Dean Martin, “Jingle Bells (Dan The Automator Remix)”: Free MP3 of the Day

Rock River Music Records had the genius idea to take a bunch of old Christmas records and let modern DJs, such as Dan The Automator, remix them. Amazingly, it works. This album offers the best of both worlds; traditional pop vocalists blended with dance beats.

Originally posted at Crossfade

Matt Pond PA, ‘Imperfect’: Free MP3 of the Day

While indie pop darlings like the Shins get all the fame, Matt Pond PA has been turning out albums of equal quality at double the quantity (counting since 2002). Their string-led alt-rock caters to West Coasters who get nostalgic about the East Coast seasons. Or at least that’s what …

Originally posted at Crossfade

French Miami, ‘Science Fiction’: Free MP3 of the Day

Loosely speaking, French Miami is a rock band. Using rock music as a starting point, French Miami use its structures as the glue holding together more abstract musical ideas: dizzying, jagged guitar riffs anchored around pulsing synths, harmo- nized finger-tapping accenting tightly wound grooves, precise stop-start timing.

Originally posted at Crossfade

Sufjan Stevens, ‘That Was the Worst Christmas Ever!’: Free MP3 of the Day

The Brooklyn wunderkind’s holiday record is a great window on his unique art. Who but the man behind “Come On, Feel the Illinoise” would rework a White Stripes song title into “Get Behind Me, Santa”? As usual, Stevens’ banjo-driven indie-folk is darkly funny and spiritually deep.

Originally posted at Crossfade

1986, ‘Holiday’: Free MP3 of the Day

This indie-rock bunch returns their genre to the scrappy days of, well, 1986. And we’re not talking about precious, dance-rock ’86; we’re talking about the ’86 of a severely soused Paul Westerberg. The group’s storming guitars and sneering vocals practically supply their own flannel.

Originally posted at Crossfade

The Dutchess And The Duke, ‘Reservoir Park’: Free MP3 of the Day

“Lo-fi” music was conceived as a stripping away of studio pretense. Often, it’s quite the opposite, but the original idea is intact in this Seattle duo’s work. Bumbling percussion, ragged vocals and rough hooks channel both modern anti-folk and early Stones and Kinks.

Originally posted at Crossfade

Lady Sovereign, ‘I Got You Dancing’: Free MP3 of the Day

Start by imagining Missy Elliott as a Cockney Brit from outer London–OK, that’s a tough one. But the English need to get their hair done too (in Sovereign’s case, a demi-cornrow with a dash of Sporty Spice does the trick), and as long as that’s the case, …

Originally posted at Crossfade

The Raveonettes, ‘Wishing You A Rave Christmas’: Free MP3 of the Day

The Danish pair go a step further in their presentation of retro rock as something vicious. Surfy guitars, always packing switchblades, and dressed to kill, get matched with a sketchy programmed template. The genre’s early days have been translated to its most modern.

Originally posted at Crossfade

Erran Baron Cohen, ‘Dreidel’: Free MP3 of the Day

Erran Baron Cohen, brother of Borat (Sacha Baron Cohen), has made a valiant effort to make Hanukkah a cool holiday, and he’s done a great job. By combining klezmer, reggae, electronica, tango, and many other genres, Cohen reinterprets classic Jewish holiday songs as well as offering unique originals.

Originally posted at Crossfade

Faunts, ‘Memories of Places We’ve Never Been (T.H. White Remix)’: Free MP3 of the Day

Hanging out with Broken Social Scene and listening to Mogwai has honed the hushed gloom offered by this Canadian indie-dream-pop group. But a lot of the deft moves here are clearly self-invented, most notably the mixing of Tahiti 80-like bouncy kit beats with spacious post-rock soundscapes.

Originally posted at Crossfade

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