Metric – Synthetica, Download of the Day

Metric's Fifth Album Release Titled Synthetica

“Metric has created a great record, with great pop sensibilities. I hear 80’s synths, guitars that chime, and great rhythms. Youth Without Youth hasn’t left rotation on my MacBook & iphone since I got it. Great work from Metric!

With their fifth album, Synthetica, Toronto-bred electro-rockers Metric continue to blend sharp lyrics, memorable meolodies, and formidable beats with modern instrumentations. “Speed the Collapse” presents an unfolding drama driven by nervous-sounding drumming. “The Wanderlust” perfectly contrasts Emily Haines’ sweet singing with the legendarily unflappable delivery of guest duet partner Lou Reed. The horns toward the end of the title track, in turn, warmly complement its raw guitar power.

Metric Synthetica – Listen and Download Now

Metric Synthetica – iTunes Canada Store

Track Listing…

1 Artificial Nocturne 5:42
2 Youth Without Youth 4:17
3 Speed the Collapse 3:42
4 Breathing Underwater 3:56
5 Dreams So Real 2:40
6 Lost Kitten 3:16
7 The Void 3:17
8 Synthetica 3:54
9 Clone 5:13
10 The Wanderlust 3:10
11 Nothing But Time 4:04

Silversun Pickups Neck of the Woods, Album Download of the Week

3rd album release by Silversun Pickups is titled Neck of the Woods (2012)

We can’t take credit for any of it. It just accidentally happened.
– Brian Aubert, SSP

The third digital album release by California alt-rockers Silversun Pickups titled Neck of the Woods grew out of a chance meeting between guitarist/singer/frontman Brian Aubert and Grammy Award-winning producer Jacknife Lee (credits including Snow Patrol, R.E.M., U2).

That heritage is reflected in an appropriately big-sounding gritty guitar mix, alongside the pop sensibility that infuses the SSPU signature sound… in spite of the “alt-rock” label usually associated with their name.

The big attention-getting track is Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings), but you should also check out darker production numbers like Here We Are (Chancer), and Dots and Dashes (Enough Already).

But ah… what’s with all the double-barelled song titles?

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Silversun Pickups on Working with Producer Jacknife Lee


Here We Are (Chancer)

Here we are
underneath a million leaves
In shadows of
compromising scenes

When I was young
I dreamed this would be
Steamier

But I got one chance to move you
One chance to move you
So here we are

I’m running out
A source to let you down
I can call it all
Or gain higher ground

Look overdrawn
It’s all that’s around
Is it easier

If it’s the right time to lose you
Right time to lose you
So here we are

Here we are
Here we are

I got one chance to move you
One chance to move you
Is it the right time to lose you
Right time to lose you

Bob Dylan, Subterranean Homesick Blues, Classic Tunes Download of the Day

Label of the original 45 rpm single version of Bob Dylan's Subterranean Homesick Blues (1965)

You don’t need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows…

This week’s Classic Tunes download of the week dials back to 1965, and what many rock music afficionados consider to be the best days of Bob Dylan’s career.

Subterranean Homesick Blues is certainly one of his most recognizable and characteristic hit songs, if not quite so iconic as Like a Rolling Stone. It has become all the more famous – even notorious – over the decades since its release, thanks to the amazing “cue cards” video that has inspired imitations, spoofs, and tributes by hundreds of video makers, both famous and insignificant.

If you don’t already know and own this great recording, the best way to get it today is in the Essential Bob Dylan collection. This set includes a good take on the 30 all-time most loved and important Dylan recordings, at a bargain price.

The Essential Bob Dylan – Listen and Download Now

If you’re more interested in accurate context, then by all means go for the album this track appeared on originally: Bringing It All Back Home. That way you’ll be getting some amazing tracks not included in Essential, including the incredible Love Minus Zero / No Limit.

Now here, just for fun, is one of the more unusual responses to the Subterranean Homesick Blues video…

Johnny’s in the basement
Mixing up the medicine
I’m on the pavement
Thinkin’ ’bout the government

Man in the trench coat
Badge out, laid off
Says, he’s got a bad cough
Wants to get it paid off

Look out kid
It’s somethin’ you did
God knows when
But you’re doin’ it again

Better duck down the alley way
Lookin’ for a new friend
Man in the coon-skip cap, in the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills, you’ve only got ten

Maggie comes fleet foot, face full of black soot
Talkin’ that the heat put, plants in the bed
But the phone’s tapped anyway

Maggie says, that many say
They must bust in early May
Orders from the D.A

Look out kid
Don’t matter what you did
Walk on your tip toes
Don’t try, don’t try no dose

Better stay away from those
Carry ’round a fire hose
Keep a clean nose, watch the plain clothes
To know which way the wind blows

Get sick, get well
Hang around a ink well
Ring a bell, hard to tell
It’s gonna tell

Try hard, gettin’ barred
Get back, write Braille
Get in jail, jump bail
Join the army if you failed

Look out kid
It’s somethin’ you did
God knows when
But you’re doin’ it again

Better duck down the alley way
Lookin’ for a new friend
Man in the coon-skip cap, in the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills, you only got ten

The man in a coon-skip cap, in the big pen
Wants eleven dollar bills, you only got ten

– Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan Plays Loose with the Lyrics of his Subterranean Homesick Blues

Free Music Downloads… If You Live in Oregon

3 free weekly MP3 downloads for Oregon residentsIf you happen to live in Oregon, and especially if you are in Multnomah County or nearby, you might want to take advantage of a great service offered by the local library system: free weekly music downloads.

With a Multnomah County library card, or a card from a library system with reciprocal privileges such as Clark or Washington Counties, you can download up to 3 free music files (unprotected MP3) per week. There are more than half a million tunes to choose from, covering everything from contemporary rock, to Broadway, to pop music oldies. It’s basically the entire Sony Music digital download catalog, encompassing more than 50 labels (Columbia, Epic, Sony Masterworks etc.).

The service is called Freegal. It’s a sweet idea, and a valuable service… wish more libraries would jump on board.

Do you know of any other library systems offering a similar service? Please comment below!

Carrie Underwood Blown Away, Music Download of the Day

Blown Away is the fourth digital download album by Carrie Underwood

Blown Away… the use of instruments like piano and cello to mimic the sounds of the winds and rain in this track is breathtaking and Carrie’s vocals are majestic. Whether this song becomes a country-pop smash as it should is immaterial, this song is a masterpiece.

The fourth digital album release by Carrie Underwood features sparkling pop-style production by Mark Bright. And of course the American Idol 4th-season winner’s powerful vocals.

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