We cut through the hype and give the one thing lacking in so many places these days: an honest opinion. We're not going to put something down for the sake of it either. For an honest outlook on music (and other subjects), you're in the right place!
As it’s valentines day, we thought we’d show our love for all our readers with a selection of links to some rather lovely free downloads for you. Have a click, have a listen and please share your opinions with us, we’d really like to know what you think of these songs.
We’ve rather fallen in love with Japanese Voyeurs, so it’s out great pleasure to share a track with you. Just click here to download Dumb, the lead track from their EP, for free.
A little while back we showed you a video of the bonkers packaging for Freeway & Jake One’s album, now we’ve got a mixtape the pair have put together for you. Just click here to download it!
We’ve got a Monarchy remix here, this time of Fyfe Dangerfield’s She Needs Me. It certainly adds another level to the track and is available if you point you browser here and click away.
Lail Arad is a new face on the folk scene, check out Who Am Ihere to get a heads up on this exciting young artist.
It’s a bit hard to describe the noise Godzilla Black make, but if we said “electro-hardcore-freakouts with a splash of Mike Patton about it”, we think you’ll get the picture. Well, the band have decided to give their debut album away for free. You can download it here.
It’s time once again for a roundup of the best videos to find their way to our inbox this week, so let’s see what we’ve got for you this time around!
First up we have Two Door Cinema Club with Undercover Martyn, the lead single from their forthcoming album. This is a superb slice of subtly angular indie pop that we think is well worth a look!
Rox is a hotly tipped young artist with a beautifully soulful vocal. We like her a lot and think you will too. Check out the video for My Baby Left Me and let us know what you think
We know Swedish sisters Johanna and Klara Soderberg as First Aid Kit and we love them for their powerful and simple tunes and the lovely dual vocals. Check out I Met Up With The King and I think you’ll fall for them too.
Of course we couldn’t ignore the video for the latest release from Mumford & Sons. The Cave is one of our favourite tracks from their album, and this promo clip does it justice, keeping the visuals simple to let the sound dominate!
Last, but not least, we head behind the scenes on the making of Placebo’s new single Bright Lights, which is released tomorrow!
So, another weekend is upon us, time to kick back and relax. So, what better way to start than by checking out some new videos for your viewing pleasure.
First up, we’ve been sent a video by old friend of the site. them:youth were one of our first ever interviews (check it out here) and now, ahead of their debut album which will be released later in the year, is a remix of Lost & Lonely from the always impressive Castaway.
Supposedly recorded for an Eastern European TV show (like our good friends at Breaking More Waves, we’re not so sure) this orchestral reworking of Marina & The Diamonds’Hollywood is superb, possibly better than the original track in fact!
We’ve got young upstarts (and residents of countless Ones To Watch lists this year) Chapel Club’s promo for their new single O Maybe I. Continuing their path of noir-ish pop, this is a great tune and well worth checking out.
We’ve commented on the cover of Pony that Far are releasing before, but here’s an acoustic version for you to have a look at, we’d love to hear your thoughts.
Last but not least, check out the intriguing packaging from rapper Freeway and producer Jake One’sThe Stimulus Package… coming soon on Rhymesayer, this release promises to sound as good as it looks!
We like a freebie here at Call Upon The Author (ask any music writer what their favourite part of the role is and the answer will almost always be the thud when the mail arrives, so they can scoop up the new CDs and free tickets). That’s why we like to share any free downloads we get sent with all our readers and here are some good ones for you, just click the song titles to download them for yourselves.
Philadelphia Grand Jury are one of the most exciting young bands around and one of the many acts coming out of Australia now and making us prick up our ears. Check out Going To The Casino (Tomorrow Night) and let us know what you think.
Here we’ve got Calvertron wrapping his hands around a track by Ocelot. Crank up those speakers and check out Our Time (Remix) – but be careful, this is loud!
Last up we have Memory Tapes going head to head with Gucci Mane to bust up the latter’s Excuse Me!
Lots more lovely new videos for you fine folks this week, so rather than waste time, let’s dive right in!
First up we’ve got folk songstress Laura Marling with Devil’s Spoke. Set to be released in March this will be the first track from her new album so check it out to get a flavour of what to expect.
Next up are Pendulum, not a lot to say about this one besides that it’s a preview video featuring some impressive new material from their forthcoming album.
We reviewed Life We Live last week, but the track is out today and as we enjoed it so much, we thought we’d share the video with you. Check it out and then follow up on checking out the guys who wrote it, Let’s Go To War are gonna be big – and you heard it here first!
Another track we really enjoyed and featured in last week’s singles corner was Like Home by Musee Mecanique, so while we’re at it, why don’t we check out their video too?
Last, but not least we’ve got Dan Le Sac vs Scroobius Pip with possibly their best track yet, Get Better. It’s a cracking tune and though it isn’t released for over a month we couldn’t resist sharing it with you!
Happy New Year folks! What better way to start afresh than to check out some of the music that will be gracing our ears over the coming months? So, lets start with Sub Focus and This Could Be Real. Already a DJ with a glowing reputation this track, soon to be released as a single, is another feather in his cap and already a favourite with Radio 1!
