Root Down in the Shadow

Day 6 of my quest to share free music once a day until I run out of sources. Be sure to tell me what you think here or at the Facebook site .  Today's artist is Laura Gibson.   Today's song is a eerie haunt carrying the sexiness of Portishead while keeping simple folk sensibilities.  The song is free from two sources.  First and foremost it's available through Spinner.com's MP3 song of the day.  More recently at the KEXP song of the day .  Laura Gibson 'La Grande' I know little about Laura Gibson, apparently missing a January show of hers at Philadelphia's Johnny Brenda's. I am planning on spending some quality time, watching her new NPR Tiny Desk Concert in the very near future. (La Grande starts @3;27) Turns out this is her second tiny desk concert, with this being the first: A collection of songs can also be found at the D aytrotter site Happy hunting, be sure to post what you think!!!

Day 3 of my quest to share free music once a day until I run out of sources. Be sure to tell me what you think here or at the Facebook site .  Today's band is FIRST AID KIT.   photo credit: Neil Krug I first heard of First Aid Kit in fall of 2010, when I downloaded 'Ghost Town'.  If you didn't heed my suggestion last year in the Best of 2010 Free Music post , don't make the same mistake twice.   This sister folk duo will captivate you with their songs whether from their 2010 debut  The Big Black & The Blue, such as 'Ghost Town' or 'Hard Believer', or their brand new release The Lion's Roar! including title track 'The Lion's Roar' and love song 'Emmylou'! ' The Lion's Roar' is my suggestion to Listen/Watch/Download right now !!  I love the lyric "I'm a goddam coward, but then again so are you" GO GET THIS SONG NOW!!!  via   KEXP SONG OF THE DAY podcast! And catch them on

2. People are ready for new music! A few weeks back, I was hanging with some friends.  My pal Bud (charles Bud, not kevin Bud for those of you keeping score) likes punk, so I was playing him Those Darlins . Yeah, they're not punk, but I love their lo-fi sound, and they're playing @ Johnny Brenda's June 14th and I needed some friends to go with. After some iPod "spinning", we listened to Ponderosa, Cake, Danger Mouse, Hayes Carll, Balkan Beat Box , and the Black Keys ! Likewise, another friend came over for some back yard hang out & grill time.  I put on my Newport Folk Fest best of Playlist ( Smart playlist with bands from the '11 Newport + ***** ratings) and she got her introduction to David Wax Museum, Freelance Whales , and Pokey LaFarge !  In both cases, each friend was looking for MORE!!! It's always exciting after listening to some new stuff, and you get energized to write down some names and do some shopping/downloading!    I myself

Ted Leo makes me feel young! Who is Ted Leo, most of you ask????  Hannah Levin's intro of the Live KEXP podcast of his Triple Door concert in Seattl e back in '07( if you follow the link, you'll need to go pretty far down the page ) sums their style and energy best:  "There are some bands that that you see live where you’re just really impressed from a technical standpoint with musician-ship and there’s some bands that are all about the visceral energy that they bring to the stage, and based on the sound check I saw, I feel very safe saying you're going to get both. Please welcome Ted Leo and the Pharmacists” I stumbled onto Ted Leo after I started getting KEXP Song of the Day & KCRW Today's Top Tune.  Oddly enough I thought the punkish Ted Leo & the Pharmacists were a reggae band, as the first song I ever heard from them is "Unwanted Things' with its groovy rhythm. I quickly realized I was wrong, when I found the above live show.

On the blog, I have featured my top music of 2010 & 2011.  This isn't meant to be a billboard top 40 by any means.  But instead the best of music, that I'm listening to, and of course what you should check out.  Looking deeper, about fifty percent of it has roots in a track I first found via a free podcast.  In fact many of the songs themselves were free.  A few years back, after finding the AOL interface podcast (now just the interface) where I found recordings of the Raconteurs, Lady Soveriegn, Decemberist, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ted Leo , and KT Tunstall , I branched out to find more song podcasts, rather than just performances.  KEXP & KCRW , two excellent NPR type radio stations each have a daily song with KCRW's 'Today's Top Tune" and KCRW's "song of the day". Today I'll feature the KEXP 'Song of the Day.' Some gems found include, a favorite of my brother in law with Passion Pit 'The Reeling' and radio mainstays, M