While the timbre of Pela singer Billy McCarthy’s voice doesn’t sound anything like The National’s Matt Berninger, the same dark simplicity is there and works wonderfully.
Have a listen to a couple of my favorite songs from Anytown Graffiti, “Waiting on the Stairs” (mp3) and “Lost to the Lonesome” (mp3).
The band’s official website can be found here.
Lastly, if you still need convincing that this is one of the best “new” bands out there, you can listen to a wonderful performance the band recorded back in June for KEXP which has recently been made available here.
If you have an eMusic subscription, be sure to download the free Curve Records sampler. There are 6 bands on there, all of them are great.
One of my favorites is Grand:PM. I was all ready to buy their record after hearing both of their efforts on the sampler, but unfortunately it’s not available yet. In the meantime, you can download an mp3 of “God Save the Scene” here, and listen to more tracks on their official MySpace page.
Well, it’s about that time now. Classes are out and Greg Graffin can quit his side-job of teaching at UCLA and get back to what he does best – rocking out with the legendary Bad Religion.
Bad Religion are releasing their 14th (yes, fourteenth!) full-length album on July 10th called New Maps of Hell. You can download a free mp3 of the short (but sweet) first single “Heroes and Martyrs” at their website found here.
Bad Religion is playing all summer long at The Warped Tour. Check their site for more info.