To get ready for the show, warm up to this year's top contenders in one free and continuous playlist featuring Coldplay, Katy Perry, Lil Wayne, The Jonas Brothers, Radiohead, Duffy, Brazilian Girls, and many more.
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards will air on Sunday February 8 at 8 p.m. on CBS. In the meantime, listen to this free playlist by clicking on the green button below, then visit Download Music to stream and download thousands more free songs.
Stephen Colbert's new Christmas album is at the top of our list.
We have a diverse batch of goodies for you this year. New additions include a duet with Elvis Presley and Martina McBride; a New Kids on the Block reissue; Stephen Colbert's debut Christmas album; and a Hanukkah jam from Erran Baron Cohen. And the great thing about holiday tunes is that you can recycle them every year! So, get acquainted with the new stuff, and then dig into our archive to resurrect the classic favorites.
Bloc Party gets intimate with their new album, Intimacy.
Now that Daylight Savings Time has ended, it's that odd time of the year when it gets dark while we're still at work (at least for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere with day jobs). Sun worshippers may be bummed, but night owls should be psyched about the extra hours of darkness. Either way, it's a good time for everyone to get out and embrace the nightlife!
Listen to our free playlist "Night Moves" featuring Bloc Party, New Order, Black Sheep, Metallica, Kid Cudi, Juliana Hatfield and more. To launch, click the green button below, and then visit Download Music to stream and download thousands more free songs.
There may be a chill in the air, but summer's not over yet! Two big music festivals remain this year: San Francisco's Treasure Island Music Festival (this weekend) and Austin City Limits (next weekend). There's an overlap of indie rockers at both events, such as The Raconteurs, CSS, and Jenny Lewis. But with an extra day and more stages to work with, ACL offers a wider array of acts such as Foo Fighters, Beck, Iron and Wine, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss.
If you can't make the shows--or just want to get pumped for them--cue up our free playlist by clicking on the "stream now" button. Then visit Download Music to stream and download thousands more free songs.
If you didn't make it to the Outside Lands music festival in San Francisco last weekend (or you did and want to relive it), check out our free playlist and photo gallery below featuring some of the top acts. While everyone had their own unique experience, the climatic triple threat of Bon Iver, Broken Social Scene and Wilco on Sunday was my personal highlight. A common theme throughout the day was crowd participation (there were several occasions when the audience was invited to clap, sing, and scream along). From the reviews that I've read, and from general word-of-mouth buzz, the festival appeared to be a great success. Hopefully the artists and promoters feel the same way and will book a second annual Outside Lands next year!
Free playlist featuring Manu Chao, Radiohead, The Cool Kids, Nicole Atkins, Beck, The Walkmen and more:
Outside Lands photo gallery below courtesy of Ryan Salm - Ryansalmphotography.com
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Rihanna wants you to start your engine.
The oil crisis has been an easy target for the media, so now it's our turn to get in on the hype. No matter what your political views are (left, right, or center), the rising price of oil is a concern for everyone. Even the most patriotic gas-guzzlers out there are beginning to question their driving habits. Now, if you ask the R&B star Rihanna, she'll tell you to "shut up and drive," but we think (and hope) that she's making a sexual reference.
While we wait for gas prices to drop, let's fire up this free Tune Up playlist instead of our engines. Click the green button below to listen, then visit Download Music to stream and download thousands more free songs.
The Maine
Although "emo rock" may be more of a '90s term, contemporary bands such as Fall Out Boy, The Maine, and Dashboard Confessional have revitalized the genre. To avoid a style debate, it's safer to call them "punk-pop" or simply a "popular rock band." (Even Paramore's Hayley Williams questions whether they're even an emo band.) Whatever you prefer to call 'em, we can all agree that these talented young acts all share a common emo-tional quality to them. With that in mind, listen to and enjoy our Finding Emo playlist below.
Colin Meloy goes solo
We just posted the lastest edition of the Indie To Go playlists on Download Music! This iPod-friendly sampler of MP3s features topnotch indie newcomers and chart-toppers such as Tokyo Police Club, Colin Meloy (The Decemberists), The Raveonettes, The Explorers Club and more. Stream now (while you work), then visit the artist pages to download the songs to go. And if you want to hear more playlists like this one, check out Indie To Go Volumes 1 through 10.
Beck is ready - rain or shine
If you live in the bay area (or plan to be here the weekend of August 22nd), get ready for the first annual Outside Lands music festival! The Bonnaroo-size line-up features some of the biggest names around, such as Radiohead, Beck, Tom Petty, Jack Johnson, Wilco, Primus and more (see below). Tickets go on sale this Sunday, March 30th at 10AM on Sfoutsidelands.com
The festivities will take place in Golden Gate Park August 22-24th, and it's being produced by Another Planet Entertainment, Superfly Productions, Starr Hill Presents, and the San Francisco Recreation & Park Department. It will be comparable in size to the The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, which that takes place every October, however that three-day event is free to the public, whereas Outside Lands will require you to purchase a ticket to get in...but with a line-up like this, it'll be worth it.
The line-up so far: RADIOHEAD, TOM PETTY & THE HEARTBREAKERS, JACK JOHNSON, BECK, WILCO, MANU CHAO, BEN HARPER, WIDESPREAD PANIC, PRIMUS, RODRIGO Y GABRIELA, STEVE WINWOOD, DEVENDRA BANHART, SHARON JONES AND THE DAP-KINGS, BLACK MOUNTAIN, DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS, GALACTIC, BROKEN SOCIAL SCENE, and more will be announced.
AA Bondy live at SXSW
He's from upstate New York, but he fits right in here in Austin, Texas with his could-be-from-the-south songwriter style. This is a live shot of AA Bondy at the Creekside Lounge on Wednesday. There was a drunk heckler in the crowd who claimed he was "feelin' it" but his sincerity was questionable. Other fans (like myself) kept our comments to ourselves and quietly enjoyed his heartfelt performance, which was nice mellow break from all the chaos and "butt rock" blaring nearby on 6th street.
We've selected AA Bondy for our Best of SXSW feature, which will feature all of the best bands we see this week (coming soon). For now enjoy our free playlists and SXSW 2008 Pre-Party. Here's the Download Music review of AA Bondy:
"Bondy's "American Hearts" record is upstate alt-folk at its most wistful and, well, bighearted. Summoning the studio ghosts of the great '60s Dylan and Band sessions cut in those hills, Bondy winds up somewhere between the reedy Neil Young and the scuffed Jeff Tweedy."
