Free Finding Day 8

Alright! We are back in business :)

Although i'm still feeling a bit under the weather i was just was too excited about these new tracks not to post this! So here's my postings for Sunday and today.

Sunday

I think i just might have hit the mother load. After scouring Spin Magazine i landed on a site called RCRD LBL. The whole premise of the site is that it hosts artists and various labels while offering many free legal downloads and streaming to promote their careers.

I immediately assumed the downloads would be alternate versions or tracks by very lesser known bands. After spending some time looking though i was shocked!

Bon Iver, MGMT, Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes, Gossip, Kings of Leon, Bat For Lashes, Sufjan Stevens, tons of well known bands and my favourites!

Now some of the tracks offered were amazing remixes {Use Somebody (Andres Anjos Remix) -Kings of Leon } but many of them were tracks that i had wanted to or previously had bought already on itunes (Home-Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeroes, Blood Bank-Bon Iver)

No to mention the site asks for absolutely nothing in return! Again i only picked my favourites but you could download easily 200-300 free legal tracks from there and they are adding more every day.

Monday

Because it's the beginning of the week again i headed back to Urban Outfitters' Blog for their five track monday download.

When She Smiles by Coconuts is easily my favourite since its so unusual. It sounds like a cross between a tribal jungle ritual, a fog horn and a love sick puppy that just happens to have a great singing voice.

Have no clue what i'm talking about? Believe me you'll understand completely once you listen to the track.

Really happy with the finds over the past two days and now ready to enjoy all of them while i drift off :)

Free Finding Day 7

Quick little update! Although i found many amazing tracks for free legal download today my health decided to take a tiny bit of a dip. I was left couch ridden, asleep and unfortunately unable to blog.

In order to give my full attention to this series i'm postponing my findings till tomorrow. I will also do findings for tomorrow but will just post them all at once with the appropriate headings.

Even though i am taking a break to give you a taste of whats here store i will post my one finding. I headed to Canadian band Metric's FanPage and became a fan. Now in exchange for this act of support i got to download an acoustic version of Front Row.

Personally i like it even better than the original version on Fantasies. So check it out to tide you over until my other findings are posted tomorrow!

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE! :) Only a week through this experiment and i have already found approximately 200 free legal tracks!

Looks like this is heading on the right track!

Free Finding Day 5 and 6

Silly me forgot to actually post my findings last night so today's is actually day 5 and 6 meshed into one.

My first free download i found while fuelling my addition for Starbucks. Unfortunately my lovely pick of the week card met the horrible fate of the washing machine.

With that download gone i went back to iTunes to find some free legal downloads. I went to the iTunes Canada Facebook Fan Page where i have found downloads even before i started this series. The selection available was the "House of Soul Sampler" (think Bill Withers and 60's type keyboards).

Most of the songs are instrumentals but i got into them nonetheless. More Mess on My Thing by Poets of Rhythm stuck out to me. The vibe has a definite groove to it and reminds me of a funk big band style group playing D'angelo covers.

The next downloads i found checking out my past searches. In the past i had found samplers put out by Spin Magazine and figured that it couldn't have been the only one. SO! I headed over to Spin Magazine, searched free downloads and BOOM tons to choose from.

I picked the most recent ones that included a new song by English artist Kate Nash, Man in the Sand by Gordon Gano and the Ryans, Singing to the Earth (To Thank Her for You) by Apollo Sunshine and a 29 track sampler.

I have been a Kate Nash fan for quite some time now and this song thoroughly impressed me. Being a fan of such songs as Merry Happy and We Get On i was expecting a bouncing english pop ballad about some bloke that had done her wrong. To my surprise the track started out with distorted twisting guitars that sounded like could've been sampled from a Mars Volta album and went into edgy Euro-Pop vocals. I'm a fan of both her new and old sound but am so happy that her more recent stuff shows her versatility as an artist.

I had never heard of Apollo Sunshine but was hooked when i heard the mushy title { Singing to the Earth (To Thank Her for You) }. Now although the title is endearing and cheesy the track has substantial qualities and is perfect for a lazy summer day.

