Get Two Awesome New Releases For Free: A-Trak & Junip

I know what you're thinking: Isn't most music already free? The short answer is, not legally. Recently bands have decided to give away a song for free or after hearing that their album has leaked, the ability to stream an entire album. But very few artists give away an entire album for free. This week, A-Trak and Junip did just that and they are fantastic.

A-Trak has been on the scene since winning the 1997 DMC World DJ Championship. He was 15 years old, no joke. Now running Fool's Gold Records with Nick Catchdubs and producing for Kid Sister and Lupe Fiasco, he has been busy to say the least. This guy can do it all and has; from DJ'n for Kanye West to rocking WMC with Armand Van Helden as the duo, Duck Sauce. Jump on Hype Machine for a dizzying amount of remixes, my favorite being his remix of Boys Noize "Oh!". This week he dropped via his twitter (@atrak) account the second volume of his Dirty South Dance series and it has been on repeat since then. Stream it right here and download to get your next party started. Track 4, "We Don't Want No Goblins" is killing me...


The complete opposite of being everywhere is being nowhere and taking 10 years to release your formal debut. Junip is that band. Formed in 2000, this Swedish group has released a total of 11 songs in 10 years but they are well worth it. I first caught their Black Refuge EP after hearing their version of Springsteen's "Ghost of Tom Joad". This week they released the Rope and Summit EP and have promised a full length album this summer. Even better they are touring this summer with a stop at Lincoln Hall next month so it looks like things are starting to pick up for the slow moving indie folk trio. Simply sign up for their mailing list to get the entire EP for free.
   The Ghost Of Tom Joad by theearlynerd

Videos are cool...

So as everything in life, the music industry is cyclical. Do you remember Diddy and Kanye sampling Diana Ross and Chaka Khan? How about the nostalgia of pretty much any 90's band reuniting and touring in the last couple of years? Even better, the recent influx of keyboards and synths to make everything sound like the soundtrack from a John Hughes' movie? Hell, even albums are coming back, actual vinyl. I guess it was only a matter of time before the music video became old and somehow new again. With Mtv removing the "music television" from their programming and logo, artists can make videos and easily place them on their website. Two weeks ago, Band of Horses gave away their newest video. Erykah Badu got ass naked in Dallas for her new song. My how things have changed... So here is my version of 120 Minutes, 4 videos for you to check out because you're not going to get them anywhere else. A channel that plays ONLY music videos, now you're just being ridiculous.

Further proof that music is headed back to the future, Mark Ronson's new single, "Circuit Breaker".


The new The National album is out, so go get it.

The National - "Bloodbuzz Ohio" (official video) from The National on Vimeo.

LCD Soundsystem are coming to Chicago next week, I sure hope you got a ticket.


Finally Boys Noize & Erol Alkan's new masterpiece "Lemonade".


FYI, I intentionally omitted M.I.A.'s newest video because it's damn near everywhere...