Emerging Artists: Stu Lewis and Excuse Me, Princess

FREE is good right? When it comes to “pay what you think it’s worth” music or just free, Bandcamp is a great site for artists just getting their feet wet. Here are two…

Stu Lewis “Waste Not What Not”
Stu Lewis counts The Cars and The Rentals as major influences for his synth heavy pop sound. It’s a solid 5-track EP featuring “With Authority,” “Don’t Really Matter” and “Stay Free” which have a good songwriting structure and remind me of Doug Powell or Martin Gordon with its multi-layered composition. A love letter to our first lady “Michelle” is a bit creepy, but it’s catchy all the same and the best song of the bunch here. Stu’s music is definitely worth your time.

Bandcamp 

Excuse Me, Princess “The Sun and The Moon”
Here is an arty 9-track album full of indie pop music created by Jack Campbell. Jack shares some vocal duties with Greta Konkler on a few songs like “Miss” and “Totoro.” Some ambient stuff, but plenty of spirited music – listen to the Cure-like “Fool” with it’s “do-do-do” hummable chorus and a solid guitar tune in “Stop The Flow” which has Velvet Underground and Bowie as influences here. This homemade album was made in his basement, and it’s got plenty of lo-fi charm. Give it a listen.

 My SpaceBandcamp | Itunes

Freebies for July!

Like the ice cream man passing by, I bring you these tasty musical treats to beat the heat absolutely FREE. Download to your hearts content…

Paul Rosevear “Hodge Podge Hello”
Brooklyn based Paul Rosevear is the lead singer of the band Readymade Breakeup. If you enjoyed Paul’s solo EP “Broken Nose Poetry” then he offers up a free album of odds and ends. Mostly acoustic demos and a live track or two, a nice standout is “Drag This Anchor” as well as the folky “One One Thousand.” Enjoy.
Paul’s Blog | Bandcamp

The Riffbackers “The Curtain Shop and Alterations”
I reviewed this one back in March. Now that it’s a free download, you really have no excuses. Spanish popsters Fausto Martin and Nacho Garcia, fresh off of The Winnerys breakup combine The Beatles melodies and The Bryds jangle with style and grace.
The City Streets “The Jazz Age”
Based in Montreal, a band that has The Replacements work ethic and shares a bit of their sound with the guitar riffs on “Song For Lee.” Next, “Irish Rose” has a lanky George Thorogood vibe, the songs range from bar room blues to solid rock. Fans of Guided By Voices are sure to latch onto the dark pop of  “Last Waltz Party” and “Big Love.” The band is offering it up free on their site, or you can support them by buying it.
Band Website | CD Baby

Jackdaw4 "Retrospectacles" Album Tracks FREE

If you never got the chance to get either of Jackdaw4’s last albums “Gramophone Logic” and “BiPolar Diversions” – well now a combined double album of the two has been released as “Retrospectacles.” You can get them on CD and vinyl here on Januray 25, 2010. These are some of the best recent power pop tunes I’ve heard in past few years. To read me gushing about this music further, then read here and here. But to fans who already bought these albums in the past, and you still want the bonus tracks from this compliation, the band is making it available for FREE on Bandcamp. Thanks guys! To get the separate albums from CDBaby go here:
Gramophone Logic | Bipolar Diversions

The band is also making a concert appearance in London on January 21. Tickets are available from Brilliant Music and We Got Tickets.

A huge pile of FREE holiday songs for you!

Zach Curd strikes again! Suburban Sprawl Music put together a holiday compilation available for free download full of weird and wonderful holiday classics. In fact, there are holiday compilations dating back to 2002! That a massive amount of tracks, some good – some painful to listen to. To listen/download everything visit Suburban Sprawl Xmas Music page.

Here are a few more holiday gifts for you. Dave Milligan from Penguin Party has released a Christmas song “It’s Only Christmas – It’ll Soon Be Over” as a free download. Another free goodie comes from The Sexy Accident. They have released a new version of “A Merry Christmas To You.” Remixed by Steve Fisk and features lead vocals by Michelle Plaitis, and featuring clips from It’s a Wonderful Life. And finally, Swedish powerpop band The Genuine Fakes have a free download of their
version of Mariah Carey’s hit “All I Want for Christmas”. Ho, ho, ho!