We’ve got the new video from Corinne Bailey Rae too. I’d Do It All Again is the first single from her forthcoming sophomore album and shows the much more interesting direction she’s taken after her hiatus. If this is anything to go by, expect hers to be one of the names on everyone’s lips in 2010!
Late Of The Pier are another band we’ll be seeing more of this year. Blueberry is out now and this video is an absolute cracker.
Here’s the video promo for Honeytrap by We Have Band. The audio for this track is available as a free download from the band’s website and is a perfect taster for their debut album.
Mixing Brit hip-hop and commercial dance, Example (aka Elliot Greave) crafts anthemic tunes that are designed to send a buzz across the dance floor and liven up the dullest of evenings. Won’t Go Quietly seems to do the trick perfectly!
Check these videos out and, as always, we’d love to hear your thoughts on them.
From all of us here at Call Upon The Author, have a very merry Christmas. We thought we’d share a little present with you. So below are a few lovely free downloads for you to enjoy!
Expatriate have just finished touring with Placebo and release their debut album in early 2010. There are high hopes for this band who have picked up plaudits across Europe. Check out Blackbird to see what people are making so much fuss about. Blackbird
New Yorker Mascott has teamed up with Gramercy Arms (who feature former members of Guided By Voices) to provide the festive This Christmas Time. Click the link below to help you get into the mood. This Christmas Time
We’ve got Cagedbaby’s remix of You Don’t Know Love by Editors for those of you who prefer your music with a bit of an edge. You Don’t Know Love (Cagedbaby Remix)
Victoria and Jacob have often been compared to the likes of Bjork and The Postal Service with their ethereal and otherowrldly music. To celebrate the end of the decade they’ve made Clash, a track from their 2008 EP available for free download, so we thought as it’s a time for gift giving, we’d share it with you. Clash
Mixing psychedelic insanity with Beach Boys harmonies, The Keys have released their own Christmas tune. Queuing Up For Christmas is a seasonal treat that really should be on all your festive playlists Queuing Up For Christmas
We start this edition of Videodrome with perhaps our favourite band of the last year, Twin Atlantic. This is the promo for their latest single What Is Light, Where Is Laughter and it perfectly captures their frenetic music and powerful lyrics. Next up we’ve got a clip from this years winner of the Best Actress award at Cannes. Charlotte Gainsbourg is a musician first and foremost though and Heaven Can Wait perfectly captures her sometimes brooding, sometimes fragile, but always affecting music. Oh, and yes, that is Beck in the video.
Going off in a different direction, 90’s rockers Far reformed late last year and, after knocking out a cover of Ginuwine’s R&B hit Pony their myspace hits soared and their profile skyrocketed overnight. Check out the video to see what Ginuwine has to say about it all.
How about Drum & Bass pioneers Adam F & Horx collaborating with Redman for a guaranteed party tune? Shut The Lights Off is the type of tune that will drag even the most shy wallflowers onto the dancefloor!
Last, but by no means least, we catch up with Manchester Orchestra for a behind-the-scenes peek at what they got up to on tour in Australia.
It’s time, once again for us to peruse the best and brightest videos that have popped up in our inbox over the past week or two. Lets start with Ctrl Z giving us a remixing masterclass as they show how they went about adding their own spin to a Freestylers classic. If you have any interest in creating your own tunes with computer programs, this is well worth a watch!
Next, we’ll change tack and lets check out the viedo for Mumford & Sons new video. Winter Winds is a cracking track and the clip isn’t too bad either!
If you’ve kept an eye on our news updates you’ll have read about the soundtrack for the forthcoming Flip skateboard movie. So, we thought it’s be good to have a peek behind the scenes to watch the likes of Lemmy and Snoop Dogg working on their tracks!
Let’s take a minute to mellow out again now. We reviewed Richard Walters’ new single a couple of weeks back, so we thought you might like to check out the promo clip for it too. So, here’s the video for Weather Song.
So, to the last video for this instalment. Irish indie-rockers Black Soul Strangers are beginning to make waves throughout the music press, so we thought it’d be a good idea to give you a heads up on them. Here’s a video interview for you to check out!
It’s been too long since we shared some of the videos that creep into our inbox with you, so here we go with a big roundup. First up we have indie kids Mirrorkicks, for their new single they’ve decided to take one of the biggest hits of the last few years and add their own take on it, so here’s their version of ‘Bleeding Love’. I spent my college years listening to Ash, and it’s nice to know they’ve still got it. Check out this video for ‘Joy Kicks Darkness’. Making inroads to the UK market are South African born rockers Starseed. They may now be living in London, but there’s still something just a little different about them. With the legendary Steve Albini on production duties, Kingskin are turning heads, and you can check this video to find out why. Last, but by no means least, is the latest release by the hotly tipped Wolf Gang. If it’s become a muttered name throughout 2009, expect it to be on the tip of everyone’s tongue come 2010, especially if ‘The King And All Of His Men’ is anything to go by.
