Free and legal MP3 from Colleen Brown (girl-group theatrics meets...
"Boyfriend" - Colleen Brown "Boyfriend" marches to a big, retro, triplet-driven beat, delivering a vibe that's part girl-group theatrics, part Dusty Springfield-style R&B, part something...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from Color Of Clouds (lovely blend of acoustic &...
"Brother" - Color of Clouds With a hint of glitch seasoning its spry intimacy, "Brother" is the work of a band with a gift for uncomplicated complexity, if that phrase makes any sense. Great...
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Fingertips Flashback: Vague Angels (from December 2006)
I always liked this one for relatively mysterious reasons. And this seems longer ago than it was, somehow. Anyway, this never really caught on, but it's still online, so here you are.[From "This Week's...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from CocoRosie (gentle, invigorating, inscrutable exotica)
"Lemonade" - CocoRosie Ah, CocoRosie: I do not know what planet these two women live on but it is surely a richer and more exotic place than the one the rest of us inhabit. Or maybe it's just that...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from the Love Language (brisk, shuffly indie pop)
"Heart to Tell" - the Love Language This one also begins with an acoustic guitar riff, but an entirely different kind that goes in an entirely different, happy-shuffly Shins-meet-the-Left-Banke...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from the Middle East (slowly unfolding, deeply engaging)
"Blood" - The Middle East Over a stately acoustic guitar noodle that wouldn't sound out of place on a mid-career Genesis album, "Blood" unfolds slowly yet engages the ear instantly. (That's an...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from Marching Band (Swedish indie pop duo)
"It Will Never Slip" - Marching Band Marching Band is a duo. If you were Sherlock Holmes, that should tell you everything you need to know about this song, which engages and delights largely via a...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from Patrick Wolf (both channeling and reinterpreting K....
"Army Dreamers" - Patrick Wolf I can count on one hand the number of cover songs I've posted here on Fingertips over the years; I'm not at all against them in theory, but I don't usually feel...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from the Silver Seas (buoyant pop w/ faux '70s-soul sheen)
"The Best Things In Life" - The Silver Seas Effortlessly enjoyable pop with a faux '70s-soul sheen. And I mean the faux part in a good way--after all, it's not the '70s anymore (by a long shot)....
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May Q&A: Greta Morgan of Gold Motel
This month, the Fingertips Q&A--featuring, as always, five questions about the future of music in the digital age--talks to Greta Morgan, front woman for the Chicago-based band Gold Motel. The...
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New Fingertips Commentary: The Free Music Mirage
As I'm working on this week's regular song reviews, I wanted to pop in and let you know there's a new Fingertips Commentary posted on the main site, entitled: "The Free Music Mirage." Subtitled:...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from the Mynabirds (Laura Burhenn returns w/ more great...
"Let the Record Go" - the Mynabirds I cannot resist a repeat visit to the Mynabirds album, with this second free and legal MP3 now available (and also given what a great little set of music this...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from the National (brisk, deliberate burner)
"Afraid of Everyone" - The National "Afraid of Everyone" starts spooky, slowly and surreptitiously picks up a pulse, then a driving beat, but even as it does remains tight and restrained. This...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from Hey Marseilles (rollicking 21st-century ensemble pop)
"Rio" - Hey Marseilles Funny, if you think about it: the 21st-century to date has arguably contributed two abiding types of music to the rock'n'roll idiom, and they're kind of the exact opposites...
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The Free Music Mirage (a Fingertips Commentary)
Some music free, certainly; all music free, noSteadily, over the course of the last 10 years, the idea that recorded music "has" to be free has been transformed from a radical stance taken by those...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from Villagers (indirect, well-crafted keeper from Ireland)
"Becoming a Jackal" - Villagers "Becoming a Jackal" is not necessarily an immediate smash hit; it insinuates rather than sweeps away. Never is it uninteresting, however, and I mean that quite...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from Phosphorescent (slow-burning singer/songwriter fare...
"The Mermaid Parade" - Phosphorescent At once laid-back and expansive, "The Mermaid Parade" brings a slow-burning quality to its sauntering vibe. Singing this affecting if slightly mystical (or...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from Pallers (graceful electronic dance-ballad)
"The Kiss" - Pallers This graceful electronic dance-ballad unfolds with a New Order-like majesty, but minus the melodrama. Despite the quickly established synth-driven pulse, a gentle dreaminess...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from Sarah Blasko (smoky vocals over Morricone-ish setting)
"All I Want" - Sarah Blasko Nothing says "cinematic" better than a Morricone-inspired whistling introduction, but I like how down-to-earth and personal everything still manages to sound here. Often...
View ArticleFree and legal MP3 from The King Left (sharp, rumbling rocker at the edge of...
"The Way to Canaan" - The King Left Okay so noise is one thing. When you come right down to it, it's easy to make noise. Never understood what the fuss was about from the rock'n'roll primitivists...
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