Every week, The Tune publishes a survey of the newest songs making their way around the internetz and the music world in general. Despite the name, it is not just reserved for newly-released CD singles, but rather for any new songs from albums that have not been released yet. The songs will mostly be ones that have leaked/been published over the former week, but occasionally we will throw in little-known tracks from the last few weeks or months that never made it onto our survey. Again, the only condition is that the album has not been released yet. EPs and singles are okay.We are also introducing a new rating system for singles, one that is somewhat unique. Rather than rating the songs based on a 5-star scale, a thumbs up/down scale, or having no rating system (isn’t that annoying?), we will give them prizes not unlike sporting events: Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Shit.
We’re only a few months into this concept of an entire week’s worth of new songs in one place, with streaming links and our new rating system, so make sure to leave us some feedback and let us know what you think! You can comment at the bottom of the post or email us with the form on the right (and slightly down).
This week’s survey includes new, free MP3s from James Blake + Bon Iver, Florence + The Machine, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Ryan Adams, Atlas Sound, Big Troubles, Caveman, jj, The Nocturnes, Andy Kunci covering Foo Fighters, and many more! If you’d like to write a review for any, go to The Tune’s Staff page and apply to write for The Tune. Also, look for the red MP3 tag for free and legal downloadable songs!
James Blake + Bon Iver – “Fall Creek Boys Choir” (Indie/Electronic) MP3
A week and a half ago, the internet was abuzz with the news that celebrated electronic artist James Blake and celebrated indie artist Bon Iver were collaborating on a new track — well, here it is. The name might lead you to expect some sort of minimalist choir, but unless you consider digitally-altered barely-intelligible duets a choir, you’re out of luck. Occasionally vibing like a warped, underwater version of ‘Ye‘s “Runaway,” the song meanders through almost five minutes of strategic percussion hits topped with falsetto cream.
Ben Folds – “House” (Pop-Rock) Stream over at NBC.com
I’ve always been a big Ben Folds fan, and one of my fondest concert memories was the time I saw him live in Salisbury, MD when I was 16 — which was also the first time I got drunk. He’s releasing a new retrospective anthology in October, and it includes some songs that are being billed as “the first new Ben Folds Five songs in over 10 years.” It’s exactly what you’d imagine BFF sounding like if they’d stayed together — whitewashed, plain pop-rock with a hint of nostalgia.
2009′s Lungs, Florence + The Machine’s debut album, hit #1 in the U.K. and #14 in the U.S. — a promising start from the young Florence Welch and her band. Her sophomore release drops in November, and the first single is an anthemic six-minute slice of multi-genre pop-rock that builds to an ecstatic climactic orgasm that you must experience.
St. Vincent – “Cruel” (Indie Pop)
We recently named Annie Clark’s (alias St. Vincent) “Surgeon” MP3 a Song Of The Day, and the second track from her upcoming album is as weirdly intoxicating as “Surgeon.” I normally don’t post videos in the Single Survey, but this video is one of my favorite from 2011. Annie is “abducted” by a father, daughter, and son at a gas station and taken to live with them, clean up their messes — basically, it’s a metaphor for one’s life being taken over by family. The gorgeous new mother is slowly buried alive throughout the video, perhaps revealing Clark’s feelings on the matter of a traditional stay-at-home life.
Rachael Yamagata – “Even If I Don’t” (Pop-Rock)
This week has been great for solo female artists, as Miss Yamagata impresses with her newest track, the first one we’ve heard since the wonderful “Starlight” MP3. It isn’t as groovily blues-based as the former Song Of The Day, but “Even If I Don’t” makes us hope that she does.
Charlotte Gainsbourg – “Terrible Angels” and “White Telephone” (Electronic/Indie Pop) MP3s
The former is a bopping electronic pop number from a September EP that moves like a fembot action movie; the latter comes from a November 18th 18-track collection of live tracks and unreleased songs, and features breezy guitarwork and leisurely French-villa atmospherics.
Ryan Adams – “Lucky Now” (Folk) MP3
“Am I really who I was?” Adams asks with the last line of “Lucky Now,” the first single from Ashes & Fire, his first real solo album since 2005. I suppose it’s a fair question after you marry Mandy Moore, and the contemplative lyrics fit the pureness of the folk/alt.-country sound that Adams executes so inimitably. A must-download this week.
Atlas Sound – “Terra Incognita” (Indie) MP3
Whether as the frontman of Deerhunter or with his solo project Atlas Sound, Bradford Cox is nearly a god in the eyes of critics. If he were a classical god, then the newest track from his upcoming album Parallax, out November 7, must be the music they play on Mt. Olympus — tenderly, silkily grand.
Big Troubles – “Sad Girls” (Indie Rock) MP3
The fifth GOLD in nine songs; this must be some kind of record for The Tune. We didn’t originally like Big Troubles, bestowing the lo-fi “Phantom” with a SHIT rating in May. But “Misery” MP3s won us over with its fuzzed-out pop, and “Sad Girls” takes the formula into a slightly smaller hook whose sweetness might linger even longer.
