Free MP3s

Elephant 6 fans, and especially Neutral Milk Hotel fans, tend to be a little obsessive, so most of them probably already know that NPR is streaming the show that the Elephant 6 Holiday Surprise Tour played at the Bottom Lounge last week.

Yes, the fathers of Orange County punk (established 1980) are still running around Warped festivals and trying to change the world with a hockey stick. At this point, it seems foolish to try and do anything about it.

Enjoy this free MP3 track. Please be aware this music is offered for a limited time, and more than 90 days from the date of this post may no longer be available.

Athens' psych-damaged melody makers Ham1 are preparing to release their third full-length, The Underground Stream, due out  this fall, with an LP slated for an early 2009 release on Infinity Cat Records.

The entire album is available as a free download here.

Several of the group's members (which include principle songwriter Jim Willingham, Christopher Sugiuchi, Eric Harris of Olivia Tremor Control, and Jacob Morris) spent the summer touring with Vic Chesnutt throughout Europe, later spent time on the road with Elf Power, and appeared as Liz Durrett's backing band on her latest release, Outside Our Gates.

Louisville-born Chandra & Leigh Watson bring a country soul to Silverlake, harmonizing on pretty songs about love and lovers. Think of it as the pretty midway between Bakersfield and whatever was lost out in Joshua Tree.

Enjoy this free MP3 track. Please be aware this music is offered for a limited time, and more than 90 days from the date of this post may no longer be available.

Despite their hushed tones and Mr. Collipark's buttered-up tracks, Ying Yang Twins Kaine and D-Roc were never the smoothest members of Atlanta's crunk set. But they certainly competed for most lascivious. And still do.

Enjoy this free MP3 track. Please be aware this music is offered for a limited time, and more than 90 days from the date of this post may no longer be available.

Baltimore-based ATL expatriate label HOSS Records has announced that this fall  it will be releasing the third full-length from Atlanta purveyors of sludge-infected drunk-punk riffage, Brass Castle. Though the currently untitled LP is still in production, here is a sneak peak mp3 of the song "Raining Balls,"  which kind of says it all.

In addition to the Brass Castle full-length, HOSS has a few other releases up its sleeve slated for release late in  '08 / early '09...

Kanye got arrested for smashing up some pap's camera.

In a related story, he posted his new single, "Love Lockdown," on his blog yesterday. Ironic, no?

I've always thought A Tribe Called Quest were OK, but I never rode hard for them. When the six or so people at my high school who listened to rap they couldn't hear on the radio were passing around The Low End Theory, I thought it was weak compared to the blare of Fear of a Black Planet and too smooth compared to Check Your Head. I also thought Tribe came off kinda smug and superior--an attitude that seemed to infect their more dedicated fans, like dudes thought they were somehow better people just because they listened to a particular group. That turned me off more than anything.