Man in the Sand by Gordon Gano and the Ryans granted has a bit of a dated sound but once you get to the chorus the drum guitar combination makes you feel like you've known the song your whole life. The raw quality about them makes them seem like the garage band down the street that everyone knew and wanted to be part of in Highschool.

Finally the sampler featured some repeats from the first sampler i downloaded from Spin Magazine but also gave a lot of new great ones. The compilation is support Austin's South by South West Showcase and features ranging from pop to rap to metal. The sampler possibly features some of the best names for bands i've ever seen such as Das Racist, Anti-Pop Consortium and Everybody Was In the French Resistance…Now.

Now if that doesn't make you like the compilation already tracks like Swim Until You Can't See Land by Frightened Rabbit and And the Hazy Sea by Cymbals Eat Guitars transport you with mystical interludes and loveable vocals.

Yes, some of the tracks ask for your e-mail in exchange for the download. This i know can be annoying but most of the time it is for statistic reasons opposed to a tricky way to spam you with useless press info. I have been giving my e-mail to dozens of places like this for at least a year and have only received a handful or two of e-mails and some of them were simply for download confirmation.

In the end as i always say it's a small price to pay for great free legal music!

Free Finding Day 4

Today i found no free free legal downloads BUT for good reason! Today after having a leisurely lunch and getting my hair cut at the wonderful Raincry in downtown Oakville i saw one of my idols. At this year's Women as Career Coaches i met with ............JEANNE BEKER

Yes, the woman i spent my childhood years watching was standing in front of me. I got a chance to interview her since i work as a freelance writer for Oakville Today.

She was funny, inspiring, gorgeous and so thoughtful to all her fans. By the end of the night she must have given over 100 autographs and photos. I got a picture, questions answered and a very thoughtful note on the inside of her book i'm dying to read!

So yes i was pulled away from my duties today but again for good cause. Tomorrow it's back to more free tracks so stay tuned!

Free Finding Day 3

Day 3 so far has been crazy! I thought today might give me some trouble finding new free legal tracks since I was busier today than i had been for some of the week. True, i didn't have much time to look but somehow i have landed the most tracks since i started this series.

The source was http:///www.redflagdeals.com under the freebie section since it seemed like a logical place to start. I assumed i would find some promotional singles from upcoming albums or some sampler packages from unknown artists but i ended getting a lot more.

First on the list: Metallica. Believe it or not the well known seasoned band is giving away free tracks, or free live tracks i should say. Concert locations ranged from sunny California to dreamy Denmark and featured all the classic Metallica songs. Because there were so many i just picked out my favourites and got an absolutely amazing medley of Nothing Else Matters and Until It Sleeps. If you decide to download all of them you will probably end up with over a hundred tracks! The tracks are really if you want the live experience of people cheering and singing along.

Word of warning: The European recordings seem to be higher quality than the US ones although i'm not sure why but then again being in Europe helps everything :)

As i continued to search i found 2 tracks from a new album by Smashing Pumpkins. They have been one of top bands for years so i was thrilled not only that the downloads were free but they were amazing!

Stitch in Time and Widow Make My Mind still have the classic Smashing Pumpkins sound, most obviously in the vocals but with some added new touches. The songs introduce beautiful mixing and blending in the instruments that wasn't as present on Mellon Collie and Infinite Sadness. To top it all off, there's a subtle touch of a 50s vibe that offset the lyrics perfectly.

Then came my favourite type of free music.....COMPILATION! Since i like most genres i love being forced into unfamiliar listening territory. Presented by Spin Magazine the sampler is 10 tracks from artists like Neon Indian and Final Fantasy. Now the last track is by a band i already love so i'm bias to which was my favourite. The last track is by The XX who are BRILLIANT and is so delicate it's almost intimidating.

