LC!

So, lately I’ve found a fair few exciting free and legal mp3 downloads online, so for the less erudite of you, I thought I’d stick them up here for you to feast your eyes and ears over.

FIRST UP…

Parenthetical Girls have a history of making Xmas themed releases. Way back when they used to go by the name Swastika Girls they released their Christmas with… EP, then, as (((GRRRLS))) you have A Parenthetical Girls Family Christmas, two absolutely sterling releases, but this year, with “The Christmas Creep” they’ve totally outdone themselves. Featuring Flowers For Albion, a wartime piano and horns stomp, which is Zac’s most obvious outpouring of Anglophilia to date and their rendering of Sparks‘ Thank God It’s Not Christmas as a synth pop masterpiece, this is well worth your bandwidth. And it’s FREE.

SPARKY DEATHCAP // Glasgow Is A Punk Rock Town by TheArtOf…
Our friend Rob releases music under the name Sparky Deathcap. His Tear Jerky EP (which he sold on tour with us across the UK, this past October) is available to buy from his store here, but as a taster you can download his song Glasgow Is A Punk Rock Town over here. To me it sounds like Scott Walker recording in his bedroom. Probably not to anyone else though. Some of you may know that recently Rob has been playing as the 8th member of Los Campesinos!, so you have allegiances to him even if you don’t realise it. And it’s FREE.

My favourite album released this year (by nearly a million miles) is Fleurs by Former Ghosts. More on that soon, but my pal Freddy updates his blog reasonably frequently, and often, with no fanfare at all, for he is disgustingly modest, he’ll upload new tracks. This is a cover of If You Need Someone by The Field Mice. An already really pretty song, that he’s made even prettier and added a whole heap more sadness to. And that’s why I love him. And it’s FREE.

One of my favourite songs of the year now has a video. Frankie & The Heartstrings are going to be massive next year (assuming there’s any justice) and this video is testament as to why. A slow burning song that explodes into a heart wrenching chorus. Warm, warm organ, perfect for this time of year. The video’s right here, but you can buy the 7″ single, by clicking here.

Slow Club are a really special band. I think I’ve made that clear in the past. They’re continuing their tradition of not releasing anything crap with their Christmas EP Christmas Thanks For Nothing. It’s tangibly released by Moshi Moshi on the 15th December, but it seems to have sneaked out digitally on iTunes. £3.49 for six class songs. You’d have to be a pretty soulless bastard to download that illegally, amirite? BUY.
True to form; it’s brilliant. I would marry this band (though the divorce would be a nightmare).

FINALLY, amongst all the moronic “Get Joe McElderry‘s Label Mates to Christmas No. 1″ facebook campaigns, and then all the “Oh no m8, that’s not indie/mental enough, let’s do it with with <insert even more shit idea here>”, there’s one diamond in the turd*, and that’s this:

A cover of Do They Know It’s Christmas? by Fucked Up and friends. Including Bob Mould, Kevin Drew, Andrew WK and David Cross amongst others and with 100% of all proceeds being split between Justice for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, DTES Power Of Women Group and Sisters In Spirit. After all this free stuff you’ve got your hands on, why not head to iTunes to spend a measly 99p on it. Nice one fellas.

* for the record, the Xmas charts, in my lifetime, have always been about novelty TV tie ins and just-a-bit-of-fun nonsense so I hope you realise that every time you slag the X-Factor it’s like you’re shitting on my Xmas Tofurkey, right infront of my Gran. It’s called X-Mas for a reason, y’know?