Caveman – “Decide” (Folk/Indie Pop) MP3
The latest free MP3 from Caveman, an indie band I’ve grown to enjoy, is a peripatetic pop-rock song that sounds like whizzing down an Arizona highway at 90 mph.
Andy Kuncl – “Everlong (Foo Fighters cover)” (Electropop) MP3 Cover Me has become one of my favorite music websites, as I love to hear new and strange covers of songs that I love. They even have a section where they post unknown artists’ Bandcamp covers, and this bleeping, blipping electropop cover of the Foo Fighters‘ ’90s rock hit blew me away. It’s a fun reinterpretation!
Other selected new songs from the past week:
Björk – “Moon” (Experimental)
-yet another track from the app-enhanced forthcoming album from the Icelandic singer
jj – “You Don’t Know How Much It Would Hurt Me…” (Indie Pop) MP3
-”…if you said you were in love with me” is the name of spaced-out Swedes’ newest
Kurt Vile – “In/Out Blues” (Folk/Rock)
-melancholy, slow take on the blues with some folkiness thrown in
Tyler Ramsey – “The Valley Wind” (Folk)
-member of Band of Horses was solo first and is again on this Neil Young-ish folk song
Polar Bear Club – “My Best Days” (Alt. Rock)
Gaslight Anthem-esque roughrock with Jersey supplanted by Chicago
The Nocturnes – “Love” (Indie Rock) MP3
-RCRD LBL calls it “folkgaze” — apt description for a dark, brooding, beautiful track
Slow Club – “Where I’m Waking” (Indie Pop-Rock)
-U.K. indie poppers release new album on Sep. 13; this is the fuck-it-all first single
Man Overboard – “Dead End Dreams” (Pop-Punk)
-poppier than most of the band’s past work; still one of the hottest bands in the genre
M+A – “Liko Lene Lisa” (Electronic/Indie Pop) MP3
-promising young Italian duo makes tracks that even robots would dance to
Gem Club – “Twins” (Indie)
-debut will be released on the 27th; we loved the first song as well as this piano ballad
Oberhofer – “Gotta Go” (Indie Pop)
-half-’80s new wave and half-’60s pop, this one is enjoyable but not much more
Nurses – “Trying to Reach You” (Indie Pop) MP3
-nippy, natty pop with some tropical influences
Crooked Fingers – “Typhoon” (Indie Pop-Rock) MP3
-not sure what Pitchfork thinks “rustic” is — this post-Archers of Loaf track isn’t
Reading Rainbow – “Dead End” (Indie Rock) MP3
-friendly type of ’60s-girl-group-turned-’90s that’s so popular recently
Raleigh Moncrief– “I Just Saw” (Electronic/Indie) MP3
-watery but not watered-down, it’s obviously a Cali producer
A Classic Education – “Baby, It’s Fine” (Indie Rock) MP3
-Italy has Rome, but this lo-fi pop piece is non-denominational (genre-wise too)
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Big Black Delta – “Capsize” (Electronic/Indie Pop) MP3
-a big beat leads into a song that sounds very French
Mr. Dream – “Moneybags” (Indie Punk Rock) MP3
-you might expect dream-pop, but this is garagey New York-style rock
Damu – “Breathless” (Electronic)
-like a meeting of sci-fi and wind chimes, it’s laconictra from this former BRONZEr
Ivy – “Make It So Hard” (Indie Pop) MP3
Fountains of Wayne frontman-featuring trio puts out pleasing power pop — surprise, surprise
Sleeping Bags – “Pehr” (Instrumental Rock) MP3
-2 brothers from Princeton (new song above), 7.5-minute proggy guitar-centric track
Cat Martino – “Yr Not Alone (ft. Sufjan Stevens)” (Indie Pop) MP3
-worldy, swirling bg vocals might be Enya, but Sufjan‘s idiosyncrasies elevate this
Elba – “From A Sinking Ship” (Indie Pop-Rock) MP3
-first single from the third album by these Seattle boys, a power-pop twist
Wale – “Barry Sanders” (Rap) MP3
-synthesized brass and comparisons to sports stars flow, but don’t impress
Body Language – “Social Studies” (Electronic) MP3
-Brooklyn dance group rocks a funk bass line
Purity Ring – “Belispeak” (Electronic) MP3
-deciduous, chemical beats (creative metaphors, eh?) + shiny synths
thenewno2 – “Mr. President (ft. RZA)” (Hip-Hop) MP3
-conscientious but all-too-brief, a retrospective on Bush and how he fucked us over
G-Side – “Relaxin’” (Rap) MP3
-unreleased track from the Alabama rapper about a cheatin’ girl
Mungolian Jet Set – “We Are The Shining” (Electronic) MP3
-Balearic beats and vibrating bass will get you bobbing your head — at least
Feather & Belle – “Walk In Gutters” (Indie Pop/Folk) MP3
-quirky, fun indie pop