Finally my last find of the day was a full album download by NINE INCH NAILS! The album is called The Slip. Contradictory to the title though i could find no critical mistakes or slip-ups. Great group of songs but not for everyday listen. However if you need to let off steam, pop it into your CD player, get into your beat up chevy, put on some aviators and a ripped jean jacket, drive down a dirt road and enjoy.

Today's results prove that it's not only independent artists that give away free tracks. Even the heavyweights of the industry can benefit from a little promotional tools now and then.

Free Finding Day 2

So here's my second day searching for the best free legal downloads out there!

The first download was shown on MTV ironically while i was brainstorming ways to find new tracks. The Track? Holy F**k by Latin America (Yes i had to think long and hard about whether to censor that or not)

The song feels like ambient dance music for a fight scene in a Keanu Reeves movie with pulsing electronic flourishes and a energetic drum kit. The song is great for parties and entertaining if only for the pure shock factor of the band's name.

Next i went the easy way for free music and went to the "Free" section on the itunes homepage and got If It's Me by Chris Giannini. The track starts off simple which lets the recording quality acoustic quality shine through. Eventually the song leads into what could be a Modern English cover with beautiful but brief harmonies three quarters of the way through.

Overall i deem today a success! Downloading these tracks helped me find new bands i wouldn't have heard otherwise.

On a side note before i go i was shown a great band by the name of Drapht which can be categorized as Australian rap. Strange as it sounds its by far one of my favourite new groups!

"Free Finding"

There is a constant argument in the music industry regarding illegal file sharing. Industry executives argue whether file sharing will continue into the future and fans argue whether using programs like Limewire and Napster is okay.

As an avid music listener i've never had a problem paying for music and try to convince others to do so as often as possible. Although $0.99 repeatedly can add up over time, it's a small price to pay for what we get in return and a small way to pay back the musicians, producers, labels and distributors for doing their job and doing it well.

Now don't get me wrong i like getting free things as much as the next person but I believe in doing in legally. In light of this i will be starting a new blogging series called "Free Finding"

( yes, it sounds like a bad Tom Petty reference).

For a month i will be searching for the best tracks available for free legal download, posting my findings, numbers and of course reviews of my personal favourites. Hopefully by the end at least a few more people will agree with me that there are ways to get fantastic music for free without hurting the artists financially.

To start the series off here is my first free download!! Off the fabulous Urban Outfitters Blog. The grouping is called Music Mondays and offers on average 5 free tracks available for download.

http://blog.urbanoutfitters.com/blog

My favourite of the Music Monday selection? Travelin' Girl-The Bitters

VERY reminiscent of The Clash if Debbie Harry of Blondie decided to drop in for jam session and extremely catchy.

New Website

Well it is finally up!

After taking a bit of a break for my health i started on reworking some things. The result is my new website with new photos, videos, upcoming show dates and soon new tracks!

So check it out and use the comment section on the contact page to let me know what you think.

http://www.elysesimpson.com

I have already gotten the Google Analytics report back from the first day and I'm so thrilled! To everybody that has already check it out it really means a lot to me and i can't thank you enough for the support.

To top it all off looks like my consistency with blogging has greatly improved....(knock on wood)

Long Time No See

Well here it goes again. This is the part where i apologize for being inconsistent with my blogging. Complete truth of matter is besides being terribly busy my health has also been amazingly rocky. Referring back to the name of the blog i am indeed severely anemic and apparently fainting and blogging do not go well together.

SO! To make things easy for the purpose of giving a quick update and start my blogging rituals again.

Jangle Records Launch-Went amazing everyone did a fantastic job and our independent short film "Blank" is now available! To check it out see the link for the trailer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bEFom7QxelM

November @ The Sound Academy-Tons of fun and i did my first big club performance on Be My Husband

Berklee Audition- So exciting! Unfortunately i was sick for the actual audition and did not put my absolute best foot forward HOWEVER i did make them laugh and hopefully show that i'm a hard worker and eager to learn.

Well those are the big things i'm sure i'll remember everything else once i finish this but from now on blogging will now be frequent!

New updates will be up shortly thanks for still sticking around!