iTunes: Free Wednesday
Welcome to this week's edition of iTunes freebies. This week we feature a new collection of free singles and videos from around the world. Here's what's new today.
US Music
US: Born Losers by Matthew Good
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band who's on the cusp of success and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. Matthew Good's brand of reverie and disconcerting personal analysis in song has made him a favorite in Canada for years. His newest album, Hospital Music, is an especially riveting portrait of a man who's been to the edge and back. We're offering you the rumbling, epic folk-rock of "Born Losers" as a free Single of the Week in the hope that you find the time to bring a little Matthew Good into your life. You won't regret it.
US: Alegria by B-Side Players
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band who's on the cusp of success and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. San Diego groove collective the B-Side Players have been together for more than a decade, setting progressive political messages to a movable feast of reggae, Latin jazz, folklorico, and ska. "Alegria" is a track from the B-Side Players' new album. It's a celebratory track with horns blazing and a great call-and-response middle section.
US: Omigod You Guys by Annaleigh Ashford, Dequina Moore, Laura Bell Bundy & Leslie Kritzer
Our Discovery Download puts the focus on a different genre each week, offering up a free track we think is worth your attention. This week, we're featuring the opening song from the Broadway production of Legally Blonde. This candy-coated musical has been a surprise hit, winning over both the tweens and the critics (no easy feat) with its portrayal of Elle Woods, the California blonde who defies expectations by heading to Harvard Law School.
US Audio Books
Wolf Brother: Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #1
This is the first chapter of Wolf Brother: Chronicles of Ancient Darkness #1 Six thousand years ago. Evil stalks the land. Only 12-year-old Torak and his wolf-cub companion can defeat it. Their journey together takes them through deep forests, across giant glaciers, and into dangers they never imagined. In this original and spectacularly told adventure story, Torak and Wolf are joined by an incredible cast of characters as they battle to save their world. This chapter is from the first book in The Chronicles of Ancient Darkness.
US Video
US: Damages
This intense, twist-filled, and breakneck-paced series takes a three-pronged approach as a legal thriller, gripping murder mystery, and adrenaline-fueled character study, delving into and illuminating the characters' personal lives.
US: The Rock Life, A Solo for Slash
Led by singer/songwriter Cisco Adler, son of music mogul Lou Adler, Whitestarr has been kicking around the L.A. basin for seven years. They've been signed and dropped by Atlantic Records, and virtually ignored by the industry they hope to conquer. They've been in rehab, in the tabloids, and in relationships with some of Hollywood's hottest starlets. The only place they haven't been is the Billboard charts. But with Roy Orbison's son on drums and a fleshy former lawyer named Tony Potato as backup dancer, Whitestarr is a rock and roll circus that's as much fun off-stage as they are on. Throw in an afro-ed axeman named Rainbow, and you've all the ingredients for the ultimate rock and roll cocktail. Get an insider's look at the backstage drama as these four rockers (and one dancer) fight to keep the band together and stop at nothing to realize their rock dream. It's going to be an uphill battle, and it's going to take more than a famous name to get there.
International
Canada: Hold Your Secrets to Your Heart by Miracle Fortress
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band who's on the cusp of success and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. What can one man do? Ride a unicycle. Juggle. Attempt stand-up comedy. In the case of one Graham Van Pelt – one man can create an entire album of glistening, glowing indie rock driven by overlaying harmonies and crisp, clean guitar lines. This is the debut from this Montreal native and "Hold Your Secrets to Your Heart" could be something taken from the Beach Boys Pet Sounds sessions, but with a touch of modern psychedelia added to the mix.
Australia: Punks by I Heart Hiroshima
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band who's on the cusp of success and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. Bravo to I Heart Hiroshima, a trio of indie-poppers whose sound teeters just on the south side of aggressive – let's just call it aggressively life-affirming. Completely bass-free, the group gets by on voice, drums, and dual guitars. "Punks" takes the earliest ragged, jangly sounds of the Go-Betweens and marries it with the more clipped, start-and-stop sound of early Sleater-Kinney. Good stuff!
New Zealand: Punks by I Heart Hiroshima
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band who's on the cusp of success and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. Bravo to I Heart Hiroshima, a trio of indie-poppers whose sound teeters just on the south side of aggressive – let's just call it aggressively life-affirming. Completely bass-free, the group gets by on voice, drums, and dual guitars. "Punks" takes the earliest ragged, jangly sounds of the Go-Betweens and marries it with the more clipped, start-and-stop sound of early Sleater-Kinney. Good stuff!
France: L'amour by Louis Ville
Si vous aimez ce morceau, obtenez l'album ici.Chaque semaine, nous trouvons un titre d'un artiste ou d'un groupe sur le point de percer et vous le proposons comme Single de la semaine.Écorché de la chanson, aux textes drus et à fleur de mots, Louis Ville ne s'embarrasse pas de fioritures pour gueuler son amour de la vie et peindre sans détours, avec un incroyable charisme, ses aspects les plus noirs et les plus touchants. À choisir est son troisième album. Sa musique a toutes les couleurs du monde : des confins de l'Orient aux Balkans, de la chanson populaire française au blues cajun, il peint des paysages d'une beauté mélancolique dans lesquels il promène un monde fantasmagorique, peuplé de tout, de rien... et surtout d'amour.
Japan 今週のシングル: Standing In the Way of Control by Gossip
オアシスのノエルが「ロックシーンの中で最高の声を持っている。」と絶賛するヴォーカリスト、ベス・ディットー率いる、アメリカはアーカンソー州出身のバンドGossip。2006年にはNME誌で最もクールなロックミュージシャンとして選ばれ、ヴィジュアル、実力ともにソウルディーバの存在感を持つベス、バンドのストレートなパンクサウンド、そして反逆的精神あふれるスタイルで、英米では既にカリスマ的人気を誇っている。大注目の彼らのファースト•ヒット"Standing In the Way of Control"をフリーダウンロードで!
UK: Leni by GoodBooks
Each week, we find a track from an artist or a band who's on the cusp of success and bring it to you, for free, as our Single of the Week. Goodbooks are an electro-indie pop group from Kent who lean more toward the guitar side of the equation than the dance floor. "Leni" starts as a smooth, late-night Snow Patrol-esque groove before breaking into a post-punk riot at the end.